SONY XPERIA 1 II

With tech borrowed from the Alpha mirrorless, the Xperia 1 II is out to impress

Sony easily has the richest photographic heritage of the four brands here and in an effort to distinguish itself from its more popular rivals, the Xperia 1 II has been designed to appeal to pro photographers and videographers. Sony has even called on its Alpha camera division to help with the development of the Xperia 1 II.

This photographer-first philosophy is apparent as soon as you pick up the camera thanks to its 21:9 aspect ratio display. Compared to the 20:9 ratio on the Galaxy S21 Ultra and 19.5:9 ratio displays on the 12 Pro Max and

Pixel 5, it means the Xperia II is noticeably narrower in the hand. However, the reasoning in opting for a 21:9 ratio is that it matches the 2.35:1

‘Cinemascope’ ultra-wide video format for movies, allowing the Xperia 1 II to be hooked up to an Alpha mirrorless camera and used as a secondary monitor for movie-making.

With the Xperia 1 II, Sony’s kept things pretty straightforward with the camera setup, and that’s not a negative thing. There are three lens/sensor arrangements: an ultra-wide 16mm f/2.2 with a 12MP sensor (with 1.4µmm pixels), a wide 24mm f/1.7 with a 12MP sensor (with 1.8µmm pixels) that’s the Xperia 1 II’s primary camera and a 70mm f/2.4 telephoto with a 12MP sensor (with

1.0µmm pixels).

Opting for a modest pixel count for the primary camera has allowed Sony to achieve a readout speed of 10ms, allowing the Xperia 1 II to shoot at a rapid 20fps and reduce rolling shutter when shooting movies. Focusing speed is also rapid, with calculations performed up to

60 times each second, while a clear sign that Alpha engineers have been involved in the Xperia 1 II is the appearance of Real-time Eye AF.