Xperia 1 II review part 2: A powerhouse camera for the detail obsessed By Engadget

Sony's Xperia 1 mark ii is a very specific joy to use so much so that we've decided to split our review into two videos. If you want to know more about how this phone works as a phone, please check out part one, but if you're more curious about what this thing is like as a camera, it's time to dig in the mark ii has a bunch of sensors around back. So let's just work through all of them in order at the top of the camera array, is a 12 megapixel ultra-wide angle, camera with an f 2.2 aperture and phase detection autofocus. It captures 124 degree fields of view, with the equivalent of a 16 millimeter lens, and you'll see very little barrel distortion out of the box since the phone is said to correct it by default. Now, if you would prefer to just get the highest quality image and don't mind some distinct imagery weirdness, you can just turn that feature off and shoot again. All in all, though this is a really reliable performer, though, if you're like me, you'll, probably wind up using this camera.

The least next is the 12 megapixel telephoto camera, with optical image, stabilization and an f 2.4 aperture. It shoots at the equivalent of 70 millimeters, so it actually feels like a proper telephoto lens, but do be careful with this one. In my experience, the results tend to be just a little soft, underneath that is a time of flight sensor meant to help the cameras focus, but the sensor's limited range means it only really helps if your subject is within 15 feet of view, which is still fine, because the autofocus is wild. We'll get to that then there's the star of the show the 12 megapixel wide camera. In addition to having an f 1.7 aperture, the sensor is one over 1.7 inches, so it's physically larger than many other sensors out there, and it does a perfect job of gobbling up light. Now there are a few interesting tidbits to note at this point for one.

All of these cameras are shielded by mass's t-star lens coating, which was designed to keep reflections and ghosting in the glass itself from fouling up your photos and despite making some of the largest most impressive smartphone camera sensors in the world, Sony used precisely none of them here they kept things actually really modest. If you notice none of the cameras I just mentioned tiptoe over the 12 megapixel threshold. Meanwhile, you've got Samsung running around out there, selling 108 megapixel sensors to vendors like Huawei and Motorola, like they're, going out of style. Don't let the numbers fool? You, though, these sensors are still a solid place to start, and in one case, that more limited sensor resolution made a game-changing feature possible, but we'll get to that for now. Let's look at video like the Xperia one before the one mark ii draws inspiration from Sony's cine Alta cameras, and I can't blame you if you haven't heard of them before I hadn't really either they're more a mainstay of movie sets not the kind of informal street shoots, you're more likely to run into if you're, not much of a video person.

You'll do fine sticking to the standard camera app it shoots at resolutions at up to 4k at 16x9, and the resulting footage is undeniably solid. But here is the thing about the mark ii. If you're trying to achieve a specific vision with your video, the standard camera app is the last place you want to be you're going to want to use Sony's cinema pro app. Instead, the app lets you shoot in 10 bit color at 4k 60 or at 2k, at frame rates as high as 120 fps. In case you wanted some really slick slow-motion b-roll.

Once you've decided what resolution you want to shoot in, though you're basically stuck with it. The cinema pro app keeps all of your footage, organized in separate bins by project and the only way to change your resolution after you've started. Shooting is by starting a new project. It's a little cumbersome, especially once you realize that you've been shooting at the wrong resolution for a little while already, but I get why Sony would want to organize things this way. Once you wrap your head around that sort of project based approach, it's time to start messing around with all of these settings, if you need to dial in a specific ISO or shutter speed value, you can do that.

You can cycle through a palette of video filters, including one inspired by Sony's pro level. Cameras. If you need to set focus manually, go right ahead, you can even set the camera to perform a focus, pull between two pre-defined spots at the touch of a button which comes in really handy when you're shooting a smartphone review, b-roll, especially beauty, shots and stuff, is key used correctly. These settings should give you what you need to shoot exactly the video you want. I say should, though, because at times I wish the cinema pro experience was actually more pro manual.

Focus is a nice touch, but Sony has been doing, focus peaking on its actual cameras for years, and it would have been such a huge help here I mean even lg figured that out years ago. I also asked our video producer, Brian o, the good-looking Korean guy, who pops up in these reviews from time to time. To give me his take because he's obviously more of a video professional on a shoot the other day right off the bat. He pointed out that in broad daylight it can be tough to get properly exposed footage, even when the ISO is totally bottomed out at 64. I'm much more of a photographer than a video person, though so the improvement Sony made to shooting still spoke to me a lot more eye tracking autofocus debuted on the original Xperia one and works well here too, but the mark ii expands that trick to work on animals.

Now I don't have a pet, which would have been helpful now that I'm stuck at home all the time, but the feature did come in handy during a socially distanced hangout with a friend's kind of Instagram famous dog, the Xperia 1 mark 2's, autofocus is also shockingly fast. It performs and re-performs focus calculations 60 times per second, so you hardly ever wind up with a completely blurry photo, but best of all Sony's choice of main camera means that you can shoot as many as 20 frames per second. That is absolutely wild and easily the most impressive thing about this camera system, but we'll get to that very shortly. In the meantime, I want to talk to you about the mark, 2 split camera personalities for people who just want to point their phone at something and take a picture. It's honestly pretty hard to recommend the Xperia sure its camera app offers a lot of controls.

