The camera on the Pixel phones seems to actually be mighty fine [Gallery]

Update: Apparently, thanks to a metadata-hunting made by the folks over at Phandroid, it looks like at least some of the shots were in fact edited or processed through apps such as Snapseed or VSCO. This certainly changes the perspective a bit, at least on colors, but does nonetheless not deprive the Pixel phones of their stunning rear-shooter. Thanks, Chris!

There certainly is much hype surrounding the Pixel phones, and while criticism is pouring in aplenty from all corners of the Android world, there is a lot of good that can be said about Google‘s new flagship devices. The camera, for one, definitely seems to be part of it…

We are still waiting to see the Pixel phones flee from Google’s warehouses onto the customers’ homes, but of course a number of Googlers have managed to get ahold of it. After talking up the phones’ camera quite extensively throughout the presentation at the October 4 keynote, early images prove that “seeing is believing.”

Verified Google employee “Isaac” — who goes by the name IsaacOnCamera on Google Groups — wrote as much in a public post on the “Pixel User Community” group, with a link leading to a Google Photos album full of beautiful shots taken with the Pixels. (All of these are obviously untouched, and come straight out of the handset’s 12MP eye, by the way.)

In these snaps you can truly appreciate the phone’s capabilities. The images, both at first glance and under a slightly deeper analysis, are nothing short of impressive. Landscapes, portraits, low-light, and freeze-frame shots are all encompassed in this pretty thorough gallery.

In my personal opinion, the aquarium shot is particularly noteworthy, as you can see how the Pixel handles the tricky lights and ultimately delivers a wallpaper-worthy shot. The low-light picture taken at the golden shoes illustrates how the device is in no trouble when dealing with darker scenarios, keeping the subject in focus and playing nicely with the colors, all while reducing noise to a minimum.

It may be missing OIS, but if these photos are anything to go by, it sure looks like the folks over at Google did the right thing in favouring lenses, large pixel size and putting the ISP at work. Once again, optimization given by the tight hardware and software integration may be the Pixel’s ace in the hole.

But which one is your favorite? Look at the gallery here and let us know in the comment section below.