Sony: Smartphones to outperform DSLR cameras as of 2024

Sony assumes that smartphone cameras could replace real DSLRs in terms of image quality in about two years already. The company made this known in a briefing.

Smartphone cameras on the rise

Smartphone cameras have been getting better and better in recent years. In terms of image quality, the handy devices can already come very close to real DSLRs in many respects. However, Shimizu Terushi, CEO of Sony’s semiconductor division, believes that the changing of the guard could happen as early as 2024.

He shared this in a briefing, as Techradar reports. But that’s not all. In a presentation, Sony presents its vision of the evolution of mobile imaging technology. The assumption here is that smartphone cameras could soon replace all cameras with interchangeable lenses, so-called Interchangeable Lens Cameras (ILCs).

In other words, not just classic single-lens reflex cameras (DSLRs). So will professionals only be taking photos with their smartphones in around two years’ time? In addition to photo quality, the quality of recorded videos should also improve significantly. According to Terushi, sensors in smartphones are getting bigger and bigger. By 2030, 1-inch sensors should mark the standard.

Algorithms and new image processing chips are expected to further increase image quality, at least in flagship smartphones of the upper class. While smaller sensors with better algorithms are more likely to be used in the mid-range.

A long way

A 1-inch Exmor-RS sensor is already used in the flagship Sony Xperia Pro-I, which, like most of the Japanese manufacturer’s current smartphones, focuses primarily on photo and video quality. The device, which costs around 1,629 Euros, actually also offers a very good camera, but it weakens especially in zoom. The large sensor naturally delivers advantages in low-light conditions.

The recently introduced Sony Xperia 1 IV also puts emphasis on its camera system and even offers a real optical telephoto zoom lens with a focal length range of 85-125 mm for the first time. However, the cameras of both Sony smartphones cannot quite keep up with the absolute camera flagships.

On the other hand, Sony acts as one of the largest suppliers of image sensors for smartphones and, after all, does not explicitly talk about its own devices in the briefing. Sony supplies manufacturers like Apple or Honor, in whose 70 series the brand new Sony IMX800 sensor in 1/1.49 inch format does its job. Whether smartphones can really replace real high-end cameras in two years remains to be seen. In any case, they are already superior to many inexpensive compact cameras.