Sony Xperia XZs camera low-light performance examined in detail

11 April 2017
We take the Sony Xperia XZs for another spin at night.

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • NHr
  • 12 Apr 2017

Still waiting for the other fanboy to explain how he made this comparison, I quote : "S7(same cam as S8)"

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • NHr
    • 12 Apr 2017

    NokiaBeast, 12 Apr 2017What kind of question is that? Of course I do, IF they app... moreSo actually you don't agree... please elaborate on this : "IF they applied the same treatment as from the others"

      Surficial, 12 Apr 2017From the photo comparison tool, xzs beats xz and s7 in good... moreExactly. Not all the time, you are always dealing with insufficient light. Sure, for a flagship this is a must, but not like all of your photos are going to be taken in that situation right?

      Those low light camera phone lovers might love taking their phones to the outer space - that's where we can test the true limit of those cameras lol

        Anonymous, 12 Apr 2017Ok, let us put it this way, do you agree with the gsma's fi... moreWhat kind of question is that?
        Of course I do, IF they applied the same treatment as from the others. I'll do say it - Xperias aren't that great in low light, but I could hardly say they're the worst. It lost the detail, and messed up the noise, but it had some improvements like the blue tint creeping in, and color was surprisingly nice and pleasant without being too popping.

        Maybe more practice, because those Manual Mode photos definitely looked night and day of a difference compared to the Auto ones.

          This world is so messed up. Seriously
          I don't want to believe so, but I feel that the writers of GSMArena are always anti-Sony. Like, look at the introduction of the review of the XZs - "Slap a new camera and voila, you now have a new flagship!"
          Seriously, is that how you do it? If it's an iPhone, it would be like "If there would be one fruit to be the most successful, there's no beating of an Apple - the most innovative of all"

          If other people can take great low light shots with the same Xperia phone, how could others can't?
          Even my experience with the XZ was fantastic. And I'm not being a fanboy, I just say what I have used. XZ has great camera. I tried to capture texts in S. Auto at 20mpx with semi-low light condition and guess what, microscopic level of detail even with some noise - but who's not gonna love that detail, right?

          Did the same for the S7 in Auto 12mpx in the same lighting condition. No matter what I do, I just can't seem to do anything to improve the level of detail that I could pull out. Zoom it in and say hi to pixels. Yeah, no grain will welcome to you, but no thanks, I prefer the slight amount of noise for twice the amount of detail that I can get.

          About the thing I didn't like about the XZ is how long it takes to process the image. Takes immediate photos, but go to the preview app and it'll take about 5 seconds to be fully processed. But photography takes patience, right? Just kidding lol

          Peace :3

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • NHr
            • 12 Apr 2017

            [deleted post]Ok, let us put it this way, do you agree with the gsma's findings (the words, go read) in this low light review?

              • S
              • Surficial
              • mpr
              • 12 Apr 2017

              From the photo comparison tool, xzs beats xz and s7 in good light imo, much more detail than s7.
              S7 clearly wins at low light but xzs isn't too far behind.
              Xzs doesn't produce the grain the xz does, and the noise is also reduced.
              Overall, the question is if good light or low light is more important to you.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • NHr
                • 12 Apr 2017

                Tann Hauser, 12 Apr 2017Those are all 12 mpx shots of night streets, in fact XZs h... moreNope, not the same scene, all are landscape type scenes though, however, lighting and moving subjects differ, that is end of that. And how is the S7 and S8 cameras the same? I'm dying to hear that story.

                  Anonymous, 12 Apr 2017Show where I said/believe that the Pixel and S7 are great d... moreDo you even understand what I have said? I used the Pixel and S7's ranking in DxOMark as a reference on which site is a standard for digital cameras. The point is that if photographers do not look at DxOMark when looking for a camera, then that means DxOMark isn't a standard for photography, hence we shouldn't be believing that the Pixel has the best camera and the S7 has a great camera that is second to the Pixel, too. If you have a problem understanding what I'm saying, I suggest you find someone who understands you and you understand because I don't talk to pricks. Peace :3

                    Anonymous, 12 Apr 2017Anyone can see they not the same, unless your are a sony fa... moreThose are all 12 mpx shots of night streets, in fact XZs has to deal with landscape too which is even more demanding, others not.
                    XZs provides best detail, color, dynamic range, contrast.
                    G5 second
                    Pixel third
                    S7(same cam as S8) last in the line.

