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- Google’s upcoming Pixel 4 is coming with two camera lenses — a first for Pixel smartphones.
- The latest rumors are suggesting that the second lens will be a "telephoto" dedicated for zoomed photos, and that would be a huge bummer in my books.
- Almost every smartphone can already "fake" zoom with digital zooming on a single lens, including Google’s own Pixel phones. And Google enhances its fake zooming with its AI and software for incredible results.
- Instead, I’d rather see an ultrawide lens on the Pixel 4, which isn’t something that can be faked by AI or software.
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We know that Google’s Pixel 4 smartphone will come with more than one camera lens, with the consensus arriving at two camera lenses compared to the single lens on Pixel phones so far.
So far, the most solid rumor surrounding the extra lens on the Pixel 4’s rear comes from XDA-Developers, which says one lens will be used for "telephoto" zoomed photos. 9to5Google expands on XDA-Developers’ findings by suggesting the Pixel 4 will have a regular camera with 12 megapixels, and the telephoto camera will have 16 megapixels.
To me, that seems like a waste. Instead of a zoomed lens, I’m rather hoping that the Pixel 4 will come with an ultrawide lens. Here’s why:
Zooming can be "faked" with a single lens, but ultrawide shots can’t be faked.
Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
Pretty much every smartphone already has zooming. It’s "digital" zooming, which doesn’t offer the best quality photos, but that’s something Google addressed to some degree with its AI and software smarts in its Pixel phones so far.
So, zooming can be faked with digital zooming. But you know what can’t be faked? Ultrawide photos. Indeed, not even Google’s AI can fake scenery and details that are out of reach of a normal smartphone camera lens. To get that extra scenery and detail, you need a lens that will actually capture them: an ultrawide lens.
So, that’s why I say dedicating an entire lens to zoomed photos — something that every smartphone can already do — is a waste.
Ultrawide lenses can capture more scenery and details of your surrounding, which can make for better photos. Here’s a photo taken with the regular smartphone camera lens on the OnePlus 7 Pro:
Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
And here’s a photo taken with an ultrawide lens on the OnePlus 7 Pro, where I capture more of the lake, sky, and surroundings in general of this absurdly beautiful place called Lake Moraine in Banff, Canada.
Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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- The date of Apple’s big iPhone 11 announcement may have just leaked
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Antonio Villas-Boas)