Database Users

GSMArena does a blind survey of cameras

http://www.gsmarena.com/iphone_6s_galaxy_s6_xperia_z5-review-1329p2.php
Xperia Z5 took top honors, and the ranking look more like the Dxomark ranking

I honestly dunno how the Z5 managed to win. The whole contest was stacked against it. I didn't have to look at the pics to know that it wasn't gonna do well using the 23 MP mode in low light (gah!).
But the worst part was the flower pic on the balcony. The Z5's FOV was so large, it detected it as a low light outdoor scene, rather than a photo of flowers. How can they run a "blind" test when the pics are so different that one camera will detect it as a different scene?!?
Based on the GSMArena and Android Authority (not-so-)blind tests, I still don't have a clear understanding when SA will act flaky. I don't believe it's a lack of OIS because if it were, the 6S would have suffer from the same problem. Bad focusing algorithm under certain conditions? Not correctly detecting landscape scenes with close objects?

@joe_dude, SA has received some interesting changes - it's too shy to use high ISO now lol
Check out these two, not my best efforts as I had to shoot with both hands
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/22325128049/in/album-72157659529471088/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/21889222884/in/album-72157659529471088/
Now that it's too shy to go for high ISO, let's take a took at these three. One of my goals was to capture that logo (please excuse the mess) that no other phone could do it for me so far
Z3+ detected this as low-light, shot at ISO 4000 & got its job done without breaking any sweat.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/21889541194/in/album-72157659529471088/
So I pulled out Z5, SA detected some motion & selected 'night scene' & gave me this!!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/22324812888/in/datetaken/
By then SA figured out things have stabilized, a tripod sign showed up right below the 'night scene' icon & I got this
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/22499088172/in/datetaken/
Finally, I realized that the sucker was set to 20mp (I'd never use that for indoor/evening/night or even day shots). Anyways, Z5's key strength is color & you can't rush in SA mode. Stabilize your hands & wait for that tripod to show up & then shoot if you want to use that night scene selected by SA.

schecter7 said:
@joe_dude, SA has received some interesting changes - it's too shy to use high ISO now lol
Check out these two, not my best efforts as I had to shoot with both hands
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/22325128049/in/album-72157659529471088/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/21889222884/in/album-72157659529471088/
Now that it's too shy to go for high ISO, let's take a took at these three. One of my goals was to capture that logo (please excuse the mess) that no other phone could do it for me so far
Z3+ detected this as low-light, shot at ISO 4000 & got its job done without breaking any sweat.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/21889541194/in/album-72157659529471088/
So I pulled out Z5, SA detected some motion & selected 'night scene' & gave me this!!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/22324812888/in/datetaken/
By then SA figured out things have stabilized, a tripod sign showed up right below the 'night scene' icon & I got this
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/22499088172/in/datetaken/
Finally, I realized that the sucker was set to 20mp (I'd never use that for indoor/evening/night or even day shots). Anyways, Z5's key strength is color & you can't rush in SA mode. Stabilize your hands & wait for that tripod to show up & then shoot if you want to use that night scene selected by SA.
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Thanks a lot! After looking at your pics, I also went back to Tim's 20 MP vs. 8 MP comparison pics.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/22126137922/in/photostream/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/21515893794/in/photostream/
If you look at the EXIF info, they both used the same shutter speed, but the 8 MP used a higher ISO. Better exposure and less noise, so 8 MP mode is better for low light, as Tim has shown. Tim also waited for the tripod symbol for his 20 MP night shots.
So my question is this: Does the tripod symbol show up for non-night scenes? Like in moderate to bright light? It seems to me the Z5 has two AF modes - fast vs. slow AF. Fast AF is super fast, but only good for capturing a specific subject (and tends to blur the background). Slow AF does full scene analysis and takes longer. It would explain why people are getting such wildly varying results with the Z5.
Anyone wanna test and see? Please?

I don't remember seeing tripod symbol in any non-night mode. Tim's 20mp was done in tripod night mode? The ISO seems a bit high though (ET also seems smaller). It looks more like a regular night mode. But I could be wrong. Tripod mode basically drops ISO, increases ET even more (the max I have seen so far is 1/1 s) compared to 'regular' night scene as you could see from my last two EXIFs . I'd have to do a 20mp vs 8mp comparison soon. Z5's SA is quite different than the SA we had on previous Xperias!
Edit: I forgot about the brightness slider in new SA mode. It lets you control the ISO - well, indirectly.

schecter7 said:
I don't remember seeing tripod symbol in any non-night mode. Tim's 20mp was done in tripod night mode? The ISO seems a bit high though (ET also seems smaller). It looks more like a regular night mode. But I could be wrong. Tripod mode basically drops ISO, increases ET even more (the max I have seen so far is 1/1 s) compared to 'regular' night scene as you could see from my last two EXIFs . I'd have to do a 20mp vs 8mp comparison soon. Z5's SA is quite different than the SA we had on previous Xperias!
Edit: I forgot about the brightness slider in new SA mode. It lets you control the ISO - well, indirectly.
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Sorry, you're right. There's is only one pic in Tim's collection that activated tripod mode (in 8 MP SA) I believe, and it had an exposure time of 0.8 sec. From the various pics I've seen, it seems the limit for SA is 1/8 sec without the tripod icon. I hope Tim's reading this. Something new to play with! :victory:
Still not sure why some pics from various reviews have AF problems in moderate to good lighting. Are there any extra icons that pop up after a short time when it gets a solid "lock" on a scene?
Edit: Wait a minute... is there a landscape icon that pops up in SA during scenery shots?

joe_dude said:
Sorry, you're right. There's is only one pic in Tim's collection that activated tripod mode (in 8 MP SA) I believe, and it had an exposure time of 0.8 sec. From the various pics I've seen, it seems the limit for SA is 1/8 sec without the tripod icon. I hope Tim's reading this. Something new to play with! :victory:
Still not sure why some pics from various reviews have AF problems in moderate to good lighting. Are there any extra icons that pop up after a short time when it gets a solid "lock" on a scene?
Edit: Wait a minute... is there a landscape icon that pops up in SA during scenery shots?
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Only extra icon beside the tripod (mutually exclusive) is a runner icon. It basically means SA is 'busy' trying to find out a suitable scene mode. So if it's not there, I think we got the 'lock' lol
SA Landscape mode has some icon (same as the one you'd get from manual -> scene -> landscape) , but it rarely shows up lol Actually I haven't seen any icon at all
while taking most of the daylight shots. I think SA doesn't want to tell you much proly because it feels confident in those cases lol

schecter7 said:
Only extra icon beside the tripod (mutually exclusive) is a runner icon. It basically means SA is 'busy' trying to find out a suitable scene mode. So if it's not there, I think we got the 'lock' lol
SA Landscape mode has some icon (same as the one you'd get from manual -> scene -> landscape) , but it rarely shows up lol Actually I haven't seen any icon at all
while taking most of the daylight shots. I think SA doesn't want to tell you much proly because it feels confident in those cases lol
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Hmmm... those are the same icons as on my Z Ultra. The runner means it detects movement, I believe. It takes a few seconds to go into night mode, and tripod icon needs something to brace against to appear. So how quickly/easily does the night mode and tripod icon appear?
:silly:

joe_dude said:
Hmmm... those are the same icons as on my Z Ultra. The runner means it detects movement, I believe. It takes a few seconds to go into night mode, and tripod icon needs something to brace against to appear. So how quickly/easily does the night mode and tripod icon appear?
:silly:
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Click to collapse
Man, ZU & Camera. It's my favorite Xperia though. It was also the phone that forced me explore manual mode
I think there is another runner icon (without two white bars) that appears during the mode selection. I think it means 'busy' ? On Z2, I mostly get 'only tripod' SA mode. The one I was talking about is NS + tripod (or low-light + tripod). I don't think you'll get it right after opening the camera (proly because of the mandatory initial movement). It's not that hard to get it right before the next shot though - around 1 second or less. I do apply mild downward force from both index fingers & upward one from left thumb. My hands are not super steady, so I think anyone can do it after few trials. But remember the longer ET, so I think tripod may backfire at times hehe

schecter7 said:
Man, ZU & Camera. It's my favorite Xperia though. It was also the phone that forced me explore manual mode
I think there is another runner icon (without two white bars) that appears during the mode selection. I think it means 'busy' ? On Z2, I mostly get 'only tripod' SA mode. The one I was talking about is NS + tripod (or low-light + tripod). I don't think you'll get it right after opening the camera (proly because of the mandatory initial movement). It's not that hard to get it right before the next shot though - around 1 second or less. I do apply mild downward force from both index fingers & upward one from left thumb. My hands are not super steady, so I think anyone can do it after few trials. But remember the longer ET, so I think tripod may backfire at times hehe
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Yeah, I think the ZU was the best phone of all time (when it came out). On light use, I've gotten 4 to 5 days out of it on a single charge. And Kitkat 4.4 and Lollipop 5.1.1 have been rock solid. If there were a Z5 Ultra (or Z6 Ultra), I'd get it in a heartbeat.
Anyway, I should be able to do some testing with the Z5 and a G4 shortly (yea!), but I don't have a lot of free time, so I'm gonna try to grab a bunch of shots and analyze them later. Oh well, RL comes first.

