Sony Xperia 1 IV review

11 May 2022


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  • Anonymous
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  • 17 May 2022

Anonymous, 16 May 2022Light gathering capability of Xperia Pro-I is hindered due ... moreI really don't know what to say to this. You got all technical about light gathering and then you mixed it all up with Mi 11 Ultra and quadbayer sensors talk that are solely there for in-sensor frame stacking in order to deliver those HDR images. Mi 11 Ultra video is beyond disguising with its frame stacking, you cannot tell the time of the day if it's noon or if it' afternoon cause it kills contrasts all over the place. Mi 11 Ultra lift shadows, it introduces haze in the landscape cause it's afraid of shadows and highlights, etc. And when you are talking about noise have you taken a full res file with Mi 11 Ultra? If you did you would know there is horrible noise all over the place.

    Anonymous, 17 May 2022An a6100 user here. I came here because someone was complai... moreGreat comment. Sony fanboys always try to pull out the "natural processing" card, but at the end of the day it's simply unacceptable to have flagship phone take worse photos at poor lighting conditions than 200$ Xiaomi.

    Sony phones' camera experience is more about roleplaying a professional photographer rather than taking actual professional photos.

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • Su5
      • 17 May 2022

      Imagine how much better the battery performance could be with dynamic refresh rate. I was really hoping they'd imprement it this time, I don't think I'll buy it unless they do. Which is a shame because I really like where they're going with their phones.

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • i1D
        • 17 May 2022

        An a6100 user here. I came here because someone was complaining about photos from this phone on another forum.

        Weak nighttime photography always remains there as Achilles' heel for Xperia. Highlights are badly blown out on many samples and they look plain bad. Some may call this natural processing, I bet; I don't. Y'all need to remember, due to smaller area and lower bit depth of a sensor, smartphone cameras always have a terrible highlight rolloff, showing hue shift and color banding much more clearly in overexposed area compared to dedicated cameras. This is why other phones try to get around this by combining exposures and retaining information in brighter sections of an image. Xperia relies on a regular multi frame noise reduction once ISO reaches high enough, so all the light sources will get burnt when there is not enough light.

        This links to the biggest dilemma with Xperia, Sony is trying to treat it like a dedicated camera when the sensor is struggling to keep up. Let's say, try taking a picture of your friends walking down the street during sunset with Xperia. You will fail unless you bump the ISO up to somewhere around 1000 or 1250 unless the sun is directly shining on their faces. Or take a picture of your cat playing with a toy inside your house at night. Maybe you can freeze its motion, but you will end up with a blotchy mess with no separation between its individual hairs. My a6100, paired with a fast Sigma F1.4 prime lens, does these stuff with ease and quality output.

        Despite mimicking the alpha's UI, Xperia does not offer users an option to burst shoot in raw, so you're stuck with Sony's jpeg engine when you set it to continuous High/Low shooting mode. Being able to burst shoot raw is why I use my alpha camera over my phone whenever moving subjects are involved, so why Sony, why did you not implement it on this phone!?

        And what's with this new optical zoom anyway? The lens is soooo soft even the garbage kit lens that came with my alpha put it into shame! Phones use prime lenses because they are often so much sharper and less complex to design than zoom lens, so why throw away the advantage just for the pointless 1.5 times optical zoom???

        I can see Sony is trying to take in so called enthusiasts as the major audience of Xperia lineup. But real enthusiasts will buy its dedicated cameras. Sony, please focus on what matters the most for photographers and videographers, the alpha.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • y}%
          • 17 May 2022

          kevinmcmurtrie, 16 May 2022Focus was never fixed in Mark III, so don't bet on it.Yes. Bad software and support. Just like what they have done to the XZS users. It's a flagship phone with very bad support.

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            • Anonymous
            • y}%
            • 17 May 2022

            Anonymous, 17 May 2022You mean they should have cut costs on hardware, software, ... morealso cut cost on customer support

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              • Anonymous
              • q8Q
              • 17 May 2022

              Tonethebone925, 17 May 2022LG should've followed the Sony route instead of going... moreYou mean they should have cut costs on hardware, software, marketing, and availability?

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                • Anonymous
                • q8Q
                • 17 May 2022

                Tonethebone925, 17 May 2022This is a COMPLETELY different take on the camera review fr... moreYeah completely different in the fact it's the laziest attempt yet

                  LG should've followed the Sony route instead of going head up against Apple and Samsung.

                    This is a COMPLETELY different take on the camera review from the YouTube "photographers"

                      Anonymous, 16 May 2022Did Sony tell him that they would fix these issues?Focus was never fixed in Mark III, so don't bet on it.

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                        • Anonymous
                        • rN7
                        • 16 May 2022

                        Jou567, 16 May 2022Even 4k@120fps support eis+ois. That's why the price ... moreMany phones do many awesome things and lots of things better and don't cost that much. They have zero excuse for the peice

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • rN7
                          • 16 May 2022

                          Anonymous, 16 May 2022all the right specs AND "No-nonsense launcher based on... moreOld specs and lack of intuitive touches.....with insane price tag....yeah....sold.

                            vrvly, 15 May 2022If you got charger why there is a need. I bought one device... moreBut it makes more sense to put a charger in the box

                              vrvly, 15 May 2022If you got charger why there is a need. I bought one device... moreBut it still makes more sense to put one in the box

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • 70d
                                • 16 May 2022

                                AnonD-1039478, 16 May 2022I've just seen a review of this on YouTube and the rev... moreDid Sony tell him that they would fix these issues?

                                  Bajlozi 3D, 16 May 2022Hi, 1 question: Does it do Ois+Eis on 4k 60p? Thanks ... moreEven 4k@120fps support eis+ois.
                                  That's why the price is 1300 £.

                                    Hi,

                                    1 question: Does it do Ois+Eis on 4k 60p?

                                    Thanks in advance

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • JQ3
                                      • 16 May 2022

                                      all the right specs AND "No-nonsense launcher based on Android 12."

                                      SOLD!

                                        AnonD-1039478, 16 May 2022It wasn't a QC issue it was the lens not working corre... moreXperia 1 III has a soft telephoto lens even after the Android 12 update, so there's that.