A few days after the Google Pixel 11 was released, I upgraded my old phone for this wonderful new phone. I have never thought about using a mobile phone as an everyday carry to replace a dedicated camera, but recently I have been looking around at other cameras, such as the Nikon Z30, to use as an EDC… And it struck me, with this new phone, which has great camera capabilities, could it be the answer to my question?
“The Google Pixel Camera 11 Camera Capabilities”
The standard Google Pixel 11 has modest camera abilities compared to it’s “Pro” brother, but it is still very capable. I consists of three cameras its body, that are used together to create various zoom lengths in better quality.
35mm Equivalent Focal Lengths.
Wide Angle Camera (x0.5) – 13mm
Main Camera (x1) – 24mm
Main Camera Crop (x2) – 48mm
Telephoto (x5) – 110mm
Telephoto Max Zoom Crop (x30) – 660mm
The phone uses AI to resize the images from crops, so it is always best to take photographs at x0.5, x1 and x5 zooms. All jpeg images, no matter the zoom are upscaled to 4000×3000 pixels. The raw files are saved without upscaling, so the wide angle is 4140×3100, the main camera is 3980×2980 and the telephoto lens is 3538×2648. (At x10 it’s 1774×1326, at x20 its 884×668 and at x30 its 570×424 pixels). You can clearly see why image quality can deteriorate at longer zooms with the pixel sizes, but AI does a good job of saving the quality and the zoomed images above x10 are generally good enough for social media snap-shots.
“A Walk For Some Examples”
Although I have used the camera on the phone quite a lot since having it, I wanted to pop out and use the phone exclusively, as an EDC on a walk along the beach front at the top of my road. I just wanted to capture images of everyday life on the beach. As such, I left my main camera at home and used the phone as if it was my Nikon ZF. Here are some unedited jpegs using its “minimal” colour profile.
As I said, the camera also shoots in raw, using the DNG format. So as an example, I have edited one of the above images, and recovered the sky etc, to show you what is possible.
“Colour Profiles”
The camera has colour profiles, and here they are. From right to left they are Default, Editorial, Velvet, Classic, Digi, Black Tie and Minimal. Each setting can have a variant of Original, Natural, Shadows and Vanilla, these examples are with “Natural” (it adjusts how the contrast of the image looks).
You can fully customise each look by adjust contrast, highlights, shadows, vibrance, tint, warmth, sharpness and grain, so the possibilities are endless.
“Conclusion”
I’m no stranger to using mobile phones as cameras, and even when I have my camera with me, I often take a shot with my phone. The question is, can my phone be used as an EDC more often now that it has so much possabilites?
I have included plenty of photos above, taken at various focal lengths, all mixed together. On a phone screen (which most people use, most of the time), the image quality and the flexibility that the phone brings is unmatched. A 13-660mm camera in my pocket at all times, what is not to like! I also found that using the phone out and about did not draw any attention at all, and I could freely just point and shoot at anything without anyone looking at what I was doing.
The Google Pixel 11 is not a replacement for my Nikon cameras, while the image quality is great, once you start zooming in the images do start to fall apart. But then again, how often do we really zoom in on photographs? These images print out really nicely, as you would expect too. I think overall it can mean that I can always have a quality camera in my pocket, and capture things I would not usually think about trying to capture with my older phones. However, nothing beats the “feel” of a camera. That tactile experience is just not recreated with a phone.
Of course I’ll use my Google Pixel 11 a lot. In fact I have a project planned for it (I will be adding a projects section to the website soon, with some long-term photography projects that I have been working out in my head). As always, call back soon to see a lot more photos from it!
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Thanks for the article on the Pixel 11. Interesting that you opted for the Minimal Creative Style for your shots, which as I understand it (from ‘conversations’ with Gemini), inhibits HDR processing and takes just a single frame. This works well in your photos.
I got a Pixel 11 Pro last week and am still playing with it and getting used to all the new camera software options. Google provides very little help/advice about tweaking the new ‘Base Looks’, and how they interact with the Creative Styles. I have tried tweaking Natural by increasing Contrast +1.0, Shadows -1.0, Vibrance +1.0, Warmth +0.5, and Sharpening -2.0. Gemini’s comment on this is:
This custom recipe uses the Camera Looks feature on the Google Pixel 11 Pro to dial back aggressive computational algorithms and capture a beautifully organic, film-like photo straight from the sensor. By starting with the Natural preset and applying these manual adjustments, the camera sensor changes how it stacks frames and handles texture:
-Base Look Natural Dials back the standard heavy-handed HDR for an organic foundation.
-Contrast+1.0 Restores the rich depth that aggressive digital flattening usually strips away.
-Shadows-1.0 Deepens the dark tones, creating dramatic, moody, and distinct drop-offs.
-Vibrance+1.0 Boosts muted colors selectively without making skin tones look radioactive.
-Warmth+0.5 Injects a gentle, inviting golden-hour glow into the scene.
-Sharpening-2.0 The most critical tweak. Eliminates harsh, crunchy digital edge-enhancement for a soft, analog lens aesthetic.
I appreciate of course that Gemini is simply amalgamating views from all over the web, but the comments chime with what I’m seeing in my initial photos, and I feel quite excited about the possibility of getting away from an over-processed HDR look towards a more organic/filmic Fuji film sim look on a smartphone. Gemini even went on to urge me to ETTR by dropping the exposure as needed on a shot by shot basis. I look forward to hearing if you achieve some interesting new recipes.
Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I liked the reds and blues with Minimal. They all take HDR as they are phones, and I felt this looks less “phone like”.
I might get round to tweaking the images, but I’ve been enjoying Minimal or just editing the raw files.
Thanks again.
Looks like a great upgrade Marc. I have been taking more mobile phone pix ever since I got my Pixel 7. The 11 looks like a nice upgrade and provides many options. The mobiles are so easy to carry and better than being without a camera. Happy Monday. Allan
Thanks Allan. I enjoyed my Google 8, so the 11 just made sense. Plus I find the Pro models a bit too big. They are so easy and always ready to use!
I have an old pixel phone still and I never had any complaints about the camera capabilities. I am intrigued by the minimalistic setting and getting more of a “film” look. I may just have to finally upgrade soon.
I updated from the Pixel 8 and it’s a nice little upgrade. Thank you 🙏