Hope you guys enjoyed this one!! Slightly different style let me know if you want me to collab more :)) Thanks to @gadgetsjon for helping, check him out!

what a surprise, a 5k camera with a huge lens is significantly better than any smartphone on the market lol.

I think it's very much dependent on what you want from your camera. I prefer a lot of the shots from the Pixel because it would be very easy for the average person to go in and add more contrast, deepen the black levels, bump up the highlights etc. I'd rather it capture all the info than crush blacks, blow out highlights and make it unrecoverable. The Pixel gives you choices and it's ultimately easier for your average person to do. And as you said, you can shoot in RAW if you want to too.

Brilliant work mate! Youve done a great job of contextualising how the Pixel 8 Pro's cameras perform.

The shot at 9:15 looks really impressive - I really like the Pixel's motion modes when you get an opportunity to use them well. Still interesting to see how the pixel works around having tiny sensors compared to pro cameras

Good review. You didn't mention the addition of pro manual settings on the 8 Pro. So some of the auto adjustments you didn't like could be tweaked to be much closer to the A7 images.

Wow, the pixel images are just mindblowing! Thanks for this very interesting video, now i know my next phone. Good thing i just thought about a upgrade, so I’ll get it tomorrow 😁👍

Hi there! My KZfaq algorithm got trained to respond to "pixel 8" in the last days so your video was recommended to me. I just want to say that I'm impressed how straight to the point and professional this video was. Very refreshing compared to the usually loud and flashy world of KZfaq. Thanks :)

*One can use dual exposure sliders to adjust the contrast and HDR on Pixels.* The Pixels photos look like your KZfaq video, less contrasty and more neutral. Great for post-edits. Iphones by default nowadays shoot high contrasty images; would love to see how the P8pro competes with 15 pro. Cheers 🥂

Something to note is that the Pixel will not always use the telephoto if the lighting conditions are too low so it's possible in some shots you may have shot a 5x crop of the main camera Unless Google changed that this year and the 5x is good now in lower light conditions

Would love to see how the two compare if you put them both in manual mode and try to use them as though you was doing a photography work

you can adjust HDR intensity when you shoot (HDR slider) or post processing in Google photos. it's also better to reduce HDR in post processing (making blacks black again) than the opposite, because you are reducing information. increasing HDR is trying to recreate missing information. possible somehow if you shoot in raw with very high bit depth

well this video convinced me to sell my A7C system and upgrade my budget phone to a pixel 8 pro. Better have a good camera with me at all times, then have an amazing camera which doesnt get the use it deserve.

Thanks for mentioning and taking the photos in 50mp allot of other reviewers don't mention it and usually just keep it stock

Its easy to spot the pixel photos because of that magenta tint in the mids and lows.

This KZfaqr has to realize that 95% of smartphone users don't give a damn about photographic "orthodoxy" and as a result would often consider that the pixel 8 pro pic is better or at least as good as the professional camera version. Smartphone cameras have accomplished amazing progress in the last 5 years thanks to AI, which makes them far better options for taking pics than bulky expensive cameras in almost all situations. This is why I entirely gave up on buying a camera a few months ago.

This is just a great video. Exciting to see how the Pixel compares to a professional camera

It would be interesting to see you try to replicate the results from the pro camera on the Pixel using the 'pro controls' on the P8P. Also, as far as increasing the sensor size on smartphones, wouldn't it make more sense to basically put the pixel smarts into a good professional camera? I know there have been products that have kind of tried that in the past but everything has come so far processing wise. I think it would make a lot more sense now.

Are you kidding? The Camera A (Pixel) was consistently the better image in the Cam A/B sequence. I was most surprised in the beer bottles zoom shot, because the first image was comically oversaturated and blurry, which is a trademark of small-sensor zoom lenses found on smartphones. The Pixel obviously doesn't have the depth of field of a full-frame sensor, but was clearly capturing more detail, and has more balanced lighting. The camera was having blown out highlights, oversaturated parts, which the Pixel balanced fantastically well. If you really prefer, or want high contrast or saturation, just swipe up on the Pixel, and dial up the contrast, or capture without the post-processing (RAW). Don't mix conversation on preference/artistic vision, and quality. If you want a certain look, the Pixel will accomplish it in a fraction of the work as well. It is rare to say, but the Pixel made a mockery of the Sony except for 2-3 low-light 5x Zoom shots. I was really waiting till the end for you guys to just say "SIKE, the bad images were all the Pixel's, we fooled ya"

