Sony undoubtedly makes some of the best cameras on the market. But it’s fair to say that it hasn’t enjoyed the same kind of critical or commercial success with its range of smartphones. Its latest flagship device is the Xperia 1 V, a follow-on from last year’s Xperia 1 IV. Presumably the company hopes this device will help it to take some much-needed market share away from the bigger players on the market.
We weren’t hugely impressed by last year’s Xperia 1 IV, noting a number of problems with both usability and image quality. So we’re hopeful that with some tweaks made to both, things are vastly improved for the 1 V.
Features
The 1 V features a triple-lens camera setup. Although this is the same number as the 1 IV, it includes an improved main sensor. This gains a big resolution boost, from 12MP to 52MP (48MP effective) and, new for this model, uses pixel binning to output images to 12MP. The sensor is 1.7x larger in area than last year’s and it is joined by a 24mm equivalent f/1.9 lens, which is slightly different from last year’s f/1.7 lens. Sony promises that the new sensor is capable of delivering ‘higher sensitivity and lower noise’ and that it is ‘2x better’ in low light.
Sony also says that image quality is on par with a camera equipped with a full-frame sensor. But when pushed to name which camera the