Hope to see the update which will bring proper software to the table, Specially low light performances. Cause sensor is really good yet the software, specially SA doesn't do a great job.
P.S: I really hope one of these great Dev come up with an idea to use the camera beyond Sony could expect it so they can hire him or just use that software.
Like this one. Never tested but thought of giving it a shot.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/crossdevice-dev/sony-themes-apps/mod-xperia-camera-unlocked-t3071161

chesterr said:
Hope to see the update which will bring proper software to the table, Specially low light performances. Cause sensor is really good yet the software, specially SA doesn't do a great job.
P.S: I really hope one of these great Dev come up with an idea to use the camera beyond Sony could expect it so they can hire him or just use that software.
Like this one. Never tested but thought of giving it a shot.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/crossdevice-dev/sony-themes-apps/mod-xperia-camera-unlocked-t3071161
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Click to collapse
Yeah, a fully unlocked camera would be really cool. Well, for us geeks anyway. I think Sony's simplified manual modes are still not simple enough for the average consumer. But that's a problem with the average consumer, not the phone. xD
As for low light performance, let's see how it does in comparisons using the default 8 MP SA. Even if the tests don't adjust for its 24mm lens, I think it'll do a lot better than in 23 MP mode.

If things go well I might have my Z5 next week.
And do some proper testing with Z5 and Z2 which I know really well since I have it for over 1,5 years.
I should do a proper comparison. All the questions will be answered.

joe_dude said:
I honestly dunno how the Z5 managed to win. The whole contest was stacked against it. I didn't have to look at the pics to know that it wasn't gonna do well using the 23 MP mode in low light (gah!).
But the worst part was the flower pic on the balcony. The Z5's FOV was so large, it detected it as a low light outdoor scene, rather than a photo of flowers. How can they run a "blind" test when the pics are so different that one camera will detect it as a different scene?!?
Based on the GSMArena and Android Authority (not-so-)blind tests, I still don't have a clear understanding when SA will act flaky. I don't believe it's a lack of OIS because if it were, the 6S would have suffer from the same problem. Bad focusing algorithm under certain conditions? Not correctly detecting landscape scenes with close objects?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please read the whole review clearly. The flower test was going to test the flash system not other things, S6 LED flash is very well designed confirmed by all other reviews. In reality, 99% of smartphone users are using Auto so they just let all shot with Auto which is a reasonable testing method though I understand it is unbelievable to some xda members here.
There's no review against Sony I've seen on net regarding the question of fov because we are testing the whole camera module now, not solely the sensor raw performance, or else we'll also need to take out the OIS on S6 bcoz it's unfair to Z5. The fov on Z5 is wider but it also got many more pixel counts while S6 got a smaller fov with 16MP and the same happened on 6S as well, it is a fair race.

TheEndHK said:
Please read the whole review clearly. The flower test was going to test the flash system not other things, S6 LED flash is very well designed confirmed by all other reviews. In reality, 99% of smartphone users are using Auto so they just let all shot with Auto which is a reasonable testing method though I understand it is unbelievable to some xda members here.
There's no review against Sony I've seen on net regarding the question of fov because we are testing the whole camera module now, not solely the sensor raw performance, or else we'll also need to take out the OIS on S6 bcoz it's unfair to Z5. The fov on Z5 is wider but it also got many more pixel counts while S6 got a smaller fov with 16MP and the same happened on 6S as well, it is a fair race.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is lots of incompentence in reviews regarding the camera. He is right regarding FOV as that affects how the camera measures what is in focus. Due to the wider FOV of the Z5 it put focus on the background which took up more sensor space than the flowers. This resulted in upping ISO to combat dark environment. Also becouse the Z5 has wider FOV the photos has to be taken a bit closer else they need to zoom in the Z5 photo (disadvantage for Z5) and something several tests do and it is not professional.
Look at this, this is photos from a comparision at Phonearena which provided unmodified full resolution photos of all cameras. I have downscaled the 23MP Z5 image to 16MP to be same as G4 and S6 and also changed the aspect ratio. You can clearly se the concept of how wider FOV provides unfair advantage to competition but with same aspect and same MP size you can see the Z5 races well against the G4 and S6 unlike what the OP of this thread showed which was the zoomed in Z5 vs the competitions non zoomed in view. That's why most reviews and comparisions with the Z1+ range phones gives the competition an unfair advantage which doesn't translate to real world detail as you downscale the image for given media you use or just as is.
First photo is Z5 (1/64 ISO 80), second S6 (1/33 ISO 80) and third G4 (1/30 ISO 100). I wonder though why the Z5 didn't choose shutter speed of around 1/30 to get a more lit up capture.. Guess they need to iron that out with updates or some kind of anti shaking mechanism kicked in making shutter faster.

EQ2000 said:
There is lots of incompentence in reviews regarding the camera. He is right regarding FOV as that affects how the camera measures what is in focus. Due to the wider FOV of the Z5 it put focus on the background which took up more sensor space than the flowers. This resulted in upping ISO to combat dark environment. Also becouse the Z5 has wider FOV the photos has to be taken a bit closer else they need to zoom in the Z5 photo (disadvantage for Z5) and something several tests do and it is not professional.
Look at this, this is photos from a comparision at Phonearena which provided unmodified full resolution photos of all cameras. I have downscaled the 23MP Z5 image to 16MP to be same as G4 and S6 and also changed the aspect ratio. You can clearly se the concept of how wider FOV provides unfair advantage to competition but with same aspect and same MP size you can see the Z5 races well against the G4 and S6 unlike what the OP of this thread showed which was the zoomed in Z5 vs the competitions non zoomed in view. That's why most reviews and comparisions with the Z1+ range phones gives the competition an unfair advantage which doesn't translate to real world detail as you downscale the image for given media you use or just as is.
First photo is Z5 (1/64 ISO 80), second S6 (1/33 ISO 80) and third G4 (1/30 ISO 100). I wonder though why the Z5 didn't choose shutter speed of around 1/30 to get a more lit up capture.. Guess they need to iron that out with updates or some kind of anti shaking mechanism kicked in making shutter faster.
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I gonna repeat it again. The S6 flash system is excellent so it is actually the S6 flashed the object beautifully(6S also performed correctly just not as nice as S6). On the other hand, though I don't deny the wider fov might be a bit affected to the detecting of environment but from the flash lighting it spreading out, it is clearly the flash system on Z5 doesn't come close to S6.
Though the Z5 got wider fov but it also got more pixels plus bigger sensor size to fullfill the wider scene so you can't just said that they are all not fair to Sony. If you put it in this way, it would be unfair to Samsung or Apple turned out this time.
Reviewers(and customers) are only interested to test the whole camera module because it is a final product. They are not engineers to test individual parts and theirs raw performance.
http://www.sammobile.com/2015/11/02/samsung-in-talks-with-sony-for-new-galaxy-s7-camera-sensor/
It is funny how Samsung is now trying to deal with Sony to put the Z5 sensor(IMX300) on the upcoming S7.