One problem with most smartphone camera sensors is that only delivers 10bit raw for speed reasons. Stacking 20 raw images is compute power consuming and time consuming even with dedicated hardware, so smartphones can shoot raw at 10bit and even at 8bit most times HDR and night modes kick in. Most flagships can deliver 12bit too, but not in all conditions, maybe only in single shot. Midrange and low range sensors can only output 8bit and 10bit. So, with midrange and low range smartphones sometimes is worthless to shoot raw. The raw in this case have only small amount of latitude to edit, but the smartphone JPG is the result of stacking A LOT of images and processing it. The pro cameras raw output is 14bit most of the time (some models output 16bit raw) and 12bit when high speed burst shooting.

I'm in the market for a new phone. Upgrading from a galaxy 21 and have been interested in the new P8P mainly for its reputation with photos. I enjoyed this unique comparison video much more than the standard reviews that I've been seeing. It's honest and less generic.

I don't think anyone thinks mobile phone cameras are better than standalone cameras, especially not high end stuff. Phones are just way too practical and give us quality thats more than good enough to capture all specials moments we need without having to carry a massive camera with us. Obviously special events and such should always be done with a proper camera and more important by someone who can actually use it properly as everyone these days think they're a pro photographer. Great video, I enjoyed it and I'm still impressed by Pixel 8 Pro, glad I bought it, will probably agree with you that I prefer blacks to be blacks and have bit more contrast than what Pixel gives us, but that is easily adjustable

Maybe they can have a setting to have three "levels" of HDR? One with no HDR, one with some, the other like it already has.

I have that phone. I'm so glad I never let the Apple ecosystem suck me in...

THANK YOU SO MUCH. No one checks how insanely current smartphones process images. It's very clear when having access to natural shots. But seems like not a single smartphone has this option available these days! Great for social media, but probably excessive when printed.

Great work as always, Tom! love your video.

I think the pixels profile is ideal for filters. It gives room for additional editing. So ie a flat image can be edited to look more impactful. But you can't revert the other way around.

Great comparison and I the dedicated camera images look much better. The Pixel over processes and I really dislike how it balances the exposure across the whole image. I disagree with your point on the editing on the phone though. For a start, your Magic Eraser demo showed the bags removed, but the Pixel did a pee poor job of rendering the wall properly behind, just left an ugly blur. Secondly, I use an Xperia 1 V with Google Photos and Lightroom Mobile, and I get the same if not better post editing on the go with those two apps than the Pixel. Sure it means hopping between the two apps, but they work really well, especially as Google Photos app has limited RAW support. But I do think the Pixel is a great phone for people just wanting a quick way to take a great picture straight out of their pocket. Can't go wrong with an iPhone Pro or Samsung S series either. The last Pixel I had was the 7 and I really thought it was amazing with the photos! That was until I started to get more into photography and get a dedicated mirror-less entry level Canon M50 MKII! Then I really began to appreciate manual mode and natural shots and just started to dislike AI processing, hence the Xperia 1 V.

What about the regular 8? It would be interesting since I tried both and honestly I ended up kinda disappointed by the 5x of the Pro. The computational power of the Gcam is so good thay makes the 5x on the regular 8 to appear close to the Pro. This would be interesting to test actually.

I got my Pixel 8 Pro almost a month ago, and it has a really good camera.

Pixel 8 Pro now shoots RAW images, xould you compare these with RAW images from A7iv? Just to see how closer the imagery has become?

Sehr gutes Video, das war viel Arbeit. Danke dir dafür. Und trotz allem, das Pixel ist absolut der Hammer. Für immer dabei, absolut perfekt.Geiles Teil

The uses for the $5000 camera is much different than the Pixel 8 Pro, which is fundamentally a camera that you carry with you versus a studio camera. A proper comparison is with a compact sized high-quality travel/street camera like the Fuji X100 series or the Ricoh GR !!!. I shot a trip recently with an X100f primarily and my Pixel 6 when I wanted an image to send to family and I was so pleased with the Pixel 6 images that I bought a Pixel 8 Pro for future trips instead of upgrading the X100f.

Imagine a point and shoot camera with changeable lenses and the pixel processing and ui.

