Budget Above 25K Google Pixel 2 XL 128gb for 44k

[ayaskant12]

Getting the Google Pixel 2 XL 128gb panda variant for 44k just 10 days old
But imported so I guess no warranty in India.
Is it worth it?
I recently sold my note 8.
To tide over the bridge phase I have bought a xiaomi mi a1.
Help needed preferably from Pixel 2 XL owners

 

[vivek.krishnan]

^ thats literally the post by VP of product management of google. I don't know whats happening

It just means the warranty is offered in the country of purchase, but everywhere its 2 years. Its not limited to US only.

 

[blr_p]

OK. I guessed it then. I thought I didn't know about these mobiles.

Anyway I suggest you to go slow. Unknowingly you are blowing hard earned money on hugely depreciating asset. Think about it. U won't change your bike costing 60k in 3 months... What's big deal about mobiles?

I have often wondered about this. They want to try different products but its such a hassle
a) to acquire
b) to sell on

madness to me if you consider the effort

I know people who go through at least four phones a year every year and have been doing it for the last ten years (!)

 

[blr_p]

but if the put the pixel camera in note 8 there would be no comparison or competitor for thay phone. Camera on pixel is just WOW.

Only aspect of the pixel camera that impresses me is the portrait mode.

Good photo is primarily down to who takes the photo than what took it. The weird thing in the mobile community is people want to be reduced to pressing buttons and not think about the photo. In such cases and for people like this the pixel is a good camera. But the photos it takes are flat, low in contrast and boring. Not exactly what you want if you are creative.

Forest Logs #Dartmoor by Gavin Fabiani-Laymond, on Flickr

Can't take a photo like that with a pixel, Those rays of light will be removed because they are considered as glare and therefore bad

 

[ayaskant12]

^ thats literally the post by VP of product management of google. I don't know whats happening

Hehehe same thing I thought!

read his words carefully!!

 

[chiron]

lol my 4 year old phone is dying of battery drain and i still don't want to get a new one because of the bother of setting it up the way i like it

 

[ayaskant12]

Ve

Only aspect of the pixel camera that impresses me is the portrait mode.

Good photo is primarily down to who takes the photo than what took it. The weird thing in the mobile community is people want to be reduced to pressing buttons and not think about the photo. In such cases and for people like this the pixel is a good camera. But the photos it takes are flat, low in contrast and boring. Not exactly what you want if you are creative.

Forest Logs #Dartmoor by Gavin Fabiani-Laymond, on Flickr

Can't take a photo like that with a pixel, Those rays of light will be removed because they are considered as glare and therefore bad

VeRy true about the flat profile of pics.

Pixel pictures I had to almost always process it in Snapseed to suit my preference. Colors were so dull that a marriage ceremony with full of colours looked like a cremation ground!!! No not exaggerating.
But yes it retains a lot of shadow details like a raw photo so snapseed pulls out a lot of details.

 

[ayaskant12]

lol my 4 year old phone is dying of battery drain and i still don't want to get a new one because of the bother of setting it up the way i like it

I didn't get your point but if you are judging me for changing phones or gadgets then please don't. You have not stepped into my shoes.
Even I have sacrificed my complete youth inside a hostel room and hospital wards when most were enjoying themselves!!

So it's completely up to an individual how he wants to proceed in life.... I just want to enjoy whatever I like to do.

 

[adventureguy]

Ve

VeRy true about the flat profile of pics.

Pixel pictures I had to almost always process it in Snapseed to suit my preference. Colors were so dull that a marriage ceremony with full of colours looked like a cremation ground!!! No not exaggerating.
But yes it retains a lot of shadow details like a raw photo so snapseed pulls out a lot of details.

Photographers love pixel for thie very reason. colors are accurate to real life. My instagram "influencer" friends use pixel for this very reason. they take a pic, color correct in snapseed and apply filters in vsco

I find iphone/ note 8 pictures more vibrant without any editing

 

[blr_p]

VeRy true about the flat profile of pics.

Very few reviewers get this, they are mostly hyping everything about the pixel camera. Telling you this is how photos should look. This makes other OEMs try to immitate it and screw up what works in the first place. Huawei's P20 Pro has moved ahead. It's the current leader with 4s handheld photos possible

Pixel pictures I had to almost always process it in Snapseed to suit my preference. Colors were so dull that a marriage ceremony with full of colours looked like a cremation ground!!! No not exaggerating.
But yes it retains a lot of shadow details like a raw photo so snapseed pulls out a lot of details.

I don't know what post processing you can do to a hdr+ photo. It's already heavily processed over the norm. This is another downside i feel. Maybe if you turn off HDR+ but then your low light performance will suffer. The image averaging for better noise reduction and clearer details is welcome, its the exposure juggling between foreground & background that gets to me. Its unnatural.