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • NHr
                      • 12 Apr 2017

                      Tann Hauser, 12 Apr 2017Nope, the scenes are pretty much close, night with street... moreAnyone can see they not the same, unless your are a sony fanboy making random comparisons, thinking they are identical in every way.... wow where did you pull that S8 sample from?

                        Anonymous, 12 Apr 2017Very very bad attempt at trying to show us anything, consid... moreNope, the scenes are pretty much close, night with streetlight...
                        You choosing not to see obvious is just fnboy in you.

                          Anonymous, 12 Apr 2017In dxomark yes but in reality uhmmm no.it can't even beat p... morePixel? realy lousy at lowlight:
                          http://m.gsmarena.com/showpic2.php3?sImg=reviews/16/google-pixel/camera/gsmarena_026.jpg&idReview=1518&idPage=8

                          XZs:
                          http://m.gsmarena.com/showpic2.php3?sImg=reviews/17/xperia-xzs-low-light/camera/gsmarena_019.jpg&idNews=24479

                          Examine thoroughly.
                          Would put pixel at third place, above S7, below XZs and G5

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • NHr
                            • 12 Apr 2017

                            Tann Hauser, 12 Apr 2017Xperia XZs lowlight: http://m.gsmarena.com/showpic2.php3?s... moreVery very bad attempt at trying to show us anything, considering the scene differences alone, back-lighting, moving subjects....of course I can understand why you have a huge blind-spot...

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • NHr
                              • 12 Apr 2017

                              NokiaBeast, 12 Apr 2017Then don't believe the Pixel has the best camera and the S7... moreShow where I said/believe that the Pixel and S7 are great due to DxO...come on show me. I don't bother rating cameras using DxO, period. I laugh it off when the fanboys come rolling in with the score sheet, haha....look look look what score my phone camera got...ice-cream between the eyes...

                                Wonderer, 11 Apr 2017With what phone was the shot captured with? .?
                                XZs, from this test here.

                                  Anonymous, 12 Apr 2017Only geeks care about DxOMark scores etc. The only things t... more?!?
                                  Obviously you have NEVER used a Sony phone, as Xperias, especially XZs is superb if not the best in all these.

                                    [deleted post]Yes, who despise Samsung's TW and uses a Pixel because of that, not an S7 or gimmicks like that.

                                    Its beyond laughable to compare this poor camera with Pixel's or S7's, but whatever.

                                    Nah Sony fanboys are on par if not dumber than Apple's. Wasted my time as usual with every Sony phone in past.

                                    Good luck with the phone's camera, cause without luck you have a mess anyway, even with it, but Good luck all the same. ROFL.

                                    "The samples are hardly the greatest around, with plenty of detail lost to heavy-handed noise reduction, which ironically isn't doing all that good of a job of masking the noise itself. Not it's not a terrible performance by any means, but it's one that's lagging behind the vast majority of competitors".

                                      • D
                                      • AnonD-265341
                                      • JHL
                                      • 12 Apr 2017

                                      In good light I think it does a great job, clearly much better than th xz if you try the compare option. Low light not so great, especially with auto, but that is nothing new if you're used to Sony phones, tbh th ip did pretty bad also. If you want decent photos in dark settings you have to use manual, but that takes time, and not all would care to do so. But I even got quite nice shots with my z5 in the dark using manual mode, and the auto on the z5 is horrible in the dark. I usually don't take pictures in those environments, and imo the daylight shots are on par with the best so I am thinking about upgradeing to the xzs, it's cheaper in my country than the p10, and imo the p10 is a worse choice in almost every way