{"id":229398,"date":"2026-01-12T06:50:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T06:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/229398\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T06:50:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T06:50:15","slug":"heres-the-one-thing-i-want-to-see-from-pixel-11-pro-cameras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/229398\/","title":{"rendered":"Here’s the one thing I want to see from Pixel 11 Pro cameras"},"content":{"rendered":"

Google\u2019s Pixel 10<\/a> phones are among the best camera phones<\/a> on the market, and this generation marks the first time in a while that the entire series offers a telephoto camera. The Pixel 10 ships with a 10.8MP 5x camera, while the Pixel 10 Pro phones pack a great 50MP 5x periscope camera.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s one big feature missing from Google\u2019s telephoto cameras, though, and I really hope to see it on the Pixel 11 Pro line. Of course, I\u2019m talking about telephoto macro capabilities.<\/p>\n

Do you use macro photo mode on your phone?<\/p>\n

104 votes<\/p>\n

Yes, via the telephoto camera<\/p>\n

21%<\/p>\n

Yes, via the ultrawide camera<\/p>\n

17%<\/p>\n

Yes, via the main camera<\/p>\n

7%<\/p>\n

Yes, but I’m not sure which camera is used<\/p>\n

22%<\/p>\n

No, I don’t use it<\/p>\n

26%<\/p>\n

I’m not sure<\/p>\n

7%<\/p>\n

Why move closer to get closer?\n<\/p>\n

For what it\u2019s worth, the Pixel 10 lets you use the ultrawide camera for macro photography. This requires you to move your phone virtually on top of whatever you\u2019re snapping, which has various downsides, from lackluster bokeh to potentially ruining your photo\u2019s lighting.<\/p>\n

Instead, I love the ability to take macro photos with a telephoto camera; it\u2019s great for grabbing a close-up shot without physically moving closer to the subject. That\u2019s handy if you\u2019re capturing a skittish subject (e.g., insects, little animals) and are worried that you might chase it off.<\/p>\n

Telephoto-based macro photography also has picture quality benefits compared to macro mode on ultrawide cameras. For one, you don\u2019t have to get so close that your shadow falls onto the subject itself. You also don\u2019t have to deal with a very distorted field of view, as seen from ultrawide cameras, although many phone makers crop the image from the ultrawide camera to limit this issue.<\/p>\n

Macro mode telephoto lets you get close-up snaps without being on top of the subject.<\/p>\n

The ability to focus up close with the telephoto camera also has ramifications for general photography. This feature gives you more flexibility if you\u2019re taking photos in tight spaces or in situations where the tele camera would ordinarily lose focus.<\/p>\n

I also find this feature handy for product photos, as I frequently put down my standalone camera and take snaps with a phone at product briefings. In fact, I used my phone to take plenty of close-up device shots at CES, MWC, and Samsung\u2019s pre-briefings in 2025.<\/p>\n

This might require a Pixel 11 Pro downgrade, though<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Joe Maring \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

There is one potential obstacle standing in the way of the Pixel 11 Pro phones getting a telephoto-based macro mode. The reality is that 5x cameras and higher generally don\u2019t offer macro capabilities due to technical challenges. It\u2019s simply difficult to achieve close-up focusing on a camera with such a long focal length.<\/p>\n

One potential workaround would be for the Pixel 11 Pro phones to offer a shorter zoom range, such as 3x to 4x. Phones like the vivo X300 Pro<\/a>, OPPO Find X9 Pro<\/a>, and Xiaomi 15 Ultra<\/a> offer macro functionality via their 3x to 3.5x cameras. Meanwhile, the HUAWEI Pura 80 Pro has a 48MP 4x camera and 5cm macro focusing.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t want to miss the best from Android Authority?<\/p>\n

\"google\"google<\/a><\/p>\n

The switch to a slightly shorter focal length would also be welcomed for portrait photography, as ~35mm to ~90mm is considered the sweet spot for portraits<\/a> compared to 120mm (~5x). This has long been a complaint about Pixel Pro handsets among some enthusiasts.<\/p>\n

However, long-range zoom quality would certainly take a hit if the next Pixel Pro phones dropped below the 5x mark. So I\u2019d definitely prefer if Google did the technical legwork to bring macro mode to its 5x cameras. Failing that, we\u2019ve seen manufacturers adopt 200MP periscope cameras in the last couple of years, using all those megapixels to achieve good long-range zoom. Google also offers its Pro Res Zoom<\/a> feature for better long-range zoom, although I\u2019m not a fan of such heavy-handed generative AI usage. Nevertheless, the pieces are here for future Pixels to maintain good long-range photo quality while adding macro functionality.<\/p>\n

In any event, I love telephoto macro capabilities on modern flagship phones. I\u2019m not the only one, either, as colleague Ryan Haines praised this feature on the Nothing Phone 3<\/a>. So I\u2019d like to see Google step up to the plate and offer this versatile camera option on the Pixel 11 Pro range.<\/p>\n

Thank you for being part of our community. Read our\u00a0Comment Policy<\/a> before posting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Google\u2019s Pixel 10 phones are among the best camera phones on the market, and this generation marks the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229399,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[367,3451,68349,342,111,139,69,871,145],"class_list":{"0":"post-229398","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-google","9":"tag-google-pixel","10":"tag-google-pixel-11","11":"tag-mobile","12":"tag-new-zealand","13":"tag-newzealand","14":"tag-nz","15":"tag-smartphones","16":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}