Get pixel 4 instead of 5 just for telephoto?

[yargk]

Look there's a seaplane flying over head, look there's a cool building in the distance, look the person I'm trying to take a picture of is more than 10 feet from me. I have a pixel 2 and these are all situations in which I have really wished I had a telephoto lens. I can't understand anyone wanting a wide-angle lens because although I take many portrait type photos, I'm usually not stuck in an elevator while taking them. I'm seriously thinking of getting a pixel 4 now instead of a pixel 5 because the 5 is expected to drop the telephoto from the 4 to have a wide angle. Am I crazy?

The only downside I see to getting a 4 over a 5 would be battery life for when I'm on a trip and using the phone a lot for maps and reviews and travel guides.

(reposting this because there seems to be more people on AC instead of the other forum I tried)

 

[dmxjago]

Look there's a seaplane flying over head, look there's a cool building in the distance, look the person I'm trying to take a picture of is more than 10 feet from me. I have a pixel 2 and these are all situations in which I have really wished I had a telephoto lens. I can't understand anyone wanting a wide-angle lens because although I take many portrait type photos, I'm usually not stuck in an elevator while taking them. I'm seriously thinking of getting a pixel 4 now instead of a pixel 5 because the 5 is expected to drop the telephoto from the 4 to have a wide angle. Am I crazy?

The only downside I see to getting a 4 over a 5 would be battery life for when I'm on a trip and using the phone a lot for maps and reviews and travel guides.

(reposting this because there seems to be more people on AC instead of the other forum I tried)

I just recently sold my pixel 4 xl and I can tell you that zooming in 2x the image was pretty good but beyond that it was meh. I much rather have a wide angle bs telefoto but it all depends on your needs. I def notice an improvement on the pixel 4 from the 3 bc of the telefoto when it came to zoomed in photos but it wasn't like omg of a difference but nevertheless it was noticeable. I think the p5 if the current leaked specks are accurate is more compelling for me. I'd say it's about preference.

 

[stevo82]

If you get a 4XL then you wouldn't really need to worry about battery life, mine gets me through a full day with some to spare. It really just boils down to what suits you best. If you find you need a telephoto lens then I'd definitely recommend a 4. As for a wide angle, I have a Moment wide angle lens should I need one but like you I don't find myself using it that much but its nice to have the option. I'm willing to bet you could probably find some deals right now too with the 5 getting ready to come out.

 

[dmxjago]

If you get a 4XL then you wouldn't really need to worry about battery life, mine gets me through a full day with some to spare. It really just boils down to what suits you best. If you find you need a telephoto lens then I'd definitely recommend a 4. As for a wide angle, I have a Moment wide angle lens should I need one but like you I don't find myself using it that much but its nice to have the option. I'm willing to bet you could probably find some deals right now too with the 5 getting ready to come out.

Agree I had no issues on battery with my pixel 4 xl it's the smaller version that had issues due to small battery size.

 

[Ben_70]

yargk,

No, you are not crazy. I totally agree with you on the value of a telephoto vs a wide angle. That's the thing that bothered me the most about my Pixel 2xl...when I had to zoom, the results were crap. Zooming with the 4xl is a lot better. You're not going to get an outstanding shot at 8X zoom but it could still be usable (unlike the P2).

No way I'm upgrading to a P5. Although I appreciate the 5's larger battery and extra storage/RAM those are areas that are not at all lacking (for me) on my 4xl.

 

[mustang7757]

yargk,

No, you are not crazy. I totally agree with you on the value of a telephoto vs a wide angle. That's the thing that bothered me the most about my Pixel 2xl...when I had to zoom, the results were crap. Zooming with the 4xl is a lot better. You're not going to get an outstanding shot at 8X zoom but it could still be usable (unlike the P2).

No way I'm upgrading to a P5. Although I appreciate the 5's larger battery and extra storage/RAM those are areas that are not at all lacking (for me) on my 4xl.

Agree

 

[kmf1]

I got the 4XL with 128 GB, and have not regretted the extra storage. The 2X Zoom gets great shots without distortion, but zooming beyond that needs a very steady hand. I have another year to go before changing phones, unless something really, really remarkable comes along.

 

[Kingfroman]

I think the wide angle brings more to the table than 2x zoom. Specially since Google's computational zoom is pretty good. Now if it's a 4x or 5x zoom i would take that zoom over wide-angle. Besides google needs to improve the switch off between cameras on the Pixel 4. when I take videos and it switches from the main camera to the 2x camera, there's of a more yellowish tint on zoom camera. Kinda annoys me when I'm rewatching my videos.

 

[Mike Dee]

I think there's no correct or incorrect thought on which is more valuable, telephoto or wide angle. They both have their merits and that's why Google should have both and also not rely on computational zoom which will only take you so far.

 

[mustang7757]

I think there's no correct or incorrect thought on which is more valuable, telephoto or wide angle. They both have their merits and that's why Google should have both and also not rely on computational zoom which will only take you so far.

Why they can't give both option, Samsung and others do .

