Did anyone buy a Pixel just for the camera?

[wordfool]

Just curious. From what I've seen, it is indeed potentially the best phone camera out there right now.

I'm in the market for a new phone -- Pixel vs S7 (5" versions). The two key aspects that are important to me are battery life and camera quality. In terms of battery life both seem about the same based on the gazillion reviews I've read. In terms of camera quality, all the decent reviews I've seen (decent in that there's some scientific rigor to the testing as opposed to just a bunch of baseless opinion) suggest the Pixel camera has some very significant advantages over the S7 -- most notably, far less aggressive sharpening, more realistic colors, and a much better balance of noise reduction vs. detail preservation.

During my somewhat obsessive research I learned that a lot of people don't notice over-sharpening or loss of detail in images. Some even seem to like it -- makes stuff look punchier on a phone screen. I've been in the photo business long enough to cringe when I see a the horizon of a beautiful landscape photo glowing with ringing artifacts, a glorious architectural wonder aglow with edge artifacts against a vivd blue sky, or the leaves of trees reduced to a smudgy blur on a cloudy day. I've seen too much of it with S7 images for my liking.

Sure, the Pixel has some issues. White balance doesn't seem to be very reliable. Halo-gate suggests the lens is prone to excessive flare. And there are some reports of unreliable autofocus. But IMO none of those issues are anywhere near as significant as images being borked by over-egged jpeg processing.

 

[CincyGuy]

Yep, that is basically why I ordered one to replace my 6p... The camera.

 

[Bearcats98]

Yep, that is basically why I ordered one to replace my 6p... The camera.

Its Skyyyyyyline tiiiiiime.

On post; you are very happy with pictures? This is for wife and it needs a great camera (kids) and decent battery life and connectivity.

Off post; any issues with dropped calls in the area?

 

[Richard Servello]

Its Skyyyyyyline tiiiiiime.

On post; you are very happy with pictures? This is for wife and it needs a great camera (kids) and decent battery life and connectivity.

Off post; any issues with dropped calls in the area?

The camera, battery life and connectivity have been the best I've experienced. 5-6 hrs sot. Awesome wifi and LTE service. Fast boot and snap camera. It doesn't get better.

 

[Bearcats98]

The camera, battery life and connectivity have been the best I've experienced. 5-6 hrs sot. Awesome wifi and LTE service. Fast boot and snap camera. It doesn't get better.

While I agree most see that; he kinda happens to be closer to me than than those in South America or Canada or... ;-)

 

[Almeuit]

The camera was a big factor but not the only for me.

 

[Bearcats98]

Yeah...while I have doubts, I am "still" buying it. However I am the guy that Mr. Murphy likes to club about the head with the most heaviest object in the room... :-\

 

[Impulses]

I thought this thread was going one way, then halfway thru it I realized you do know what you're talking about... Bad title imo! But yeah, there's no accounting for taste, and post processing or JPEG output is subjective to a large extent...

Add to that the fact that a lot of people only end up seeing resized, down sampled, or cropped versions of their image (tho the latter would exaggerate processing artifacts) on FB, the 'gram, etc. Then a whole bunch more only see them on somewhat inaccurate phone screens to boot...

It's just a bad recipe. I'm intrigued by Google's approach of throwing more computing power at the problem rather than following traditional paths (there's only so much more you can do on a cramped phone, and OIS isn't great for people shots IMO).

Still didn't buy the Pixel for it's camera, but it helped justify the price a little compared to my ~$400 Nexus 5. If I want really good photos out of something compact I'd grab my Panasonic GM1 + 20mm f1.7 tho, which together ran me about the same as my Pixel (but there's no comparison).

 

[Aquila]

I bought it just to make one of the moderators mad.

 

[jephanie]

The top three reasons for my decision were:

1) Camera
2) Battery life
3) Fast/direct updates

I have not been disappointed at all for the first two so far. And I doubt I'll be disappointed with the third.

 

[LeoRex]

But IMO none of those issues are anywhere near as significant as images being borked by over-egged jpeg processing.

I'm with you... My wife has a S7 Edge and we often take pics at the same time and when I go back in and look, the shots coming out of my 6P just look better. The Pixel's camera is basically just a refinement of the 6P's, so the same would still apply.

 

[Torisen1]

The top three reasons for my decision were:

1) Camera
2) Battery life
3) Fast/direct updates

I have not been disappointed at all for the first two so far. And I doubt I'll be disappointed with the third.

I'd like to add a couple more for why I bought one.

Assistant - I know it's not fully baked yet but I enjoy it and want to help it learn.

Smooth

I like the design

 

[Bankz111]

Well, its obviously the "star" reason. I mean, the pixel blows the competition out the water in the camera department so its pretty much obvious.
But then again, I love fast uppdates and strangely, I love the design especially on the small pixel tbh.. There's just something about its minimalist and dual toned back design with those side chamfers. Maybe I'm drunk, but I love the design. (Sue me)

 

[wordfool]

Well, its obviously the "star" reason. I mean, the pixel blows the competition out the water in the camera department so its pretty much obvious.

Not to some people, as I discovered. It's amazing how many like the oversaturated, oversharpened S7 images better.

 

[jamesrick80]

A camera should not be the reason to buy a phone...most flagships have good cameras...

 

[LeoRex]

A camera should not be the reason to buy a phone...most flagships have good cameras...

True, but some are better than others. Phones have quickly become one of the main photography sources for people... no one is going to drag around a DSLR, or even compact, everywhere they go. And the utility of the other functions means that a phone with an excellent camera is really valuable. They've surpassed point and shoots in all but optical zoom... though I suspect that we're sort of already max'd out in terms of straight still quality... I am not sure how much better they can get out a sensor that's under these packaging constraints.

 

[wordfool]

A camera should not be the reason to buy a phone...most flagships have good cameras...

I guess that depends on how you define "good" and what you expect from the photos. Many phones now have good cameras in terms of hardware. Nearly all phones, however, have poor image processing algorithms that (to my eye) don't give very good jpeg results. My standards are probably higher than most people when it comes to image quality, probably because I also used to take photos for a living and so can spot image processing flaws a mile off -- flaws that most people I know don't notice or care about.

With the S7 vs the Pixel, for example, the S7 clearly has great hardware because RAW files I've seen are very good. Those same photos run through the S7's jpeg engine get murdered, however, whereas the Pixel's don't so much. Phone camera hardware is probably already as good as it can get. To my eye it looks like Google's taking imaging to the next level using software and is the only company doing it well IMO.

And as a photographer I really want to be able to leave the "proper" gear at home as often as possible and rely on my phone to get great images that I can view on a monitor without cringing. That's the only special task I need my phone for (I can use any cheap Android phone to go online, navigate, check email, and make calls).

 

[Impulses]

True, but some are better than others. Phones have quickly become one of the main photography sources for people... no one is going to drag around a DSLR, or even compact, everywhere they go. And the utility of the other functions means that a phone with an excellent camera is really valuable. They've surpassed point and shoots in all but optical zoom... though I suspect that we're sort of already max'd out in terms of straight still quality... I am not sure how much better they can get out a sensor that's under these packaging constraints.

People should realize what they're really getting for their money tho. You throw vague terms around like compacts and P&S, while others are arguing whether this phone or that blows the others out of the water...

The reality is the differences between even a Pixel and a Galaxy S5 are minor compared to the vast difference in IQ (particularly in low light) between either phone and a compact/P&S with a larger sensor -- like a Sony RX100 (any of them), Canon G9x, Panasonic GM1/GM5 or LX10, etc.

Some of those cameras are even cheaper than any flagship phone (tho usually still $400+ except in the case of the GM sans lens) and some are totally pocketable as well.

Phones surpassed cheapo <$400 cameras, a stagnant maker that deserved to die, but not much else. Anything with a decent 1" or larger sensor will still blow any phone away, without exaggerating in the least bit, and the market often overlooks those options.

There's no need to drag a DSLR around to vastly overcome the IQ (never mind capabilities) of a smartphone camera, nor to spend over $600-700. Smartphones cameras still have their place mind you, but there's a ton of marketing hyping relatively minor semaphore camera gains each gen.