[October 25, KOREA WAVE]Samsung Electronics’ smartphone “Galaxy S22 Ultra” has been popular among people in their teens and twenties in Korea recently. This is because it has a maximum magnification of 100 times, allowing you to take clear photos of your favorite celebrities even from a distance. If you search for “Galaxy S22” on social media such as Twitter, you will immediately see posts saying that it is “available for rental.”

The average cost of renting a Galaxy S22 Ultra for a day is around 60,000 won. In addition, an additional 60,000 to 70,000 won is required as a deposit, but this will be returned if there are no problems when returning the device.

Young people are even paying the rental fee to rent the Galaxy S22 Ultra, and it is for the sake of their “otaku activities” (being passionate about a certain field and collecting or digging into related items). They plan to use the Galaxy S22 Ultra to take pictures of their favorite celebrities and put them into their collection.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra shoots at 10x optical magnification. You can zoom in up to 10x without losing image quality. With the addition of digital zoom, you can zoom in up to 100x.

With the iPhone, you can take photos up to 15x magnification with digital zoom in addition to the 3x optical zoom standard for professional models.

Many reviews have been posted on social media, such as, “Everyone, when you go to a concert, be sure to borrow a Galaxy S22 Ultra,” and “I bought a Galaxy S22 Ultra to go to the concert.” In fact, when you watch these videos, the singer on stage, who looks very small from the far-away audience, looks close up as if it was taken right in front of you when you zoom in.

Until now, there was a “tick-tock” (photography geek) culture of taking photos of idols with a DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera with a long lens, known as a “cannon camera.” However, because cameras are expensive and inconvenient to carry around, it seems that a demand has arisen for a more convenient “phone camera” (portable camera).

With the lifting of social distancing measures due to the new coronavirus, the number of concerts is increasing, and the popularity of Galaxy S22 Ultra rentals is expected to continue.

(c)MONEYTODAY/KOREA WAVE/AFPBB News