TheEndHK said:
I gonna repeat it again. The S6 flash system is excellent so it is actually the S6 flashed the object beautifully(6S also performed correctly just not as nice as S6). On the other hand, though I don't deny the wider fov might be a bit affected to the detecting of environment but from the flash lighting it spreading out, it is clearly the flash system on Z5 doesn't come close to S6.
Though the Z5 got wider fov but it also got more pixels plus bigger sensor size to fullfill the wider scene so you can't just said that they are all not fair to Sony. If you put it in this way, it would be unfair to Samsung or Apple turned out this time.
Reviewers(and customers) are only interested to test the whole camera module because it is a final product. They are not engineers to test individual parts and theirs raw performance.
http://www.sammobile.com/2015/11/02/samsung-in-talks-with-sony-for-new-galaxy-s7-camera-sensor/
It is funny how Samsung is now trying to deal with Sony to put the Z5 sensor(IMX300) on the upcoming S7.
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Yeah, I just read that too. It'll be interesting to see if Sony gives Samsung the new sensor, and what Samsung can do with it.
In any case, the Z5's flash is rated better by DXOMark than the S6. So it was obvious that the GSMArena's flowers flash test had some kind of problem. I mean just look at the pic - the Z5's pic was mostly of the night sky, while the S6 and 6S were mainly on the flowers. Because they didn't consider the FOV and framed the shot incorrectly, the Z5 detected it as a night scenery pic with flash fill, not a flash pic of flowers. There are examples from other reviews that show the Z5's flash working well and as expected.
Reviewers are expected to understand and be knowledgeable about the product they are reviewing. Would you ever buy a car magazine where the reviewers don't know what kind of engine is in the car, or how much gas it uses? Reviews that give false, misleading and/or incomplete information are bad for everyone.
---------- Post added at 12:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:27 AM ----------
EQ2000 said:
First photo is Z5 (1/64 ISO 80), second S6 (1/33 ISO 80) and third G4 (1/30 ISO 100). I wonder though why the Z5 didn't choose shutter speed of around 1/30 to get a more lit up capture.. Guess they need to iron that out with updates or some kind of anti shaking mechanism kicked in making shutter faster.
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Click to collapse
The ISO part, I can answer, since I've tested it. SA uses face detection (or moving objects) to prevent motion blur. Whenever the "people" icon appears on screen, the ISO and/or shutter speed goes up. I dunno if Sony really needs to do that, but I guess sometimes a usable shot is better than a blurred shot...? SA constantly fiddles with the exposure time, depending on the objects/movements it detects. So far, I haven't gotten pics with bad lighting though. Maybe it was fixed in the latest firmware?
:silly:

joe_dude said:
The ISO part, I can answer, since I've tested it. SA uses face detection (or moving objects) to prevent motion blur. Whenever the "people" icon appears on screen, the ISO and/or shutter speed goes up. I dunno if Sony really needs to do that, but I guess sometimes a usable shot is better than a blurred shot...? SA constantly fiddles with the exposure time, depending on the objects/movements it detects. So far, I haven't gotten pics with bad lighting though. Maybe it was fixed in the latest firmware?
:silly:
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Ah that explains it and no I dont believe they need to as it seems way to aggressive. Also this would mean the photo was taken in SA 23MP mode. In such conditions manual would be far better.
Have you gotten around testing the FV-5 app? I get 'Night Mode' equivalent with it at 21MP which makes for great low light 'high detail' photos. Works great and it handles the shutter speed and ISO in a good balanced way. This sample is 21MP, 0,77, ISO 250 at night on the Z1 with FV-5 "Long" mode holding it fairly stable with my hands and elbows on the table.

joe_dude said:
Yeah, I just read that too. It'll be interesting to see if Sony gives Samsung the new sensor, and what Samsung can do with it.
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I'm going to buy Z5c today(not sure, but most probably, if I could find a cheaper one for sales) and let me see how well the camera. Actually, I think it is worthless to discuss the camera before any big updates.

EQ2000 said:
Ah that explains it and no I dont believe they need to as it seems way to aggressive. Also this would mean the photo was taken in SA 23MP mode. In such conditions manual would be far better.
Have you gotten around testing the FV-5 app? I get 'Night Mode' equivalent with it at 21MP which makes for great low light 'high detail' photos. Works great and it handles the shutter speed and ISO in a good balanced way. This sample is 21MP, 0,77, ISO 250 at night on the Z1 with FV-5 "Long" mode holding it fairly stable with my hands and elbows on the table.
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No, I'm still playing with SA. As much as I want to fiddle with the camera, I'm gonna have to cut the experimenting short to get back to other RL things. Sigh. But thanks for the suggestion... I'll keep in mind!
FYI, I did more analysis on the IFA photo you had posted. Believe it or not, I think the Z5 was correct with the exposure. Look closely at the pics - in the other two pics, the model was over-exposed. In the Z5 pic, she had a nicely balanced colour and brightness. The other phones did not do face detection, so measured the exposure based on the entire frame, and not on the model. Since the pic was primarily of the model, the Z5 took the picture as it had been intended.
This is part of the problem - we assume if the Z5's pic looks different, it is "incorrect". I'm starting to understand SA tries to do a lot, although sometimes it will guess incorrectly. But I think Sony needs to tweak SA to work better/more consistently.

How good is the camera when someone is moving, specially kids?

So I myself own a Z3 compact that has been amazing, I love everything about it, now, I have an aunt that wants a good phone to take pictures of her kids, but the issue is that kids are always moving, so with the ads that say this has the fastest auto focus, and specifically the video ad shows a parent taking pictures of his daughter jumping around and while for me, I enjoy the Z3c, the camera it's not that good when someone is moving. Can anyone with little kids confirm this, all she wants is non blurry subjects on the photo.
I was considering the gs6 but I would rather go with Sony to support them.
Thanks everyone.

In my experience with a 4 year old, pictures turn out blurry if she is moving. I've only used automatic mode as most of my shots don't allow me the time and luxury of setting up an ideal manual mode. Perhaps manual mode can handle action better, but auto mode is not good for action.

The camera is extremely blurry and the horrible shuttertime makes this otherwise fantastic phone useless for taking pictures of kids. The moment will pass and a blurry useless picture will be the result. I have these 3 phones which all take fantastic pictures of my kid.
iPhone 6s
Samsung s6 Edge
Lumia 950(possibly the best i have)
Dont buy the z5 compact if you want great photos.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I've got both S6 and Z5c. You have to turn Sports mode on to capture movement, otherwise both phones will result blur. Focusing indeed S6 faster and more accurate because of existing Z5c software not yet a mature version, I think it will get improvement when Android 6.0 to arrive later.
The best thing on Z5c is the stock camera remember your last setting, so you can always set Sports as default(I think I'll more recommend Z5c for this reason). On S6 every time you have to click on Mode and pick Sport, pretty time consuming.

Camera is useless with kids, takes great pictures if you can make your kids sit still. But that's not the shots you want, you want to capture moments and thats not possible.

you can try motion shot

I can also confirm that the camera is absolutely useless in whichever option you pick! Really disappointed in Sony (again). Bragging: yes, delivering: no.

I will pitch in, Yeah the camera is cack. Any less than full daylight and they just come out blurry or noisy. Can't say I am surprised. At least I won't rue loosing the DRM keys when I unlock the bootloader, as I don't see how the camera could be much worse.

Recording video is better than my g4. However, photos are better in g4
Enviado desde mi E5823 mediante Tapatalk

Coming from a LG G2, I am pretty happy with the Z5C. But if you have a Z3C, I think you'd be getting pretty much the same experience. It is unfortunate that the shutter speed can't be set manually in the standard camera app. I haven't tried 3rd party apps, as I mostly get the photos I need of my kids (also indoors) with Sonys app. Of course, blur depends on shutter speed which depends on the amount of lighting that you have - possibly I have more lighting where I live compared to the posters above.
On my G2 the problem was that it had OIS - knowing this, the phone defaulted to a slow shutter speed to take advantage of the OIS. Which obviously doesn't work when it is the subject and not the photographer's hand that is moving...
Will try Sports mode more myself after reading the suggestion above.

Luckily Sony's open source camera driver will allow to fix all the... strange decisions they've made in the default camera app.

The focus problem on Z1~Z3 finally get fixed and with camera 2.0 image quality is reasonable now, just the video quality still not clear enough which clearly a software issue. Sony tends to has realistic WB and exposure which I much prefer over Samsung/LG/Apple, others phone always with over saturated color(though some actually like it).
It's already the best camera phone without OIS I've ever used, overall it's still worth to upgrade. Sure it won't beat S6/G4 with OIS at low light. I understand at this price a new phone now have no OIS is very suck, this is my last Sony too if no OIS.

karimero said:
I can also confirm that the camera is absolutely useless in whichever option you pick! Really disappointed in Sony (again). Bragging: yes, delivering: no.
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zakiwashi said:
I will pitch in, Yeah the camera is cack. Any less than full daylight and they just come out blurry or noisy. Can't say I am surprised. At least I won't rue loosing the DRM keys when I unlock the bootloader, as I don't see how the camera could be much worse.
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Agree. By far an away my biggest disappointment with this phone. I have now resorted to the machine gun principle - if I have to use this camera. Take loads of shots in the hope one will be OK. However my preference is to avoid using it altogether.
To my mind a decent phone camera has to be point and shoot, with a high rate of keepers in the shots. Unfortunately I find most of the pics from my Z5C are plain average. I have nothing good to say about it.