The real camera's images are what I would print in a magazine, whereas the Pixel really ruins the darks and highlights. But what really matters to me is what happens when you zoom in -- which photo has a natural, more film-like look when you zoom in / enlarge the photo? Which photo can be enlarged to make a good looking print? Viewing the images on a PC or phone screen really doesn't really show which one is truly better. For example, if you zoom into a photo taken with a Samsung Galaxy, it looks like complete crap -- like digital paint. Whereas the Google Pixel tends to have a more 'organic noise' look when you get closer to the pixels. The organic noise look is more suitable for enlargement, whereas the digital paint look is absolute shit.

These phone cameras are still way ahead of consumer level SLRs in my opinion. I'm referring to sub $1k cameras with changeable lenses or high zoom cameras like the Lumix's. These consumer level cameras a behind the curve on the software on the camera compared to phones like Pixels. They've only recently introduce wifi or bluethooth transfer on some of them.

I get that you think the professional cameras more contrast looks better in the portrait. Meanwhile my opinion is I want to see the subject in which case the far better dynamic range looks better. A guy who has a camera is gonna say the camera is better. A guy who has a phone is gonna say the phone is better

*The processing on the full size images (50Mp) seems different - contrast is higher on 12Mp?* Tom, if you check out the Verge review, they noted that the Pixel 8 Pro had more contrast than the iPhone 15 Pro. Which is the opposite of what you found. However, you are not using the same image size. Can you confirm this difference?

From the start before I even knew which is which, my preferred choice was the photo with a perfectly exposed softbox which you can see all the details on it, because in the other photo, the softbox is so over exposed, but when I saw the one I chose is actually the Pixel 8 pro, I was surprised because the phone is so amazing 👍

Hey. Just responded to your response on the iPhone video on a similar comparison. This was beautiful to watch and I was not jarred at all during the video. Thank you so much!

Review can better, because I wanted to see RAW on pixel, manual controls Vs camera on around same price point as pixel! Because I am thinking to buying camera or new Pixel 8 pro! I think, pixel did good job compare to size and availability.

Great review, it would be good to also have the video and talk about the pro settings. Besides this being a quick 'great photo' phone many of those users may use it as a gateway camera to get into professional cameras and a review of using the pro features would be cool to see how you use it and your thoughts there as well.

Great video and great tips, thanks!

So your downside of the pixel is that it's taking hdr pics and you'd rather the camera throw that information away instead of storing it. You can always get a camera app that lets you adjust the exposure settings and contrast of the images as you take them.

I think it's already a huge win for smartphones that we even consider comparing them to professional gear. Anyway, I can always carry my smartphone what is the biggest advantage for me! 😊

999 vs 5000? You're getting an extremely good quality picture that rivals and depending on personal preference even outshines the camera at 1/5 of the cost and with a fraction of the effort. Cameras can be as good as they want, but the future of photography is likely going to follow the same path as what the pixel is doing now, ease of use and efficiency is always going to win out over difficult lengthier processes, for example on a bird spotting or safari expedition, the pixel will be much more capable of capturing images on the fly when dealing with unpredictable animals, a regular camera needs to be set up somewhere and sat waiting for ages to get that perfect shot, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if a few years down the line the Pixel X pro or pixel XI pro end up having such advanced camera tech that they outshine even the best conventional camera with almost no effort on the part of the user. (i say pixel X and XI because I have a strong suspicion that they'll do that instead of 10 and 11 for the sake of marketing and such)

Well, they promise a longterm software support, so perhaps they will be able to tweak some details and perhaps give user more options, too

Your portrait comparison (at the start and at 5:05) was a big surprise for me. I felt the A7 was green tinted and your face overly contrasty with overblown highlights. Seriously, if I got the A7 image, I'd be seriously disappointed and would have to take it into Photoshop to try to see if I could recover a usable image. The Pixel image had incredibly neutral colors and much more natural skin tone. Either that or your skin really has a green tinge and your shirt is actually green, not gray.

So you compare auto mode on pixel 8 with manual mode on a camera?

Have the DSLR shots been processed, were you shooting in raw or JPG? Were you using functions of the DSLR (like taking the images in manual mode rather than auto) which you weren't on the Pixel? Because a comparison like this, should really be a level playing field, right? We need the detail to better understand the comparison.

