Google Pixel 5’s weak camera leads me to iPhone 12

For years, I have used Google Pixels and Apple iPhones for my daily smartphone photography needs. For most shots, I’ve relied on Pixels because of Google’s pioneering computational photography software, which gets superior image quality with limited hardware. My current iPhone, an XS Max, has been relegated to times when I needed a telephoto lens.

Two recent smartphone launches – Google’s Pixel 5 and Apple iPhone 12 – have changed their minds. The mid-range camera hardware on the Pixel 5 and the high-end camera lineup on the iPhone 12 Pro Max, along with the device’s large image sensor and new software options, are pushing me into the Apple camp. .

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I’ve been impressed by Google’s ability to turn cutting-edge image processing research into superior smartphone photos. Google demonstrated how profoundly computers can modernize cameras as it outperformed its smartphone rivals and traditional camera makers.

Google’s decision to build a mid-range phone with just two cameras seems like an abandonment. There’s just no way to make up for the multiple cameras that rivals like Samsung, Huawei, and Apple employ. Sure, rivals haven’t necessarily matched all of Google’s camera software, but Google is nowhere near their hardware.

Telephoto vs. Ultra Wide Cameras

In 2019, Google’s Pixel 4 took a step forward by adding a second rear-facing camera, a telephoto option for distant subjects. That was the same year that Apple added a third camera to its high-end iPhone 11 Pro models, an ultra-wide camera that sat alongside its main and telephoto cameras.

Google tried to match Apple’s prowess this year by replacing the telephoto camera with an ultra-wide camera on the Pixel 5. But Apple made major camera improvements with its iPhone 12 Pro, including a larger image sensor, a telephoto lens of longer range, improved image stabilization to counter shaky hands, Dolby Vision HDR video at 60 frames per second, and Apple’s more flexible ProRaw format. It is clear that Apple is investing enormous resources in better photos.

Google may have made the right decision for the broad market. I suspect that ultrawide cameras are better for smartphone customers than telephoto. Ultra-wide cameras for group shots, indoor scenes and video are arguably more useful than telephoto cameras for portraits and mountains.

But I want both. I enjoy the different perspectives. In fact, for a few years I usually only carried telephoto and ultrawide lenses for my DSLR.

In response to my concerns, Google says it has improved the Super Res Zoom technique for digital zooming on the Pixel 5 with better computational photography and AI techniques that can now be increased up to a factor of 7X. The idea was

“We carefully study to determine what is really important to people, and then we focus on that – and we cut literally hundreds of dollars in the process,” said camera product manager Isaac Reynolds. Having a telephoto camera would have helped image quality, but Google’s priority this year “was to produce a phone that compared well to the high-end but at a much lower price, and we did.”

I’m not so convinced. When shooting even at 2X telephoto zoom, my 2-year-old iPhone XS Max and 1-year-old Pixel 4 offer far superior images compared to the Pixel 5.

What I like so far about Pixel 5 cameras

I want to be clear: Google’s new phone has its merits, and I’ve experienced some of those strengths while testing the Pixel 5 cameras in the last few days. Here are some:

• Google’s Computational RAW offers photo enthusiasts the best of both worlds when it comes to photo formats. It combines the exposure and color flexibility of raw photographic data with the exposure range and noise reduction of multi-shot HDR + processing typically used to make a JPEG.
• Double tapping the power button on the phone launches the camera app quickly. It’s not new to the Pixel 5, but it’s a lot faster than the iPhone’s lock screen icon.
• Night Sight, particularly the astrophotography mode, is still amazing for low-light shots.

Google also pointed to other advantages of the Pixel 5, including the portrait light ability to control the apparent light source that illuminates a subject’s face; portrait shots that work in Night Sight mode; 4K video now running at a fast 60 frames per second, more advanced high dynamic range processing called HDR + which is now enhanced by exposure bracketing for better shadow details such as a backlit face, and better shadow stabilization. video.

Here’s the catch, though: As Google slides into hardware, rivals are improving their software.

Google’s rivals in computational photography are catching up

Apple didn’t comment on its photography plans for this story, but its actions say it all.

Last year, Apple equaled most of the best of Google’s HDR + for challenging scenes with bright and dark elements. This year’s Pixel 5 powers HDR + with bracketing technology in the multi-shot combination technique. However, Apple’s Smart HDR alternative is now in its third generation of refinement. Apple is also improving the night photos of the iPhone.

Photography enthusiasts like me prefer both raw and unprocessed photo formats to be able to adjust color balance, exposure, sharpness, and noise reduction. That’s great for when the camera isn’t making the right decisions by “baking” raw image data into a more convenient but limited JPEG image. Google’s computational raw HDR processing combined with the flexibility of crude, but now Apple plans to release its answer, ProRaw, in an upcoming update to the iPhone Pro models.

Few people use Pixel phones, and that weighs heavily on Google, too. Powerful Adobe imaging software calibrates your Lightroom photo software to correct lens problems and tailor its HDR tool for some cameras and lenses. It’s no wonder Pixel phones aren’t on that list. “We tend to provide support based on the popularity of the devices with our customers,” Adobe said in a statement.

Rather, Adobe is “partnering closely with Apple” to take advantage of ProRaw’s capabilities. And a google Computational photography guru Marc Levoy left Google and is now at Adobe., where you are incorporating photographic technology into the Adobe camera application.

Selling a mid-range smartphone like a Pixel 5 or Pixel 4a 5G might make sense when the COVID-19 pandemic has cost millions of jobs and made a $ 1,099 iPhone Pro Max unaffordable. But for people like me with a photography budget and appreciation for Google’s computational photography savvy, it’s tragic that Google has lost its lead.