You can switch between the three cameras set your color temperature and even swap between a selection of really artsy photo effects and when you start shooting the camera scene, detection generally does a pretty decent job figuring out. What you're looking at and kicking things into the right scene mode. If you're super tight on something, for example, the camera will shift to macro mode. If you've got a subject with light at their back, then you get backlight portrait, it's relatively intelligent. The thing is, I hardly ever found those results that exciting you'll find a lot of crisp details and bright colors in the photos taken with the main camera, though it does often overexpose bright scenes.

The ultrawide and telephoto cameras are more utility players, but they do their jobs without fuss. Most of the time, still, I feel, like Sony, should have paid a little more attention to the regular camera experience. The fact that this app lacks HDR entirely feels like a big miss, and you can't pinch to zoom between the three different lenses. Once the range of one camera butts up against the range of another, you have to tap a button to switch between them. Oh, and the eight megapixel front.

Camera is just kind of lousy. Every selfie I took turned out soft and unsatisfying. Even after I turned off the soft skin feature. Look I get that this is for a pretty nice audience, but even seasoned photographers probably want a nice selfie. Sometimes right like that's, not crazy, but that's the thing about this phone.

It's really not meant for point and shoot people an iPhone, 11 or a Google Pixel 4 will produce more immediately satisfying images, and they will ask very little from you along the way they are reliable, safe and somewhat boring in their computational consistency. But as any camera enthusiast would probably tell you. There is a very specific joy in locking in the right settings and waiting for the right moment and capturing a photo. You weren't even sure was possible. Obviously, things don't always work out, but the little adrenaline rush that comes with just perfectly plucking a moment out of time is, unlike anything else, and thanks to its camera pro app.

The Xperia 1 mark ii is purpose built to deliver those kinds of thrills. You probably want an example, and I don't have a better one than this- a few things to note about this photo. I shot it in Times Square at about 2 30 in the morning with the main rear camera, since it's the only one that can hit that 20 fps burst rate, when this cyclist was coming straight at me at speed. I couldn't see his face with my eyes. It was only after I reviewed the photos that I noticed his expression and his gesture and even that splash of black nail polish on his pinky.

I also mostly just guessed at the settings. Someone with a stronger background in photography would have done a lot better point is: I haven't, had this much fun with a smartphone camera, since I spent a night shooting stars with a pixel 4, but for completely different reasons with the pixel I marveled at what google software could do for me with the Xperia I marveled at what I was able to capture for myself. These photos simply wouldn't be possible without Sony's, high-speed camera, expertise and the level of control that the camera pro app provides. There are settings here for basically everything the camera's drive mode, shutter, speed, focus area, ISO metering, mode, histogram and more. The app has its quartz.

You can't have to focus on a subject unless you set the drive mode to single, for instance, and you can only use the highest speed burst but, as I said with that main camera, the other two bursts at a slightly lower rate. Regardless there is more than enough control here for the camera purist to really have a great time, because it offers more in the way of that pure control, though the camera pro app can feel daunting in a way that the regular camera app or even the cinema pro app. Don't. I can easily see people getting discouraged by the complexity and layout of these controls, and I'll be the first to admit that I was pretty thrown by them for a bit too. Some familiarity with detailed camera settings is extremely helpful for anyone looking to get the most out of the mark ii, but that doesn't mean this phone is necessarily off limits to amateurs.

Like I said in part, one of our review, the Xperia 1 mark ii only really makes sense. If you care about an in-depth camera experience, you don't need to be an expert already for that to be true, just look at me. Calling me an amateur would be generous, but I spent a few nights out, shooting some unbelievable photos with a smartphone and I loved every minute of it at the end of it all. The message is probably pretty clear: most smartphone shoppers just simply need not apply. The Xperia 1 mark 2 shines because of how crazy niche it is.

It has a screen meant for movie nerds. Its cameras are meant for film and photo nerds, and thankfully it's more than solid enough in all the other departments that matter like performance and battery life and overall software quality. In other words, it's a really fascinating mix of just general competence and high octane seeker for people who relish the thrill of creation. The Xperia one mark ii tends nicely to the basics, while catering to your obsessions at the same time, that's not for everyone, but it's still a powerful thing to experience. In any case, thank you for joining us for part, two of our review on the Xperia one mark ii.

We appreciate your indulgence as we've sort of tried something a little different here. If there was ever a phone that deserved a camera deep dive, it's this one. So if you have any feedback on the phone itself or how we approach this review, please let us know in the comments or via email, I'm v engadget. com. Thank you for your continued support, and we will see you next time.

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Source : Engadget