Bets phone camera Ive ever had was the 2019 P30 Pro, I haven't had a phone since that the camera was even close to that thing.

Seeing the detailed analysis here, now I strongly believe that in the coming days, phones are going in the direction of over-processing rather than equipping advanced hardware, which kind of makes sense as well in keeping a check on the price. But the hardware evolution should be synchronous with the software advancements, and not something of a lower priority, as Google has always considered when it comes to the Pixel line.

Your friend is talking bs about lenses having hit their mark ! But he is correct shout processing .

I love the Pixel 8 Pro's camera for some reason it's way better than the iPhone and S24 Ultra combined, already did a comparison for myself. Sadly I did not use any camera when I was doingthe comparison.

I took a picture on my tv from the studio comparison and just higher the contrast on the pixel, looks amazing. Would be hard to see difference by the small pictures after edit. It would be very interesting to se a comparasion where you edit the pictures to look like the camera, how good the pixel could be.

At 9:38 you've said long exposures can't be done with a camera without a tripod. Actually it can be done on most of M43 cameras and some of the new FF Nikons, Canons and Panasonics. Unfortunately it can't be done with Sony cameras as they have too small bayonet diamter and worst IBIS on the market because of this design flaw. Btw, I shoot Sony A7III myself when doing wedding sessions or shoot with old manual legacy glass. However I use old Olympus OMD OM1 Mark II when I want to achieve long exposures handheld or I just want to travel light. And noise on Oly is not a problem as I can use base ISO200 most of the time (which is similar to ISO800 on my A7III).

Really wish they would give the option to choose how much HDR to apply. Almost all phones over do it, not all the time, but it does mess up a lot picture because all the shadows for some reason need to be bright. It's like in smart phone photography true black doesn't exist. It's a shame because the tech is there, but just need to be able to tweak the settings. I've been taking HDR pictures with my DSL for the last 15 years and you can absolutely make it look good / natural and still get the benefits of HDR to bring more detail.

disappointed you didnt use the pro mode for the camera in this video

hahahaha i love the RED HORSE BEER that you include on the photo comparison my friend... it is a well known beer in our country Philippines..... i just happened to know now that it is sold internationally already...

Why did you swap the first photo sample? The pixel was originally on the left, then you put it on the right for the reveal.

why is he always serious in the Pixel Shot but laughing/Friendly in the Camera shot? :D

Terrible to see Google didn't fix the horrible magenta/purple cast that happens to blacks that's been present since the 7 (I went with the 7a partly because it didn't have that problem). Ugh.

5:30 bro use the shadow and exposure slider to get the same darker contrast

That Piccadilly circus W1 shot is interesting. The goods behind the vendor are overexposed on the A7IV, but viewable on the 8pro. Not to mention, the Google camera software is getting an update two weeks from now, so it'll get even better (noise and artifact reduction)

Very nice content. I Really want to see, you making a camera comparison between iphone 15 pro and pixel 8 pro.

It would be really interesting to get a folder with the original pics from the phone! Do you think you could share it with us?

Issues when comparing mobile to camera is processing. Cant process an already processed jpeg, but raw from camera, is easier to tailor the outcome to suit your taste. Other thing is, not everyone can be great using adobe and find simple point and shoot of a phone easier and cheaper. (adobe cost/month)

Am i the only one that preferred the first photo on the pixel??

Seems that would be the obvious outcome? So how would the pixel compare to a $1000 Camara?

I see you praise the P8P yet a few videos back your set up incorporates an iPhone and the 23ultra. Is that still your current setup? I have a Fujifilm xt30II and I love it. I pre ordered the 24ultra and at times I think about canceling my order. I didn’t buy the 24 ultra simply for its camera abilities, but for AI, the s-pen and for productivity etc. I am just second guessing my self as I think I might be better served by the P8P? Was hoping I could get your thoughts on that.

There cant be a serious comparison vs an expensive ILC or DSLR, because the tiny phone sensors can't physically collect as much info as the cameras , so everything that is sharpened or color corrected in a phone is fake. Blow up any camera photo and you get out of focus evenly. Blow up phone photos and you get "strange looking stuff"...lol.. But it is true, the excellent flagship phones are so much more handy for social media, unless your actual hobby is ILC/DSLR photography.

ofc camera is better than the phone. 4000$ better? nope. better comparation would be with a cheaper camera, like less than 1000$

Did the pro mode help or did you use it to try and get closer to the Camera? i have not played a lot with the pro mode on the P8P yet. but on My LG G4, V30, V40 and V60 i made a lot of use of that feature to get certain things close to what i saw especially at night. Those did less processing compared to what the P8P does. The P7P did not have it (used that phone previous year). I will be looking into that HDR exposure after seeing this comparison. You can off course disable HDR might help for the indoor portrait but outdoors that might not give the best result.

