If you want to get the best performance out of your Pixel 9 Pro XL’s camera, your going to need to know which settings to use – here’s a checklist…
⚡ Optimize Your Pixel 9 Pro XL Camera Settings ⚡
⚙️ Activate HDR+ Enhanced
Navigate to camera settings and toggle HDR+ Enhanced for high-quality photos with improved contrast and color depth.Why it’s useful: HDR+ Enhanced captures vivid details in both bright and dark areas, making your photos stand out with balanced exposure.
📸 Use Super Res Zoom
Turn on Super Res Zoom for detailed long-range shots, offering up to 20x zoom.Why it’s useful: Get clear and detailed images even when zooming in, perfect for capturing distant subjects without losing quality.
🤖 Enable Magic Editor
Use Magic Editor for AI-assisted photo enhancement and touch-ups.Why it’s useful: Easily enhance photos, remove unwanted elements, or make creative adjustments with the power of AI.
🌟 Shooting Modes
Explore Night Sight, Astrophotography, and Portrait modes for tailored experiences in various lighting conditions.Why it’s useful: Each mode is optimized for specific situations—capture stunning night scenes, beautiful portraits, or even the stars above.
🛠️ Turn on Auto Frame
Let AI keep the subject perfectly composed by using Auto Frame, especially for group shots or fast-moving subjects.Why it’s useful: Keep the perfect framing without effort, ensuring everyone in the shot looks great, even in action scenes.
🎥 Adjust AI-powered Video Boost
Set Video Boost for ultra-high-quality videos even when zoomed, maintaining sharpness and clarity.Why it’s useful: Capture smooth, sharp videos with enhanced quality, even during zoom shots.
🌃 Explore Cinematic Blur
Use Cinematic Blur for video mode to create a shallow depth-of-field effect, focusing more on the subject while blurring the background.Why it’s useful: Achieve a professional film-like look with your videos, drawing more attention to your subject.
🛠️ Manual Exposure & White Balance
Unlock more control by adjusting exposure and white balance manually for tricky lighting conditions.Why it’s useful: Fine-tune your shots in challenging light environments for precise color accuracy and brightness control.
🤝 Use Add Me Feature
When shooting group photos, activate Add Me to ensure you’re always in the shot, even when using the rear camera.Why it’s useful: Never be left out of a group photo again—perfect for group selfies using the main camera for better quality.
👀 Turn on Face Unblur
Keep your subject’s face sharp, especially when shooting moving objects or in low light.Why it’s useful: Ensure faces remain in focus, making your photos look sharp and professional.
🤖 AI Features of the Pixel 9 Pro XL 🤖
🔑 Gemini AI Assistant for Photography
Access Gemini by pressing the power button for intelligent camera suggestions, like lighting and composition adjustments.Why it’s useful: Get real-time suggestions to improve lighting and composition, giving your photos a professional edge.
🤖 Magic Editor & Auto Frame
Use Magic Editor to fix or reimagine photos using AI, and Auto Frame ensures perfect subject composition.Why it’s useful: Effortlessly enhance and frame your shots using AI assistance.
🌃 AI-Enhanced Night Sight
Turn on AI Night Sight for bright, detailed images even in low-light conditions.Why it’s useful: Brighten up dark scenes with incredible detail, perfect for low-light photography.
📼 Super Res Zoom Video
Use AI-powered Super Res Zoom to get up to 20x zoom in video without losing quality.Why it’s useful: Capture distant subjects in videos with excellent clarity and sharpness.
🤝 Add Me
Use Add Me for group photos, which leverages AI to add you to shots automatically, avoiding the need for timers.Why it’s useful: Always be part of the shot, perfect for moments when you don’t want to use a timer or remote.
👀 Face Unblur
Rely on Face Unblur powered by AI to ensure crisp facial features, even if the subject moves or is in dim light.Why it’s useful: Capture clear, sharp faces in every shot, reducing blur in action or low-light situations.
🎥 Cinematic Pan
Activate Cinematic Pan for AI-stabilized, smooth video shots with a professional feel.Why it’s useful: Achieve silky-smooth panning shots in videos, ideal for storytelling with a professional touch.
🖼 Photography Modes 🖼
🌙 Night Sight Mode
Perfect for low-light photography, powered by AI for bright, detailed night shots.Why it’s useful: Capture incredible photos at night with enhanced brightness and detail.
✨ Astrophotography Mode
Capture the stars with stunning detail; ideal for night sky photography.Why it’s useful: Create breathtaking images of the night sky with minimal effort.
💅 Portrait Mode
Creates a bokeh effect, blurring the background to focus on the subject.Why it’s useful: Achieve professional-looking portraits with beautifully blurred backgrounds.
⏳ Motion Mode
Captures moving subjects with precision, adding a dynamic effect to your shots.Why it’s useful: Add life and movement to your photos by capturing subjects in action.
🎥 Action Pan
Freeze a moving subject while blurring the background for a sense of motion.Why it’s useful: Create striking action shots that convey the excitement of movement.
🎞 Cinematic Mode
A video mode that adds depth of field, keeping your subject sharp while blurring the background.Why it’s useful: Shoot videos with a professional cinematic look, highlighting your main subject.
How To Use All of The Pixel 9 Pro XL’s Camera Settings & AI Features
Having a checklist is one thing, but knowing how to actually use those features is something else entirely. If you’re new to the Pixel 9 Pro XL, you might not know how to perform all of the steps in the checklist.
If that’s the case, read on because we’ll walk you through each step in detail so you’ll know exactly what you’re doing when you’re exploring your Pixel’s camera settings.
