The Sony Xperia 1 II was first introduced in February. We said it is Sony Mobile’s biggest gamble yet with its powerful camera specs and tech. The 5G model went up for pre-order in the US and will be available in the market next month. The phone’s camera potential was visible in a series of videos. The phone also promises battery longevity even with intense gaming and now we want to know more about the camera. The phone comes equipped with quad cameras: three 12MP shooters and a 3D ToF sensor.
The imaging department is composed of a 12MP 1/2.6-inch 16mm Dual Photo Diode AF + 12MP 1/1.7-inch 24mm Dual Photo Diode OIS + 12MP 1/3.4-inch PDAF OIS + 3D iToF (time-of-flight). Sony decided to use ZEISS lenses. It seems to be working on digital camera-like high-speed performance. This is against what other OEMs have been doing: focus on optical performance.
One Sony exec explains the camera lenses have been designed to recreate the textures of a subject in terms of bokeh, transparency, gradation, and color reproduction. The ZEISS lenses even come with a special coating that can minimize ghosting and flare. The goal is to minimize the possibility of image quality degradation.
The Xperia 1 II boasts 12 megapixel Dual PD sensors. They can balance performance and image quality. The camera’s autofocus system is accurate and fast, thanks to the PDAF splitting the light coming through the lens in two. The light is then directed to dedicated sensors.
According to Sony Mobile Communications’ Shoko Otani the Dual PD and PD sensors were chosen “in order to achieve the high performance in the Xperia 1 II, as represented by the “world-first 20fps burst shooting with AF and AE”. She also explained all three sensors are 12 megapixels.
She said 12MP is enough “to be displayed on most monitors and it is also enough for A4 size prints”. Having the same resolution also “prevents the issue of the resolution changing when changing the magnification”. Using a larger sensor size enables the camera to “gather more light than before“, as well as, “quickly recognize subjects even in dark scenes.” Otani further added, “The camera will get even better with the Photography Pro app coming in an update.”
