When I heard Google boast in regards to the Pixel 7 Pro smartphone’s “pro-level zoom” and assert that the cellphone’s images options can problem conventional cameras, my ears pricked up. I’m a type of critical photographers who hauls round a cumbersome digicam and a bunch of lenses, however I like smartphone images too, so I made a decision to check these claims.At its October launch occasion, Google touted the Pixel 7 Pro’s telephoto zoom for magnifying distant topics, its Tensor G2-powered AI processing, its quicker Night Sight for low-light scenes and a brand new macro skill for closeup images. “It cleverly combines state-of-the-art hardware, software and machine learning to create amazing zoom photos across any magnification,” Pixel digicam {hardware} chief Alexander Schiffhauer stated on the cellphone’s launch occasion.As you may think, I obtained higher outcomes from my “real” digicam tools, which might price $10,000 if bought new at the moment. Even although my Canon 5D Mark IV is now 6 years previous, it is laborious to beat an enormous picture sensor and massive lenses in relation to shade, sharpness, element and a large dynamic vary spanning shiny and darkish tones.But the Pixel 7 Pro’s photographic flexibility challenges my digicam setup higher than every other cellphone I’ve used, even outperforming my DSLR in some circumstances and incomes a “stellar” score from CNET editor Andrew Lanxon. While my digicam and 4 lenses fill a complete backpack, Google’s smartphone matches in my pocket. And after all that $900 smartphone lets me share a selfie, verify my e mail, pay for the groceries and sort out the each day crossword puzzle.
Google’s 2022 flagship mannequin contains among the finest digicam and imaging options you may discover on a smartphone proper now.
Read our Pixel 7 Pro evaluation.
With the regular annual enchancment in smartphone digicam {hardware} and picture processing, a smartphone is not only a better-than-nothing digicam. These little slices of electronics are more and more in a position to nail necessary pictures and open up new inventive potentialities for individuals who are discovering the rewards of images.I’ll maintain hauling my DSLR on hikes and household outings. But as a result of I will not at all times have it with me, the Pixel 7 Pro — specifically its zoom and low-light skills — means I will not be as fearful about lacking the shot after I do not.My Canon 5D Mark IV, which prices $2,700 new today, most frequently has the $1,900 Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens mounted. I additionally use the $2,400 EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM for telephoto pictures, the $1,300 ultrawide EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM zoom, the $1,300 EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM for closeups, and the $429 Extender EF 1.4X III for extra telephoto attain when photographing birds. Here’s how that gear stacks up towards the Pixel 7 Pro’s 0.5x ultrawide, 1x major digicam and 5x telephoto digicam.
Now taking part in:
Watch this:
Pixel 7 Pro Review: Google’s Best Phone Gets Better
10:14
Google Pixel 7 Pro vs. Canon 5D Mark IV, major digicamWith loads of gentle, the Pixel 7 Pro’s 24mm major digicam does job capturing shade and element in its 12-megapixel photographs. Check the comparisons right here (and observe that my DSLR shoots in a extra elongated 3:2 facet ratio than the Pixel 7 Pro’s 4:3).Pixel peeping reveals the cellphone cannot maintain a candle to my 30-megapixel DSLR in relation to element. If you are printing posters or want quite a lot of element for picture modifying, a contemporary DSLR or mirrorless digicam is price it. But 12 megapixels is loads for many functions. Check the beneath cropped photographs to see what is going on on up shut.Google missed an opportunity to shoot even increased decision images than my 30-megapixel DSLR, although. The Pixel 7 Pro’s major digicam has a 50-megapixel sensor. It takes 12-megapixel images utilizing an strategy referred to as pixel binning that mixes every 2×2 pixel group on the sensor into one successfully bigger pixel. That means higher shade and low-light efficiency when capturing at 24mm. But you need to use these 50 megapixels in a different way by skipping the pixel binning and capturing within the sensor’s full decision when there’s enough gentle. That’s precisely what Apple does with the iPhone 14 Pro digicam, and I want Google did the identical.Pixel 7 Pro vs. DSLR, individuals and petsThe Pixel 7 Pro was succesful at portrait images. I desire capturing uncooked and modifying the pictures myself as a result of I generally discover the Pixel 7 Pro makes faces look slightly too processed, and I discover its shade steadiness a bit cool for my tastes. With the principle digicam, the Pixel 7 Pro does a reasonably good job discovering faces, monitoring them and