Smartphone Cameras Will Be Superior to SLRs by 2024, Says Sony CEO

[Doormat]

Personally I can’t wait to dump the bag of expensive gear in favour of a high performance phone, something that is by my side 24/7.
I now realise I was a fool to invest in mirrorless- should’ve listened to friends who simply made do with their phones. In all but the most extreme cases the phones are hands down better.
I’ll be selling up and buying the latest iPhone, then with the crazy amounts of money left over will travel.
Mirrorless was the most stupid thing I ever did. Should have stayed with DSLR’s and simply bought a better phone.

 

[EricN]

Is it just me or it says SLRs, not DSLRs or MILC?

 

[Czardoom]

I agree with the Sony CEO. Smartphones will almost certainly be better than Sony cameras.

 

[neuroanatomist]

I agree with the Sony CEO. Smartphones will almost certainly be better than Sony cameras.

And the smartphones will most likely have a Sony sensor in them, so still a win for Sony.

 

[scyrene]

I"M BAAAACK !!!!! --- Wasn't I correct though? --

tl;dr - no

 

[scyrene]

Two things - of course the boss of a company supplying sensors for phones would say this. Second, you can't reduce image quality to a single measurement so it's utterly meaningless.

(I use my phone fot most casual/city/landscape/night images, but it's unlikely ever to be useful for birds - and they still haven't developed an adequate macro mode).

 

[EricN]

Two things - of course the boss of a company supplying sensors for phones would say this. Second, you can't reduce image quality to a single measurement so it's utterly meaningless.

(I use my phone fot most casual/city/landscape/night images, but it's unlikely ever to be useful for birds - and they still haven't developed an adequate macro mode).

Phones' low light exposure are getting better, but not anywhere close to a wide lens on a dedicated camera. I doubt that even with better software it can be physically possible to match.

 

[neuroanatomist]

Phones' low light exposure are getting better, but not anywhere close to a wide lens on a dedicated camera. I doubt that even with better software it can be physically possible to match.

Depends on whether or not your subject is moving. With a static subject, the multiple exposure combination mode does an excellent job in low light. Here’s one from an iPhone 14 Pro taken on a narrow street in Venice.

 

[EricN]

Depends on whether or not your subject is moving. With a static subject, the multiple exposure combination mode does an excellent job in low light. Here’s one from an iPhone 14 Pro taken on a narrow street in Venice.

View attachment 211517

It looks better than the results I've gotten from S 22 Ultra, but I think I haven't used it in situations with that level of light (my attemps were a bit darker). I'll try again tonight and see what it can do vs R5 at similar focal lengths...

 

[scyrene]

Low light is complicated. Fwiw my experience is, for the very lowest illumination a big sensor/wide aperture is still superior, but handholding for long exposures is less practical; for somewhat less low light, especially mixed night lighting on streets/in bars etc a phone does better. I can get 10 sec equivalent handheld on the phone but absolutely not with a camera (but the former is not a true long exposure of course).

 

[EricN]

I tried Samsung S22 Ultra vs Canon R5. with a print approximately one meter away in medium low light. The Samsung was soft but no noise while the Canon was very sharp and some noise. This was the case for all focal lengths of the Samsung and the canon approximating with RF16mm f/2.8, RF28-70 f/2.0L and EF 100 f2.8L. The Samsung does what it does automatically in regards to exposure and color balance. I go manual, do not use any color balance and tend to underexpose. To attempt to make the comparisons, I made adjustments in photoshop to match the Samsung's images. It's possible this would have given some advantage to the Samsung in terms of noise. I have to note that in Canon's favor, we can use 400mm f/2.8L IS and expect similar results (sorry, I don't have one), while the Samsung's longest lens is incapable of night mode.

 

[HarryFilm]

On Tuesday, September 12, 2023, Apple will be introducing their 48 megapixel iPhone Max/Pro series of super-smartphones that pretty much have everything but the kitchen sink in them photography-wise! Wide angle and telephoto lenses, near-nightvision modes, high-end computational photography algorithms baked right in plus a high-end BEAUTIFULLY-rendered display all within a small form factor that pretty much BRINGS THE BARE TRUTH to Sony CEO's comments that smartphones ABSOLUTELY WILL eventually take over digital photography!

This year 2023 is the first year where the low-end to mid-range ILC/SLR-style cameras lose ground to smartphones! The quality and portability is now that it is a non-sequitur that Canon, Sony, Fuji, Panasonic, Sigma and others MUST begin to rotate their current business models within amateur and professional imaging to take into account that EVEN THE PROS will start using smartphones for high-end imaging! Right now ,Apple is BEST SUITED to take advantage of this role as it has an upcoming cheaper version of its current AR/VR headset that can be mated to its own supersmartphones that will provide a POWERHOUSE of pro-level imaging power at a price point that will start the process of killing anything within the sub-$3000 USD arena of SLR/ILC-style cameras!

Who next will pivot over to the supersmartphone territory? Obviously Samsung has its S-series smartphones and Sony has its xPeria series smartphones which is making a BIG comeback in global sales! WHAT WILL CANON DO? The current rumour mill has Canon adopting a super-thick smartphone disguised as an interchangeable lens camera that kind of looks like the old M-series BUT with a snazzier touchscreen, Android OS and a fixed set of wide-angle and telephoto smartphone-style lenses. What do I expect sensorwise? I have heard the upcoming Canon Smartphone could be as thick as 15mm which means it will LIKELY have an APS-C sensor, but by using out-of-patent Sony HyperHAD micro-lens technology it will SOLVE the focal plane issue AND will be able to ensure the phone looks and feels like a smartphone but TAKES PHOTOS and VIDEOS as good as as say a Canon 6D-series camera! THAT would likely WIN a lot of Canon customers over!