So the S7 camera performs better than the Z5/Z5P ? I can't stop laughing...

Ok I'm Kinda mad here... There are things I don't understand and I will probably never....
How on earth, would every review on the internet including youtube videos give the upper hand to the S7 camera which has SONY IMX260 R EXMOR that has 7.18 mm sensor size and a 1.4 μm x 1.4 μm unit cell size while the Z5/Premium has the "exclusive cutting edge" RS EXMOR IMX300 with 7.87 mm sensor size and 1.1 μm x 1.1 μm pixel size ?
And please don't tell me about image processing ? Why on earth a giant Japanese corporation such as SONY specialized and leader in photography, videography, pictures and music Entertainment without forgetting their BIONZ image processor that compete or even wins over Nikon EXPEED and
Canon DIGIC can't do image processing right on a freaking CMOS sensor ?
Now yeah the Z5/P pictures are decent and although very good on a very sunny day.... I'll remain quiet for the low light part....
So to sum it up... a Samsung with an IMX260 12MP sensor is on par or outperforms a Sony IMX300 23MP ( 25MP ) sensor...
Funny isn't it ?

It's not funny at all.
Still,I find that Z5 camera is best on market atm.
Xperia Z5 via Tapatalk

Very easy good hardware and bad software.
Sony can't compete software wise with who had nexus phones.
Samsung LG know better about android and how to create a better software cause they took lot of info from Google while they have Nexus phones.

Well money talks. S7 just cant match Z1+ line. Take a look at original S7 full resolution photos. Photo IQ is awfull on the S7. Over-sharpening that creates awfull halos and contrast, to much texture detail, texture extraction that gives a gritty look and to much noise reduction that makes for a blurry image with lost detail and plastic look. S7 has borderline the bad CRT chromatic aberration look and reminds me of old cheap digital cameras.
I'll quote one of my other posts wher one can see that even in an unfair comparision that favors the S7 my Z1 just performs much better. Much better and if making things more even by choosing 2048x1536 for my Z1 photos and same or similar for S7 my Z1 just walks all over the S7. Z5 does no worse unless in SA or the NR goes wonky.
When I look at S7 photos in good and low light it just reminds me of the bad CRT "chromatic aberration" look. Great artistic value but the persons S7 destroys IQ beyond reparation. https://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinfabl100/
I mean even the Z1 blows it out and Z5 even more. Look at this comparision which favors the S7 as the images are shown at 100% size which means my Z1 is showing a far bigger image aswell as in worse lighting conditions with far less photons in the ambient to capture (see shutter speed difference) yet it performs better. Would I scale it down to same size as the S7 it would be a brutal comparision leaving the S7 in the dust. One can choose 2048 pixel width to see this in the links.
Stock original photos, default camera apps.
S7 buildings.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinfabl100/25743187832/sizes/o/
Z1 buildings.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/csls/25516883060/sizes/o/
S7 forest.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinfabl100/25837956126/sizes/o/
Z1 forest.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/csls/25019022984/sizes/o/
Might take some time some day with the Z5c and capture photos in same locations once the sun is about same (wild weather over here).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And here are more S7 samples.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinfabl100/25837956126/sizes/o/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinfabl100/25208922064/sizes/o/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinfabl100/25404249180/sizes/o/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinfabl100/25021532094/sizes/o/
And here is low light.
Will check files once released here and compare CRC to see if they changed algorithms. As for the S7 I agree, it does moderately good but far worse than Sonys Xperia Z1+ line. The biggest issue on the S7 besides tending to go overboard with sharpening and noise reduction which smoothes out to much and gives a bad fake plastic look (often easily visible around fine-grain detail like branches and leaves) is that it also when post-processing brightens up the image by tweaking curves. Most software does this but should be catiously used to extract detail from low contrast areas. Samsung goes overboard often giving it the 'fake ISO' look where black turns grey. Xperia Z1+ phones give quite a bit better low light photos same ISO for ISO and shutter speed while not even having to resort to major curve tweaking just minor or barely any and it does it selectively in a often excellent way. I assume the BIONZ is really a power beast for such dedicated tasks but sensors in Sonys phones are just better even though older and they are coupled with great optics.
It's just now that Samsung is starting use similar tech that Sony already employed in their mobiles years ago. I think Iphone 6s also got a bit of it but it relies mostly on multi-frame photo composition to create higher ISO like the Nexus 6p HDR+ does. Xperia Z1+ also does this but only when doing ISO 6400 (atleast the Z1) else not. Problem is you need to keep scene static else you get ghosting and bluriness. Haven't checked it fully out for the Z5c though but it should do better.
I guess you could say the S6 gives more detail and less blur but it also has way to much curve tweaking as the S7 but just much worse for same low light situations. S6 just turns to a mess at ISO 1000+ and low light while S7 does better. Both S6 and S7 also automatically (atleast in auto mode) if stable does multi-frame capture in low light to create improved noise reduction. Why some S6/S7 photos at say ISO 1000 looks bad and others much cleaner. Scene has to be static though and mobile firm. Same concept you can find in ProCapture camera app and their noise reduction mode.
Photo example of the S7 post-processing and curves.
Without HDR enabled.
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"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
With HDR enabled.
Sony avoids this in most cases and dont go overboard like that keeping blacks deep and rich aswell as colors punchy and representation of captured scene is far better.
And a Z1 sample from manual mode 8MP, 1/8 ISO 3200. Little and smart use of brightening via the changing curves despite high ISO of 3200 keeping the blacks quite well, global contrast and colors punchy despite heavy tungsten lighting!
Manual mode, 1/8 ISO 1600 of same scene two days apart around same time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

The sensor is just one part of the camera, there are so many other elements that can make it better or worse.
That's like saying one restaurant has better steak and complaining as somewhere else uses better cows - it's all about the cooking of the meat and the accompaniments that go with it.
In photography's case it's about the lens system, the image stabilisation and the post-processing. As posters above have said, the software controlling the Sony sensor in the S7 is great, no doubt.
Answer me this: if you give an amazing camera to a bad photographer will you get a better photo than giving a bad camera to a good photographer?

Answer me this: if you give an amazing camera to a bad photographer will you get a better photo than giving a bad camera to a good photographer?[/QUOTE]
Let me answer :
Are you able to drive faster in a Bentley than in a Renault even if you are a bad driver ?
Yes !!!
Same with photos quality (not photo skills)
I agree that the human factor is there but can not excuse all Sony conservative attitude plus Sony do not want to let 3rd party improve their lack of dev.
But still happy with my Z5 result... It is a phone and we do not have to expect the same quality as a Reflex

NJ72 said:
The sensor is just one part of the camera, there are so many other elements that can make it better or worse.
That's like saying one restaurant has better steak and complaining as somewhere else uses better cows - it's all about the cooking of the meat and the accompaniments that go with it.
In photography's case it's about the lens system, the image stabilisation and the post-processing. As posters above have said, the software controlling the Sony sensor in the S7 is great, no doubt.
Answer me this: if you give an amazing camera to a bad photographer will you get a better photo than giving a bad camera to a good photographer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand what you're trying to say but is it justified ? Is it possible that SONY can't make a software that control their own sensors ? Is it acceptable that other companies using SONY sensors whether modified or not, can make better use of it ?
SONY that has been in the photography industry since decades can't deal with their own driver and post processors on a mobile phone ?
Again the pictures on the Z5P are good but try going zoom to 100%... most of the details are missing compared to rivals.... not sure if it's lack of sharpness whatsoever but certainly the post processing needs work.
Look at their Z5 camera promotion bragging about the auto-focus speed... I literally had to find one single time I could get a a clear photo of somebody moving.
Don't get me wrong I'm a huge fan of the device but it just puts me on my nerve that we have the best hardware and the " best " brand name yet we always have excuses for the camera behavior.

