Whether you’re motivated by beautiful views or sharing with friends and family, it’s fairly easy to snap a decent photo these days, but being able to do that wasn’t quite as simple 50 years ago. Technology moved us from physical to digital, transforming the visual media and the experience of capturing moments. Digital images enriched the way we communicate and are rapidly evolving our social interactions.
One of the biggest changes over the last years is how impressive phone cameras have become. As their lenses become sharper and their sensors more accurate, it's becoming harder to tell the difference between a photo taken on a dedicated camera and one taken with a phone. Pixel Camera is an app developed by Google for the Android operating system that will help you to achieve amazing and instant captures just by using your smartphone.
Camera mode and settings
The Camera mode is the default mode selected when you open the camera app. This mode takes regular photos without any blurring or special effects. Several settings are available in this mode.
- Night Sight: Night Sight takes nighttime photos. You can turn Night Sight on, off, or on automatically.
- Top Shot: Top Shot takes a short video and suggests frames to save as photos. You can turn this on, off, or on automatically.
- Timer: You can set the Timer for three or ten seconds or shut it off so that the camera takes photos immediately.
- Ratio: The Ratio setting toggles the photo resolution.
Night Sight: A Feature that made Pixel lineup famous
Night Sight mode takes photos in low light situations without using flash. This mode has the same Timer and Ratio settings as the other two modes but adds new ones.
- Astrophotography: Astrophotography takes pictures of stars and other celestial objects seen in the night sky. You can toggle this setting on or off.
- Focus: This setting determines where the camera should focus. You can switch between automatic, near, or far.
Portrait Mode Feature
Portrait mode takes portraits, so it blurs the background to focus on the photo's subject. The settings available in this mode are the same as in Camera mode except for Top Shot. This mode replaces Top Shot with Face retouching. Face retouching changes the look of faces in your photos. The options for this setting are off, smooth, or subtle.
Pixel Camera Video Features and Settings
Video mode takes videos and adds new settings to help you take better videos. Clicking the gear icon brings up three new settings:
- Flash: The flash turns on a light while recording. You can turn it on or off.
- Resolution: This setting changes the quality of the video you're recording. You can switch between Full HD (1080p) or 4K (Ultra-high resolution).
- Frames/sec: This setting changes the frame rate that your video records in. At Full HD resolution, choose between automatic, 30 FPS, and 60 FPS. At 4K, choose either 30 or 60 FPS.
The Zoom toggle lets you use the available zoom settings while taking videos. An additional toggle underneath the Zoom toggle swaps between video modes. The Camera app allows for Normal, Slow Motion, and Time Lapse video recording. To the right is a button for video stabilization that lets you choose between four modes:
- Standard: This mode is best for light movement and is the default setting.
- Locked: This mode locks onto a subject and requires you to use 2x or greater zoom.
- Active: This mode performs best when recording something with heavy movement.
- Cinematic Pan: For smooth, panning shots, this mode works best. It records at half speed and records muted video.
In brief
Pixel Camera is not only an app with a wide variety of functions, but also a system component that enables Pixel Camera features — such as Night Vision — in third-party apps that grant permission to use the camera. This component is pre-installed on the device, and you should keep it up to date to ensure you have the latest image processing updates and bug fixes.
