The Google Pixel 5’s weak camera brings me to the iPhone...

I have been using Google Pixel and Apple iPhones for my daily smartphone photography needs for years. I have relied on pixels primarily because Google’s groundbreaking computer photography software is bringing superior image quality out of limited hardware. My current iPhone, the XS Max, has been banned in situations where I needed a telephoto lens. But two recent smartphone launches – from Google Pixel 5 and Apples iPhone 12 Lines – changed my mind. The hardware of the midrange camera of the Pixel 5 and the High-end array of cameras on the iPhone 12 Pro MaxTogether with the gadget’s large image sensor and the new software options, I drive myself to the Apple camp.

It shouldn’t be like that. I am impressed with Google’s ability to turn cutting-edge imaging research into superior smartphone photos. Google has shown how profoundly computers can modernize cameras as it has outperformed smartphone competitors and traditional camera makers.

Google’s decision to build a midrange phone with just two cameras seems like a task. There is simply no way to compensate for the numerous cameras that competitors like Samsung, Huawei, and Apple use. Sure, competitors haven’t necessarily found all of Google’s camera software, but Google isn’t anywhere near their hardware.

To be clear, the Pixel’s cameras are good, as my colleague Lynn La explains at length in her Pixel 5 rating. However, from my point of view as a serious photographer, I’m looking for more.

Tele or ultrawide cameras

In 2019, Google’s Pixel 4 added a second rear camera, a telephoto option for distant subjects. In the same year, Apple added a third camera to its high-end iPhone 11 Pro models, an ultrawide camera that was used alongside the main and telephoto cameras.

Google tried to match Apple’s performance this year by replacing the telephoto camera with an ultrawide camera in the Pixel 5. However, Apple has made major improvements to the camera with its iPhone 12 Pro, including a larger image sensor, longer range telephoto lens, and improved image stabilization, Dolby Vision HDR video at 60 frames per second and Apple’s more flexible ProRaw format counteract wobbly hands. It is clear that Apple is putting enormous resources into better photography.

Google may have made the right call for the broad market. I suspect that ultrawide cameras are better than telephotos for mainstream smartphone customers. Ultrawide cameras for group shots, indoor scenes, and videos are arguably more useful than telephoto cameras for portraits and mountains.

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

In response to my concerns, Google says it has improved the Super Res Zoom technology for digital zooming on the Pixel 5 with better computer photography and photography AI Techniques that can now be enlarged up to 7 times. The idea was

“We studied carefully to find out what was really important to people and then focused on it – saving literally hundreds of dollars in the process,” said Isaac Reynolds, product manager for the camera. A telephoto camera would have helped improve image quality, but Google’s priority this year was “to produce a phone that compares well to the upper price range but at a much lower price – and we did”.

I am not that convinced. Even with 2x telephoto zoom, my 2 year old iPhone XS Max and my 1 year old Pixel 4 offer far better images compared to the Pixel 5.

What I like about the Pixel 5 cameras so far

Let me be clear: Google’s new phone has its merits, and I’ve learned some of its strengths while testing the Pixel 5 cameras over the past few days. Here are a handful:

• Google’s Computational Raw gives photo enthusiasts the best of both worlds when it comes to photo formats. It combines the exposure and color flexibility of raw unprocessed photo data with the exposure area and noise reduction of the multishot HDR + processing normally used to create a JPEG.
• The ultrawide camera is really fun. It also greatly improves video options, especially indoors.
• Based on previous Pixel phones, I share my colleague Lynn La’s concern that Google’s video stabilization may be “drone-like,” but my early video tests that I recorded while walking looked more natural.
• Double tapping the phone’s power button will quickly launch the camera app. It’s not new to the Pixel 5, but it’s so much faster than the iPhone’s lock screen icon.

• The night vision device, especially the astrophotography mode, is still great for taking pictures in low light.

Google also pointed out other advantages of the Pixel 5, including a portrait lighting feature to control the apparent light source that brightens a subject’s face. Portraits that work in night vision mode; 4K video now operating at 60 frames per second, a more advanced high dynamic range processing called HDR + that is now enhanced with bracketing for better shadow details like a backlit face and better video stabilization.

Here’s the problem though: while Google is slipping in hardware, competitors are improving their software.

Google’s competitors in computer photography are catching up

Apple hasn’t commented on its photography plans for this story, but it did spend more than 11 minutes promoting the iPhone Pro’s photo and video capabilities, and its actions speak volumes.

In the past year, Apple has done most of Google’s HDR + for challenging scenes with light and dark elements. This year’s Pixel 5 brings HDR + with bracketing technology to multishot blending technology. However, Apple’s Smart HDR alternative is in its third generation of refinement. Apple is also improving the iPhone’s night photos. Using special processing engines on the A14 chip, Apple’s Deep Fusion technology works to preserve detail when shooting in low light on all four iPhone Pro cameras.

Photo enthusiasts like me prefer unprocessed, raw photo formats so that we can tweak color balance, exposure, sharpening, and noise reduction. This is ideal when the camera does not make the right decisions in “baking” raw image data into a more convenient but limited JPEG image. Google’s computational Raw HDR processing with the flexibility of Raw. However, Apple plans to release the ProRaw answer in an update for iPhone Pro models that will be released later this year.

“We want to give our professionals even more control over the images they take,” said Alok Deshpande, Apple’s senior manager for camera software engineering, during the Apple launch event.

Relatively few people use Pixel phones, and that weighs on Google too. Photo editing software powerhouse Adobe calibrates its Lightroom photo software to fix lens problems and adjust the HDR tool for some cameras and lenses. No wonder Pixel phones aren’t on that list. “We usually offer support to our customers based on the popularity of the devices,” said a statement from Adobe.

In contrast, Adobe “works closely with Apple” to take advantage of the ProRaw features. And a google

Very interesting news in my digital photography world: Adobe has plucked @marclevoy, the Stanford prof who coined the term "computational photography," from Google's Pixel camera team, where he helped cement a reputation for excellent camera apps. Thread/

— Stephen Shankland (@stshank) July 20, 2020

, where he builds photo technology into the Adobe camera app.

Selling a midrange smartphone like the Pixel 5 or Pixel 4a 5G may 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 an appreciation for Google’s smarts for computer photography, it’s tragic that Google has lost its lead.