Loving the Google Pixel 8 Pro Camera Upgrade (Premium)

I don't recall ever having issues with Google's Pixel Camera app, but the new design is a nice improvement, with a slider for switching between Photo and Video modes that's straddled by a new Photo/Video Settings button on the left and (on the Pixel 8 Pro only) a Pro Controls button the right. Each of those buttons displays a panel whose contents depend on whether you're in Photo or Video mode, and there are more photo-related settings than there are for video in each.

The Pro Controls button offers access to manual controls Brightness, Shadow, White Balance, Focus, and Shutter Speed that used to be available over the viewfinder in previous versions of the app (I guess it got a bit cluttered). And in keeping with its "pro" nature, there's also a new display at the top of the screen while this panel is open that lists the camera aperture, focus mode, shutter speed, and ISO.

The Photo/Video Settings pane also has a few extras: It's where you access the Camera app's settings interface, via a More settings button. And if you're in Photo mode, it has both General and Pro tabs, and it was in the latter that I found something unexpected, a Lens Selection option that can be changed from its default, Auto, to Manual.

Could it be?

It could: This change fixes what is probably my single biggest frustration with the smartphone photography experience, Pixel or otherwise. Let me explain.

The Pixel Camera app normally displays four on-screen buttons in the viewfinder, for .5x, 1x, 2x, and 5x zoom, similar to what you see on the iPhone and other smartphones.

And as is the case with the iPhone 15 Pro Max I just reviewed, Pixels have always had a lens shift problem where you select a zoom level, point the phone at whatever object you're trying to photograph, and then try to take a picture, only to have it shift annoyingly from lens to lens. Many times, I have it exactly where I want it and it shifts to a less desirable framing before I can press the shutter button.

But when you switch the Lens Selection setting to Manual, the Pixel Camera app displays three on-screen buttons, U, M, and T, each of which maps to a specific camera lens.

This setting eliminates the annoying lens shifting: Because you manually selected the lens you want, as opposed to an arbitrary zoom level that can in many cases be achieved by two of the lenses, the Pixel Camera app stops trying to outthink you. It just utilizes the lens you selected.

You can, of course, still zoom in or out from whichever lens you select normally, using normal pinch-to-zoom touch gestures. When you do, Pixel Camera responds as expected, and it displays on-the-fly zoom values as you adjust the view. But in manual lens selection mode, it only does so within the confines of each lens's capabilities. For example, the telephoto lens starts at 5x zoom, which is optical, and you can zoom up (using hybrid "Super Res Zoom") to 30x, but not down below 5x. The main (wide) le...