While I’m not exactly weirded out by them, I am not a fan of bugs, at all.
But since I got the Samsung Galaxy A71 to review, I thought to test out the phone’s camera chops by getting up close and personal to creepy crawlies and capturing them using the phone’s macro mode.
The new A-series features two phones, the Galaxy A51 and the Galaxy A71. Both come packaged with a 5-megapixel macro lens, along with a host of other impressive specs.
I’ll be rating the creepy crawlies on a Geli-scale of 1-10 to find out which of them creeped me out the most while taking pictures of them.
The images shown in this article were not edited in any way, aside from cropping.
All of the shots of the creepy crawlies are taken with the Galaxy A71 in Macro Mode except the one below.
| Specifications | Samsung Galaxy A51 | Samsung Galaxy A71 |
| Processor | Exynos 9611 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 |
| Storage | 128GB | 128GB |
| Battery | 4,000mAh | 4,500 mAh |
| Camera | Rear: 48MP (Wide), 12MP (Ultra-Wide), 5MP (Macro), 5MP (Depth) Front: 32MP | Rear: 64MP (Wide), 12MP (Ultra-Wide), 5MP (Macro), 5MP (Depth) Front: 32MP |
| Display | 6.5-inch Super AMOLED | 6.7-inch Super AMOLED Plus |
| Dimensions | 158.5 x 73.6 x 7.9 mm | 163.6 x 76.0 x 7.7 mm |
A big thanks to Reptiles Planet & Pet Studio for giving me the chance to photograph their huge roster of reptiles and crawlies.
The owner did inform me that these critters are legal to be sold and they have the necessary documents for them. So, I jumped straight in and captured the first thing on my mind—spiders.
1. Tarantula (Geli-scale: 10/10)
Spiders are definitely the creepiest crawlies in my books, and getting closer to them for this shot did no favours for my fear of them.
This shot was taken through the glass, with the tarantula in the enclosure, as it’s not advisable to handle a tarantula if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Without paying attention to the sheer size of it, I focused (heh) on the hairs on its legs.
I learnt that the joints connecting the legs of the spiders are called trochanters and no, even after taking these shots, I would still never want to touch any of these bad boys.
2. Budgett Frogs (Geli-scale: 5/10)
The store also stocks a few Budgett frogs and without asking why, I originally thought they’re bred to be fed to something else far, far larger, thus the name budget.
They’re actually called Budgett frogs because the breed was discovered by John Samuel Budgett back in 1899.
While they’re not exactly geli to me (my colleague was disgusted by them), the owner told me they’re quite aggressive and would make loud screeching sounds.
Fun fact: It is the frog used in the ‘It is Wednesday, my dudes’ meme.
3. Egyptian Sand Scorpion (Geli-scale: 9/10)
This is probably one of the deadliest creepy-crawlies in this list, so, naturally, I tried my best to get a good shot without being too close to it.
If you look closer, you’d notice the eyes underneath the sting, but scarily enough, scorpions could have up to five pairs of lateral eyes (on the sides).
Naturally, after getting a clear shot, I immediately moved away in fear of being stung. I give it a fear-of-death-scale of 9/10.
4. Three-Horned Chameleon (Geli-scale: 5/10)
While I wouldn’t say that the chameleon is a geli creepy-crawly, I had some trouble capturing a clear shot of it because it kept moving around.
The focus is on the chameleon’s cheeks, so the areas surrounding the cheeks are slightly blurred.
The camera successfully captured the variety of colours the chameleon had. However, the eyes did weird me out a little as it looked like a tiny watermelon.
A chameleon’s eyes can move independently in different directions and its binocular vision allows it to determine the exact location of its prey.
Actually, it was pretty cute and it didn’t look aggressive at all.
5. Ball Python (Geli-scale: 3/10)
Rather than geli, I found this tiny ball python quite cute. The owner was able to handle it safely and assured me that it was safe to do so.
Little fun fact, they’re called ball pythons because they like to curl into a ball and they can live up to 50 years too!
Looking closer, the camera could actually pick up the individual scales on the snake too.
6. Crickets (Geli-scale: 7/10)
Personally, crickets are one of the more geli insects in my own list. Notice the web-like details on the wings of the cricket.
If you put crickets in lower temperatures such as an air-conditioned room it’ll reduce the chances of them chirping. Only male crickets chirp as they use it to attract mates.
7. Albino Iguana (Geli-Scale 5/10)
Albino Iguanas are just like Green Iguanas, just with recessive colour genes. If you look closely at its eyes, you can see a hint of redness to it. The camera on the Galaxy A71 was able to capture the scales of the iguana quite nicely too.
Depending on the species, they could live up to 60 years.
8. Sandfish Skinks (Geli-Scale 4/10)
The sandfish skinks were quite erratic when I tried to take a photo of them. As soon as I opened their enclosure, the skinks quickly disappeared into the sand as they burrowed into it.
In the picture I finally got, one stayed still and even had some sand on its head which was captured by the camera. I could also clearly see the skink’s black and yellow bands around its body.
Just like lizards, if a skink’s tail breaks off, they can be regrown.
What I Think
Of all of these geli looking things, I’m still not a fan of tarantulas. They’re big, hairy, and their eyes are creepy too. I’m definitely fine with the reptiles, just not the insects.
For phones that cost less than RM2,000 (RM1,299 – Galaxy A51 / RM1,799 – Galaxy A71), it performed fairly well when it comes to pictures.
The macro camera could be useful if you’re thinking of taking detailed pictures of flowers or insects. But do note that for macro photography, your subject has to be very still.
If macro photography is not your thing, you could still utilise the Galaxy A71’s 64-megapixel lens to take gorgeous shots. And if you’re into videos, you could record videos in Super Steady Mode that reduces shaky recordings.
Which of the creepy crawlies geli-ed you out the most?