Xeon said:
I understand what you're trying to say but is it justified ? Is it possible that SONY can't make a software that control their own sensors ? Is it acceptable that other companies using SONY sensors whether modified or not, can make better use of it ?
SONY that has been in the photography industry since decades can't deal with their own driver and post processors on a mobile phone ?
Again the pictures on the Z5P are good but try going zoom to 100%... most of the details are missing compared to rivals.... not sure if it's lack of sharpness whatsoever but certainly the post processing needs work.
Look at their Z5 camera promotion bragging about the auto-focus speed... I literally had to find one single time I could get a a clear photo of somebody moving.
Don't get me wrong I'm a huge fan of the device but it just puts me on my nerve that we have the best hardware and the " best " brand name yet we always have excuses for the camera behavior.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my opinion it's quite obvious with the Z5 premium that Sony spent more time focussing on the display than the camera's image processing. Sony could do a lot more with the camera than they do, but there are numerous other factors Sony consider when designing a smartphone. Evidently they either A) do not have the skills, B) don't rate it high enough or C) think they nailed it when it comes to the camera.
I agree that Sony should have done more with it, but I bought the phone knowing that they hadn't and I'd buy it again over Samsung's TouchWiz interface. I prefer my DSLR for photography, for me the rest of the phone is more important.
And, in answer to your first question, yes - what I said is justified. Whether it's what you'd have done if you were part of Sony's dev team, who knows, but what they did is make a very good phone with a camera that could be better.

NJ72 said:
In my opinion it's quite obvious with the Z5 premium that Sony spent more time focussing on the display than the camera's image processing. Sony could do a lot more with the camera than they do, but there are numerous other factors Sony consider when designing a smartphone. Evidently they either A) do not have the skills, B) don't rate it high enough or C) think they nailed it when it comes to the camera.
I agree that Sony should have done more with it, but I bought the phone knowing that they hadn't and I'd buy it again over Samsung's TouchWiz interface. I prefer my DSLR for photography, for me the rest of the phone is more important.
And, in answer to your first question, yes - what I said is justified. Whether it's what you'd have done if you were part of Sony's dev team, who knows, but what they did is make a very good phone with a camera that could be better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well to be honest, SONY only brags about their camera performance in their devices.... This time in September they mentioned nothing but the 4K screen and the IMX300. No major change to the device design, software is close to stock android and the IP68 has been there for ages.
http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/products/phones/xperia-z5/
See ? They are so proud of their camera that this is the only marketing card in their hands for now. As for lack of expertise, I really doubt but I can nothing but believe that they thought they nailed it when in fact it's still horrible in low light conditions.

The big problem I have with the Z5 is its shutter lag and no burst shooting. So you're left with rapidly tapping the shutter button which only gives you about 3fps. On the S7 you get a burst mode at over 20fps.
It's ridiculous how their ads show an instantaneous shutter but it could be no further from the truth. Even with Marshmallow the shutter lag is still pretty bad. This seagull was standing on the bridge when I pressed the shutter and the camera captured when it already started to fly away.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/j5hcj2jeazzjs77/DSC_0988.JPG?dl=0
Even HTC M9+ Supreme Camera has faster shutter and better manual options than Z5. It uses IMX230 and is a pretty bi

FYLin21 said:
The big problem I have with the Z5 is its shutter lag and no burst shooting. So you're left with rapidly tapping the shutter button which only gives you about 3fps. On the S7 you get a burst mode at over 20fps.
It's ridiculous how their ads show an instantaneous shutter but it could be no further from the truth. Even with Marshmallow the shutter lag is still pretty bad. This seagull was standing on the bridge when I pressed the shutter and the camera captured when it already started to fly away.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/j5hcj2jeazzjs77/DSC_0988.JPG?dl=0
Even HTC M9+ Supreme Camera has faster shutter and better manual options than Z5. It uses IMX230 and is a pretty bi
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what I'm talking about... you see... in your pic nothing looks OK, what was the focus doing ? i can't find any part of the pic clear....
One thing I noticed is that even Whatsapp camera looks awful. I understand that the pic is compressed and the post processing is non existent but on my Xperia Z the difference wasn't noticeable that much.

gm007 said:
Very easy good hardware and bad software.
Sony can't compete software wise with who had nexus phones.
Samsung LG know better about android and how to create a better software cause they took lot of info from Google while they have Nexus phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry but I tend to disagree. I dont think OEM release need google assistance. In fact SONY is very conservative when it comes to camera software. I bet they know how to unlock raw mode and compatibility yet they don't want to.
It's obvious that the post processing has been inconsistent across the Xperia line. A bit of trial and error if you want my opinion....
What you say about bad software is correct however unjustified. I can't accept it from an industry leader such as SONY.
OK the camera is almost perfect in manual mode if you want to go hardcore and adjust every possible value and mode for a snapshot but I don't want to spend 2 minutes for that :
Look at the difference between iPhone 6S and Z5 camera.... this lack of details is what makes me go nuts.

Xeon said:
This is what I'm talking about... you see... in your pic nothing looks OK, what was the focus doing ? i can't find any part of the pic clear....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has been zoomed a bit using "clear image zoom" which just oversharpens things. It could be fine if they just use something that rounds off the edges for up sampling, but you see a lot of jagged circular blobs throughout the edges. I had taken a few pictures of this bird standing there but the camera kept overexposing the scene. Then I brought the exposure down and tried taking a photo - the bird a still standing there the moment I pressed the shutter.
The only thing to get around no burst mode is using 4K video. You can capture 8MP stills while you film but sometimes it causes the video to stutter and it takes a long time to save them. The stills also look worse than the video itself - the contrast is lower with washed out colours. It's better to grab frames after filming but you'l need another app to do this and I'm not sure which one as I do it on my computer using Media Player Classic. You can also crop to 1080p which is better than using the digital zoom in the app - unfortunately the bitrate of 4K video is a bit low so you can see some artifacts when cropped to 1080p ...
Is the shutter lag due to software or hardware? it's hard to say. Low resolution photos from Facebook messenger can be taken instantaneously, but all the third party apps I've tried exhibit shutter lag - I think even worse than the stock camera app... and don't forget only 8MP works with third party apps.
If the images were downscaled to 8MP or something, they would be good compared to some other cameras but that defeats the purpose of having 20/23MP.
Imagine seeing the loch ness monster and you took a photo but the shutter lag means your photo doesn't show it because it dove into the water

I will give you a small example why sony is bad software wise,
In lollipop we had fingerprint scanner test in the diagnostic menu and the test was not working.
So instead to fix it in marshmallow they removed the test completely lol.

Xeon said:
Ok I'm Kinda mad here... There are things I don't understand and I will probably never....
How on earth, would every review on the internet including youtube videos give the upper hand to the S7 camera which has SONY IMX260 R EXMOR that has 7.18 mm sensor size and a 1.4 μm x 1.4 μm unit cell size while the Z5/Premium has the "exclusive cutting edge" RS EXMOR IMX300 with 7.87 mm sensor size and 1.1 μm x 1.1 μm pixel size ?
And please don't tell me about image processing ? Why on earth a giant Japanese corporation such as SONY specialized and leader in photography, videography, pictures and music Entertainment without forgetting their BIONZ image processor that compete or even wins over Nikon EXPEED and
Canon DIGIC can't do image processing right on a freaking CMOS sensor ?
Now yeah the Z5/P pictures are decent and although very good on a very sunny day.... I'll remain quiet for the low light part....
So to sum it up... a Samsung with an IMX260 12MP sensor is on par or outperforms a Sony IMX300 23MP ( 25MP ) sensor...
Funny isn't it ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, and it's no surprise, it has been the case forever.
There was never any need for Sony to stupidly try to play the MP race again, seems they didn't learn from the point and shoot and DSLR MP race/nonsense. It's all marketing BS to say hey we've got something that no one else has.
Push the boundaries of the ideal MP for a certain sensor size, then you will always have problems with different types of noise entering your photo, due to sensor heat and the sensors small size and not being able to dissipate that amount of heat effectively, as a result to clean all this up they end up having to have pretty aggressive noise reduction algorithms, this also keeps the jpg photo size down a fair bit, handy for a phone unless you want to run your storage out in no time flat. Approx 25-35MB per photo @ 23MP low light high ISO these could have been even bigger.
Realistically would have just been better off running at 12MP and requiring much less noise reduction because due to less heat build up in the photo sites of the sensor.

danw_oz said:
No, and it's no surprise, it has been the case forever.
There was never any need for Sony to stupidly try to play the MP race again, seems they didn't learn from the point and shoot and DSLR MP race/nonsense. It's all marketing BS to say hey we've got something that no one else has.
Push the boundaries of the ideal MP for a certain sensor size, then you will always have problems with different types of noise entering your photo, due to sensor heat and the sensors small size and not being able to dissipate that amount of heat effectively, as a result to clean all this up they end up having to have pretty aggressive noise reduction algorithms, this also keeps the jpg photo size down a fair bit, handy for a phone unless you want to run your storage out in no time flat. Approx 25-35MB per photo @ 23MP low light high ISO these could have been even bigger.
Realistically would have just been better off running at 12MP and requiring much less noise reduction because due to less heat build up in the photo sites of the sensor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ironically their sales and marketing strategy is flawed to death and it's chaotic but they wanna do marketing they do it the wrong way.
Seriously they should start recruiting...

