Sony explains: ‘this is why Xperia cameras were not as good as the competition

Sony Xperia 1 cameraThe sensors from Sony have been used for years by almost all manufacturers in the very best smartphone cameras, but Sony’s own devices never made great photos. The company has finally explained why and promises improvement in Sony Xperia 1.

Sony Xperia 1 camera better through collaboration

Sony is partly responsible for the best smartphone cameras of this moment. The iPhone XS, Google Pixel 3 and Samsung Galaxy S9: they are all equipped with camera sensors from the Japanese manufacturer. Still, the quality of the camera on Sony’s own smartphones is disappointing. “Sony has been plagued by disappointing cameras for years,” we wrote in our Xperia XZ3 review.

Cause? Within Sony, there was the fear that smartphones would cannibalize the sale of more expensive, professional cameras. “Although we are one company, there are still certain thresholds where Alpha [the camera division] does not want the Mobile team to give certain features because you suddenly have the same thing as a 4000 euro camera,” says Adam Marsh, marketing manager of Sony in an interview with Trusted Reviews.Buy Sony Xperia 1

“That threshold is now a bit away. The teams now understand that it is good if the experience on the smartphone and camera is comparable. “The Japanese company recently started to encourage more teams to work together, and that is paying off. “A better cooperation with Alpha is definitely going to happen. Thanks to changes at the head office in Tokyo, the mobile team is now part of the same division as the camera division, “says Marsh.

Many new features

With the new Xperia 1, Sony seems final to work out. The device has a combination of features that are now standard with the competition, supplemented with features from Sony’s more serious cameras. The Xperia 1 has optical image stabilization, three lenses on the back and autofocus of Sony’s Alpha cameras. There is also a new Cinema Pro app that lets you make adjustments in the style of Sony’s expensive CineAlta video cameras.

Sony’s smartphone is equipped with three cameras of 12 megapixels. That while some other smartphones, such as the Honor View 20, have a Sony sensor of 48 megapixels. But there is also a good reason for that, according to Marsh: “The 48-megapixel sensor has no memory of its own, and therefore can not produce super-motion videos of 960 frames per second.”

According to Marsh, the combination of the three cameras on the Xperia 1 also makes for better pictures. Whether that really is true, is yet to wait: Sony’s new smartphone is from this spring for sale in the Netherlands for 949 euros.

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