 

[bkdodger2]

Exactly have both options let's go Google get with the program

 

[Super Spartan]

Look there's a seaplane flying over head, look there's a cool building in the distance, look the person I'm trying to take a picture of is more than 10 feet from me. I have a pixel 2 and these are all situations in which I have really wished I had a telephoto lens. I can't understand anyone wanting a wide-angle lens because although I take many portrait type photos, I'm usually not stuck in an elevator while taking them. I'm seriously thinking of getting a pixel 4 now instead of a pixel 5 because the 5 is expected to drop the telephoto from the 4 to have a wide angle. Am I crazy?

The only downside I see to getting a 4 over a 5 would be battery life for when I'm on a trip and using the phone a lot for maps and reviews and travel guides.

(reposting this because there seems to be more people on AC instead of the other forum I tried)

you're not crazy. I have had a Wide angle camera on my previous phones (Huawei P30 and Galaxy S10+ and S20+. I can count the amount of times I used the wide angle on my fingers.

The biggest benefit to me from the telephoto lens is those portrait shots come out perfect every single time without any effort from me trying to stand still or manually focus. Gives photos a very nice look. Not sure how good can Google make the portrait shots work only via their magic in software.

 

[yargk]

Yeah, the pixel should have 3 cameras so we don't have to choose. That being said, the wide angle proponents usually don't say what shots they take with a wide angle and I kinda figure I could use panoramic mode to deal with anything like that.

The one caveat is that I like portable phones that aren't too big, so the XL is out for me. It would be pixel 4 with a backup battery or car charging for long days.

 

[Mike Dee]

Yeah, the pixel should have 3 cameras so we don't have to choose. That being said, the wide angle proponents usually don't say what shots they take with a wide angle and I kinda figure I could use panoramic mode to deal with anything like that.

The one caveat is that I like portable phones that aren't too big, so the XL is out for me. It would be pixel 4 with a backup battery or car charging for long days.

Wide angle shots are great for landscape or group photos in tight spots or where you want to capture a background to go with the foreground. Panoramic is a bit different than a wide angle shots perspective and doesn't always stitch smoothly.

 

[yargk]

Wide angle shots are great for landscape or group photos in tight spots or where you want to capture a background to go with the foreground. Panoramic is a bit different than a wide angle shots perspective and doesn't always stitch smoothly.

That makes sense.

 

[Joerg H1]

Look there's a seaplane flying over head, look there's a cool building in the distance, look the person I'm trying to take a picture of is more than 10 feet from me. I have a pixel 2 and these are all situations in which I have really wished I had a telephoto lens. I can't understand anyone wanting a wide-angle lens because although I take many portrait type photos, I'm usually not stuck in an elevator while taking them. I'm seriously thinking of getting a pixel 4 now instead of a pixel 5 because the 5 is expected to drop the telephoto from the 4 to have a wide angle. Am I crazy?

The only downside I see to getting a 4 over a 5 would be battery life for when I'm on a trip and using the phone a lot for maps and reviews and travel guides.

(reposting this because there seems to be more people on AC instead of the other forum I tried)

Same for me. I waited to buy the Pixel 5 as first rumors said that the camera setup will be similar to Pixel 4. For me Ultra-wide-angle is useless. I want to have a telephoto lens. So if they stay with UWA istead of telephoto I'll buy another brand.

 

[Whispy Snippet]

Ultra wide angles can also be a bit **** for landscape imagery because it pushes everything away and makes things seem smaller. You really need to have a good grasp of composition to get the best out of an ultra wide.

I think a lot of people who screamed and moaned for an ultra wide on the Pixel are going to be in for a shock when they realise it's a pretty specialised focal length. It's not just a matter of selecting ultrawide and suddenly your landscape images are going to be magically improved. A telephoto is far more practical and accessible for day to day photography.

 

[Pixelfan56]

P5 ordered here

Face unlock sucks with masks, fingerprint ID is as quick or quicker

Looking forward to no soli, no forehead/chin/cutout, having a bigger battery, and Im trading in the 3rd replacement p4xl to get it

 

[midnightrider20]

with regards to the telephoto lens of pixel 4 and not having it on pixel 5. is there any difference on portrait shots between the 2?
has anyone tried using a moment telephoto lens on their pixel 5?

 

[PoorInRichfield]

I just purchased a used Google Pixel 4 XL on Gazelle for ~$300 to replace my Pixel 2 because I also prefer a telephoto lens over a wide-angle. The only reservation I had about the 4 was the lack of a finger print reader. However, the face unlock feature works amazingly well... better than I expected. For way less than half the price of the Pixel 5, I'm pretty happy with my decision... and I can save the remaining $400 I didn't spend on the next version Pixel if it has a telephoto lens.

I had purchased some cheap clip-on lenses for my Pixel 2 (i.e., not Moment lenses) and while they did a decent job, the problem is that I never walk around with a pocket full of lenses "just in case". If the phone doesn't have the lens built-in, I'm afraid that's just a non-starter for me.