Just like in the world of personal finance, I am seeing a further STRATIFICATION of imaging technologies dividing itself into ONLY two camps: a) Smartphone based stills/video imaging that is less than $2000. b) High end DSLR camera that have APS-H and larger (70 mm) sensors with higher pixel counts into the 200 to even 400 megapixel plus range!

It will be a Poor vs Rich divide of camera imaging power where your camera is either a sub-$2000 smartphone or a $10,000+ 70mm 400 megapixel monster!

Will it affect the general consumer and professional camera photosphere? YES! As another poster on CanonRumors has said: "The best way to make money from photography is to SELL your gear!" If you are a Pro, you either go fully high-end with large-sensor cameras or embrace the coming Super-smartphone plus AR/VR glasses imaging future!

If you are the average consuemr/prosumer, you can DEFINITELY get by with the new iPhone Pro/Max series or Samsung, Fuji, Canon, Sony smartphone equivalent and just buy a stabilizer, a decent smartphone-sized tripod and a good laptop. They will probably MATCH and even EXCEED your current Sony A-series or Canon 5D/6D/7D series cameras in overall image quality IF you have good composition, some decent lighting and some good Lightroom/Photoshop skills!

Again, WHAT IS CANON DOING WITHIN THE NEXT TWO YEARS? How much will Apple EAT into Canon, Sony and other imaging companies' revenue streams? Is there a DARKHORSE COMPANY that can BEAT Apple at its own game and come out with an SLR/Smartphone hybrid that has ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING but at a price point that BEATS Apple?

What do YOU THINK?

V

 

[Michael Clark]

It would be nice if camera manufacturers were willing to augment the capabilities of their ILC lines with the same technical and AI related features that allow the smartphones to "catch up".

A bigger lens and sensor will always create a better image in terms of objectively measurable properties. So if you have techniques at hand that further improve a these, just allow the improvements to be applied to the superior lens and sensor combination before comparing it against a lesser one. That way, the superior hardware should retain its superiority.

I'm sure the phrasing here is just marketing terminology and the guys at Sony know that Software and techniques can take you only so far. So the real point being made here is likely just that for an ever increasing amount of use cases, a smartphone will be a tool yielding results that are "close enough" to that of an ILC and once more than just the result is evaluated, the full package may indeed be better on a smartphone.

Then again, maybe the statement is meant to be taken at face value. It talks about single lens reflex cameras and as those are likely receiving little to no further development in the future, it may actually be possible for smartphones to compare with old technology at some point.

Notice the original statement was not about ILCs, it was about SLRs...

Presumably the assumption is that no newer SLRs with improved computational photography capabilities will be forthcoming since almost all R&D for ILCs is now for MILCs, not SLRs.

 

[EricN]

Notice the original statement was not about ILCs, it was about SLRs...

Presumably the assumption is that no newer SLRs with improved computational photography capabilities will be forthcoming since almost all R&D for ILCs is now for MILCs, not SLRs.

I think that was the important thing about it. I was actually surprised it was "SLRs" and not "DSLRs." It seemed almost like saying "electric cars will be superior to horses." I think you can never be completely objective about either. No mater how far and fast or comfortable the car is, people who have horse will always have something special and phones will never replicate the sensations of working with film. They can replicate bokeh, but I don't know if it's the same as a wide aperture on full frame.

 

[Michael Clark]

I think that was the important thing about it. I was actually surprised it was "SLRs" and not "DSLRs." It seemed almost like saying "electric cars will be superior to horses." I think you can never be completely objective about either. No mater how far and fast or comfortable the car is, people who have horse will always have something special and phones will never replicate the sensations of working with film. They can replicate bokeh, but I don't know if it's the same as a wide aperture on full frame.

I doubt the intent was film SLRs. All DSLRs are also SLRs. There are plenty of DSLRs on the market. I know of no 135 format film SLRs currently on the market.

 

[EricN]

I doubt the intent was film SLRs. All DSLRs are also SLRs. There are plenty of DSLRs on the market. I know of no 135 format film SLRs currently on the market.

Right, I wasn't sure if there was an intentional distinction there or not. As far as I know, film cameras in production are either point and shoots or Leica rangefinders.

 

[3kramd5]

Depends on whether or not your subject is moving. With a static subject, the multiple exposure combination mode does an excellent job in low light. Here’s one from an iPhone 14 Pro taken on a narrow street in Venice.

I'd say it does a good job when you view it on a phone. When you view it on a higher resolution and larger device, or print it, you're enlarging all the noise reduction artifacts and it gets very waxy.

Never will I understand why some enterprising company doesn't put smartphone-like computational photography into a purpose-built camera, especially now that most have embraced mirror-less bodies.

 

[koenkooi]

I'd say it does a good job when you view it on a phone. When you view it on a higher resolution and larger device, or print it, you're enlarging all the noise reduction artifacts and it gets very waxy.

Never will I understand why some enterprising company doesn't put smartphone-like computational photography into a purpose-built camera, especially now that most have embraced mirror-less bodies.

Didn't Leica ship a camera that ran Lightroom natively?

 

[cooldood]

Like this?
View attachment 204025

It's facing the wrong way. You will only get a selfie of the inside of your nose. maybe even your brain. LOL

 

[cooldood]

I'd say it does a good job when you view it on a phone. When you view it on a higher resolution and larger device, or print it, you're enlarging all the noise reduction artifacts and it gets very waxy.

Never will I understand why some enterprising company doesn't put smartphone-like computational photography into a purpose-built camera, especially now that most have embraced mirror-less bodies.

I keep saying this as well. and the wifi may actually work!!!!