However colour accuracy i would rank on the pixel as the most accurate. if your colours look bad it might have to do with the lighting. Other OEMs add more pop

Even with HDR+ turned off that photo i posted will be harder to get than normal. No post processing is done to that photo, just some -exp comp

HDR+ is a different look that will grate on those used to traditional looks. It works great for the clueless though that are open to the power of suggestion. Its going to become more common when HDR+ is open sourced and every budget phone camera uses it

 

[ayaskant12]

Very few reviewers get this, they are mostly hyping everything about the pixel camera. Telling you this is how photos should look. This makes other OEMs try to immitate it and screw up what works in the first place. Huawei's P20 Pro has moved ahead. It's the current leader with 4s handheld photos possible


I don't know what post processing you can do to a hdr+ photo. It's already heavily processed over the norm. This is another downside i feel. Maybe if you turn off HDR+ but then your low light performance will suffer. The image averaging for better noise reduction and clearer details is welcome, its the exposure juggling between foreground & background that gets to me. Its unnatural.

However colour accuracy i would rank on the pixel as the most accurate. if your colours look bad it might have to do with the lighting. Other OEMs add more pop

Even with HDR+ turned off that photo i posted will be harder to get than normal. No post processing is done to that photo, just some -exp comp

HDR+ is a different look that will grate on those used to traditional looks. It works great for the clueless though that are open to the power of suggestion. Its going to become more common when HDR+ is open sourced and every budget phone camera uses it

I can't comment about HDR+ and shadow details technically.
But if you have a pixel picture then you can see how much you can recover from the photo. HDR+ basically enhances shadow details itself but overall brightness is reduced. Dunno why.

Samsung on the other hand brightens it's photos to the max so highlights are clipped. And thus there is no way you can recover anything after processing is done.

So technically pixel photos are better for editing.

 

[blr_p]

But if you have a pixel picture then you can see how much you can recover from the photo. HDR+ basically enhances shadow details itself but overall brightness is reduced. Dunno why.

You can up shadow details from any camera. Tap to focus on the brightest area to set exposure then bring up shadows. Does not matter if the photo appears underexposed.

Samsung on the other hand brightens it's photos to the max so highlights are clipped. And thus there is no way you can recover anything after processing is done.

See above, tapping to focus changes metering to spot on samsung and allows to fix exposure in camera. Another option is to change the default metering to multi but this will flatten contrast more

 

[ayaskant12]

That applies for calculated landscape photography or somewhere you have taken time to adjust the parameters.
Not in all scenarios.
But I don't do that on a cell phone. I use Fuji XT1 when I am thinking of creating a good photograph.

Phones, I use just for casual pictures fired every moment

And YMMV if you use phone for such things

 

[blr_p]

That applies for calculated landscape photography or somewhere you have taken time to adjust the parameters.

My LG opens in manual mode, if there is a need to tweak anything i do it otherwise its auto. I don't take much landscape photos, mostly for documenting and ensuring text is sharp and exposures are decent.

On occassion there are portraits but they aren't the bulk

But I don't do that on a cell phone. I use Fuji XT1 when I am thinking of creating a good photograph.

Why ? phone is what we have all the time. Photo above is what you get when you do take care.

Problem with those bigger cameras is you have to take them with you, most do not and they spend their lives in a drawer and then people put them up for sale because its too much money locked into something that isn't being used

That Fuji has been on my mind for years but i know i will use it for a month and then it will get into a drawer and come out only occassionaly

Phones, I use just for casual pictures fired every moment

And YMMV if you use phone for such things

Phone cameras are pretty good these days. i'd say that point was reached already with the LG G4 back in 2015.

f course YMMV using a phone, so you figure out the quirks and each OEM camera has them and get what you want

 

[ayaskant12]

Very nicely put together.

What I meant is.

My usage of a phone is
1. Spontaneous shots of my daughter so minimal time to adjust anything apart from touch to focus
And if she holds a pose for little more then Exposure adjustment as u suggested.

2. Indoor lighting for quality pics phones don't hold a candle to Fuji with a 1.4 aperture lens.

3. I hate the false bokeh of the portrait mode once you have invested a lot in a good camera and u have some idea of what a true bokeh looks like.

4. I do take lot of shots with friends and family with my phone only but I am still not happy in artificial lighting till sensors are highly sensitive but for that to happen I think physics needs to be challenged

As I said for my usage of predominantly indoor pics there is no contest between phone and camera. I usually want bright pictures since Faces are predominant part of my photographs and in those cases Samsung usually blows background lights to keep faces bright whereas Pixel keeps balanced lighting but many times looks artificial. So I prefer Samsung compared to HDR+ of pixel