Pixel 8 camera specs leak, adds manual controls, AI to change faces, Magic Editor, more [Video]

The focus of Google’s Pixel phones has always been on the camera, and it seems there’s a lot of new stuff coming with the Pixel 8 series, as a new leaked ad reveals manual camera controls, new features, and a whole bunch of AI in the pipeline.

A leaked video posted to 91Mobiles by the reliable leaker Kamila Wojciechowska offers a pretty detailed breakdown of all of the new camera features coming to Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, including some returning favorites like Night Sight, Astrophotography, and Super Res Zoom.

What’s new this year, though, is actually quite a bit.

That starts with “Video Boost,” which Google says will use AI to create a “smoother view” as well as bringing Night Sight’s effects to video, as we had previously reported was coming. The video also gives us a first look at “Audio Eraser” – another feature that popped up previously – with a quick example of removing city noise from the background of a video of a cello player.

Perhaps the most wild use of AI in the video, though, is a Google Photos feature on Pixel 8 where the app will literally be able to change people’s faces in a shot to create the shot you want – the Michael Scott treatment, if you will. There’s no explanation on how this works, but it seems like it uses multiple, similar shots to create one final product. Again, it looks absolutely wild.

Perhaps most interesting for photo enthusiasts is the arrival of full manual controls on Google Pixel 8. These are called “Pro Controls” and are “modeled after DSLR controls.” We can’t see all of the options, but shutter speed and ISO both appear, as well as manual focus.

Then, there’s Magic Editor. Google first teased this at I/O as a feature that can help you move a subject or change the sky, and Google puts that on full view in this video. It looks great.

The whole video (below) has a clear focus on AI, and it’s rather exciting to see so many new camera features in store.

But, beyond that, the leak also offers a full breakdown of the camera specs in place on the Pixel 8 series. Most notable here is that Pixel 8 Pro will add auto-focus to the selfie camera, which is a 10.5MP sensor. This is something Google offered in the past on the Pixel 3, but removed in subsequent releases. Pixel 8, though, apparently is fixed focus still despite having the same sensor.

The rest of the camera specs include 50MP primary sensors on both devices at f/1.68, a 1/1.31-inch sensor, and 1.2 μm pixel width. That seems to imply these will still be using the Samsung ISOCELL GN1 sensor, as the specs line up. Pixel 8 gets a 12MP ultrawide camera with auto-focus (something the regular Pixel 7 lacked), while Pixel 8 Pro is still gets a 48MP ultrawide and another 48MP telephoto camera at 5x.

Google is set to unveil Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro on October 4.