1 inch camera sensor,the next must have feature?

[RichFN2]

The camera setup on smartphones has been improving over the years, however recently we have seen the introduction of a 1 inch Sony sensor for the main camera.

2 years ago only a few phones used this sensor, but now in 2023 a number of flagship smartphones are using the 1 inch Sony sensor and Dxo Mark have rated the Oppo X6 Pro as having the best camera ever seen on a smartphone.
https://www.dxomark.com/oppo-find-x6-pro-camera-te...

Looking at the list all the phones using this sensor score very highly. The only downside I can see so far is the camera setup on these phones is enormous!

Is this going to become a must have feature on the very best smartphones?

[wyson]

Not sure many people will care. I find image quality more than good enough on stuff like Pixel phones to consume on other phones and electronic devices. I put away my DSLR years ago.

[Pixelpeep Electric]

Very impressive but i bet battery takes a spanking, both pre and post image taking.

What kind of file size will this create?!

Wide: 50MP, f/1.8
Ultra-Wide: 50MP, f/2.2
Tele: 50MP, f/2.6

wow.

[Turtle Shed]

I find it astonishing that a lens that small can produce an image to cover a 1" sensor.

As to existing image quality on phones, it is excellent most of the time, but a bigger sensor will see improved low light/noise performance I guess.

[RichFN2]

Pixelpeep Electric said:

Very impressive but i bet battery takes a spanking, both pre and post image taking.

What kind of file size will this create?!

Wide: 50MP, f/1.8
Ultra-Wide: 50MP, f/2.2
Tele: 50MP, f/2.6

wow.

Good question, I couldn't find an answer on Google but it's the same sensor as the Sony RX100 series.

If shooting in raw you should expect a field size of roughly 23MB, and the highest quality jpeg around 13MB.

Reviews seem to suggest you should get over a day from the battery on this with normal use.

[bcr5784]

wyson said:

Not sure many people will care. I find image quality more than good enough on stuff like Pixel phones to consume on other phones and electronic devices. I put away my DSLR years ago.

I think you are probably right - most people don't do anything "serious" with their pictures. If you just show them on your phone or send them to instagram or facebook they are perfectly fine. If, on the other hand, you do slide/video shows on 4k TVs and such then there is a lot more you can do both when taking the photo and post processing with a "proper" camera. I say that as an owner of a Pixel 6a - and I do agree they produce better pictures than I would have once believed - and I use some of them in my shows.

[egomeister]

Pixelpeep Electric said:

Very impressive but i bet battery takes a spanking, both pre and post image taking.

What kind of file size will this create?!

Wide: 50MP, f/1.8
Ultra-Wide: 50MP, f/2.2
Tele: 50MP, f/2.6

wow.

When running in 200MP mode my Samsung produces jpegs of around 30mb

[deckster]

wyson said:

Not sure many people will care. I find image quality more than good enough on stuff like Pixel phones to consume on other phones and electronic devices. I put away my DSLR years ago.

There might eventually be a computer in every town, and 640KB is enough for anybody, right?

Technology marches on whether you think it's worthwhile or not. And photography is one of the primary uses of smart devices these days.

[bcr5784]

I have to say a 50mp sensor - even on a 1" sensor is just about marketing, not a sensible choice of sensor size. Very few "proper" professional cameras, even ones with much larger sensors have 50MP. The most I know of on a camera with a 1" sensor is 20MP - and that is a Sony sensor.

[Raccaccoonie]

I think AI is the future, millions of calculations that enhance the image in less than a second. My Poco F3 make photos look brilliant. Add in cloud computing and bam you have another would.

[Hammersia]

bcr5784 said:

I have to say a 50mp sensor - even on a 1" sensor is just about marketing, not a sensible choice of sensor size. Very few "proper" professional cameras, even ones with much larger sensors have 50MP. The most I know of on a camera with a 1" sensor is 20MP - and that is a Sony sensor.

I believe the benefit of a large sensor is for digital zoom purposes.

[Tycho]

Hammersia said:

bcr5784 said:

I have to say a 50mp sensor - even on a 1" sensor is just about marketing, not a sensible choice of sensor size. Very few "proper" professional cameras, even ones with much larger sensors have 50MP. The most I know of on a camera with a 1" sensor is 20MP - and that is a Sony sensor.

I believe the benefit of a large sensor is for digital zoom purposes.

I had an S20 Ultra with a 108MP camera and when lighting was good you could crop in on a photo quite a lot before loosing too much quality. I do think that computational photography has a big impact when most people only use phone cameras for social media. I guess there is still an expectation as well, would you be happy if a photographer came to do your wedding with a point and shoot or a phone even if they have 1in sensors? I suspect there would be a lot of complaints even if the quality was the same.

[bcr5784]

There comes a point (and I think we are already there) when the fundamental limitations of a phone compared with a camera make further upgrades to phone cameras pointless.The lack of an viewfinder and the dreadfully clumsy user interface for serious photography mean that people who are serious about their photography will always want a "proper" camera (even if they take photos on their phone regularly as I do).

Edited by bcr5784 on Thursday 13th April 15:31

[Tycho]

I'm surprised that Sony didn't continue with their clip on lens for phones. It was quite a small add on but allowed a good lens and sensor to be used with a phone. They could get great results with the current computational algorithms and a decent lens/sensor to work on.

[RichFN2]

I know that there has been some sort of processing on some of these photos, but still a glimpse into what these are capable of capturing.

I know DSLR will always be better for obvious reasons, but for a camera phone they do seem impressive.
https://twitter.com/MHD4tech/status/16458773026123...

https://twitter.com/DeemiMughal/status/16429439724...