Are you happy that the Pixel 5 is getting an ultra-wide camera?

By Joe Maring
published

Google Pixel 5 Leaked Renders
Google Pixel 5 Leaked Renders (Image credit: @OnLeaks / Pricebaba)

Pixel 5 leaks have been in full force leading up to the phone's September 30 unveiling. We now know what it looks like, what specs it'll have, and about how much it'll cost.

One of the most noteworthy changes with the Pixel 5 is its camera array. The 12.2MP primary sensor is unchanged from past models, but for the first time ever, Google looks to be giving us an ultra-wide camera as well! It'll be replacing the telephoto one introduced on the Pixel 4, marking a big shift for the types of photos you'll be able to take.

This has proven to be a hot point of discussion in the AC forums. Here are a few of the top responses:

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...

yargk

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...

dmxjago

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...

Ben_70

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...

Kingfroman

Now, we want to hear from you — Are you happy that the Pixel 5 is getting an ultra-wide camera?

Join the conversation in the forums!

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Joe Maring
Joe Maring

Joe Maring was a Senior Editor for Android Central between 2017 and 2021. You can reach him on Twitter at @JoeMaring1.

5 Comments
  • Yes. My favorite phones always have a wide angle. I do ceramic tile and stone work. Lots of custom showers. Nice to have a wide angle on hand to get pics of the job to add to portfolio. Small bathrooms are hard to capture properly with a standard lens .
  • Happy to hear! However, there's a rumor they re ultra wide lense will only have a 107 degree view opposed to other ultra wide lenses with a 120 degrees view. Hope this is false.
  • It should have both wide-angle and telephoto.
  • The camera isn't something I care about on a phone. As long as it can take decent enough pictures for selling stuff on ebay or if I need to take a picture of a car accident or something I am fine. I'd also be fine without a front facing camera to save some money and not have a hole in the display. I know I am in the minority though. In other words, I am neither happy nor upset it has an ultra-wide camera.
  • I wish people stopped calling the 2x lenses as telephoto... They are usually around 50mm focal length which in photography terms it's a standard lens. You are not zooming in, you get approximately the same field of view that your eyes see, that's why it's called a standard focal length. So yes a 50mm standard lens is very important! That's why they had it in there in the first place but then all the reviewers started complaining about it... Shame they took it away.