Sony Xperia 1 VI Photographers Opinion | Mixed Messages! 

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"don't listen to MKBHD" the best advice ever

Yes, I quite agree with you! I had an Xperia 1 V and now I have an Xperia 1 VI and I'm just waiting for updates in the fall, and the pro app, Sony promised a pro app in the fall along with the updates, and it's not long to wait, because it's already half way through August, so we'll see something changes, even though the sensor is small, you can't make it bigger. Time will tell! I liked the Xperia 1 V and the quality of the screen and of course the camera, but I still like the screen size of the Xperia 1 VI more, and the whole phone itself because I wear glasses and it's just better to see on a bigger screen and this phone is a good size too. Thanks for this Xperia 1 VI video, it's especially important to me because I have the phone myself and I'm still getting to know the camera on this phone!

Something i don't understand is why they don't use sensors that they made for their competitors or better one. Or maybe there's some business restrictions? Or something like that? Sony plz

I'll share my own experiences with this device, too: 1) The processing on the periscope is not good. If I edit the RAWs out of the 85 or 170mm focal lengths myself, the images look a lot better than what the SOOC JPGs give you. Yes, I would prefer a larger sensor for it, too, but Sony could really process these images better. Of course, you need a lot of light and a fast shutter speed, but you can definitely get photos that are not bad (not to forget that you would need a relatively big lens on a DLSM for that, of course it cannot be perfect!!). 2) I would really like to have the 48 MP resolution in Pro mode and regular photos tab. I don't understand why they hide it all the way to the right. These 48 MP images really make a difference when capturing landscape shots. It should be in the "Photo" tab as a setting, use binned 12 MP or full resolution, leaving an option for the aspect ratio (4:3, 3:2 etc.), too. I think the potential of this sensor isn't fully used, but that has to do with the software. You could also use it for clear image zoom, set a focal length of, say, 35mm and it will output you a 6000x4000 file. 3) For video, I think they could at least add an EV slider before coming up with a video pro control mode. However, I would find it a lot more useful if they would give you the opportunity to either have a basic layout or a pro layout to get the app a bit more structured. It is a start, but I think they should put in further work with this app. Personally, I would like to be able which modes to show in which order (see, f.e., ProCamera on iOS!) and which to use on startup. This regular "photo" tab is the one I don't use at all because it does neither give me the full resolution nor manual controls. 4) I am new to Android and what they should really adress are these strange notification badges. They are so small and barely noticeable. Make them all red and give us a counter on them. It should be noticeable and informative. Not a slight light-greyish dot on a white icon. That is ridiculous. Comparing it to iPhone shooting, I have a lot of pros and one con. - The con, as you mentioned, is that shooting in auto modes is relatively inconsistent. iPhone is very consistent in giving you garbage. :D - What I value a lot in first place is that you can shoot RAW without gambling with the exposure. What you see is about what you get, the histogram is actually helpful and not like iPhone shooting where you think it's okay and then you end up with a completely underexposed shot and it doesn't matter if you are skillful or a total newbie, just doesn't work out as you know it from your camera. - Images look more optical, less digital. Even though they are not consistent, you really have ways to get it the way YOU want it and not how the phone/company wants it to be. - The 16mm is a lot less extreme than the 13mm on iPhones. I am not a big fan of UW shooting, but I would for sure prefer 16 over 13mm. - S-Cinetone is about what Apple refused to do with the iPhone: The middle path between oversharpened crap and right away going Log on a consumer device where most people don't even know how to handle Log. I wish my A7R III would get S-Cinetone as an update but that will probably never happen, unfortunately. What you said somewhere in between, regarding 'the best camera is the one you have with you' and 'you don't want a big camera with you': Yes, I can feel that, too. I value my A7R III a lot because the quality this one gives me is probably in a category of "nobody would ever need more", but still, having a phone that can do the job if this big boy is NOT around is really nice. I have to say this is the first phone since the iPhone 8+ (the last one that was more optical than digital/AI based in terms of photography) to be a joy to use for taking photos and videos. I have long stopped to record any on a smartphone because on Apple, everything just looks artificial and I can't stand that.

Your seamless switching from voice over to talking to camera is really good! As a videographer i'm disappointed in the direction they've taken with the camera app. As an enthusiastic photographer, the periscope is just not delivering. Personally, I even wonder why they include it. As much as I love the idea of optical zoom the money could be spent on a better sensor with a fixed focal range. I'm keen to upgrade my Xperia Pro-I, which has been a surprisingly impressive workhorse, but Sony needs to improve their lenses before I upgrade.