hawker_gb said:
It's not funny at all.
Still,I find that Z5 camera is best on market atm.
Xperia Z5 via Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
post like this really make me wonder about my specific device.... because i am totally with op here: the camera may be very good (the best?) in sunny/ bright conditions, but is just useless in darker situations (not just pitch black.. darker..). a camera like that can NEVER be called the best on market.. i would say

Barthlon said:
post like this really make me wonder about my specific device.... because i am totally with op here: the camera may be very good (the best?) in sunny/ bright conditions, but is just useless in darker situations (not just pitch black.. darker..). a camera like that can NEVER be called the best on market.. i would say
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They should have less NR in low contrast areas for photos as right now it is quite aggressive. Seems the area noise reduction aint so 'clever'. Previous Z phones perform much better in low contrast areas with no smudged out detail. My Z1 for example outdoes my Z5c easily in detail clarity across all contrast variables while keeping noise as low or even lower and resorts to less post-processing. I assume some can be attributed to not as wide sensor (26mm vs 23mm) and 1,2um vs 1,1um pixel size and perhaps the focus system (less electronical noise). They might heat up differently to. Will be interesting to see how the Xperia X performs since AFAIK it uses same or similar sensor as the Z5. Also seems Z5c uses more NR in superior auto vs manual mode despite same ISO.
But despite that it stands really good against competition and overall it just beats them.
Here is an example of the area noise rduction system it uses akin to BIONZ X algorithms just that it is to aggressive. Look at tree trunk and streetlight pole. High contrast area is sharp but low contrast area is smudged by the NR. The problem is it failed to detect that there are bushes infront smudging them out. This is the area NR not working as intended.

EQ2000 said:
They should have less NR in low contrast areas for photos as right now it is quite aggressive. Seems the area noise reduction aint so 'clever'. Previous Z phones perform much better in low contrast areas with no smudged out detail. My Z1 for example outdoes my Z5c easily in detail clarity across all contrast variables while keeping noise as low or even lower and resorts to less post-processing. I assume some can be attributed to not as wide sensor (26mm vs 23mm) and 1,2um vs 1,1um pixel size and perhaps the focus system (less electronical noise). They might heat up differently to. Will be interesting to see how the Xperia X performs since AFAIK it uses same or similar sensor as the Z5. Also seems Z5c uses more NR in superior auto vs manual mode despite same ISO.
But despite that it stands really good against competition and overall it just beats them.
Here is an example of the area noise rduction system it uses akin to BIONZ X algorithms just that it is to aggressive. Look at tree trunk and streetlight pole. High contrast area is sharp but low contrast area is smudged by the NR. The problem is it failed to detect that there are bushes infront smudging them out. This is the area NR not working as intended.
Well please accept my very subjective opinion... from first look the pic is catchy, nice, really nice colors but then the disaster...... it's certainly not a focus issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Xeon said:
Well please accept my very subjective opinion... from first look the pic is catchy, nice, really nice colors but then the disaster...... it's certainly not a focus issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kinda hard to make out what you are reffering to but "disaster"? Z5 series applies to aggressive area based NR in low contrast areas, as for the rest the photo is quite good and natural looking. Certainly better than most S7 photos you can find of similar ISO, shutter speed and scenery type. Atleast the NR can be countered partially with texture detail and clarity filters to bring out contrast in smudged areas. S7 you cant do nothing to repair photos as they are beyond reparation.
Click on images to view them in Flickr default display size. Atrocious and beyond reparation. The Z5 IQ despite smudgy NR in low contrast areas is head and shoulders above the S7 IQ. Z5 looks to the DSLR side while S7 looks to the cheap old digital camera side.
S7. Atrocious, the borderline bad CRT chromatic aberration look. Like relief filter applied shifting pixels due to horrible post-processing and subpar sensor.
Z5. The area based NR problem is clearly visible yet it looks much more natural and better despite being taken in much worse lighting conditions as evident by shutter speed and postition of sun and shadows.
As for the highlights you made that is pretty much what I already noted though the left side is from lens problem, that unit has decentered lenses thus blurred sides, right and/or left. You can see that in S7 to depeding on unit. Such a unit should be replaced. And all cameras have to do some detail extraction in low contrast areas (shadowed/non directly lit areas) and thus wont be as detailed as lit areas.
Take a look at S7 photo with shadowed areas, see? Noisy, smudgy with blotches and horrible even though ISO is low. Atleast the Z5 smoothes it out mostly OK. (left and right side)
One more time! You see? (right side trees and bushes)
You still cant see it!? Well some more then!
To the right!
To the left!
To the left!
And all around! :laugh:

Photo quality

Say "cheese", then rate this thread to express how photos taken with the Sony Xperia 1 come out. A higher rating indicates that photos offer rich color (without over-saturating), sharp detail (with all subjects in-focus), and appropriate exposure (with even lighting).
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

So,.... Basically, on the camera front,...
Winner winner chicken dinner.
Finally.
Full review with samples coming soon.

photos
daily photos. This mode definitely overcomes the Galaxy S10. We compared these two smartphones during the shoot. The shot is fast
First contact points
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It seems that it still has issues with overblown light sources and dynamic range. Maybe someone could test if there is a difference with the HDR-mode or even RAW-photos developed with LR? Thanks.

presets said:
It seems that it still has issues with overblown light sources and dynamic range. Maybe someone could test if there is a difference with the HDR-mode or even RAW-photos developed with LR? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dynmic range is fine. There's a difference between always-on HDR, which leads to unrealistic levels of detail in shadows and dark skies on a bright day, and "good" dynamic range. The Sony gets it about right.
You CAN get the same results as competitors if you hop over to Manual HDR - which is a whole new algorythm, as far as I can see - but I've done it a few times now and,... I just think it looks fake. Which it is.
The X1 outputs the most realistic and reliable photographs of any current smartphone.
They're impeccably coloured, naturally exposed and full of detail.
Don't be fooled into being told that flattening the dynamic range is what makes a picture good - there's far more at play than that. The DR on the X1 is absolutely fine and the rest of the output is, frankly, top-of-the-pack.
Samples: https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/

Timaustin2000 said:
You CAN get the same results as competitors if you hop over to Manual HDR - which is a whole new algorythm, as far as I can see - but I've done it a few times now and,... I just think it looks fake. Which it is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The new algorithm sounds interesting. I guess this one night picture with the supermarket shows that it overexposes the lamps of the shop, wich you can also see in other pictures around the internet. That´s the problem... Maybe you could upload this picture with HDR? Or other pictures as comparison between non-HDR/HDR? Would be great!

presets said:
The new algorithm sounds interesting. I guess this one night picture with the supermarket shows that it overexposes the lamps of the shop, wich you can also see in other pictures around the internet. That´s the problem... Maybe you could upload this picture with HDR? Or other pictures as comparison between non-HDR/HDR? Would be great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My p20 pro has really spoiled me in that regard. It is insane how good it handles contre jour (against the light).

presets said:
The new algorithm sounds interesting. I guess this one night picture with the supermarket shows that it overexposes the lamps of the shop, wich you can also see in other pictures around the internet. That´s the problem... Maybe you could upload this picture with HDR? Or other pictures as comparison between non-HDR/HDR? Would be great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your wish is my command,...
https://youtu.be/DbzytyjfWJk
Link to full resolution images in the description, as are my notes.

Random point and shoot. Love how each image turns out of this camera. Colour grading, sharpness and dynamic range is on point. Little bit of tweaking makes images so dramatic. Definitely one of my favourite phone cameras.
4K video with gimbal and Cinema Pro app is great too. Would be amazing to shoot cinematic videos.