📸 How To Activate HDR+ Enhanced
Start by heading to your camera’s settings and toggling on HDR+ Enhanced. This mode improves the contrast and color depth of your images, especially in challenging lighting conditions. HDR+ Enhanced captures multiple exposures and blends them into one perfect shot. The result? Vivid details in both the brightest and darkest parts of your image.
How to use it:
- Snap your photo as usual and let the feature do its magic.
- Open the camera app.
- Go to Settings > HDR+ Control.
- Toggle on HDR+ Enhanced.
🔍 How To Use Super Res Zoom
Need to capture something far away? With Super Res Zoom, you can zoom up to 20x without losing quality. Unlike traditional zoom that just enlarges the image, Super Res Zoom uses AI to fill in details, so you end up with a sharp, clear photo.
How to use it:
- Open the camera and pinch the screen to zoom in.
- Activate Super Res Zoom by zooming past 2x.
- Frame your shot and capture clear, detailed long-range photos.
✨ How To Enable Magic Editor
The Magic Editor allows you to make quick edits with AI assistance. From removing unwanted objects to adjusting colors and lighting, this tool makes enhancing your photos a breeze.
How to use it:
- After taking a photo, tap on the image in the gallery.
- Select Edit > Magic Editor.
- Use AI tools to remove elements, adjust lighting, or add creative touches.
🌟 How To Use Shooting Modes
Your Pixel 9 Pro XL offers specialized modes like Night Sight, Astrophotography, and Portrait Mode. Each is designed for different shooting conditions, ensuring you always get the perfect shot.
How to use them:
- Night Sight: For low-light environments. Open the camera and swipe to Night Sight.
- Astrophotography: Set your phone on a tripod, then activate Night Sight and point at the stars.
- Portrait Mode: Swipe to Portrait for stunning bokeh effects. The background will blur while keeping your subject sharp.
🎥 How To Use AI-Powered Video Boost
Video Boost enhances the quality of your videos by sharpening them and making them smoother, even when zooming. This feature uses AI to maintain clarity, even in less-than-perfect conditions.
How to use it:
- Go to the Video mode in the camera app.
- In Settings, turn on Video Boost.
- Record your video, and let the AI-enhanced boost maintain clarity.
🎬 How To Use Cinematic Blur
For a professional video look, use Cinematic Blur to keep your subject in focus while softly blurring the background, creating depth.
How to use it:
- Open the camera app and swipe to Video Mode.
- Tap Cinematic Blur to activate it.
- Record your video with a stunning depth-of-field effect.
🛠️ How To Use Manual Exposure & White Balance
Sometimes auto settings don’t cut it. For tricky lighting situations, you can manually control exposure and white balance to get the perfect shot.
How to use it:
- In the camera app, go to Settings and select Manual Controls.
- Adjust the Exposure to brighten or darken the scene.
- Fine-tune the White Balance to correct the color temperature.
📸 How To Turn on Auto Frame
When you’re shooting group shots or fast-moving subjects, Auto Frame keeps everything perfectly composed. The AI automatically tracks and adjusts the frame, ensuring everyone stays in the shot.
How to use it:
- Open the camera app and tap the Auto Frame icon.
- Focus on your subject or group, and the camera will keep them in the perfect frame automatically.
👥 How To Use Add Me Feature
Taking group photos but don’t want to be left out? The Add Me feature uses AI to ensure you’re in the photo even if you’re behind the camera. Just activate it, and the Pixel 9 Pro XL will add you into the shot.
How to use it:
- Open the camera app, go to Settings, and turn on Add Me.
- Position the camera for a group shot and the phone will do the rest.
👀 How To Turn on Face Unblur
When taking photos in low light or of fast-moving subjects, blurred faces can ruin a shot. Face Unblur kicks in to make sure the subject’s face remains sharp.
How to use it:
- No need to enable anything special—Face Unblur is built-in.
- Just snap a picture and the AI automatically corrects any blur in the face.
🔑 How To Use Gemini AI Assistant for Photography
The Gemini AI Assistant helps with real-time suggestions for your photos, from lighting tweaks to composition improvements. Simply press the power button to access it and get on-the-spot advice.
How to use it:
- Press the power button while in camera mode.
- Follow the real-time prompts to adjust lighting, angles, and more.
📼 How To Use Super Res Zoom Video
Just like the photo version, Super Res Zoom in video mode allows you to zoom in without losing quality. This is ideal for capturing distant subjects in sharp, detailed video.
How to use it:
- In Video Mode, pinch to zoom and activate Super Res Zoom for up to 20x zoom.
- Record videos with incredible clarity, even from afar.
🎥 How To Use Cinematic Pan
When shooting video, Cinematic Pan provides smooth, professional panning shots. It stabilizes the camera to avoid shaky footage, perfect for storytelling or capturing dynamic scenes.
How to use it:
- Open the camera app, go to Video Mode, and swipe to Cinematic Pan.
- Move the camera slowly, and the AI stabilization will ensure smooth, professional footage.
Accessories To 10x Your Pixel Phone Photography & Video
The Pixel 9 Pro XL’s camera is a beast. But if you want to take your photos and video to the next level, you’ll need some accessories. Here’s what we recommend right now.
Moment Lens Attachment: Enhance your photos with a wide-angle or macro lens.
DJI OM 5 Gimbal: Stabilize your videos for a professional look. Perfect for capturing smooth motion.
Joby GorillaPod: A flexible tripod that helps you take steady shots, even in challenging angles.
