Tomorrow, Sony will/will introduce a new Xperia flagship smartphone that literally has it all: Because behind the flat lens of the new Xperia PRO-I is supposed to be a full-blown 4K 1-inch sensor.
Sony is thus ahead of the big smartphone manufacturers Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi, whose sensors also grow with every device generation, but have not yet reached one inch. A subtext in the press material mentions the RX100, which also has a 1-inch sensor.
One inch is seen by many filmmakers as the lowest limit for the term large format sensor. With a typical width of 12-13mm, the horizontal crop of such sensors ranges around a factor of 3. With wide open apertures, visible bokeh can already be created on such surfaces. The low-light capabilities should also be quite good for a smartphone due to the relatively large sensor (approx. 3 µm).
To ensure that this also works in practice, the Xperia PRO-I will have a switchable dual aperture. Thus, an aperture of F2 and an F4 can be set manually on the main camera, to which Sony also specifies a focal length of 24mm. We strongly suspect that this is a 35mm equivalent specification.
This development is diametrically opposed to Apple's Cinematic Mode, which requires rather small sensor areas for its subsequent digital bokeh in order to be able to shift the focus digitally afterwards. In addition, Sony does not seem to have targeted scenic filmmakers with the large sensor, but rather bloggers. Other Sony accessories for the Xperia PRO-I were also shown at the same time. Among other things, a dockable monitor to use the camera as a selfie cam with a flick of the wrist:
There is also a schematic diagram with the cabling and the handle for the remote control:
However, we are a bit confused by this product strategy. The big advantage of already carrying around a top display with a smartphone remains unused here, and a large sensor is not necessarily advantageous for selfies. But maybe Sony will say something more about the planned target group of the new smartphone tomorrow...
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)