Interview: Renowned filmmaker Philip Bloom on the Sony Xperia Pro-I and the state of smartphone videography
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- Anonymous
- 8Kf
- 20 Dec 2021
Nick Tegrataker, 20 Dec 2021A great, insightful interview, GSMArena. Although I wish yo... moreArea used is similar to a GN1 sensor (72,5mm2).
Full sensor area is less than 120mm2, because ratio is 3:2.
It is more than 60%.
He is aware. That is why he says he would not mind thicker phone and bump if he could use the entire cmos.
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- Anonymous
- 8Kf
- 20 Dec 2021
Wayne., 20 Dec 2021Phillip doesn't know too much about the hardware side.... moreCamera like A7iii is limited to 4K@30 (100Mbps). No 10-bit.
Still better quality than cellphones.
Even 1080p from 🎥 (TV channels use 1080p and 1080i) are far superior than cellphones.
Problem with phones is the hardware (sensors + lenses) + small body. This is exactly what he says. The larger 🎥 have huge fans inside and can recprd raw footage up to 1200Mbps.
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- Anonymous
- tZ4
- 20 Dec 2021
geek-a-contra, 20 Dec 2021my xperia 5III. got it at the end of october. already 2 sec... moreGood to know Sony is keeping the 2 months old Xperia 5 iii up to date. Whether it will continue to get timely monthly update, we will have to see. But looking at update history of other models, not very optimistic indeed.
- YUKI93
- K1L
- 20 Dec 2021
While I still love the appeal of the Xperia Pro-I despite its steep price, I can't help but think that you can always push the envelope of mobile photography or videography on any smartphone. I have an Apexel 2x Tele and an Ultrawide+Macro mobile lens alongside a Ulanzi U-Rig Metal Smartphone Video Rig that I use as a mobile photography and videography companion for my current daily-driving Microsoft Lumia 950. As Juan Bagnell aka SomeGadgetGuy put it, "It's not about the tool, it's about what you can do with the tool."
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- AlienKiss
- iDB
- 20 Dec 2021
I'm seriously thinking about buying this just for the SD card slot 🙂
Sorry Samsung!
Hello Sony! ❤️
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- geek-a-contra
- pq5
- 20 Dec 2021
Anonymous, 20 Dec 2021You are wrong in so many things about the Mi 11 Ultra. The ... moremy xperia 5III. got it at the end of october. already 2 security updates. :)
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- Anonymous
- tZ0
- 20 Dec 2021
Anonymous, 20 Dec 2021EXTREMELY VERY TRUE AND HONEST ... pro ... - thicker an... moreHonest? Bloom is obvously paid by Sony to do promotional videos, so he had to at least talk about the phone positively. If you ask him what is his own phone, he will most likely answer iPhone.
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- Anonymous
- tZ0
- 20 Dec 2021
Anonymous, 20 Dec 2021Xiaomi does not have Eye AF, does not let you choose framer... moreYou are wrong in so many things about the Mi 11 Ultra. The Mi 11 Ultra as part of Xiaomi flagship lineup, doesn't have ads and so far the model have received updates almost every month now. Also, show me any Sony phone that get monthly security update.
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- Shanti Dope
- I@H
- 20 Dec 2021
"Yes, you can manipulate and change things in post but when you have cameras that do these things in real-time, the power of the image could easily be diminished if it no longer accurately represents that moment in time."
And this, for the love of God, is the reason why I still don't like computational photography.
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- NeonRobot
- JbJ
- 20 Dec 2021
resolution test vs mighty Nokia 808:
https://trackerninja.codeberg.page/post/sony-xperia-pro-i-vs-nokia-pureview-808-2021-vs-2012/
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- TheLastOracle
- vG1
- 20 Dec 2021
Nick Tegrataker, 20 Dec 2021A great, insightful interview, GSMArena. Although I wish yo... more
"1. How Pro-I, in terms of dynamic range, noise level, tonality, rolling shutter etc. stacks up against the ILCs he regularly uses for his work, as well as other phones he has used in the past if possible. Also, whether he thinks it could've been better or it's just good enough for phones, plus how the image quality is compared to his prior expectations."
A. That he wouldn't have the answer to. Cined.com would be the guys to be able to calculate all of these, rather well.
"2. What he thinks about Sony advertising it as a phone with a type 1 sensor when it doesn't use 40% of the entire area - something he probably wouldn't have known unless he kept his eyes on the controversies going around the internet before buying the product."
A. I thought about this too, for a while, and I think I've understood why. Smaller sensors, due to their much smaller proportionate area, lack a lot of space for circuity, more so probably in signal related bit depths and signal strengthening positions. Samsung seems to have dual ISO switch even in its sensors smaller than 1inch (though much larger than most other smartphone sensors). There must be something to the size advantage in circuity, that made Sony use the 1inch sensor, even if 40% of the imaging pixels are not being used for imaging.
"3. What it feels like for him to use it as his daily PHONE, not just as the secondary camera."
A. He was obviously paid by Sony to use the phone, including in the promos. His review, in some ways, therefore, cannot be unbiased. Though he's not usually the complete such-up. He could be mildly ill informed about a few aspects though. He may not know the signal strength and voice clarity. He probably doesn't even use the Sony Pro-i for making calls or checking the net.
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- TheLastOracle
- vG1
- 20 Dec 2021
Philip Bloom is quite reasonable, even if his cinematography isn't really great. It's great that he was interviewed. Gsmarena should also interview people associated with image sensor specifications, and technology creators such as Eric R Fossum, and also lead sensor designers from Sony and other companies. Maybe, even SoC evaluators such as Andrei Frumusanu.
