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With Pixel, we want to give you a camera that you can always trust and rely on. That means a camera which is fast, can take photos in any light and has built-in intelligence to capture those moments that only happen once. The camera should also give you a way to get creative with your photos and videos and be able to easily edit and share.
To celebrate Pixel 3 hitting the shelves in the US today, here are 10 things you can do with the Pixel camera.
1. Just point and shoot!
The Pixel camera has HDR+ on by default which uses computational photography to help you take better pictures in scenes where there is a range of brightness levels. When you press the shutter button, HDR+ actually captures a rapid burst of pictures, then quickly combines them into one. This improves results in both low-light and high dynamic range situations.
2. Top Shot
Get the best shot on the first try. When you take a motion photo, Top Shot captures alternate high-quality shots, then recommends the best one—even if it’s not exactly when you hit the shutter. Behind the scenes,Top Shot looks for those shots where everyone is smiling, with eyes open and facing the camera. Just click on the thumbnail when you take a picture and you’ll get a suggestion to choose a better picture when one is available. You can also find top shots on photos whenever you want by swiping up on the photo in Google Photos. Top Shot works best on people and is getting better all the time.
Top Shot on Pixel 3
3. Night Sight
In low light scenes when you’d typically use flash—but don’t want to because it makes a big scene, blinds your friends, and leaves harsh, uneven lighting—Night Sight can help you take colorful, detailed and low-noise pictures in super low light. Night Sight is coming soon to Pixel.
4. Super Res Zoom
Pixel 3 lets you zoom in and still get sharp, detailed images. Fun fact: this works by taking advantage of the natural shaking of your hand when you take a photo. For every zoomed shot, we combine a burst of slightly different images, resulting in better resolution, and lower noise. So when you pinch-zoom before pressing the shutter, you’ll definitely get a lot more details in your picture than if you crop afterwards.
5. Group Selfie Cam
If you’re having trouble fitting everyone in shot, or you want the beautiful scenery as well as your beautiful face, try our new wide angle lens that lets you get much more in your selfie. You can get up to 184% more in the shot*, or 11 people is my own personal record. Wide angle lenses fit more people in the shot, but they also stretch and distort faces that are on the edge. The Pixel camera uses AI to correct this, so every face looks natural and you can use the full field of view of the selfie cam.
6. Photobooth
You spend ages getting the selfie at precisely the right angle, but then you try and reach the shutter button and lose the frame. Photobooth mode lets you take photos without pressing the shutter button: simply smile, poke your tongue out, or pucker those lips.
7. Playground
Bring more of your imagination to a scene with Playmoji— augmented reality characters that react to each other and to you—and add animated stickers and fun captions to your photos and videos. Playground also works on the front camera, so you can up your selfie game by standing next to characters you love, like Iron Man from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Playground on Pixel 3 helps you create and play with the world around you
8. Google Lens Suggestions
Just point the Pixel 3 camera at contact info, URLs, and barcodes and it’ll automatically suggest things to do like calling the number, or sending an email. This all happens without you having to type anything and Lens will show the suggestions even when you’re offline. It’s particularly helpful with business cards, movie posters, and takeout menus.
9. Portrait Mode
Our improved Portrait Mode on Pixel is designed to give you even sharper and more beautiful images this year. Plus we’ve added some fun editing options in Google Photos—like being able to change the blurriness of the background, or change the part of the picture in focus after you’ve taken it. Google Photos can also make the subject of your photo pop by leaving them in color, while changing the background to black and white.
Portrait Mode and color pop with Pixel 3 and Google Photos
10. Smooth video
We’ve added new selfie video stabilization so now you can get super smooth video from the front or back cameras. And if you’re recording someone or something that is moving, just tap on them and the video will lock on the subject as they, or you, move—so you don’t lose focus.
Finally, if you’re a pro photographer, we’ve added a bunch of new features to help you manage your photography from the ability to export RAW, to external mic support, to synthetic fill flash which mimics professional lighting equipment to bring a beautiful glow to your pictures.
Once you’ve taken all those amazing photos and videos, Pixel comes with unlimited storage so you never get that “storage full” pop up at a crucial moment.**
Share your pics using #teampixel so we can see what you create with Pixel 3.
*Compared to iPhone Xs
**Free, unlimited online original-quality storage for photos/videos uploaded from Pixel 3 to Google Photos through 1/31/2022, and those photos/videos will remain free at original quality. g.co/help/photostorage