Galaxy S26 Ultra Camera Upgrade: F/1.4 Aperture for Better Shots

Samsung is preparing a significant camera upgrade for the Galaxy S26 Ultra, with leaks confirming a wider f/1.4 aperture on its main 200MP camera. This improvement over the Galaxy S25…

By Hardik Dhamija

November 20, 2025

2 min read

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Samsung is preparing a significant camera upgrade for the Galaxy S26 Ultra, with leaks confirming a wider f/1.4 aperture on its main 200MP camera. This improvement over the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s f/1.7 aperture promises dramatically better low-light photography and enhanced detail capture.

Major Low-Light Photography Improvement

Reliable tipster Ice Universe recently shared image file properties from a Galaxy S26 Ultra test unit, revealing the f/1.4 aperture specification. While Samsung continues using the same 200MP ISOCELL HP2 sensor for the fourth consecutive generation, the wider aperture represents the most significant imaging upgrade since the Galaxy S20 Ultra.

Camera Specifications Comparison

Feature	Galaxy S26 Ultra	Galaxy S25 Ultra
Main Camera	200MP ISOCELL HP2	200MP ISOCELL HP2
Aperture	f/1.4	f/1.7
Ultrawide	50MP (f/1.9)	50MP (f/1.9)
3x Telephoto	12MP	10MP
5x Periscope	50MP (f/2.9)	50MP (f/3.4)
Front Camera	12MP	12MP

What the Wider Aperture Means

A wider f/1.4 aperture allows significantly more light to reach the sensor, resulting in:

Brighter night photos with cleaner details
Improved motion handling in low-light scenarios
Natural bokeh effects for portraits and close-ups
Better dynamic range across varying lighting conditions

The periscope telephoto camera may also receive an aperture upgrade from f/3.4 to f/2.9, further enhancing zoom photography capabilities.

Additional Camera Improvements

Beyond aperture enhancements, the Galaxy S26 Ultra will feature variable aperture technology for added versatility. The 3x telephoto sensor gets bumped from 10MP to 12MP, while Samsung’s redesigned image signal processor in the Exynos 2600 chip promises concurrent capture from four sensors and 14-bit RAW support.

Competing with iPhone and Pixel

This upgrade positions the Galaxy S26 Ultra to compete directly with Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro Max and Google’s Pixel flagships, which have dominated low-light photography. For smartphone photography enthusiasts, this represents Samsung’s strongest answer to computational photography leaders.

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is expected to launch in February 2026, likely powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2. Learn more at Samsung’s official website.