Sony's latest flagship, the Xperia Z3, yet again comes with 20.7MP camera with some amazing features. We take the camera for an extensive test and check out its capabilities
The Xperia Z3 was recently announced and it comes equipped with the same 20.7MP sensor which Sony has been using since the past two generations. We first saw this sensor on the Xperia Z1 and then it was improved on the Z2 along with 4K video recording. The camera on the Z3 is equipped a 1/2.3 inch Exmor RS Mobile image sensor along with Sony’s G-Lens with a wide 25mm focal length.
You get the features seen on the previous generations along with a boosted ISO performance of 12800. Other new features include new modes for the camera app including Face In, AR Fun, Sound Photo, Multi camera and more.
Shutter speeds
Of course there is no manual controls for shutter speed, but in the auto mode the camera manages it very well. We saw shutter speeds ranging from 1/8 in low light, to 1/2000 in daylight conditions.
Aperture
The camera on the Z3 offers a fixed aperture of F/2 which sounds great as it offers more light to enter the lens. This also means you get a shallow depth of field which gives a nice feel to your pictures. However, at times where you don’t need such a large aperture, the camera compensates by lowering the ISO or increasing the shutter speeds. So achieving higher depth of field is not possible.
ISO
Sony claims that it offers the highest ISO rating ever provided on a smartphone camera and yes you can achieve up to 12800 ISO but only when you are shooting in the auto mode in dim-light conditions. In the auto mode the ISO ranges from 50 to 12800, in the manual you can select from 50 to 800.
Focusing
The focus system on the camera is pretty good and you get great results. In the manual mode you get five focusing modes including single, multi, face detection, touch focus and object tracking. The first four are pretty standard and do the job well, the object tracking was a surprise and it impressed us with its accuracy.
White balance
Apart from auto white balance you can select some of the presets for correct the colour temperature of your pictures. Again, this is only available in the manual mode. The auto-white balance is pretty good and gives a slightly cooler tone to the pictures.
Camera UI and modes
Sony has updated its camera app which is a bit faster and feels more stable. There are also some new modes including improvements on the previous modes. The auto mode is probably the best option to use if you want a hassle free picture. The auto mode is fast and quite accurate in terms of colour and exposure. If you want to fine tune your pictures, the manual mode is quite impressive as not only you can fiddle with your exposure, you can also control your ISO, white balance, resolution, and a number of scene modes (only on 8MP resolution).
The camera app yet again comes with 4K video and Timeshift video and Timeshift burst which make use of the high frame rate capability of the camera. In Timeshift video you can shoot a video and select a section to make it go slow-mo. Similarly in Timeshift burst, the camera splits about 60 frames in one second and you can select one frame and save it.
New modes include a picture in picture mode called Face in where both front and back cameras are used. There is also a Sound photo mode which lets you take a picture with background sound. Then there is an interesting Multi camera mode which lets you wirelessly connect other Xperia smartphones or QX lenses via NFC and the image through the other device’s viewfinder will appear on the Z3. Sony has also added a new AR mode which now lets you scribble or add 3D objects to your pictures. Even if you shift your frame, the object or text remains in its position.
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