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While both the Huawei Mate 20 and the Mate 20 have two cameras, none of them shoot only in monochrome, marking the end of a fantastic era for smartphone photography. Ever since Huawei first partnered with expert camera Leica, a monochrome lens has been added to the lens, giving us the wonderful ability to shoot photos in pure, unadulterated black and white. On the Mate 20 series, this lens has been replaced by the lens, and we are excited for the creative possibilities, the monochrome lens will be missed.
For many people, me included, smartphones have been entering the world of photography. While we may have experimented with regular cameras in the past, any untapped photographic talent or burgeoning will only be manifested because of the phone in our pocket. This means the phone's camera will have prompted experimentation, and influenced growth. Hyperbola? No, because that's what the Huawei P9 monochrome lens, Huawei P10, Mate Pro 10, the Mate RS, and Pro P20 did for me, and why I wanted to write what could be called an obituary.
However, like all the best obituaries, it will really be a celebration.
Monochrome and me
My first monochrome photo taken with the Huawei P10 was snapped on February 25, 2017. Two days after, a professional photographer taught me a little about how to capture beautiful shots in black and white. This session resulted in a member of the DT Mobile team taking what I think of the best photos of me in existence, and it's in black and white.
Despite dabbling with the mode on the Huawei P9, this was the start of my love affair with the Huawei's monochrome camera.
Since then, a Huawei camera with a monochrome lens has accompanied me on many trips, and my favorite pictures taken are often taken in black and white. In China, it captured the super modern buildings in stark detail, while the neon in Las Vegas seemed to shine more brightly. The Grand Canyon looked like the surface of the Moon, the sharp lines of the Wall Street were influenced and the Louvre in Paris took a magical look. From a late night whiskey bar in London, to a nighttime photo tour of Frankfurt, a unique atmosphere was always captured, or created, photographing in black and white.
On a photo tour of Frankfurt, photographer Bobby Anwar was a teaching about how to take low-light pictures, and monochrome was heavily featured. A life-long Leica fan, Anwar commented on the time the monochrome lens made Huawei's camera phones stand out. Seeing what was possible at the time was so influential personally, and it became a joke that if I was taking a photo, there was a good chance it was a monochrome shot.
I'm not saying monochrome worked everywhere, at all times. For every monochrome photo, the color was usually taken at the same time, because the atmosphere has changed. For me, stripping away the color is revealed more about the scene than it was, and made me want to try it out, just to see what the end result would be like. It sparked creativity in an organic, immensely satisfying way.
I'm not the only one. Digital Trends' photography writer Daven Mathies used the P20 Pro on a visit to Leica's headquarters, and wrote, "We enjoyed the monochrome mode so much that we probably used it for half of the photos we made on the trip."
Monochrome, and Leica
The photographers among you will already know the appeal of black and white photos, and most of them will know the many famous, striking images – especially portraits – that have been published in black and white over the years. This article is about the history, influence, or impact of monochrome photography. It is a celebration of Huawei and Leica bringing a true monochrome lens to a smartphone.
Leica and black and white photography are synonymous with each other, to the point it produces a digital, black-and-white-only camera. Those black and white portraits we're all familiar with? Many will have been taken with a Leica camera. Through my own personal love of it, I can easily see the creativity of all those master photographers.
Huawei clearly thinks that it is more likely that it is more of a headline friendly.
It also illustrates the close working relationship between Leica and Huawei. While there are technical reasons for the lens, it is not essential, and Huawei clearly believes in it. It was right to, as the peer created what is one of the best smartphone cameras we've ever used.
However, change was afoot at Huawei. The monochrome photo mode, a feature of the United Kingdom, was made easier with each new version of the software, resulting in a submenu. It still worked as usual, and could shoot in aperture mode for spectacular bokeh-style photos. But you would not stumble across it. You had to go looking.
What happened?
Leica and Huawei have a long history of monochrome is an important part of the company's products. On Huawei phones it's not just a feature, the monochrome lens worked in conjunction with the camera to gather images and enhance its photos. Why has the monochrome lens been removed from the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro? Huawei told Digital Trends the feature is more likely, and more importantly, from the other lenses. The monochrome lens had outlived its usefulness. Swapping it out for an ultra-wide lens makes sense.
It's the end, but not entirely. Dig in the camera app on the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro and you'll still find a monochrome mode, only this time it allows a filter, just like the black and white mode on every other smartphone camera out there. Huawei promised us that Leica has made it to the world, and there is a little difference between it and a dedicated lens. We believe this, and it is unlikely that Leica would put its name in a substandard monochrome filter.
But it's not quite the same. Put a shot taken with the P20 Pro's monochrome lens alongside a black and white filter shot taken by another phone, and the differences are slight, they are there. It mostly has to do with crispness, depth, and pin-sharp contrast. Plus, there's knowing you're not taking a picture with a filter. It's the real thing. Sweeteners make your tea taste sweet, but there is no substitute for a real cube of actual sugar.
It's the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one. Monochrome shooting photos with the P20 Pro, the P10, Mate RS, and the Mate 10 Pro has genuinely changed my appreciation of photography. I've taken. They are not masterpieces, but they do represent the amount of enjoyment of this feature feature.
I'm sorry to see you, but excited for the future. Ultimately, if Leica approves of its new monochrome filter on the Mate 20, I'm sure I will too.
The views are here of the author and do not reflect the beliefs of Digital Trends.
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