I would love in the far future , zoom lens, variable aperture. Good sensor, night mode , across all lens That's the dream

If only sony listened to us smaller channels hey... But who are we to know better than Marques 😅 Glad to see at least that the mobile phone photographers sphere seem to agree as a whole on the VI 👍

1 inch sensor main camera plus 1/2 inch sensor for telephoto will make this the best camera phone

Sony has not abandoned the video and photo features that were developed by Alpha Because it promised to add the rest of the camera features with the system update. All Sony wanted was to change the design of the camera app interface and integrate the apps To make it easier for users who find it difficult to take pictures I agree with Sony on this change We live in a time of speed and people want the easiest way I don't mind this change as long as I don't lose any of the professional and cinematic photography with all the Alpha features.

I totally get what you mean mate, always baffled me that Sony, the ones who MAKE the sensors for basically ALL phones, never really seem to get the best results compared to the competition, its been this way for YEARS and they don't seem to be that bothered by it!

The 1 V had the same issue. Periscope is useless compared to everyone else. For that price, no.

Nice review. I love the Xperia 1vi. Battery is great, audio is the best compared to my Samsung ultra and iPhone 15 pro max. SD card slot is very useful. And 3.5mm headphone socket. I love the photography experience. It's fun. Zoom with fast shutter speed. Use pro mode and raw.

Hey, I just found something interesting in the Xiaomi 14 Ultra's camera app. If you're in the default photo mode and tap multiple times on the 1x, it zooms in to 28mm and 35mm (default is 23mm).

I like the narration idea in the review. You pretty well also said everything I thought you were going to about this phone. The lack of that larger sensor they could easily use sets it back against the Vivo X100 Ultra and Xiaomi 14 Ultra and "if" you want to appeal to auto users then why not put access to the adjustment sliders like Vivo have (which I know you love) I agonised so much about which of these 3 to buy and id really have liked to go for the Sony but this just doesn't cut it with the hardware used. And the price compared to competition! Just wonder what the expected Pro version is going to have

Thanks for the video, one of the best I've seen so far. Why do you think Sony is not using their best sensors on their own phones? Just ordered the experia 1 iv, can't wait to put it to work.

Fully agree. Its beyond me why Sony is not using their LYT600 for the tele. Can only imagine its a limitation of their real variable zoom. In that case the 50 MP crop 2x even on a 3.5x tele would be better for sure. 7x cropped would look better than their current solution I am convinced.

Great video and sony do make some good stuff i hope future phones make it with passion now a days most phones dont have that feel anymore

I still can't understand Sony has all these amazing camera sensors at their disposal and consistently decide to use none of them. Truly Sony logic for you. There's rumors of an I-ii successor this fall/winter that sounds really compelling though. I hope it to be true and with accompanying larger sensor complimentary lenses.

Honestly I think the reason Sony is the only one using variable zoom periscope lenses is because other manufacturers tried them and decided the trade-offs of much smaller sensor size, worse optical quality, and the slow aperture towards the end of the zoom range were just not worth it. Looking at the quality of these images, I'm convinced my Iqoo 12's OV64B 70mm periscope is able to provide better images at the very least up to 140mm. Prime lenses for telephotos are just much better for the time being it seems. To be clear I would absolutely love a great telephoto with a range of 85-200mm or so, but the fact we haven't seen it can't simply just be because Sony's afraid of big sensors.

Please can you post the best manual settings to photograph the moon please.?

Thanks for a great review. I also love Sony and wish them to do well. Like you i don't know why they don't put their best sensors in this phone. Perhaps they are saving that for the rumored Xperia Pro C! I currently have the Xperia Pro I with the one inch sensor which for me takes great photos with the main lens (I don't use the others). I have also paired it with the Shiftcam 60mm telephoto lens and the results to me are rather outstanding. I also only shoot in RAW as that gets the best out of the phone.

If i didnt already have an S23 Ultra, id buy this phone in a heartbeat simply because it offers both a headphone jack and expandable storage. Afaik, there isnt a single other flagship level phone that offers both and if there is then LG has revived their mobile division without me knowing.

your right bro.. this is a great phone.. but the problem is the tele lens.. till now it is trash.. and the front camera still dont have af 😅 but yes the main and uw are great. how i wish they put a larger sensor on the tele lens..

Great review! I really was tempted by this Sony but the poor periscope has put me off. What is your current favourite for photography? I've fallen out of love with photography recently and having something closer to a real camera in my pocket at all times would do a lot yo get me back into the hobby.

