Should I go for a 19 Megapixel camera of XZP or it is better keeping a 23 Megapixel Camera in my XP?

[xluigi]

Hi Guys,

I like to snap pictures with my phone and I am quite happy in doing it with my current Xperia X Performance but I also like changing phones so I was thinking to the XPeria XZ Premium.

However it has a 19 Megapixel camera, athough it also has a extraordinary slow-motion capacity.

My conclusion is that since I do not make many movies (and I instead snap much more photos), I should stay with the X Performance in order to get the better from Xperia photography.

Do you agree on it? ...or I have missed something?

Thanks

Luigi

[dquilon]

The MegaPixel count on a camera is not the right measurement of how good it turns out to be... specially on the small sensor found in phones. This is because the image pixels need to be smaller in order to accommodate large quantities of them, which in turns result in artifacts showing when you zoom into the image.

That is why Samsungs turn back from having 16MP to 12MP...

The 19MP camera found in the XZs and the XZ Premium should be an improvement over the previous 23MP camera, however I don't have either of those at the moment so I can't really say for sure.

If you read threads about better photography here in this forum you will find that sometimes is better to reduce the MP count instead of taking pictures at the maximum available... that is because recent Xperia phones do something called "pixel binning" which is basically the combination of adjacent pixels to create a smaller resolution image but with better results in noise, oversharpening and efficiency (size vs information). 

Keep in mind that the tri-sensors implemented in the XZ and forward also help with focusing times and color accuracy. But the best you can do is actually learn manual mode and try a lot.

TLDR.... If you want the best photography between the X Performance and the XZ Premium, chances are that the later will do better even at a lower 19MP resolution.

[Lord_viridis]

Pixel size is more important than mp count

Xz premium will be better clarity and better light gathering. 

[Bhonder]

Because it's not a full frame sensor from 19 to 23 MP it's not a big leap, anyway.

I'm curious: is the camera app also able to work in shutter priority?

[dquilon]

Well my XZ (1st gen) arrived and I was able to test it out, and to my surprise the results are a lot better of what I expected after seeing bad press and reviews out there. 

When taking full 23MP images, details result very noisy, however the overall image is great with accurate colors and good dynamic range. I recommend actually using 8MP most of the time. 

@Bhonder, yes the camera has shutter priority in manual mode but it can only go from 1/4000 to 1 second. I wish they would increase it to longer exposures in future updates. 

The current capabilities allow for incredibly good night pictures, as long as you can lean your phone onto a rigid surface or use a tripod. 

All in all, I'm very happy with my XZ... Object and subject tracking has been improved a lot and daylight quality is superb. 

I would guess that the new 19MP camera has some improvements but the main difference will be the new slow motion mode and photo prediction, while regular day to day snaps will remain similar in quality 

[Lord_viridis]

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@dquilon wrote:

Well my XZ (1st gen) arrived and I was able to test it out, and to my surprise the results are a lot better of what I expected after seeing bad press and reviews out there. 

When taking full 23MP images, details result very noisy, however the overall image is great with accurate colors and good dynamic range. I recommend actually using 8MP most of the time. 

@Bhonder, yes the camera has shutter priority in manual mode but it can only go from 1/4000 to 1 second. I wish they would increase it to longer exposures in future updates. 

The current capabilities allow for incredibly good night pictures, as long as you can lean your phone onto a rigid surface or use a tripod. 

All in all, I'm very happy with my XZ... Object and subject tracking has been improved a lot and daylight quality is superb. 

I would guess that the new 19MP camera has some improvements but the main difference will be the new slow motion mode and photo prediction, while regular day to day snaps will remain similar in quality 

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Thanks for your thoughts on the camera. As a hint for you, any images you really want to clean up the noise on, download Adobe photoshop express and use the noise reduction tool, the final processed images are quite amazing.

[Bjorn_O]

I talked to one of the guys in our camera team a few days ago and asked him to sell me the XZ Premium camera. What he told me can be boiled down to this:

The new camera sensor with built-in memory brings features such as super slow motion and improved HDR. This results in less ghosting and minimal rolling shutter effect since the whole sensor can be read at once instead of line by line. Low light performance, color and auto focus have been improved.

[PelDiPzs]

In my opinion the new imx400 sensor is the best compromise "megapixel/pixelsize" in a "big" sensor 1/2.3".

Certainly is better than old imx300 with 23mpxl.