Google

Check out all the new Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro camera features

Google continues to impress with its Pixel lineup.

by
Joe Rice-Jones
October 7, 2022

Image: Google

Google showed off the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro flagship smartphones yesterday. The hardware alone is impressive, but the specific Pixel-only camera features make the Pixel 7 range special.

Both Pixel handsets have a 50-megapixel main sensor and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera. The Pixel 7 Pro also has a 48-megapixel 5x telephoto lens.

Those are some impressive camera specs, but the real power of Pixel is under the hood. Powered by the second-generation Tensor G2 chip, the Pixel 7 range has many new camera features.

Zoom capabilities have been enhanced with a new version of Super Res Zoom. This digital zoom crops the 50-megapixel sensor for a 2x zoom effect. That generates a 12.5-megapixel image, more than enough for social media shares.

Using “Pinch to Zoom,” Super Res Zoom does the same thing, but for 10x digital zoom. That still creates 12-megapixel images, using the Tensor G2 cores to rescale things.

The highest digital zoom level is 30x. The Pixel 7 range uses machine learning, and zoom stabilization at anything over 15x zoom to combat hand-shake effects.

On the Pixel 7 Pro, you have a 5x optical zoom telephoto lens. Between 2x and 5x zoom levels, the phone uses telephoto and wide cameras and meshes the two into crisp, in-focus images.

Now, let’s dive into some of the other camera features on Google’s latest flagship phones.

New Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro camera features

We’ve focused on the new zoom capabilities; now let’s talk about the rest of the new features. We’ll highlight a few of our favorites and then provide the rest below.

Photo Unblur on Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro

Photo Unblur is the photo-rescuing feature you might not have realized you needed. You can rescue out-of-focus or blurry images with a few taps, potentially saving some treasured memories.

The big thing here is that while it only works on the Pixel 7 range, it works on any photo. Yes, even those taken on other devices.

Remember all those images you took with older smartphones or digital cameras? Time to see what a little Pixel magic can do to them.

Macro Focus mode

Macro Focus only works on the Pixel 7 Pro and utilizes its ultra-wide camera to get closer to the subject than ever before. Google says you can get as close as three centimeters to get HDR+ photos.

It also works with Night Sight, so you don’t have to carry additional lighting around.

Real Tone

First introduced with the Pixel 6, Real Tone improves skin tone processing on Pixel devices. Google says that historically, camera technology has been tailored for lighter skin tones.

Real Tone is an attempt to address that, and this year Google trained the algorithm with over 10,000 new additional portraits of people of color. It also now works with Night Sight and Portrait Mode,

Additional Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro camera features

In addition to the ones outlined above, Google also added or improved the following camera features, as well:

Tensor G2 supports 10-bit HDR recording, which is compatible with YouTube, Snap, and TikTok
Cinematic Blur uses AI to blur the background while recording video
A combination of hardware and software handles video stabilization and autofocus
When recording 4K 60 fps, the Pixel 7 will clean up audio recordings to focus on speech
Guided Frame helps low-vision users get the best selfies or other shots
The Tensor G2 helps remove motion blur, creating faster Night Sight images and clearer snaps of moving subjects like babies or cars

So, as you can see, Google is taking its camera setup seriously on the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro.

Google wants you to know it cares about your smartphone camera

That’s a wrap on the new Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro camera features. We wonder how many of these will stay Pixel-only, as they might need the Tensor cores to power them.

Regardless, if you are looking for a smartphone that doubles as a powerful camera, Google continues to impress with its Pixel lineup.

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