Timaustin2000 said:
Your wish is my command,... Link to full resolution images in the description, as are my notes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks so much. Really great. :good:

https://www.dcfever.com/news/readnews.php?id=25271
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---------- Post added at 06:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:03 AM ----------
https://www.dcfever.com/news/readnews.php?id=25271/URL]
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someone on ESATO mentioned main camera lens of all unit are faulty.
what do you think?
https://www.esato.com/phonephotos/cam/sony/j9110/201906060815K2dnO6.jpg

I don't find the camera all that, stutter speed is laggy and the focus is not as good as my Samsung note 9.
I will play around more and see but I think few more updates on the camera are needed.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk

a5ian300zx said:
I don't find the camera all that, stutter speed is laggy and the focus is not as good as my Samsung note 9.
I will play around more and see but I think few more updates on the camera are needed.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Testing some more, I will like to correct my comment the clarity of the picture is sharper than the note 9, I will test the stutter speed when I get chance.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk

a5ian300zx said:
Testing some more, I will like to correct my comment the clarity of the picture is sharper than the note 9, I will test the stutter speed when I get chance.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
side by side comparison with Note 9 is welcomed....
if xperia 1 takes comparable or better photos than Note 9...that is considered very good news for most casual users

Onepunchbro said:
side by side comparison with Note 9 is welcomed....
if xperia 1 takes comparable or better photos than Note 9...that is considered very good news for most casual users
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A look at GSMA's tests show that it does. It's a noisier image certainly but Samsung have always been over-the-top with their noise suppression and there's no doubt at all that the X1 produces more detail with better, more natural colours. Yes you have to manually go into HDR to reign in bright skies if the Sony doesn't select "backlight" - unlike the Sammy - but it's a slight problem that's just a tap away.
What I love about this camera is how natural the images look. They don't look over-processed or over contrasty. The colours are realistic and the DR is very,.. dunno. Filmic? Every picture I take with the thing just looks classy.
I'd put it above the Pixel too: resolved detail is about the same for both (IE better than Samsung's) but Sony's images are cleaner. Even at night - and despite "Night Light" - the Sony's night shots are better than the Pixels, IMHO.
The only phone that seems to be genuinely producing something better on the camera front is the P30 Pro - so long as the AI mode is switched off. If you can live with the 2mp detail loss, I'd say it just about keeps hold of the top spot. The Sony has the better camcorder, however,.... so,.....
But I've no doubt at all that the Xperia 1 is top two in the smartphone camera race this year. No doubt at all.

xzpremium1976 said:
photos
daily photos. This mode definitely overcomes the Galaxy S10. We compared these two smartphones during the shoot. The shot is fast
First contact points
Enviado desde mi G8141 mediante Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have both xperia 1 and S10plus.....no way for Sony to beat s10+ photos. Also videos in 4K are horrible and the stabilisation terrible in Sony.
---------- Post added at 06:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:40 PM ----------
Timaustin2000 said:
A look at GSMA's tests show that it does. It's a noisier image certainly but Samsung have always been over-the-top with their noise suppression and there's no doubt at all that the X1 produces more detail with better, more natural colours. Yes you have to manually go into HDR to reign in bright skies if the Sony doesn't select "backlight" - unlike the Sammy - but it's a slight problem that's just a tap away.
What I love about this camera is how natural the images look. They don't look over-processed or over contrasty. The colours are realistic and the DR is very,.. dunno. Filmic? Every picture I take with the thing just looks classy.
I'd put it above the Pixel too: resolved detail is about the same for both (IE better than Samsung's) but Sony's images are cleaner. Even at night - and despite "Night Light" - the Sony's night shots are better than the Pixels, IMHO.
The only phone that seems to be genuinely producing something better on the camera front is the P30 Pro - so long as the AI mode is switched off. If you can live with the 2mp detail loss, I'd say it just about keeps hold of the top spot. The Sony has the better camcorder, however,.... so,.....
But I've no doubt at all that the Xperia 1 is top two in the smartphone camera race this year. No doubt at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All the photos if you crop them are much noisier than s10+ photos...

Nop the photos of the S10 + leave burned and with more noise
Enviado desde mi G8141 mediante Tapatalk

marko68 said:
I have both xperia 1 and S10plus.....no way for Sony to beat s10+ photos. Also videos in 4K are horrible and the stabilisation terrible in Sony.
---------- Post added at 06:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:40 PM ----------
All the photos if you crop them are much noisier than s10+ photos...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And if you crop into all - and I mean all - of GSMA's S10 images you'll notice that they contain much less fine detail than the sony, especially at night.
If "Ooooh, there's no noise" is how you judge a camera then you've a long way to go, my friend.
GSMAs comparisson shots - and my own experience with both - tell the same story over and over again: The Sony produces a more detailed, better composed shot with extremely accurate White Balance without the temptation to blow greens and reds up to 20, as the S10 does. Yes, the Sony sacrifices some noise in the persuit of more detail but the detail is important: it gives pictures texture and fidelity. It gives realism. Ever since the s7, Samsung's awful processing algorythm has saught to display no noise whatsoever and every time I see the same result: plastic images with flat detailing, over-contrasted, over coloured. Great for instagram but awful as actual pictures.
If you don't actually care about the quality of pictures, go ahead and love the S10. I'll take that little extra noise (LESS noise, I might add, than any LG OR the Pixel 3 range - by a significant margin) for a truly textured, composed image.
And there's no question that the S10 is worse at night. Its saving grace is that it controls strong light sources better than the Sony but it's the X1 that has less noise, more detail, better colours and a far more realistic exposure (strong light sources accepted as a failing).
An S10 would not, for example, capture this image https://flic.kr/p/2gcamWy - (as usual, download it in full res). Noise is virtually nil, detail is very high for the light available (you can read the graffiti in the dust of the van and see blades of grass in shadow), it's sharp, colours are accurate, exposure is on point - including the sky, which was still partially lit. An S10 would have overexposed all of the shadows, blown out the sky and removed the fine detail - I see it time and time again.
But love what you love. C'est La Vie. But, with respect, that doesn't make you right.

Timaustin2000 said:
And if you crop into all - and I mean all - of GSMA's S10 images you'll notice that they contain much less fine detail than the sony, especially at night.
If "Ooooh, there's no noise" is how you judge a camera then you've a long way to go, my friend.
GSMAs comparisson shots - and my own experience with both - tell the same story over and over again: The Sony produces a more detailed, better composed shot with extremely accurate White Balance without the temptation to blow greens and reds up to 20, as the S10 does. Yes, the Sony sacrifices some noise in the persuit of more detail but the detail is important: it gives pictures texture and fidelity. It gives realism. Ever since the s7, Samsung's awful processing algorythm has saught to display no noise whatsoever and every time I see the same result: plastic images with flat detailing, over-contrasted, over coloured. Great for instagram but awful as actual pictures.
If you don't actually care about the quality of pictures, go ahead and love the S10. I'll take that little extra noise (LESS noise, I might add, than any LG OR the Pixel 3 range - by a significant margin) for a truly textured, composed image.
And there's no question that the S10 is worse at night. Its saving grace is that it controls strong light sources better than the Sony but it's the X1 that has less noise, more detail, better colours and a far more realistic exposure (strong light sources accepted as a failing).
An S10 would not, for example, capture this image https://flic.kr/p/2gcamWy - (as usual, download it in full res). Noise is virtually nil, detail is very high for the light available (you can read the graffiti in the dust of the van and see blades of grass in shadow), it's sharp, colours are accurate, exposure is on point - including the sky, which was still partially lit. An S10 would have overexposed all of the shadows, blown out the sky and removed the fine detail - I see it time and time again.
But love what you love. C'est La Vie. But, with respect, that doesn't make you right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look at these two photos :
https://ibb.co/zZJr87p
https://ibb.co/wyx0Ft2
Flowers in Sony photo they have no details, you can't see properly the empty spaces in between flower petals, the s10+ photo is full of details, details missing in Sony
These photos are shot by myself not taken from an internet review...

Photo quality

Say "cheese", then rate this thread to express how photos taken with the Sony Xperia 5 II come out. A higher rating indicates that photos offer rich color (without over-saturating), sharp detail (with all subjects in-focus), and appropriate exposure (with even lighting).
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

Expect chromatic aberration in photos (widest lens), or I'd say CA in photos of X5 ii is a bit easier to detect than my previous Galaxy S10. Minimum focus distance is also quite long... also compared to my S10.
On the other hand, I like the Pro photo mode with AE-L and 3:2 aspect ratio option.

lokto7 said:
Expect chromatic aberration in photos (widest lens), or I'd say CA in photos of X5 ii is a bit easier to detect than my previous Galaxy S10. Minimum focus distance is also quite long... also compared to my S10.
On the other hand, I like the Pro photo mode with AE-L and 3:2 aspect ratio option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well: look at this:
https://www.androidauthority.com/google-pixel-5-camera-test-1167092/
in the HDR chapter:
"Next, I want to draw your attention to something in the following two sample sets. The Google Pixel 5 suffers badly from chromatic aberration (the purple hue seen in between the tree leaves). The Huawei P40 Pro has the same problem, but the effect is limited to the upper left corner of the lens. The Galaxy and Xperia handsets have no such issue. Once again, shadow noise rears its head in the Pixel 5’s shots"

Please see an example here https://we.tl/t-mLwMGMoF9H

ok, ultra wide angle lens?- I guess the test I linked from was for the standard lens

Picture is very good-great, the colors are natural, no over-sharpening, the noise is natural, but, it can sometimes happen to overexpose the image, sony did a great job for the camera..
Overall, camera software requires some minor tweaks to be top notch.. The best is, no pixel (finally) binning, true 12mp, large pixel size.

very good photo quality!
zujko said:
Picture is very good-great, the colors are natural, no over-sharpening, the noise is natural, but, it can sometimes happen to overexpose the image, sony did a great job for the camera..
Overall, camera software requires some minor tweaks to be top notch.. The best is, no pixel (finally) binning, true 12mp, large pixel size.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally quote. I am happy to find a similar look / color rendition to my Sony Full Frame mirrorless. Photo pro app does a great job, especially in "normal" (not too low) light conditions. Color rendition is natural. After Huaweis Mate (only missing the b/w sensor of the P20pro!) this Xperia is fresh air.