There is no question that a 5k camera is way better than a smartphone camera , what we wanna see is how good the smartphone camera compared to an inexpensive camera

I think going for too much contrast simply crushes the inbetweens and eliminates alot of detail/colours. In any case, I would rather have it like this, and to be honest, pixel photos look stunning and the dynamic range is just incredible. I believe Google does a tremendous job with what is has, but even so, no phone camera can actually rival a pro camera at the time moment. Cheers!

I have Pixel 6a and I love my camera shots. But pictures on 8 pro are also great. I think $ 5k won, but this video made me love the 8 Pro a lot. In the future I am focused to buy it! Great video and great tips, thanks!

The photos swapped left to right at 0:30. 😂😂😂😂 Nice play to promote.

You used the old magic eraser and it is fine but the new one that uses AI (with the colorful icon on the botton left part of the Google Photos editor) is much better as it "imagines" what is behind the objects you want to delete

Honestly, I would rather see RAW on both, and processed the same. Using the JPEG off the pixel isn't the right approach. The JPEG is meant to ensure everything gets exposed. The last thing you want is to be taking a quick family photo and have all of the faces in pitch black. You use RAW when you want to use a camera artistically -- that goes for both smartphone and DSLR. So, show us the artistic capacity of the cameras.

I'm going red button babyyyy!

NGL the pixel images are phenomenal, exactly what i need!!! Wow

Personally I prefer the less contrasty look. More dynamic range isn't it ?

Hello, I want to know your opinion, which one should I choose, the Pixel 6 Pro or the regular Pixel 7?

Include taking a portrait shot with the 5x lens, not portrait MODE, just a portrait shot in the normal camera mode zoomed in 5x, at least you get some natural bokeh plus its more flattering than a wide lens, and thats how i take portrait shots on my pixel 6 pro :D

In all such phone vs. camera comparisons, I see biased frames where the phone does just fine. You don't need $5,000, just $600-800 is enough to easily beat the quality of the phone. If we compared a camera for $400 and a macro/telephoto lens for $200 or a super wide-angle lens like 20mm or wider, then the phones would look terrible. The phones only perform decently if we use the main sensor, which is almost always an equivalent between 24mm and 26mm, which are extremely boring.

Hate these kind of reviews where in comparing a smartphone with a DSLR... absolutely makes no sense since they both belong to different world's...

Explain the shot at 1:26 please. I am assuming Camera A is Pixel and B is the A7? Pixel got the colour temp horribly wrong then?

You do not mention if the Sony images have been edited as you would have to if you shot it in raw. Or are they sooc jpegs? Which they should be if you are comparing to sooc pixel 8 Pro images.

You use sony cameras and compare them to phone camera's .what the reason you don't test the Sony Xperia phones?

Thank you very much ❤ Please make video about pixel (8)

Would love to see a comparison like this with Xperia 1 V

I have to say that in few cases I have preferred google photos (for example when there were the wine bottles). By the way google is doing a great job, I'm very curious to see how Samsung 24 will reply

for normal average social media users... I think most of them will choose photos taken by Pixel

Pixel is basically pulling highlights and shadows slider to near extreme

Hi may I have your honest opinion. Im thinking about buying new phone, so which one better for me between ip 15pm and pixel 8 pro? Im the type that love to capture moments, scenery & etc.

You made the same Test with the S23 Ultra. If you have to choose between S23 Ultra and Pixel 8 Pro for Photography, wich one would is better?

The "pro" photographer cut your foot off.

Were you taking these in auto on the pixel? I'd like to see you do a side by side using the pro mode on the pixel so you can make it a bit harder ;) :D

I also have the A7 iv and the Pixel 8 pro. Got the pro on the 12th. So you didn't take any of these photos with the pro mode on the pixel 8 pro?

Hmmm. Can the A74 send text messages, make phone calls, stream the web? Pixel camera one of the best, if not thee best smartphone camera today.