How I fell in love with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s camera

Last week, I was in Berlin with the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold at the very start of my review period, and I wanted to write something about the camera ahead of it. I decided to do so by indulging in a photographic hobby of mine.

When I travel, I like to take photos of cars, and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold was going to be my companion. It had better be up to the task, as other phones were waiting in the wings if it let me down.

Car-spotting in Berlin

Despite the Pixel 9 Pro Fold having Pro in its name, it does not have the same camera as the Pixel 9 Pro or even the Pixel 9. It has a 48-megapixel primary camera, a 10.5MP wide-angle camera, and a 10.8MP telephoto camera for a 5x optical zoom. It’s essentially the same as the Google Pixel Fold’s camera setup, and on a technical level, it’s not as impressive as the far less expensive (but much less foldy) Pixel 9 Pro or even the Pixel 8 Pro.

But would it do what I wanted while in Berlin? I was in the city for the IFA 2024 technology trade show, and I stayed in close proximity to Kurfürstendamm (or Ku’damm for short), which is central, elegant, and packed with lovely places for coffee and food. It’s also full of expensive designer stores, luxury watch brand boutiques, and all the cars accompanying those who shop there. Over the many years I’ve stayed in this area, I’ve always enjoyed some casual car-spotting, often to the chagrin of my colleagues.

I’m a car geek, so when I’m in new places, I find it really enjoyable to spot cars I don’t usually see at home. What makes Kurfürstendamm enjoyable for me is the variety of cars you see cruising and parked up, ranging from supercars to modern classics in fantastic condition.

A good car-spotting camera needs to take colorful, high-contrast, dynamic photos in all lighting conditions to highlight the metal. It really needs a telephoto camera, so you don’t have to get right up close to the vehicle when taking a photo, keeping things more incognito. It also needs a robust editing suite and a big screen to make adjustments. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold should be a great choice, so how did it do?

Using the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s camera

Over the few days I was in Berlin, I took around 50 photos of different cars with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold — and I loved the results, regardless of whether I used the main, wide, 5x telephoto camera, or even the 2x non-optical zoom. I was consistently impressed with the speed of the camera, too, and although I didn’t take many photos of cars on the move (more on that in a moment), I never missed a shot due to the camera or app being too slow.

Why didn’t I take photos of cars on the move? I had intended to try out Google’s Action Pan mode, which adds a cool motion blur effect to moving objects, as I’d enjoyed it on the Pixel 9 and Pixel 8. However, oddly, Action Pan is missing from the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s camera app. Action Pan’s sister mode, Long Exposure, is present though. There’s no obvious technical reason why it’s not included, and in this case, it was rather frustrating. Perhaps it’ll turn up in a future software update.

What about the cars? It’ll come as no surprise that two leading car brands dominate the Ku’damm landscape: Mercedes Benz and Porsche. Porsches of all types are so prevalent that I stopped taking photos of 911s, as I’d have spent most of my time capturing them if I hadn’t done so.

I didn’t do the same with Mercedes as, despite seeing so many, the models were often highly unusual spots for me, as Ku’dammers seem to love their high-performance Mercs. That said, on one day, the first five cars I considered photographing were all AMG GT models of various types, giving you an idea of how prevalent this particular car was in the area.

The cars and photos

I didn’t want to fixate on just supercars either, and I wanted to illustrate the variety of cars I saw, which I think speaks to the interesting car culture that I assume exists in Berlin and its surroundings. The convertible Mustang was a surprise, and although I didn’t get photos as most were on the move when I saw them, the amount of Aston Martin and Jaguars, both new and old, illustrated that it wasn’t solely about German cars either. Ferrari was notable in its absence, and the few I did see were easily outnumbered by Lamborghini and Bentley models. It was fantastic to see all these cars out and in use, particularly during the week.

The beautiful weather during my stay no doubt helped people bring out cars that may have otherwise been safely garaged, and it also helped out with my photos, as did the urban backdrop. I tried to incorporate Ku’damm and its side streets into the photos, but there were times when a bit too much of it got in the way, and this is where the Pixel 9 Pro Fold became the ultimate companion for my car-spotting adventures on the move. For a start, opening the phone to view and then edit images on the large screen is amazing, and it simply can’t be matched on a non-folding phone. Only editing on a laptop or tablet can compare, and I can carry neither in my pocket.

On the open screen I was able to make full use of Google Photos’ Magic Editor mode, and wow, did it do some impressive things. My favorite is the wide-angle photo of the Mustang, which was interrupted by a street sign and some of the rental scooters that litter Berlin’s streets when I took it.

Amazingly, after a few careful swipes, Magic Editor took them all away without a trace. If I didn’t point it out and show you the before image, I don’t think you’d ever realize. It also turned a photo I’d have probably discarded into one I really like. I did the same with the background in the photo of the beautiful R129 SL, then removed the parked cars on either side of the white S Class, and was astonished by the clean, seamless result.

Not a car-spotter?

This isn’t our review of the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold or its camera, so all the photos you see here have been edited on the device using the tools found in Google Photos. Magic Editor has become incredibly adept at removing small distractions and re-creating backgrounds perfectly, and cleaning up the photos took just a few moments.

But I only wanted to edit the photos because they looked excellent to begin with, meaning I could tweak them to my taste rather than use the tools to try to reach an acceptable baseline. I’ve managed to create a collection of photos I am really happy with that captures Berlin’s obvious love of very powerful cars.

When I came up with the idea of using car-spotting as the basis for my story on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold while in Berlin, it was with some trepidation. I take these photos for myself and fun, so I didn’t want that to change. If the Pixel 9 Pro Fold was a pain or didn’t take the pictures I wanted, it would become an effort and effectively become work, with all the fun of car photography removed.

This didn’t happen because the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a joy to hold and use. It’s not annoyingly heavy, the software has been faultless, and I never wanted to reach for the Pixel 9 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max I also had with me to take a photo. I enjoyed my occasional hobby of photographing cool cars I spot just as much, if not more than usual, with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold as my camera and Magic Editor at the ready.

If you’ve never taken a photo of a car and are wondering if all this is relevant to you, all the same principles and performance of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s camera and Google Photos apply to whatever you’re photographing. I love the open screen when I want to see my photos after taking them, and the telephoto camera allows me to shoot my chosen subject in more visually exciting ways from a distance. The editing toolkit helped me easily create photos I wish had been possible in real life.

Regardless of what you want to take photos of, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a great companion. My first few days with the phone and its camera have left me smitten, and it’s looking like the start of a very positive review.