With good Light the Camera make good Photos, but i really have Focus issues for Quick Fotos. Its not that im Shaking or something but at 1 of 3 Photos im must repeat and then the Focus is about right. As you can see in the Attachement.
I know that Sony will fix this Problem but when 1/3 from the Photos are just not sharp for a 900 Dollar Phone its a little Dissapointing.

You are from Basel
I think, photo-quality is ok, but I would have expected more (comming from an XZ1 compact).... - Especialy the selfie-camera was better on the XZ1 compact, because it had 120° angle mode.

That certainly not encouraging to hear that. I looking at both Xperia 1 II and 5 II for quite a while already. Still not impressed with the camera system at all - the only selling point of this phone to my opinion. Can't find the proof that new Xperias can beat my old Pixel 3 or even Pixel 1 (which is the most colour accurate of all to my opinion). Can't remember of getting out of focus photos from Pixel 3.
---------- Post added at 06:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:49 AM ----------
For some reason this tread is nearly empty - no encouraging, mind-blowing photos. And this is quite suspicious. Why is that? Xperia 5 II / 1 II can't really shine in it? Or messing with Pro mode leave to time to take a great shot? Please upload more photos showing that new Xperia camera system is any better than others, especially against "so unnatural" Pixels.

skilli said:
With good Light the Camera make good Photos, but i really have Focus issues for Quick Fotos. Its not that im Shaking or something but at 1 of 3 Photos im must repeat and then the Focus is about right. As you can see in the Attachement.
I know that Sony will fix this Problem but when 1/3 from the Photos are just not sharp for a 900 Dollar Phone its a little Dissapointing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Completely agree with it. I'd be very disappointed If I bought photo-oriented $900 smartphone and found the low light photos coming out in "quality" like yours. I believe my $50 old dinky Pixel 1 does better job. In this case "Photo Pro photographer guys" will say that you have to use Photo Pro app every single time, Sony fanboys will say that you have got a faulty unit. To my opinion it's just failure to deliver the quality everyone expected from the company which makes the best camera sensors.

Here is an additional take on photo quality.
Main lens (wide angle) in AUTO mode (with standard / Pro apps):
Good:
- Noiseless pictures. Much improved from previous generation.
- Natural looking blur in out-of focus areas (ex: background). Can create natural bokeh for cats, faces, macro, etc.
- Contrary to what some people say, good dynamic range because the auto HDR mode turns on when needed in most cases. Note that in the Pro app, you can use touch metering and still keep HDR active, a nice addition.
- Good pictures in low light: very low noise and not too much unnatural brightening of scene.
- Mostly no lens flares on standard intensity lights. (improved from Xperia 5)
Not so good:
- Focus issues at night: lack of TOF and no pre-flash sometimes leads to focus misses. Solution is to use the Pro app with continuous focus ON (mode is not available in standard app). Most often this allows phones to acquire focus except in total darkness.
- Focus issues with far subjects, such as landscape. Sometimes the camera just won't focus at all. Solution is to use tap to focus (in Pro app, this means you have to turn OFF continuous focus)
- Focus issues with eye / face detection: it's just not always accurate. Again, much better results with tap to focus.
- Very bad lens flares (light streaks) when facing a brighter light at some angles. (much worse than Xperia 5). So much for the Zeiss lens!. This issue can sometimes be solved by placing your hand to block the strong light near the lens.
- Color temperature is a bit too cold. Especially visible in darker environments.
What about non-auto modes ?
Good:
- You can set everything as you wish in Pro app.
Not so Good:
- As in previous generations, you will get a lot more noise than in auto mode, esp. beyond 200 ISO. Makes is useless for me. One solution would be using RAW and applying your own denoising filters, but you loose HDR and I didn't get much better results anyways.
- Takes more time to adjust: not suitable for quick shots.
What about the other lenses ?
- Ultra wide gives ok results. Not worse than other flagships from what I've seen.
- Zoom lens is more noisy. Only suitable in daylight IMO.
- Selfie: never used.
My conclusion:
- With Xperia 5 II, you can get great pictures with a photographic look in the right situations. But some pictures may out-of-focus and some will get bad lens flares. Also it needs too much attention to settings for me.
- So I sold the phone and kept my Xperia 5 1st gen. Photos have a bit more noise, but it's more dependable in focusing and rarely misses a picture. Colors are also warmer and more accurate at least to my taste.
Note that Xperia 1 II may not have these focusing issues but I didn't try it.
Some examples:
Xperia 5 II: flares
Xperia 5: no flare
Xperia 5 II: bad focus at night
Xperia 5: better focus at night
Xperia 5 II: natural bokeh
Xperia 5: not much bokeh
Xperia 5 II: less noise
Xperia 5: more noise
Xperia 5 II: the 3 lenses:
Ultra wide
wide
zoom

Some other pics from X5 II (in right situations)
(<- with zoom lens)
(<- ultra wide lens)

skilli said:
With good Light the Camera make good Photos, but i really have Focus issues for Quick Fotos. Its not that im Shaking or something but at 1 of 3 Photos im must repeat and then the Focus is about right. As you can see in the Attachement.
I know that Sony will fix this Problem but when 1/3 from the Photos are just not sharp for a 900 Dollar Phone its a little Dissapointing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately this is my experience with it as well. Once light conditions aren't perfect the camera struggles with focusing and stops delivering good photos. Also the water painting effect isn't something unusual here which is not acceptable for over $900 camera-phone. Just wondering whether Xperia 1 II is better in this regard? Maybe TOF helps somehow?

For focus issues: are you using stock app or PhotoPro app in auto mode?
I haven't noticed any focus issue but I always use PhotoPro

asvaberg said:
For focus issues: are you using stock app or PhotoPro app in auto mode?
I haven't noticed any focus issue but I always use PhotoPro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm also a little bit worried about the camera quality and focus...I'm using PhotoPro but it doesn't looks so good, but I don't regret switching from P30 pro

I'm considering buying the phone and the cameras are the most important for me, so my most important questions are - is there raw format shooting for all three lenses and what are their maximum exposure settings(seconds), cause with my current mi note 10 pro I was able to shoot the milky way, and expect this phone to be able also...

bo6o said:
I'm considering buying the phone and the cameras are the most important for me, so my most important questions are - is there raw format shooting for all three lenses and what are their maximum exposure settings(seconds), cause with my current mi note 10 pro I was able to shoot the milky way, and expect this phone to be able also...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, you can shoot raw on all the 3 lenses. Maximum exposure time it's 30 sec. Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend you this device for making photos, I'm coming from a P30 pro and I'm really disappointed with the overall quality of the photos, so you better start looking for another device....

robi101012981 said:
Hello, you can shoot raw on all the 3 lenses. Maximum exposure time it's 30 sec. Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend you this device for making photos, I'm coming from a P30 pro and I'm really disappointed with the overall quality of the photos, so you better start looking for another device....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you talking for jpg quality, or raw?
Cause I'm not planning to use jpg for serious shooting, as I did with my real camera. I like to produce my own jpgs and I know how to use the 3 main(in smartphones 2) settings.
Can anyone provide me with a raw sample from each of the lenses. Would appreciate it.

bo6o said:
Are you talking for jpg quality, or raw?
Cause I'm not planning to use jpg for serious shooting, as I did with my real camera. I like to produce my own jpgs and I know how to use the 3 main(in smartphones 2) settings.
Can anyone provide me with a raw sample from each of the lenses. Would appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Raw, of course,I don't shoot jpeg because I like to edit my photos