Would love to hear sensor designer's views on dual ISO and conversion gain sensors, about new HDR technologies in hardware and software etc.
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- B0b101
- J88
- 20 Dec 2021
To be hnest I wanna see compare to other top camera smartphones from Google, Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi, Huawei. We wil see who is the best in which category ;)
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- Nick Tegrataker
- Xpf
- 20 Dec 2021
Anonymous, 20 Dec 2021Xiaomi does not have Eye AF, does not let you choose framer... more"does not let you choose framerate"
"no manual mode and raw for all 3 cameras"
"no custom white balance no two types of HDR"
"no histogram"
"no HLG"
"no colour profiles"
"no focus points selection"
Um.. Mi 11 Ultra supports all of these features in manual mode. The sensor supports 2 types of HDR captures natively, and instead of HLG the camera app allows you to shoot in either HDR10, HDR10+ or LOG format. You'll lose your credibility rapidly when you get wrong for half of the points you make, just saying.
- N
- Nick Tegrataker
- Xpf
- 20 Dec 2021
Anonymous, 20 Dec 2021Not sure why people complain that Samsung/Apple/Google all ... moreFor Pixel 6's case, it's quite silly for people to complain about how everything looks to have an over-the-top HDR effect.. when they're literally given a slider to adjust how much of it they want on their photos right in the preview screen.
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- Anonymous
- j%t
- 20 Dec 2021
Anonymous, 20 Dec 2021The Pros " love" the orange skin tones provided b... moreNot sure why people complain that Samsung/Apple/Google all over correct pics on post. All brands do the same
I for one think this was a great little article that showed how convenient but still limited ALL cameraphones are.
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- rizki1
- 6c6
- 20 Dec 2021
whatever, this phone will be outdated 2 years later from newer flagship and maybe software updates only 2-3 years.
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- Nick Tegrataker
- Xpf
- 20 Dec 2021
A great, insightful interview, GSMArena. Although I wish you guys asked him a couple of more in-depth questions, including:
1. How Pro-I, in terms of dynamic range, noise level, tonality, rolling shutter etc. stacks up against the ILCs he regularly uses for his work, as well as other phones he has used in the past if possible. Also, whether he thinks it could've been better or it's just good enough for phones, plus how the image quality is compared to his prior expectations.
2. What he thinks about Sony advertising it as a phone with a type 1 sensor when it doesn't use 40% of the entire area - something he probably wouldn't have known unless he kept his eyes on the controversies going around the internet before buying the product.
3. What it feels like for him to use it as his daily PHONE, not just as the secondary camera.
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- Anonymous
- y}%
- 20 Dec 2021
Alpha, 20 Dec 2021I have this one..I love itNo you don't.
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- Wayne.
- 7tp
- 20 Dec 2021
Phillip doesn't know too much about the hardware side. The reason why phones have such bad video, is because they devote so little hardware to video compression, or good video app control features, and often video that is not set up right. Look at the new iPhone in prores as proof, it's not as good as they could do, but a lot better than the normal phone. That maybe as much as you could get top phones could do in a software codec like confirm, using all it's resources! Maybe even in 8k using Black Magic Design's Braw codec, which might relief on using hardware processing. But, a big issue, is file size. Descent video data rates are huge, even at 1/8th the size in the new h266 codec (in 8k, not so much in 4k) requiring saving to an external USB 3.0/3.1 SSD. The 16k mode of the Samsung 200mp+ chips, will require an external USB drive save to get even top consumer quality. The big memories of a lot of top phones, is not that big for pro video, and a lot don't have memory card, or optimised compressed streaming to USB port SSD or wifi SSD. Not that a pro should trust a microSD card anyway, even if you got one that could handle 100Mbytes/s sustained (the figures quoted are deceptive as they are not sustained minimum as the card heats up and can't record frames consistently, which is one reason recommended cards for 4k, are rated so far above what they actually need on those phones). But, what the arrival should talk about, is that top sensors going into phones, often can have 12-14 bit modes that can be used at video rates, and now they are moving to 16 bit, which is optimal territory for pros. That, a minimum of 12 bits is preferred professionally in the time of hdr (professionals often go an extra few bits for grading, like your phone dues in processing images internally. If a phone captures video at 8 bits and records as 8 bits, best to avoid it, even if it's 10 bits internal. It won't have the proper overhead to give good footage more often, you can change to your liking without complications like burn out and banding, the footage look will be more "baked" in) and picture mode version of 4:2:0 and 4:2:2 component video format. The new video version of 4:2:0 encoding destroys it, making it look jagged (hopefully they have stopped this now). But, you really want 4:2:2/4:4:4 16 bits, but what you can afford on a mobile is 4:2:2 12-14 bit in highest video modes.
Bayer compressed video modes are preferred for a better data size and usage. Unfortunately, this has been kept from us, due to a patent that does not predate it's usage.
But, the red camera company has a codec that can do pro quality in under 50mb/s, in 4k, and under 200mb/s in 8k. Which is h267/h268 territory, far past h266/h265. However,. I suspect, that might be a heavy price of silicon circuitry. It is the only ready solution to 4k/8k/16k quality video on a phone. It was going to go in a movie quality streaming service. For a phone, it might be strapping on a module with a heat sink on the back of the phone. Unless they are using low energy compression techniques.