I was too pretty excited when they announced the 1 VI and was really tempted to upgrade from my 1ii. However, the more I research and think about the mark vi, I gone from excitement to disappointment. Apart from the screen aspect ration, this phone is basically a mark V (or what the mark V should have been) with a yearly upgraded CPU. The sensor size is a big issue, if I am correct the telephone is the same sensor 3 or 4 generations in a row. Only the Pixel (with strong focus on software tuning) could get away with using the same (and fairly small) sensor for so long. Gosh I believe my 1ii even have a larger tele-photo sensor than the 1vi if we are only speaking about the sensor size. I remember there was a slogan from Sony (probably from their camera department not smartphone) which is "get it (the picture) right at the sensor" but the Xperia's ultrawide and tele lens are definitely so not "right". The lost of the pro apps, although a lot of the reviews said it is a positive change, is also disappointment to me. The pro apps, to me, inspires creations and contribute to the feel of photography. I blame this to the change in screen aspect ration - the previous pro apps are so well designed and suited to the 21:9 screen of the olds. Finally, I understand Sony tries to appeal to the mass, but ironically the phone gets more generic and losses its charm in the process. Those reviewers who complains about Sony being too niche in the past, can't even bother to review the 1vi because the phone is so boring now. I would just hold on to my 1ii for now and see what Sony will bring to the table next year.

Great, honest video mate. The narrating is fantastic, works very well 😎

I want to live this phone... But...

Great video love Sony👍👍 can you use this phone in United States 🇺🇸?? Running 5 g?? Thank you

Great video. What are your top smartphones for the camera and video right now? Cheers

21:9 with 2K LTPO Display and Bring Back or Improve the following: •RGBC - IR Sensor •iTOF or LIDAR •Notification LED •Dynamic Vibration •Powerful LED Flash •Hardware Type Bionz X ISP •5 Pole Headphone Jack for Noise Cancelling •Vapor Chamber same as the First Xperia Pro •52MP Telephoto Lens with In Sensor Zoom (70mm - 150mm is enough) •52MP Variable Aperture Main Lens (f1.5 - f4.0 / 24mm - 48mm) •Improved Ultrawide Lens 16mm •Bring Back PRO APPS (Sony DNA)

I like this with the narration and the images being on screen for a longer duration. I'm so disappointed with Sony. Every year I say this is the last year I'm using a pixel but then their cameras are still so flawed.

Got a question for you. What do you think of the Zeiss T* coating? I have the Xperia 1 VI and i get alot of those disgusting purple star flares as soon there is some sort of light in my photos "sun, artificial lights" and so on. I've owned many Sony phones over the past 20 years but the Zeiss T* coating is a real letdown. Wish i could show you photos that i've taken so you could see the issues.

Does anyone actually know if this phone has aptx lossless Bluetooth audio there seems conflicting information?

true the periscope zoom images are soft and the primary camera sensor is not the best from Sony need a better sensor and night mode photography should also be improved like samsung and iphone even google pixel which relies on computational photography Sony must push the limits....also the next gen snapdragon chip is power hungry so need a bigger battery 5400 above i think....nice review...👍

I think its a good phone but its just kinda hard to justify buying it when there are far better photography flagships. You got Xiaomi and Vivo, oneplus, you get the idea. I mean the pro I is long obsolete now with those phones overtaking it in features. I'll give sony props for the UI and software it really does feel like your shooting a sony camera and I love how the options just feel right at home and the focusing options are amazing I don't think I've seen a phone with real time tracking like sony does it where you can tap the screen and it will stay locked to a subject even a subject in motion. But outside of that Sony intentionally cripples itself to keep a small form factor and its quite obvious from when they released the Pro I and limited a stacked 1" cmos sensor that was capable of far more. They use older and smaller sensors like the telephoto for example is 5 years old and horrible in low light and it shows in some of sony's showcase videos. Optics are not sharp either especially on the telephoto lenses and its very insulting when you have the Zeiss logo next to it. Every sony shooter knows that Zeiss is no joke and your gonna get amazing optical quality when you put it on your camera. Vivo has Zeiss optics and you saw how it compared to Xiaomi. Sony could've done so much better with this phone but they choose not to in sacrifice for a smaller form factor.

I have a question, what is it about that makes Sony phones great for photography? I saw some RAW shots from Shibi-Chan of the 1 V compared to the X100 Pro and a bigger sensor is always going to destroy a smaller one no matter what situation. The only arguments I can think of are videography tools in pro mode, which I genuinely agree is a great thing, and maybe the Pro mode photography/metering tools are better but are they really worth compromising the overall sensor quality for? Because if we put the Sony head to head against a competitor, the closest one for the price is the Oneplus 12 with its main sensor being a close enough size but with larger aperture to make up for the size difference. Even the S24 Ultra and Pixel 8 Pro have slightly larger sensors and most importantly larger apertures. Sony charging nearly 200 euros (in my country at least) more than the S24 Ultra for imo an inferior hardware set is kind of disrespectful especially considering the "average folk"-ified processing of the auto shots now. And especially considering the fact that they went from 4k down to 1080p, like the last time Samsung had a flagship with a 1080p screen was the S5. Even Apple makes FHD+ screens. Supremely sad state for a phone I'd say. Like when I think of Sony flagship I think of a phone that's supposed to have cutting edge tech from Sony at least in terms of photography. So let's say a 1/1.56" or a 1/2" UW cam like the Find X6 Pro or the Find X7 Ultra, a 1 incher like most Chinese flagships and a 1/2.51" or larger zoom cam. Sony stubbornly refuses to go for larger sensors or larger apertures to have a slim profile/small camera bump. I just wonder why they can't just make the current 1 VI a 5 VI and have a separate 1 VI with the best stuff. I think it's just greed and a lack of understanding of what the market wants. They're throwing random stuff and waiting to see stuff that sticks. If the Sony phones were cheaper then sure I'd be willing to support them but they're more expensive than the competition with less stuff. So I just can't seem to understand who these phones are for. The best example I can think of currently is bringing to a race a Mazda RX-8 that you can tune to your liking and a Ferrari F8 that you can't tune as much yet both cost the same. That's how I feel comparing the X100 Ultra for example to the 1 VI. Only the battery is the redeeming quality and that's the best in class for the 1 VI, gotta give em props for that.

