Monochrome
The Huawei P9/P10 might have grabbed all the attention with its monochrome mode featuring a tie-up with Leica, but if you are looking for some serious colorless photography, the Honor 8 Pro can deliver a serious dollop there. And this is because just like the P9, one of the dual cameras on its back is a monochrome one. Yes, it ensures sharper detail when working in combination with the other camera and stunning low light shots, but go to Monochrome mode and all your photography happens through the dedicated monochrome lens, bringing back memories of another day and another era. It’s running black and white. The sort of black and white that no filter or special effect can get you.
Wide Aperture
No, you will not find it marked in the shooting modes, but when you use the default mode (called “Photo”), you will see a small shutter icon right on top of the interface. We will keep the tech out of it (read our story on Bokeh if you want details), and simply say that when you tap the shutter icon, a small slider appears on the side of the viewfinder, allowing you to blur out part of the background. Move it up or down as per your needs, and you will get sharp images with the background blurred out, like a DSLR. That’s the magic of dual cameras. A word of advice: use this mode only for taking pictures of objects or people that are relatively close.
Good food
Want to make that coffee of yours look a little richer in color? Or make your pizza toppings pop right out of the picture? Simply head to the Good food mode of the Honor 8 Pro. Yes, it can be accused of making food look more delicious than it actually might be, and we would not recommend using it with people (unless you are sharing the pictures with cannibals or Hannibal Lecter for that matter), but this is a mode that screams “foodporn” for those who love snapping their food as much as eating it.
Audio Note
No, we are not talking about activating the camera by saying something to it. So what exactly is this? Simple enough. The camera app on the Honor 8 Pro allows you to add 10 seconds of audio to a picture after you have clicked it. Kind of like a spoken caption. Does not sound like a big deal? Take our word for it; you will get addicted to it once you start using it.
Knock and Draw!
This mode may not be out there in the list of camera modes, but that does not stop it from being super useful in our books. Go to Smart Assistance in the Honor 8 Pro’s settings, and then head to Motion Control. Once there, go to Knuckle Gestures, and opt for “Draw.” All you have to do is specify a particular letter to an application, and drawing that letter will launch that application. We made it C for the camera. And now to launch the camera on the Honor 8 Pro, irrespective of which we are using at the time, all we have to do is knock on the device’s display and draw the letter C on it with our knuckles. Presto, the camera launches.
Pro Photo
This is not for the faint of heart. And well, can be actually complex for the uninitiated. However, if you are interested in photography and love fiddling with the controls of “real” cameras (look, the ones on the 8 Pro are real enough), then just head to the Pro Photo mode. Here you can adjust Metering, ISO, Shutter exposure time, white balance and even switch between one shot autofocus, manual focus, and continuous autofocus. No, it is not as complex as it sounds. Yes, it is every bit as powerful as the DSLR experts claim it to be.
