Pixel 2 camera: massive disappointment

[DesertTwang]

OK, I realize that I seem to be only person out there who seems to have this issue, and that's why I'm looking for answers. I love everything about the Google Pixel 2 and am very happy I made the decision to switch to Android (coming from an iPhone).

That said, I can't believe why the Pixel 2's camera has received so much praise, because it has yet to produce a photo I consider adequate. I'm not a pro photographer, but I'm not a doofus either. I'm a hobby photog who knows his way around apertures, exposure times and composition. I know enough to use my dSLR exclusively in manual mode and get the results I want.

Last weekend, I took photos with my Pixel 2 on a backpacking trip. They looked decent on the screen, and I was excited to show them to my wife (who wasn't able to join me on the trip) by casting them onto my smart TV. The results were such that I didn't bother to show the shots to my wife. The colors were drab, the resolution awful - reducing the stark, beautiful landscape of the Arizona desert to pixelated mush.

yesterday, I compared the Pixel to my old iPhone 6 Plus by taking a macro shot of a beetle. The attached photos speak for themselves, I think. The iPhone kills the Pixel, no contest. Both photos were taken at the same time, from the same angle and not edited in any way.

Upper image (portrait) is Pixel 2: no depth of field, colors cold and harsh, contrast too hard, lack of sharpness. Lower image (square) is iPhone: nice depth of field, warm, realistic colors, good detail and sharpness.

So, given that everybody seems to think the Pixel 2 camera is the best of any smartphone, I'm wondering if I'm missing something. Does this camera need to be set up in any way, or calibrated, or does it need some kind of software tweaks to produce the results it is being hyped for?

 

[Mike Dee]

The Pixel shot is sharper

 

[DesertTwang]

Perhaps overall, but zoom in on the beetle, and I bet your impression will turn into the opposite. In both shots, I manually focused on the beetle. It's true that the iPhone has more fuzziness in the surrounding dirt, but that's exactly what a macro shot should look like. And I wouldn't complain if the Pixel made everything equally sharp, but really sharp. It doesn't, though, as I find; when you zoom in on the beetle, it looks mushy and pixelated in the Pixel 2 photo, but natural and crisp in the iPhone shot.

 

[Almeuit]

Is it only this example?

Also yes the iPhone will usually beat the Pixel in portrait mode because it has a dedicated camera for depth information whereas the Pixel is doing it through machine learning. It does a good job but the machine learning is far from perfect. I have managed to trick it at times at the pool hall and have it do the blur incorrectly.

The camera hype has been around actual photos and not the depth / portrait mode. Example below from a user taking a normal picture in his living room and the iPhone blowing it out like crazy whereas the Pixel didn't -- https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=855856&p=6107013&viewfull=1#post6107013.

 

[Zendroid1]

Perhaps it's the subject matter/composition? In any case the first shot looks better to me in this example.

 

[Mike Dee]

Perhaps overall, but zoom in on the beetle, and I bet your impression will turn into the opposite. In both shots, I manually focused on the beetle. It's true that the iPhone has more fuzziness in the surrounding dirt, but that's exactly what a macro shot should look like. And I wouldn't complain if the Pixel made everything equally sharp, but really sharp. It doesn't, though, as I find; when you zoom in on the beetle, it looks mushy and pixelated in the Pixel 2 photo, but natural and crisp in the iPhone shot.

It's hard to tell from the samples provided. I don't see a big difference in the beetle except for color. I can tell you that the shots on my Pixel 2 XL beat my daughter's IPhone 6 and X and wife's IPhone 6S especially in low light

 

[PowrDroid]

The Pixel shot is sharper

And has better contrast.

 

[ImTurningViolet]

I dropped my first p2 and used insurance to get a new one. The replacement they sent had the same problem and I was coming from an iPhone 6s and felt like the photos were on the same level as it or worse.

I exchanged it and the new p2 they sent had a better camera. It was like night and day. I actually thought that if I had gotten that phone first I would have wondered why everyone was so hyped about the camera.