staying centered. For 2022, the Pixel 7 Pro now can discover particular person eyes, the perfect focus level of a digicam and a weak level on my older DSLR.On this comparability, I discover the DSLR did a greater job with pores and skin tones, however the Pixel 7 Pro capably uncovered the face in difficult lighting.Using the Pixel 7 Pro’s portrait mode, which artificially blurs picture backgrounds, I discover the processing artifacts distracting, particularly with flyaway hair, although that is not an issue with the instance beneath. The shot is workable for fast sharing and appears fantastic on smaller screens, however I would not make a print of it. For the DSLR shot, I used my Sigma 35mm f1.4 lens, capturing large open at f1.4 for the smoothest potential background blur. It’s a lot better than the Pixel 7 Pro, although its shallow depth of discipline blurs the palms and plastic toys.For pets, the Pixel 7 Pro once more did a fantastic job discovering and specializing in eyes. Here’s my canine, up shut. The major digicam at 1x zoom, or 24mm, is not excellent for single topics, although, and the digicam’s efficiency at 2x is not as robust, so bear that in thoughts.To see how far more element my SLR can seize — so long as I get focus proper — verify the cropped views beneath. And observe that new mirrorless cameras from Sony, Nikon and Canon do job with eye monitoring for simpler focus.DSLR vs. Pixel 7 Pro, telephoto camerasTelephoto lenses amplify extra distant topics, and the Pixel 7 Pro has a exceptional vary for a smartphone. Its sensors can shoot at 2x, 5x and 10x zoom modes with minimal processing trickery. It’ll shoot at intermediate settings with varied combos of cropping and multi-camera picture compositing that I discover pretty convincing. Then it reaches as much as 30x with Google’s AI-infused upscaling expertise, referred to as Super Res Zoom. Here’s the identical scene shot throughout the Pixel 7 Pro’s full vary from supertelephoto 30x to ultrawide 0.5x:The Pixel 7 Pro’s zoom vary reaches from 0.5x to 10x capturing on the native decision of its three cameras, then extends to 30x with Google’s picture processing expertise. That’s an equal of 12mm to 720mm in standard full-frame digicam phrases.
Stephen Shankland/CNET
The picture high quality is fairly unhealthy by the point you attain 30x zoom, an equal of 720mm. But even my costly DSLR gear solely reaches 560mm most, and venturing past 10x on the Pixel 7 Pro could be justified in lots of circumstances. Not each picture needs to be ok high quality to make an 8×10 print.Bigger telephoto photographyTelephoto lenses are huge, which is why these professional photographers at NFL video games haul round monopods to assist their hulking optics. Canon’s RF 400mm f/2.8 L IS USM lens, fashionable on the sidelines, weighs greater than six kilos, measures greater than 14 inches lengthy, and prices greater than my complete assortment of cameras and lenses. My Canon 100-400mm zoom is smaller and cheaper however does not let in as a lot gentle, however it’s nonetheless gargantuan in contrast with the Pixel 7 Pro. I’m delighted to have the ability to seize helpful telephoto pictures on a Pixel cellphone, an choice that beforehand was accessible solely on rival Android telephones from Samsung and others. Google exploits the Pixel 7 Pro’s 50-megapixel major digicam sensor for step one up the telephoto lens ladder, a 2x zoom stage good for portraits. The Pixel 7 Pro makes use of simply the central 12 megapixels to seize a 12-megapixel picture in 2x telephoto mode, an equal focal size of 48mm.The devoted telephoto digicam kicks in at 5x zoom, an equal of 120mm. Instead of a cumbersome telephoto protuberance, Google makes use of a prism to bend gentle 90 levels so the mandatory lens size and 48-megapixel picture sensor could be tucked sideways inside the Pixel 7 Pro’s thicker “camera bar” part. It can also use the central megapixels in its 10x mode, or 240mm, an choice I believe is terrific. This San Francisco architectural sight beneath is fairly good:Using AI and software program processing to zoom additional, the digicam can attain 20x and even 30x zoom, which interprets to 480mm and 720mm. By comparability, my DSLR reaches 560mm with my 1.4x telephoto extender.My DSLR would have trounced the Pixel 7 Pro for this scene of Bay Area fog lapping up towards the Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Francisco, shot someplace between 15x and 20x. (I want Google would write zoom stage metadata into images the best way my Canon information lens focal size settings.) But guess what? I used to be mountain biking and did not take my DSLR. The finest digicam is the one you will have, because the saying goes.San Francisco Bay Area fog lapping up towards the Santa Cruz Mountains, photographed right here at about 20x zoom with the Pixel 7 Pro, is a helpful if flawed picture.
