Google's Upcoming 'Night Sight' Mode for Pixel Phones Captures Remarkable Low-Light Photos

[MacRumors]

At a media event in New York City earlier this month, Google previewed a new low-light camera feature called "Night Sight" that uses machine learning to choose the right colors based on the content of the image. The result is much brighter photos in low-light conditions, without having to use flash.

Google showed a side-by-side comparison of two unedited photos shot in low light with an iPhone XS and its latest Pixel 3 smartphone with Night Sight, and the photo shot on the latter device is much brighter.

Google said Night Sight will be available next month for its Pixel smartphones, but an XDA Developers forum member managed to get the feature to work ahead of time, and The Verge's Vlad Savov tested out the pre-release software on a Pixel 3 XL. The results, pictured below, are simply remarkable.

Without Night Sight​

With Night Sight​

Without Night Sight​

With Night Sight​

Without Night Sight​

With Night Sight​

Google and Apple are both heavily invested in computational photography. On the latest iPhones, for example, Smart HDR results in photos with more highlight and shadow detail, while Depth Control significantly improves Portrait Mode. But, Night Sight takes low-light smartphone photography to a whole new level.

Article Link: Google's Upcoming 'Night Sight' Mode for Pixel Phones Captures Remarkable Low-Light Photos

 

[Tozovac]

Photos in pitch black darkness. OK. Kinda cool. Not anti-android/google nor pro-Apple by any stretch. But I'll be curious to hear of any outcry for Apple to incorporate a response. Will customers soon demand their phone be able to jumpstart their car or walk the dog next?

 

[bbplayer5]

So Apple could technically do the same right?

 

[Freida]

This is why Apple needs competition. This (if true and works) is a perfect example. Love when others do something great. Lets hope it really is that good

 

[brendu]

This is really impressive. Good work google engineers.

 

[Pelea]

Now there’s a company that actually knows how to innovate

 

[Nueve]

That's actually amazing, let's see if Apple adds something similar.

 

[xalea]

Wow. I guess $1 trillion doesn't buy everything.

 

[brock2621]

This is great for landscape photography, but will be useless with capturing people in the moment without being "smeary." It seems like an easy software implementation to just tell the camera to keep the exposure open for 5 seconds just like any other mirrorless or DSLR camera.

Now if this works with "instant shutter" then I'll be blown away.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

I... I don't think I can get behind this.

If I'm shooting at night, it's for a reason. I'd much rather have a camera capable of rendering what I'm actually seeing versus one that can apply a filter to turn night into day. This is essentially the same kind of thing that Prism does, turning a photo into "art." It's no longer reality.

 

[Aluminum213]

Apple getting embarrassed by Google with the camera now, SAD!!

 

[nfl46]

Wow, that is sickening. Lol.

 

[chrono1081]

Sorry but I have to call BS where I see it. Unless I'm missing something specific about the lighting in these images (please feel free to correct me if I am), they're ********. I've been taking plenty of low light shots on my iPhone XS without flash because I never use flash, and they're great.

I'm not saying Google hasn't made some kind of advancement, but it's hard to tell when they're obviously faking these images.

EDIT: I get it its The Verge that posted these pictures, but the fact that there's something screwy still stands. I've never taken awful low light photos like what is in the article.

 

[bbplayer5]

I... I don't think I can get behind this.

If I'm shooting at night, it's for a reason. I'd much rather have a camera capable of rendering what I'm actually seeing versus one that can apply a filter to turn night into day. This is essentially the same kind of thing that Prism does, turning a photo into "art." It's no longer reality.

So like, turn it off?

 

[nfl46]

So Apple could technically do the same right?

You know its coming next year, lol. Apple will add their fancy name to it.

