The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is built around one of the most capable camera systems Samsung has ever put in a phone. Its combination of sensor size, aperture, zoom capability, video codec support, and AI-assisted processing gives it a distinct set of strengths compared to other flagship cameras on the market.This article breaks down where those strengths lie and what they mean in practice. The features that set the Galaxy S26 Ultra camera apart:200MP wide camera, f/1.4: A wider aperture than most flagship competitors, letting in significantly more light for cleaner shots across conditions.50MP 5x telephoto, f/2.9: A dedicated long-zoom lens with a brighter aperture than is typical at this focal length.Advanced Selfie (AI ISP): A dedicated AI processor for the front camera that improves skin tone and texture accuracy in difficult lighting.Nightography[1]: Samsung’s suite of low-light optimisations across photo and video, backed by the f/1.4 wide camera and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy NPU.APV codec: A professional-grade video format that captures more colour information and detail than standard smartphone video formats.Super Steady with Horizontal Lock[2]: Advanced video stabilisation that keeps footage level even during movement.How does the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s wide camera compare to other flagships?The Galaxy S26 Ultra’s wide camera uses a 200MP sensor with an f/1.4 aperture. The f/1.4 aperture is wider than what most other flagship smartphones offer on their wide cameras. It lets in 47% more light than the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s f/1.7 lens.More light reaching the sensor means the camera has more to work with before any processing begins. That benefits sharpness, colour accuracy, and noise levels in a wide range of shooting conditions.Most flagship cameras use a default shooting resolution that combines multiple pixels into one for cleaner output. The Galaxy S26 Ultra does the same with its 12MP default mode, but the high sensor resolution gives it additional flexibility.A dedicated 24MP mode, enabled via Camera Assistant, sits between the default and full 200MP output and offers more detail for shots where you need to crop or capture finer textures without the constraints of maximum resolution shooting.How does the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s telephoto compare?Telephoto performance is one of the areas where the Galaxy S26 Ultra is most clearly differentiated. It has two telephoto lenses: a 10MP 3x lens and a dedicated 50MP 5x telephoto with an f/2.9 aperture. The 50MP resolution at 5x gives it significantly more detail at zoom distances than competitors, which typically use lower-resolution sensors on their telephoto cameras.The f/2.9 aperture on the 5x lens is also wider than is common at this focal length, letting in 37% more light than the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s equivalent. In practice this means the 5x lens maintains usable image quality in lower light conditions where many flagship telephoto cameras would need to rely more heavily on processing to compensate. Having both a 3x and a 5x lens also means the Galaxy S26 Ultra can cover intermediate zoom distances with optical rather than digital zoom, which preserves more detail.How does the Galaxy S26 Ultra handle low-light photography and video?Nightography is Samsung’s approach to low-light photography and video on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, and it draws on both hardware and processing. On the hardware side, the f/1.4 wide camera and f/2.9 telephoto bring in more light than most competing cameras at equivalent focal lengths. On the processing side, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy’s NPU handles noise reduction and detail preservation in real time.The combination is most visible in video. Where many flagship cameras produce noticeably noisier footage in dim conditions, the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s Nightography processing keeps video cleaner and more detailed without the artificial smoothing that can make low-light footage look over-processed. That applies to both the wide and telephoto cameras, giving the Galaxy S26 Ultra more versatility in low-light shooting than cameras that only optimise their main lens for these conditions.What is the Advanced Selfie (AI ISP) on the Galaxy S26 Ultra?The Galaxy S26 Ultra includes a dedicated Advanced Selfie (AI Image Signalling Processor) that handles front camera processing separately from the main image pipeline. Most smartphone front cameras rely on the same processing pipeline as the rear cameras, which is not specifically optimised for portrait-distance shots of faces in challenging lighting.The Advanced Selfie (AI ISP) is tuned specifically for selfie scenarios. It analyses skin tones and textures in real time and adjusts the processing to preserve natural detail rather than smoothing everything to a uniform finish. The difference is most visible in low light and backlit situations. That's where front cameras typically struggle to balance exposure between a face and a bright background. The Advanced Selfie (AI ISP) gives the Galaxy S26 Ultra an advantage in these conditions that is difficult to achieve without dedicated hardware.What is the APV codec and why does it matter for video?The Galaxy S26 Ultra supports the APV (Advanced Professional Video) codec. APV is a professional-grade video format that captures significantly more colour and tonal information than the H.264 and H.265 formats used by most smartphones. Most flagship cameras compress video aggressively during recording, which permanently discards colour and detail information that cannot be recovered in editing.APV retains much more of this information. That gives videographers and editors more latitude to adjust colour grading, exposure, and detail in post-production without the footage breaking down. The Galaxy S26 Ultra also supports log video recording, which captures a flat, low-contrast image specifically designed to for colour grading afterward. Together, APV and log video give the Galaxy S26 Ultra a video workflow that is closer to what professional camera systems offer, and that most competing smartphones do not match.How does Super Steady with Horizontal Lock compare to stabilisation on other flagships?Super Steady with Horizontal Lock addresses one of the most common problems with smartphone video: footage that tilts or rolls when the phone moves or rotates. Standard optical image stabilisation smooths out shake but does not correct for rotation, which means handheld video often shows the horizon drifting as you walk or turn.Horizontal Lock keeps the footage level relative to the horizon regardless of how the phone moves. This is particularly useful for action footage, walking shots, and any situation where the phone changes orientation during recording. Most flagship stabilisation systems correct for movement but not rotation, making this a meaningful practical difference for anyone who shoots handheld video regularly.The Galaxy S26 Ultra also supports 4K video at up to 120fps, giving it high frame rate capability at a resolution that most competing cameras cap at 60fps. This combination of resolution, frame rate, stabilisation, and codec support puts the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s video capabilities ahead of most flagship competitors in terms of raw output quality and post-production flexibility.[1] Nightography: Results may vary depending on light condition, subject and/or shooting conditions.[2] Super Steady: Super Steady results may vary depending on editing method and/or shooting conditions.