Stephen Shankland/CNET
Back at 10x zoom, I used to be happy with this shot beneath of my pal Joe mountain biking. I’ve photographed individuals on this very spot earlier than with smartphones, and this was the primary time I wasn’t annoyed with the outcomes.A Pixel 7 Pro picture of a mountain biker taken at 10x zoom
Stephen Shankland/CNET
Google’s optics and picture processing strategies are intelligent however not magical. The Pixel 7 Pro produces a 12-megapixel picture, however the farther past 10x you shoot, the extra you may cringe at its blotchy particulars that look extra like a watercolor portray. That’s the glass-is-half-empty view. I’m really on the glass-is-half-full aspect, appreciating what you are able to do and recognizing that quite a lot of images can be seen on smaller screens. Image high quality of 10x is respectable, and that alone is a serious achievement.Here’s a comparability of a rooftop social gathering photographed with the Pixel 7 Pro at 30x, or 720mm equal, and my digicam at 560mm, however cropped in to match the cellphone’s framing. The DSLR does higher, after all. Even cropped, it is an 18-megapixel picture.Practical limits on Pixel 7 Pro’s telephoto camerasTo actually train the cellphone, I toted it to see the US Navy’s Blue Angels flight show over San Francisco. Buildings and fog blocking my view made images robust, however I discovered new limitations to the Pixel 7 Pro.Fiddling with display screen controls to hit 10x or extra zoom is gradual. Framing fast-moving topics on a smartphone display screen is tough, even with assistance from the miniature wider-angle view that Google pops into the scene and its AI-assisted stabilization expertise. Focus can be comparatively pokey. With my DSLR, I may quickly discover the jets within the sky, lock focus, observe them as they flew and shoot a burst of pictures.I did not get a single good picture of the Blue Angels with the Pixel 7 Pro. Google’s “pro-level zoom” works a lot better with stationary topics.DSLR vs. Pixel 7 Pro, capturing in the dead of nightHere’s the place the Pixel 7 Pro beats out a vastly dearer digicam. There’s no method you possibly can maintain a digicam regular for 6 seconds, however Pixel telephones in impact can because of computational images methods that Google pioneered. Google takes a group of images, utilizing AI to guage when your palms are most nonetheless, then combines these particular person frames into one shot. It’s the premise of its Night Sight function, which I’ve used many instances and, at its excessive, powers an astrophotography mode I’ve used to take 4-minute exposures of the evening sky. Below is a comparability of a nighttime scene with the Pixel 7 Pro at 1x, the place it is best at gathering gentle, and my DSLR with its 24-70mm f2.8 lens. The DSLR has extra element up shut, however the Pixel 7 Pro does nicely, and its deeper depth of discipline means the leaves within the foreground aren’t a smeary mess.Here’s a comparability of a 2x zoom picture with the Pixel 7 Pro and the most effective I may do handheld with my 24-70mm f2.8 lens. The longer your zoom, the tougher it’s to carry a digicam regular, and even with my elbows on a railing to regular the digicam, the Pixel 7 Pro shot was vastly simpler to seize. I needed to crank my DSLR’s sensitivity to ISO 12,800 to get the shutter pace all the way down to 1/8sec, and even then, many of the images had been duds. Image stabilization helps, however this lens does not have it.Just for kicks, I used a tripod to take three exposure-bracketed pictures with my DSLR and merged them right into a single HDR (excessive dynamic vary) picture in Adobe’s Lightroom software program. The longest publicity was 30 seconds. That’s how a lot effort it took to beat a Night Sight picture I took simply standing there holding the cellphone for 6 seconds. Check the comparability beneath.Here’s the place my DSLR utterly trounced the Pixel 7 Pro, even with Night Sight, although: the practically full moon. Here’s the Pixel 7 Pro at 30x zoom vs. my DSLR at 560mm, cropped so the framing matches.DSLR vs. Pixel 7 Pro, ultrawideGoogle made the ultrawide lens on the Pixel 7 Pro an excellent wider discipline of view in contrast with final yr. What you want is a matter of private desire, however I respect the dramatic perspective that you may seize with a really large angle. When I do not want it, the 24mm major digicam nonetheless qualifies as large angle.Here’s a comparability of a scene shot with the Pixel 7 Pro and my DSLR’s 16-35mm ultrawide zoom.DSLR vs. PIxel 7 Pro, macroThe new ultrawide digicam now has autofocus {hardware}, and that opens up the world of macro images for close-up topics. Apple’s iPhone Pro fashions obtained this skill in 2021, and I’ve liked macro images for years as a option to shoot flowers, mushrooms, toys and different small topics, so I’m delighted to see it on the higher-end Pixel telephones.As with the iPhone, although, the macro is beneficial so long as the topic matches within the central portion of the body. Note on this comparability beneath how blurred the picture will get towards the periphery of this butterfly coaster with the Pixel 7 Pro.No, it is not so good as my DSLR. But with macro skills, Night Sight and a zoom vary from ultrawide to tremendous telephoto, the Pixel 7 Pro is extra than simply helpful for snapshots. It allows you to begin exploring a a lot larger a part of images’s inventive realm.