Xperia Z5/Z5 Compact's image stabilization is INSANE

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luv2liv

luv2liv

Diamond Member
Dec 27, 2001
3,499
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Pretty good! This is one reason I'm switching from canon to Sony dslr.
 
zerogear

zerogear

Diamond Member
Jun 4, 2000
5,611
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Yeah. I think Sony hit it out of the park with the Z5 series. I'm going to return my Moto PE for the Z5
 
lopri

lopri

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2002
13,236
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It is indeed insane. Does that even make sense? How does the camera determine what a user intends to capture?
 
A

antihelten

Golden Member
Feb 2, 2012
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lopri said:
It is indeed insane. Does that even make sense? How does the camera determine what a user intends to capture?
Click to expand...

It doesn't, but you have to remember that 1080P is only about 2M pixels, whereas the sensor on the Z5's is 23MP.

Normally video is just captured with the central 2M pixels of the sensor, but this would entail that there is a "buffer zone" of roughly 2000 pixels on all sides. Thus if the software simply shifts around the zone from which the video is captured, then that would serve as image stabilisation.

With 4K video this would obviously be somewhat less effective, since the buffer zone is smaller.

This technique is also known as electronic image stabilisation.

Of course this may very well be just on out of a bunch of tricks that Sony utilizes.
 
Aristotelian

Aristotelian

Golden Member
Jan 30, 2010
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That looks very interesting - I haven't had a chance to play with one yet but am definitely looking forward to it. I use a Z3 and the image stabilization there is already impressive to me - very smooth movements when I move the phone (recording video).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbBfyDq78rA That was a comparison between the iPhone 6 and Z3 - I think cell phone cameras can still improve a lot, and the video in the first post of this thread is really impressive in terms of stability.
 
S

Strk

Lifer
Nov 23, 2003
10,197
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What are the chances of being able to get any of these here though? Sony shutting down its online store in the US really makes it seem impossible.
 
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antihelten

Golden Member
Feb 2, 2012
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Aristotelian said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbBfyDq78rA That was a comparison between the iPhone 6 and Z3 - I think cell phone cameras can still improve a lot, and the video in the first post of this thread is really impressive in terms of stability.
Click to expand...

And just for reference, here's the improvement from Z3 to Z5:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwZWrsyUAok

One of the issues the Z3 has (when compared to the IPhone 6), is the slightly wonky focus blur, however as can be seen from this video, it is completely gone with the Z5.
 
Trader05

Trader05

Diamond Member
Mar 1, 2000
5,095
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The camera seems real impressive...also top choice on dxomark. Hmm 6P or a regular Z5. Choices!
 
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darkswordsman17

Lifer
Mar 11, 2004
23,290
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That is impressive. I'm really happy about the extra emphasis on cameras recently. I'm fighting the urge to upgrade as the camera is really the main issue I have with my phone (especially after getting one of those huge ZeroLemon batteries and a 128GB sd card) from a hardware standpoint. I figure my money would be better spent on getting a good Wi-Fi controllable mirrorless and lens or something.
 
WelshBloke

WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
31,488
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I'd be interested in seeing how it handles a slow hand held pan with no fixed points in the frame.
 
notposting

notposting

Diamond Member
Jul 22, 2005
3,491
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Not seeing the insanity - OIS has been out for at least a decade that I remember in affordable p&s cams, let alone smartphones where it has been for a few years as well.

Nice but nothing earth shaking like the difference between no stabilizing/stabilizing. Incremental improvement I guess? Something in the videos to look for?

(Also, dat road. Come drive in Michigan to really test the stabilization. And suspension. ;) )
 
Imported

Imported

Lifer
Sep 2, 2000
14,679
23
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Strk said:
What are the chances of being able to get any of these here though? Sony shutting down its online store in the US really makes it seem impossible.
Click to expand...

They shut down the online store for the US? WTF.. They closed the retail store nearby.
 
notposting

notposting

Diamond Member
Jul 22, 2005
3,491
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DLeRium said:
Is this OIS or DIS? I honestly don't care about video stabilization much. I care far more about its benefits for photography.
Click to expand...

My experience with the two is mixed.

DIS is *okay* for video, and a stabilized video is worlds better than not. We have kids so little videos are nice but if they were the usual "unstabilized camera being carried by a squirrel on meth" look, they would be completely unwatchable.

However, OIS is huge for low light (or very low light) when a DIS (or no stabilizing) has nothing to work with.
 
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antihelten

Golden Member
Feb 2, 2012
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DLeRium said:
Is this OIS or DIS? I honestly don't care about video stabilization much. I care far more about its benefits for photography.
Click to expand...

Both apparently. GSMarena reports that Sony uses a movable lens setup for the Z5 lineup, which would count as OIS:

It uses the gyro sensor and a pair of magnets to control the position of the lens
Click to expand...

This is then combined with the aforementioned DIS to produce the end result.

notposting said:
My experience with the two is mixed.

DIS is *okay* for video, and a stabilized video is worlds better than not. We have kids so little videos are nice but if they were the usual "unstabilized camera being carried by a squirrel on meth" look, they would be completely unwatchable.

However, OIS is huge for low light (or very low light) when a DIS (or no stabilizing) has nothing to work with.
Click to expand...

OIS and DIS are different solutions for different problems imho.

DIS is more than just *okay* for video imho. At the very least it is significantly better than OIS (at least as far as smartphone cameras go).

On the flipside DIS does nothing for low light still photography* as you mention, and this is where OIS shines.

*I imagine that you might actually be able to use DIS for low light photography, but it would entail combining it with some sort of digital binning and smart cropping.
 
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paperwastage

Golden Member
May 25, 2010
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Ois won't/shouldn't reduce wide angle(physical characteristics of the lens+sensor)

Dis could/would reduce wide angle
 
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antihelten

Golden Member
Feb 2, 2012
1,764
274
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paperwastage said:
Ois won't/shouldn't reduce wide angle(physical characteristics of the lens+sensor)

Dis could/would reduce wide angle
Click to expand...

As long as your only filming at 1080P (which I would assume most people would do, 4K just seems a bit wasteful for the average user), I don't think it will be a huge issue. Reason being that a 1080P frame only takes up about 8% of the sensors area, and as such you have quite a lot of space to play around with when using DIS before you start hitting the edges of the frame where you might run into issues with distortions from the lens.

Either way it shouldn't really matter in this case, seeing as the Z5 has a movable lens (OIS) as well as DIS.
 
Qbah

Qbah

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 2005
3,754
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Got a black Z5 Compact yesterday. Coming from my One M8, it's a huge usability improvement (love the size!). I didn't play with the camera yet. Screen has great colors and is sharp. Speakers produce great sound. I've been told I sound a lot better on the conferences, so mic must be better too... The fingerprint scanner works like 50% of the time maybe? I have to take the finger away after pressing power and put it again and then it reads first time. Maybe I didn't calibrate it properly, will try to do it again in the evening.

Love going back to one handed use and great grip :) And the minimalistic look is really good! Plus the battery on that thing is pretty epic looking at reviews (need to see on my first full charge - I've been using the phone the entire day today, but started at 40-ish battery in the morning... the M8 would be dead by noon :awe:). The M8 was too big for me and the battery on it started to give in... After just over a year. I don't think I will go away from Sony anymore. I gave HTC two chances (M7 and M8) and while those phones have been OK, the camera on the M7 went pink, the phone was getting super hot and the battery was bad. The camera on the M8 was not so good (especially when my hand was shaking), the battery was OK for many months. But now it's bad, the phone is slow (keyboard lags, scrolling lags, CPU seems to get usage spikes from something...). So I'm done with HTC :)
 
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