 

[Greenmeenie]

Yeah, pretty cool. But as far as computational photography goes, I think Apple’s smart HDR is more useful. When shooting in pitch blackness, one can always use flash anyway. Night shots even with ‘night sight’ will always look grainy on the small sensor of a smartphone. I’d much rather have skies that aren’t blown out and detail in shaded areas when shooting in daylight. But hey, that’s me. It’s all good. Competition only benefits us the consumer.

 

[jlc1978]

Very impressive. I wonder what would happen if the items were not in somewhat predictable colors, instead of red fire extinguishers they were pink? Perhaps they use a very high ISO mode to get colors and details at expense of noise and the redo a lower ISO image based on the analysis of that image?

 

[bayelrey80]

Wow. I guess $1 trillion doesn't buy everything.

But being worth $750B does lol? Night shot is awesome but you can't get decent mics for recording video on a $900 phone? With all the software bugs on the Pixel, I hope this isn't yet another broken thing from Google that gets released.

 

[Sasparilla]

This is truly a big step forward for very low light smartphone technology - Google hit it out of the park with their camera work again. I thought the original photo example at the launch event was a fake, but now that people can sideload a prerelease version of the app and are showing the results it looks like its for real, these are handheld, the shutter isn't just open 5 seconds - supposedly this will go out in the Pixel software update next month.

Would rather have Apple pushing the limits of smartphone photography since they were for quite a while, but Google has been in the drivers seat these last two cycles (Pixel 2 and 3).

The other really cool thing is Google is backporting this feature to the Pixel 2 and Pixel 1 as well and the super low light pictures on the Pixel 1 are equally impressive (about 1/2 way down the comments in The Verge article which has added more night pictures).

That's something I doubt Apple would do instead of their pattern of only the best features for the current iPhone's - but is something Apple should do once they figure out how to emulate this.

 

[edgonzalez32]

Best part about this is that it's coming to Pixel 1 and 2 as well. Super excited to start using it on my 2 xl. I hope Apple adopts something similar. More importantly, I hope it's a feature they introduce to phones going back to the iPhone 8.

 

[JPack]

I... I don't think I can get behind this.

If I'm shooting at night, it's for a reason. I'd much rather have a camera capable of rendering what I'm actually seeing versus one that can apply a filter to turn night into day. This is essentially the same kind of thing that Prism does, turning a photo into "art." It's no longer reality.

Night Sight is closer to reality. Or did you think The Verge editor was stumbling all over his house and the street in pitch black?

 

[edgonzalez32]

I... I don't think I can get behind this.

If I'm shooting at night, it's for a reason. I'd much rather have a camera capable of rendering what I'm actually seeing versus one that can apply a filter to turn night into day. This is essentially the same kind of thing that Prism does, turning a photo into "art." It's no longer reality.

Then turn it off. Majority of users that are shooting at night are just trying to shoot a moment.

 

[Mousse]

Very impressive. I wonder what would happen if the items were not in somewhat predictable colors, instead of red fire extinguishers they were pink? Perhaps they use a very high ISO mode to get colors and details at expense of noise and the redo a lower ISO image based on the analysis of that image?

The colors won't change. It draws out the color already there, not create new colors.

It's something RAW shooters have been doing for years: shoot underexposed and then draw out the details post production. We do it in tricky lighting. ie a spot where normal exposure would completely blowout one section of the picture. There is no way to retrieve data when the it's 255 255 255 RGB (completely white). The "black" in the raw isn't all 0 0 0 RGB (completely black) so some details can be recovered.

So Google does this now in the phone. Nice trick, but I prefer doing it in during post production.

 

[Merode]

I... I don't think I can get behind this.

If I'm shooting at night, it's for a reason. I'd much rather have a camera capable of rendering what I'm actually seeing versus one that can apply a filter to turn night into day. This is essentially the same kind of thing that Prism does, turning a photo into "art." It's no longer reality.

Have you ever tried taking picture at night? Night Shift seems to actually reproduce what eyes see instead of pitch black.

 

[AngerDanger]

Just think of how great iPhone part leaks will look now!


Without Night Sight


With Night Sight