This post is in collaboration with Sony
As you know, I’m working with Sony to try out their Xperia XZ1 phone. The Xperia is their flagship phone and it has one amazing camera on it which I’m going to tell you about & show you today!
If you missed my earlier post where I talk about my first impressions of the Xperia XZ1, you can read that here.
Sony says, you will never miss a family moment again with the Xperia XZ1 smartphone and it’s groundbreaking Motion Eye Camera. Well, that sounds great to me!! But how is this possible you might wonder? And what is a Motion Eye Camera?
The Motion Eye Camera is unique to Sony and isn’t featured on any other smartphone on the market. This technology is used in Sony’s high-end cameras. So, in a nutshell, Sony brings you amazing camera features and crisp photos from their top of the line cameras to the Xperia smartphone.
The Motion Eye Camera has its own processor and brings some really cool features to the Xperia, including:
Super Slow Motion that’s sharp
SteadyShot for video stabilization
AutoFocus Burst in photos to allow a choice of clear photos in an action situation
Predictive Capture so you don’t miss a great shot
Great photos in every lighting situation by automatically adjusting to the lighting requirements
Wide angle front and back cameras
Automatic selfie timer by simply putting up your hand.
I just want to note that all the photos and videos taken with the Xperia camera in this post are unedited. I want you to see the raw footage from the Sony Xperia XZ1. And being honest, there is no need to edit these photos. They are crisp and beautiful right from the camera. However, if you do decide to edit video in minutes, the Xperia's intuitive editing features make it a breeze to enhance your footage quickly and effortlessly.
The perfect photo every time!
The Sony Xperia XZ1 camera is quite clever. It senses the lighting conditions and responds automatically to give you the best photo. There is also a manual mode that allows you to adjust settings, which I have not used because I find the auto creates spectacular shots. And let’s face it, Sony knows better than I do. Without further ado, let me tell you more about the Xperia XZ1 photo features.
Autofocus Burst with Predictive Capture: When you go to take a photo of something moving, the camera starts buffering before you even hit the shutter button and gives you a set of images to choose from. I’ve found this ideal for taking photos of the kids, dogs and anything else that moves & is uncooperative for photos lol
This feature will be ideal for Christmas morning when paper is flying, kids are screaming and everyone is moving around. The action shots come out so crisp and clear it’s amazing.
The doggies were playing and rolling around when I took a burst of photos. It’s amazing that the photos came out so clear despite all of their movement. I went through the burst of photos & saved these two as my favourites.
Low Light: Christmas morning and Christmas experiences in the build-up to Christmas often happen in low light. There is the soft glow of decorations but besides that it can be quite dark.
We visited Santa & Mrs Claus at Westport House last week. I used the Xperia XZ1 to do the filming and photos inside Westport House Winter Wonderland because it was best equipt out of the cameras & phones I have to handle the extremely low light situation. I have a video put together of the Winter Wonderland experience which you can watch right here on my YouTube.
Every year I find it hard to capture my Christmas tree at night because the lights play havoc with my phone. The photo on the Xperia turned out so crisp and beautiful. I stood back, clicked & that was it – I had this photo in one shot. Honestly past years I am moving side to side and trying to adjust the lighting while my smartphone camera zooms in and out and despite my best efforts, the photo would turn out fuzzy.
Fabulous HANDS-FREE Selfies: The front camera on the Xperia has a wide lens which captures a much larger area than my current smart phone’s front camera does. The front camera also automatically examines the lighting situation and adjusts to give fabulous selfies every time.
AND it has a hand’s free mode. Simply place your hand up vertically and the Xperia recognizes this and sets a 3-second timer for your selfie. It means not having to try and hit the photo button while also holding the camera with your arm stretched out.
At our annual family Kris Kringle party, I put the Xperia’s selfie-taking abilities to the test and fit all 8 of us into this shot without needing a selfie stick – something that would have been impossible on my current phone.
Xperia XZ1 Camera in Action
A picture is definitely worth more than 1,000 words when you are talking about a camera! So I’ve put together a video showcasing the different Xperia camera features. You will see the Xperia photo features I’ve discussed above in action.
I’ll also show you the beautiful video footage from the Xperia. You will see how crisp video footage comes out with the help of the Xperia’s SteadyShot feature which stabilizes the video by compensating for shaking movements. Plus, you can see Xperia’s fun Super Slow Motion feature in action…
If you have any issues watching the video here, you can watch it directly on YouTube.
Tech Talk
For you techies out there, here are the Xperia XZ1’s camera specifications:
19MP Exmor RS for mobile memory-stacked sensor
25mm wide angle G Lens f2.0
Catch the unexpected with Predictive Capture
Autofocus burst
Manual mode: Shutter speed / Manual Focus / Exposure / WB
960 fps Super slow motion video
SteadyShot with Intelligent Active Mode (5-axis)
4K video recording
13MP Exmor RS for mobile, selfie camera
22mm wide-angle lens, selfie camera
Find out more about the Xperia XZ1 & it’s camera on the Sony Website.
Final Thoughts
I’m really delighted to work with Sony to try out their Xperia XZ1. It’s impressed me in many ways. From the simple set up to the conveniently located finger print sensor, this phone is well designed. It’s also easy to hold, lightweight but at the same time has a nice big screen.
The camera has truly blown me away. As I was taking photos of the Xperia smartphone to use here, I was complaining to myself about lighting and trying to get a nice shot. My son said: Do you wish you had another Sony to take photos of that Sony? And I said yes, I do! That moment made me realize how much I really value this camera.
Great photos are created quickly & easily with the Xperia. I take one shot and am happy with it rather than taking 3-5+ shots at different angles to try and get one good one like I’ve been doing with my current smartphone. And I haven’t edited a single photo taken on the Xperia! Before I started using the Xperia XZ1, I was putting my photos through several editing apps before posting to Instagram. I find the quality of the Xperia photos so crisp and clear that they don’t need any editing.
I’m looking forward to taking photos with the Xperia on Christmas morning and during our other adventures in the build-up to Christmas. You can keep up with us & the Xperia on Cuddle Fairy’s social media. Thanks for reading! x
I’m reviewing the Sony Xperia in conjunction with Tots100 & a few other bloggers. You can read or watch their reviews right here:
