Smartphones will beat DSLR cameras within two years — Sony

Smartphone cameras will offer better image quality than professional DSLR and mirrorless cameras by 2024.

That is the view of Sony Semiconductor Solutions president and CEO Terushi Shimizu, as reported by Nikkei Japan.

Speaking at a business briefing on 27 May, Shimizu said they would achieve the feat through a combination of larger apertures and quantum saturation technology in image sensors.

Sony manufactures many of the world’s leading camera image sensors, including those in its own acclaimed mirrorless cameras.

Many of its sensors have also featured in flagship smartphones from Apple, Google, Huawei, and Samsung, among other major manufacturers.

According to Statista, the company had captured about 45% of the global image sensor market in 2021.

Sony expects the image sensor size in high-end smartphones will double by 2024.

That will allow for larger pixels on the sensor, giving phone makers the ability to offer multi-frame processing that improves Super HDR modes.

It will also enable powerful zoom capabilities using folded optics and AI algorithms.

That will address one of the major areas where smartphones are still behind professional cameras.

Professional wildlife, news, and sports photographers often rely on interchangeable lenses that allow them to zoom in from afar.

On flagship smartphones, users are left with digital zoom, which significantly reduces image quality as the picture is magnified.

Sony recently debuted its first smartphone with folded optics — the Xperia 1 IV — which boasts a telephoto lens with true optical zoom.

The lens can physically move forward and backwards between 85 and 125mm, or 3.5 times to 5.2 times magnification.

Now read: Samsung’s next foldable smartphone specs leaked