Exchange it!

 

[GSDer]

Also yes the iPhone will usually beat the Pixel in portrait mode because it has a dedicated camera for depth information

Did the iPhone 6+ (the device he referenced) have a second camera? I'm not that familiar with the Apple product line.

 

[Almeuit]

Did the iPhone 6+ (the device he referenced) have a second camera? I'm not that familiar with the Apple product line.

Oh good point.. it doesn't . I was just going off him having a higher one since the blur is usually compared between the higher iPhones and Pixel.

I still stand by this is done by machine learning which is far from perfect. One example isn't enough to call it the worst though.

 

[PowrDroid]

I still stand by this is done by machine learning which is far from perfect. One example isn't enough to call it the worst though.

I would not call the posted photo a "massive disapointment" either.

 

[cbreze]

Hardly "massive". the pixel shot looks much more natural to me. The iPhone shot looks like an over saturated Samsung screen.
I always use my camera in auto mode because I think it takes an excellent shot and I'm lazy. I also have an iPhone7 that gives my pixel a run for it's money in the photo quality dept. Both are great but I have given my P2 the slight edge over the iPhone for more natural looking pics.

 

[ImTurningViolet]

Sorry I'm going to have to argue with you guys. I got a p2 with a bad camera and the op said this is just an example. He didn't get a good shot all day. And I agree with him. It looks bad.
The bad one I got too pictures exactly like that. Passable but not very good, high contrast, not much detail. I only have one of the shots with that camera left. It's my work Christmas party. I'll see if I can find it.

If he can't get a "wow" shot with the pixel 2, it is not him or his perception, it's the camera imo.

 

[Almeuit]

Sorry I'm going to have to argue with you guys. I got a p2 with a bad camera and the op said this is just an example. He didn't get a good shot all day. And I agree with him. It looks bad.
The bad one I got too pictures exactly like that. Passable but not very good, high contrast, not much detail. I only have one of the shots with that camera left. It's my work Christmas party. I'll see if I can find it.

If he can't get a "wow" shot with the pixel 2, it is not him or his perception, it's the camera imo.

Well then yeah he has a defective device. That doesn't make the camera any less great or make the reviews wrong.

 

[Mike Dee]

Sorry I'm going to have to argue with you guys. I got a p2 with a bad camera and the op said this is just an example. He didn't get a good shot all day. And I agree with him. It looks bad.
The bad one I got too pictures exactly like that. Passable but not very good, high contrast, not much detail. I only have one of the shots with that camera left. It's my work Christmas party. I'll see if I can find it.

If he can't get a "wow" shot with the pixel 2, it is not him or his perception, it's the camera imo.

No argument here....You may be correct that he has a bad camera, however based on the example posted it's hard to tell and some of us feel the Pixel shot looks better....that's all I'm saying anyway. It's really hard to compare because the uploaded shots are not the original resolution and are not great shots to begin with....we also don't know how close the colors are to the actual subject.

 

[MooMooPrincess]

OP, can you take some shots and upload them to imgur?

 

[ImTurningViolet]

@Mike Dee, I get what you're saying. I can post a couple of pictures from my bad camera pixel later and you guys might think they look fine based on just seeing them here but I know they're not what they should be.

 

[sixty_four]

I'm very happy with my P2's camera but I personally think the second photo looks better.

OP should have posted both photos without indicating the source phone and asked for opinions, thereby eliminating any implicit bias from over-enthusiastic Pixel owners.

 

[Mike Dee]

I'm very happy with my P2's camera but I personally think the second photo looks better.

OP should have posted both photos without indicating the source phone and asked for opinions, thereby eliminating any implicit bias from over-enthusiastic Pixel owners.

I don't have any bias and judged the pictures without looking at the description. I would agree that the second picture has more saturated color, however it's definitely not as sharp to my eye.

 

[Maljunulo]

It's hard to tell, but the Pixel photo seems to have a higher resolution.

It all depends on what you are looking for in a photograph.