I’ve had my eye on the Huawei P9 since I first saw it advertised by Scarlett Johansson herself. It’s the dual camera flagship of Chinese tech company Huawei, in partnership with Leica, the respected camera brand.
Huawei has come a long way. When I first heard of Huawei, it was for their pocket wifi product, preferred by consumers because of its better build & quality vs. competitors. Mine works really well.
SMARTPHONE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP
I was invited to attend a smartphone photography workshop with the Huawei P9 last week, and had a chance to try the camera of the Huawei P9 while walking around Intramuros.
Before our photowalk, we were given some pointers by Mr. Billy Mondonedo of Leica Club Manila.
Here’s what you need to take note of to take stunning pictures:
- NO OVERLAPPING! Make sure that nothing overlaps, nobody is standing behind anybody, nobody is covered or being blocked by anything. Be patient and wait for the best time to click!
- There should be some life, something to focus on, on your picture. The thing you are focusing on should be visible, if possible, the most visible thing on the picture.
- Play with light & shadow. Don’t be afraid to go against convention, try different angles.
That’s as much as I can remember! 
When I finally got my loaner Huawei P9, I was actually impressed by the good build quality. I didn’t have time to fiddle around with the OS because we jumped straight into photography, but it was very nice in the hand. It looks and feels very premium. The screen was superb!
SAMPLE SHOTS
I took this sample shot of a flower from our table’s centerpiece. Look how nice it turned out! Other cameras would not even be able to take a decent picture with the low light indoors.
We walked around Intramuros and took Black & White (monochrome) pictures of whatever we wanted. Seriously, every picture I took looked like it was done on a professional-grade camera. I’m not taking credit, it’s the camera! 
The monochrome photos just look so good, with good contrast between light & shadow, it’s instantly timeless. Look at all the detail the Huawei P9’s came
Here’s the link to the original monochome Casa Manila photo if you’d like to see it: http://www.karenmnl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/IMG_20160831_164439.jpg
As far as I know, the Huawei P9 is the only smartphone that can natively take monochrome photos!
Here’s a macro shot I tried to take of some flowers I saw while walking in Intramuros. I’m sure I got some settings wrong because I was fiddling with it, but betcha no other smartphone camera can take a pic like this, with this much bokeh bokeh effect (it’s what the blurred background thing is called).
I mostly had everything on auto because we had limited time to figure it all out, but still, look at those shots. They are DSLR quality! The images have not been edited except for resizing to 600px. The original images were around 7 MB and would take forever to upload to the blog, and will eat up reader’s bandwidth, too. But the original 7 MB images looked much better and sharper.
Aperture can easily be adjusted from the main camera screen, just by adjusting a slider! No need to enter and dig around settings pages. There is a PRO mode where you can change the ISO, Shutter Speed, etc… It’s as easy as swiping up and then sliding to get the settings you want.
The dual lens camera is also flush against the phone body, meaning, it’s not protruding!
VERDICT
I am really impressed with the Huawei P9’s dual lens camera. I feel like I can ditch my DSLR and just use this exclusively for food & travel blogging, so when it was time to return my Huawei P9, a lot of us workshop participants seriously considered making a run for it!
Good thing that there’s an alternative to starting a life of crime… The 5.2-inch Huawei P9 and the 5.5-inch P9 Plus are available at Huawei Experience stores and partner-retailers nationwide at P23,990 and P29,990. They are also available through Globe and Smart postpaid plans.
Metrobank credit card holders can also purchase the P9 and P9 Plus for only P999.00 per month and P1,299 per month for 24 months. Every purchase will come with a 13000 mAh powerbank and a Gouache bag (P9 Plus). This promo is available at Blulite (SM MoA & SM Fairview), Villman (SM Megamall), Infogadgets (Market Market & Trinoma), and MemoXpress (SM BF Paranaque & SMDC Light). The promo will run until October 31, 2016.
If you are looking for a phone camera that will take your Instagram shots to the next level, or are just looking to find an alternative to carrying around your heavy DSLR everywhere, check out the Huawei P9!
You can also visit the Huawei Facebook page for more info.
