By Lily Wu
As smartphone manufacturers compete for the best camera phones, Sony Semiconductor joins the battle with the Xperia PRO-I, a flagship camera phone targeting savvy photographers and videographers. The “I” stands for “Imaging” according to Sony, and yes, it uses proper camera technologies.
For content creator Sarah Dietschy, the Xperia PRO-I “almost felt like [...] a camera with a phone attached.” Inspired by Sony’s point-and-shoot camera RX100 VII, “THE Camera,” as Sony puts it, features a large 1-inch Exmor RS CMOS image sensor with phase detection autofocus (PDAF) points covering 90 percent of the frame, which is rare for smartphone lenses. The Xperia PRO-I also has the signature shutter button that allows users to hold and operate the phone as a camera. “Having a dedicated shutter button on the camera changes the game,” said photographer Dane Isaac in the Xperia PRO-I announcement video
The main sensor features ZEISS optics equipped with a dual aperture of F2.0/4.0, with which users can change the depth of field depending on the type of shot they want to take. As for the three rear camera lenses, they are a 16 mm ultra-wide, 24 mm wide, and 50 mm standard, along with a 3D iToF sensor that Sony claims can instantly calculate the distance between the camera and a subject. All feature 12-megapixel resolution. Other features like Real-Time Eye AF specifically for photographing people or animals, 20fps burst shooting, optical image stabilization, and 21:9 video recording are also included. Plus, users can shoot videos in 4K HDR at up to 120fps with an audio separation technology to filter out wind or background noise.
Xperia PRO-I is perhaps most notable for its controversial 1-inch CMOS image sensor that is based on Sony’s RX100 VII’s sensor but developed exclusively for the Xperia PRO-I. Since larger sensors can generally capture more light, they translate to better low-light photography with less noise and more details. However, DPReview mentions that while this 1-inch sensor is 20 megapixels in total, the Xperia Pro-I only uses the center of it, meaning the device only produces 12-megapixel images (PetaPixel estimates that the effective sensor size is only around 1/1.3-inch.) In fact, Sony clarified in the “Frequently Asked Questions about 1-Inch Image Sensors” section of Sony’s official website that “the actual area used is about 60% of the total area.” Despite this, in an interview with Impress Watch magazine, Sony said the sensor “has a very large pixel pitch compared to existing smartphones.” For comparison, the primary sensor on the recently released Google Pixel 6 Pro features a pixel pitch of 1.2 µm. The Xperia PRO-I has 2.4-µm-sized pixels. Sony also said the sensor enables “outstanding low light performance, high dynamic range, and beautiful bokeh.”
For low-light performance, the Xperia PRO-I delivers truthful night scenes without too much computational processing while keeping the details. “Rather than turning night into day, the results arrest on the darker side,” according to Willard Gove at GSMArena. “Sony wades deeper into manual controls than others do, and the larger Micron pixels do help bring out more detail, particularly when shooting in RAW to work in post,” stated Ted Kritsonis at PetaPixel. As for bokeh, users can manually add a bokeh effect (bokeh describes the aesthetic quality of out-of-focus areas in photography) with the 24 mm and 50 mm lenses on the Xperia PRO-I depending on how sharp they want the background to be. While natural bokeh seems to be the star of the show, software-generated bokeh is also available.
As the world’s first smartphone to include a 1-inch image sensor with phase detection autofocus (PDAF) and Sony’s costliest smartphone on the market (1,799.99 USD), the Xperia PRO-I is made for those who want to flex their creative muscle. It “captures exceptionally accurate photos that give professionals the most possible room to tweak in post [editing]” according to Eric Zeman at Android Authority Yet, the photos might come across as flat or lifeless for regular consumers who seek the most pleasing results right away with the simple press of a button.
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