Last weekend I had the incredible opportunity to visit the beautiful city of Budapest. Even better, I was able to attend the biggest game of club football this season – the UEFA Champions League Final, featuring French side Paris Saint-Germain and England’s Arsenal. Oppo, which is an official global partner of UEFA for the tournament, offered me tickets to the game, so I thought I’d use the opportunity to test the Find X9 Ultra’s camera and the teleconverter from its Earth Explorer kit and see how well it could serve me on my trip.
Now don’t expect any in-depth image quality analysis or conclusions here – my colleagues have already examined that camera’s performance in our review, which you can find here. But if you fancy seeing some beautiful photos of the game or the picturesque Hungarian capital, read on. All images are taken directly from the phone in default JPG format, with no post-processing applied to them.
Before the game I was able to do some touristy things and explore the historical sites around Budapest, starting with the Fisherman’s Bastion. Located on a hilltop near Buda Castle, the UNESCO heritage site provides beautiful views of the city.
The next stop was St. Stephen’s Basilica – the largest church in the city and one of the most richly decorated holy places. The interior is truly luxurious, but it’s also dimly lit, providing an excellent testing ground for the Find X9 Ultra.
With a sigh of relief I got to watch a 5v5 exhibition match featuring one of the most respected and most decorated midfield players of all time – Claude Makelele – and Arsenal legend Theo Walcott. It took place as part of the Champions Festival, which UEFA organizes each year in the final host city, where fans from around the world gather to enjoy various football themed-experiences as warm-up for the main event.
Next stop was the Liberty Bridge, with its art nouveau design and yellow trams, which provided some great photo-snapping opportunities.
Finally, we took a cruise on the Danube River, which allowed us to see the magnificent Parliament Building, which looked even better with its dramatic lighting.
The next day it was finally time to go to the Puskas Arena for the game. The 300mm teleconverter came into play here and I used it for most photos and videos.
It all started with a pre-game show by the Killers, after which both teams took the field.
Kai Havertz scored Arsenal’s first goal of the game in the sixth minute of the early break. After this, PSG tried to create pressure, but could not get clear chances to score.
Kai Havertz gives Arsenal the lead
some moments from the first part
The French team were denied a penalty after the ball hit Bukayo Saka in the hands of Bukayo Saka following a mistimed clearance attempt, as the referee deemed the touch unintentional.
Much of the same happened in the second half until Cristian Mosquera eventually brought down Khvicha Kvaratshekelia in the penalty box and the referee awarded a penalty to PSG. Ousmane Dembele equalized and it appeared the momentum was clearly changing, but Arsenal’s defensive masterclass continued.
Dembele sent Raya the wrong way and equalized from the spot
The action was still mostly in Arsenal’s half, but the Gooners once again performed brilliantly in defence, limiting scoring opportunities for the French.
The game went to penalties, where a brilliant save from Arsenal goalkeeper Raya canceled out Eze’s miss. Eventually, Gabriel sent his tenth penalty high above the goal, sealing the fate of the trophy, which would remain in Paris for another year.
Penalty shootout and awards ceremony
So how did you guys find those shots? Click on the comment section to share your views on them.