I agree with you, I think they have downgrade the Xperia 1 series from flagship to 5 series. That's why they remove the 5 series this year, MKBHD suggestion is actually is not needed as we already have 5 series for that and now sony phone is wider but other brand like samsung and pixel is going for narrower. I do dream of the next xperia Pro series with maxed out the best of sony 1" type sensor, Increase from 12 mp to 16 for non main camera, 4k screen with the old high ppi, built in DAC (the 3.5mm is useless if I use usd C dongle DAC). I have used 1 vi for nearly 2 months now still waiting the video pro mode.

Honestly speaking not impressed even with the 24mm images seen on Discord... Sony has some special vibes or how to call it, but from my phone I want few things and in any of those areas can they compete with other manufacturers unfortunately. What a shame considering how many Sony (or Sony Ericsson) devices I used in the past when they were still relevant on the global smartphone market.😕 Speaking about the review: great job as usual!

This is the best biggest review of this phone that I've seen Agree 100%. It urgently needs better sensors which capture more light. Also, don't try to be an iPhone or Galaxy, be a niche Photographer phone. Make the 5 series the iPhone competitor and add computational photography to that one

ideas: good execution: lacking

Great Shots 😊😎👍

Does it have 10 bit video?

Compare it to Vivo x100 ultra

What's a 48mm ?

Nice looking phone.. always liked Sony designs

I bought one a month ago, the battery life is good,great UI,SD card slot are great,sound from speakers and headphone jack are top notch but yet again Sony holds back on the camera department,wide angle is ok the main camera is great,telephoto macro zoom you can get superb quality shots,as you can with the 48 MP setting but, yet again the telephoto is poor at the long end simply not good enough from Sony charging £1299 for this phone.

People are tired waiting for Sony to use their Exmor-T sensor for their telephoto/ultrawide sensor.

I would have bought the phone, but 2 years of updates is a no no for me...

Sony needs to start using fixed focal length for their tele. While the tech they use is theoretically interesting it sucks in in performance. Digital cropping from base zoom of tele has given me sharper results than actually zooming with the hardware the few times I've tried a Sony.

I can't help but wonder if the reason Sony neutered the telescope camera in the 1VI is to help justify cutting out the camera on the 5V (and presumably 5VI). It's a weird and dumb strategy but so was axing your most profitable line of phones (the Compact series) and Sony still did it... 🤔

Very good video and I agree the Periscope lens should be uppgradet with a bygger sensor also the wide angle lens should be upgraded . Sony should use the same sensor like as on the as on rear camera for both the wide angle lens and the periscope lens and . But maybe they will do that next year theire is hope for that .

Sony been handicapping their phone lineups for a while now, considering they make some of the best sensors out there, even in pro world.I used to dream that they put the IMX989 in one of the 1 phones and see what goes 🤷🏻‍♂️

This is my biggest gripe with my Xperia 1 V. Main lens is solid but the other two are dog shit compared to the competition. Sony has the nerve to still charge this price for this.

I have all the same problems. I've primarily been an Xperia user since the 5 mk. II and this is the most unhappy I've been with an Xperia yet.

I have this phone on hands right now after playing with Oppo Find X7 Ultra and Galaxy S24 Ultra (this year). To be honest, Oppo is better in pretty much every way, not only cameras wise. The only problem of OPPo Find X7 Ultra is no Global ROM. Wanna get Xiaomi 14 Ultra for comparison. Being a die hard fan of Sony and Pixel phones, I suspect that Xiaomi will destroy them all.

The video at 3:00 with the front cam has such bad audio its not even funny

first comment Sir ❤️

Sony doesn't know how to use it's own versatile camera sensors and give a great camera phone for everyone. 😅

Sorry I'm late Jermaine ! Lol

Alghouvh olle nilsen knows what he does he is deffinity sponsored by sony