Misleading phone camera specifications
I recently purchased a Google Pixel 7 Pro after I discovered that my Pixel 4 XL was not as water resistant as I was led to believe by its IP68 rating. I’ve had the Pixel 7 Pro for 4 weeks and yesterday was the first time I took a photo, and was shocked to find out when I imported it into Lightroom that it was only 9.1mp using the 16:9 ratio. I’d like to be able to take 3:2 images, but 4:3 and 16:9 are my only options, but I digress.
On the Pixel 7 Pro specifications page it states “50 MP Octa PD Quad Bayer wide camera”, which I have learned today is 4 pixels combined into one super pixel, so what you end up with, assuming you use the 4:3 ratio is 12.5 megapixels. This is called pixel binning (no pun intended), which allows smaller CMOS sensors like the ones featured in most cellphone cameras to take higher-quality photos.
Manufacturers are being deliberately misleading in their marketing, if I see 50mp listed in the specs, I’d expect to get 50mp images. This is the same bullshit as what budget “Hi-Fi” manufacturers use, PMPO, which is 4 x the actual output power, RMS, for example, 50 watts RMS, double that to get MPO (music power output), then double again to get PMPO (peak music power output), the end result, the claim is 200 watts, which is utter nonsense. Quad Bayer feels the same to me, call it a 12.5mp camera, the 50mp specs are nonsense, it’s pure marketing bullshit, and most people don’t know what Quad Bayer is.
Like Hi-Fi enthusiasts, photography enthusiasts are exceptionally condescending and toxic, spouting crap like “You don’t understand how it works, you expect 50mp images from such a small sensor?”. My answer is YES, it’s marketed as 50mp, I expect to get 50mp images, not 1/4 of the listed specs.
One Redditor wrote, “Imagine spending $1000 on something without doing any research on it beforehand”. Well, imagine manufacturers being honest, instead of using misleading figures. The least they could do is have an asterisk denoting the final images will be 12.5mp, or maybe have a link to more information about what “Octa PD Quad Bayer” actually is. I don’t think this is too much to ask, do you?
This is why I have never joined Reddit, and have generally avoided it in Google search results, the amount of assholes on there with a superiority complex is astonishing. There is no need to be condescending to people with less knowledge than you. Just explain how it works, there is no need to insult someone for their lack of knowledge, even you, the “expert” didn’t know shit at one point, don’t be an asshole!
I’m not a noob, I have been a professional photographer for over a decade, and my 26mp DSLR camera produces 26mp images. I understand that a full-frame DSLR is a long way from a cellphone camera in terms of quality, but to not even allow the buyer to use all 50mp of the sensor, even if it resulted in terrible images is clearly false advertising, regardless of what the assholes on Reddit claim.