Samsung Travel Photography Tips: Seven Myths Checked

You're on holiday. You're using your phone as a camera, a map and probably a boarding pass. The lighting isn't great. You're in a bit of a hurry. It's a scenario where plenty of dubious advice abounds. Here are seven myths we tested against Samsung's own guidance, and some settings that might help in real-life scenarios you may encounter away from home. If you’re looking for changes that you can implement quickly and that will be effective in all situations, see 12 quick wins for Galaxy photos.

Higher resolution always gives better travel photos

All current Galaxy phones shoot 12MP photos by default, even if they’ve got a 50MP or 200MP camera. Combining multiple frames and pixels helps minimise image noise. If you’re shooting in brighter conditions and want more flexibility for cropping or large prints, you can increase the resolution. Note that 200MP shooting is only available with the main camera.

According to Samsung (via Digit), it’s also possible that your Galaxy Z Fold8 could take 12MP photos even if you’ve set it to 24MP. This could happen if you’re using zoom or shooting in dim lighting conditions. Images may also be automatically resized if the temperature of your phone hits around 45 °C. The resolution guide contains an overview of the available settings and which models they apply to.

RAW is worth it for every shot

File size will vary depending on the image format (RAW files provide more flexibility when editing, but take up more space). Keep in mind that if you choose RAW and JPEG, photos taken in Pro mode will take up even more space, as they’ll be saved in both DNG and JPEG formats (according to Samsung’s S26 user guide).

• Choose RAW for the few pictures you plan on heavily editing (golden hour landscapes, for example), and Photo mode for everything else, as its multi-exposure blending works nicely to even out lighting, and you won’t have to make any tweaks to them.
• If you have a compatible Galaxy (S-series flagships and Z Fold phones, plus the newer Z Flips; Samsung hasn’t specified if any FE or A-series Galaxy phones can use Expert RAW), try out Expert RAW, too. It’s a standalone camera app that’s also free, and produces more processed DNG files than Samsung’s built-in RAW option.
• On a Galaxy S25 Ultra with One UI 9 (as of November 2026), you can find RAW under Camera settings > Photo format > Pro mode picture format.

Location tags are harmless

Samsung’s S26 user guide also reminds people that photos may reveal where they were taken if Location tags are switched on and advises switching the feature off (Camera app > Settings > General > Location tags on One UI 9) if that’s a concern, particularly shots of your hotel room or home taken before you check out/leave.

Of course, location tags can be handy for keeping track of where you’ve been on a trip, so an alternative would be to leave them enabled and remember to remove location data before sharing pictures online.

Samsung does add the caveat that GPS location can be less accurate in bad weather or areas with tall buildings, so expect location-tagged pics from narrow old-town streets to potentially be a block or so off.

Night mode needs a tripod

Night mode works handheld, so steady your phone with your elbows tucked into your sides, or prop it on a railing for a steady shot. Moving subjects may look blurred. For shots of bustling scenes at night markets or festivals, consider taking pictures in Photo mode instead, which is quicker and may produce more natural-looking results. Samsung’s Night mode uses a multi-frame approach to image processing, taking multiple shots and blending them together to create a single final image.

In dim lighting, you’ll see a Night shot button on the viewfinder, or you can switch to NIGHT mode from the modes bar (One UI 9). To take a picture in Night mode, hold your phone steady for a few seconds while the picture is being taken, as Samsung advises. The Night mode guide states when each one wins.

Single Take is waiting in the More menu

Single Take is best for unpredictable shooting situations, like with kids or street performers, that can’t be repeated. Single Take isn’t included by default, though you can enable it in the Camera app’s Camera Assistant > Additional modes, along with Dual rec (Galaxy S25 Ultra with One UI 9 as of November 2026). See our Single Take guide for more information about what it records and situations where it can be helpful.

An IP68 phone can go in the pool and the sea

Despite the S26's IP68 rating, Samsung says in its user guide that the phone shouldn't be exposed to sea or swimming pool water. IP68 testing is done using fresh water at rest. Our beach photography guide covers rinsing and charging after a day by the sea.

The camera works the same in any heat

0 to 35 °C is the best operating range for Galaxy phones according to Samsung. If your phone gets too hot while using the Camera app, it may display a message saying “Exit Camera. Battery temperature too high” and the app will exit. If you’re visiting hot countries, store your phone in a bag out of the sun between shooting sessions and avoid charging your phone in direct sunlight.

Travel settings by situation

The Galaxy S24, S25 and S26 come with a 3x telephoto lens while the Galaxy S24 Ultra, S25 Ultra and S26 Ultra also have a 5x. Some phones such as the Galaxy A range and the Z Flip models don’t have a telephoto lens at all, so you’ll have to move closer to your subject or crop in from a 50MP main camera photo (works best in good light).

Scene Optimizer is now called Scene detection in One UI 9. Find it in Camera settings under Photo enhancer. Samsung’s old support page mentions it can recognise a number of scenes including night scenes and street scenes.

What goes wrong on the road

• Blurry images? Tired of blurry photos? Take a look at your camera lens! If it’s smudged with fingerprints, clean it, as Samsung’s user guide advises.
• Running out of space? Motion photos can take up quite a bit, as each photo also saves a short video of the moments before and after you press the shutter button, Samsung’s guide says. Tap the Motion photos icon at the top of the viewfinder to turn them off.
• Photos of tourist attractions with other tourists in them? Get there early! Or use Object eraser to remove them (or Photo assist’s AI-powered eraser in Gallery for the odd one out). Our Object Eraser guide explains both.
• Hold your phone close to the train window and increase the shutter speed.

Editing and backing up on the road

Straighten and correct brightness and contrast using the Gallery app’s editing tools (pencil icon). To make the same changes to many photos at once, use Snapseed’s new Batch Edit option (as of version 4.0, according to 9to5Google).

Each evening while travelling, upload images to a cloud storage service or laptop. See our guide to moving photos to a PC for information on wireless and cable connectivity. See our landscape guide for information on selecting a lens for big views.