- The Google Pixel 10 series could allow you to use the telephoto camera for macro photos
- This would allow you to shoot from further away, and help avoid you blocking the light
- However, macro shots will also apparently be possible with the ultra-wide camera
Macro photography on phones often seems to be a bit of an afterthought, but with the Pixel 10 series, Google might be taking it more seriously.
This is according to Android Headlines, which claims that the Pixel 10 and its siblings – which are expected to include the Pixel 10 Pro, the Pixel 10 Pro XL, and the Pixel 10 Pro Fold – will have a tele-macro mode.
In other words, if this rumor is right, then these phones will be able to use their telephoto cameras for macro shots. That’s in contrast to the Google Pixel 9 series and most other high-end handsets, which tend to use their ultra-wide cameras for macro photography.
The advantage of tele-macro is that you can take macro photos from further away. That can be more convenient, especially when photographing something that might not appreciate you looming over it, like an insect. And because you can be further away from the subject, you also won’t be blocking the light as much.
But you may still want to get closer sometimes, and the Pixel 10 series should have you covered there too, because according to this leak, it will also offer macro capabilities with its ultra-wide camera.
So, in other words the Google Pixel 10 series might be doubling down on macro modes, offering two options where most phones have just one at most.
A macro focus
That – and especially the tele-macro mode – is great news, as it should make it much easier to take high-quality macro photos, and as a photography fan that could tempt me to upgrade.
Phone companies understandably tend to focus on their main and ultra-wide snappers, with telephotos often coming in third place and macro being even less of a consideration.
But if you like taking photos of a wide variety of things from a range of perspectives, then it’s important to have a wide range of focal lengths that you can shoot at.
It sounds like the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL in particular could offer this, with wide, ultra-wide, telephoto (likely at 5x optical zoom), and two different macro modes potentially set to be offered – not to mention optical-quality 2x zoom, which is achieved on the Pixel 9 series through cropping the main sensor.
That could make for one of the most comprehensive cameras setups you’ll find on a smartphone, and might even tempt me back from the Apple side.