Sony’s Xperia 1 IV is a pricey proof of concept

One thing that traditional cameras do better than phones is zoom. The new Sony Xperia 1 IV has a continuous optical zoom lens. It is a technical achievement, but at this stage it is more proof of concept than a game-changer.

It is a steeply priced concept. You will find a lot of premium specifications on the device, starting with a 6.5-inch 4K display with a 120Hz refresh rate. There is also a 5000mAh battery, a 12GB of RAM, and a headphone jack. The most expensive variant of the iPhone 13 Pro Max and the most expensive variant of the S22 Ultra both give you at least 1TB of storage for that kind of money.

The continuous optical zoom lens is not offered by either of the two companies. Digital cameras allow you to pinch and zoom, but not optical zoom. At least right now, optical zoom produces better results than digital since it uses moving lens to enlarge your subject. Digital zoom is usually just cropping in on a wider image and using artificial intelligence to try and recreate detail it wasn't able to capture.

The 3x lens on the iPhone 13 Pro or the 10x lens on the S22 Ultra are similar to the film-era terms familiar to photographers. They are fixed and don't allow you to move between focal lengths. The focal length of the lens is different because it allows you to set it at 85mm, 125mm, or anywhere in between.

Fixed lens phones are smaller and less expensive. Shrinking the moving parts of a zoom lens is a technical challenge that few OEMs are up for. Last year, Oppo showed off a continuous optical zoom concept. Sony's prototype of the Xperia 1 IV won't ship to consumers until September, so Oppo could still beat them. The only real proof of a true zoom is the Xperia 1 IV.

It is a huge achievement, but it is also a letdown.

It is a very small zoom range, just 3.5 to 5x, relative to the standard 24mm wide angle. Sony says that the focal lengths are useful for that purpose, and that they were chosen because they are traditionally used for portraits. I don't know how valuable the space is between them.

Before we get too far into the zoom lens, here is a quick rundown on all three rear cameras.

• 16mm F2.2 ultrawide: 12-megapixel 1/2.5-inch sensor
• 24mm F1.7 standard wide: 12-megapixel 1/1.7-inch sensor with OIS
• 85-125mm F2.3-2.8 telephoto zoom: 12-megapixel 1/3.5-inch sensor with OIS

Sony's face and eye detection run on each of the three rear camera sensors. It works perfectly on all of the rear cameras, and it's almost spooky how good it is at finding your subject's eye and sticking with it. There is also a 12-megapixel front-facing sensor that supports 4K video.

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I was amazed that I was able to take photos with a phone. I was able to demo a unit that was inconsistent and sometimes made poor judgements on white balance and lighting. Sony's senior product information manager El-Deane Naude says he doesn't expect a lot to change between now and the device's release later this year.

There is a real zoom lens on this phone, and it works well. It's a little bit soft but good for the small image sizes used on social media. The small zoom range doesn't make much of a difference for distant subjects, but up close for portrait subjects it provides some added flexibility.

In good lighting, the Xperia 1 IV is smart about choosing a balanced exposure with vibrant colors that don't look saturated.

It is unsurprising that it gets into trouble in mixed or dim indoor lighting. There are some white balance misses and an effect that turns the white ice in a fresh fish display gray. Some of my shots with the zoom lens look a little overexposed and softer than they should be. Sony acknowledges a problem specific to the prototype unit with the 5.1x zoom, which I can see clearly in my device, but these exposure and quality issues are seen at other focal lengths.

There is no excuse for the fact that the Xperia 1 IV uses small sensors and small optics compared to a traditional camera. Sharp photos of moving subjects in dim light are a challenge, as they are for all smartphones, and don't expect to get much subject separation even at the long end of the telezoom.

The Sony Xperia 1 IV offers a lot of manual control for video recording, which is more than an enthusiast still photographer like me can hope to understand and use properly. This is housed in the Cinema Pro app. Thankfully, there is a more simplified video recording app available this year. It's also a livestreaming app. I haven't used it a lot, but I find it more familiar than Cinema Pro.

The price of the Xperia 1 IV is the main concern for me. An excellent portrait mode, a standard wide, ultrawide, and a 3x telephoto are offered by the S22 Ultra. I would rather have the long reach of the 10x lens and the portrait-friendly 3x lens with digital zoom in between, rather than two portrait lens connected by optical zoom.

The Xperia 1 IV is rated for robust protection against dust and water, but it's not clear how tolerant the zoom will be to everyday bumps and wear and tear. I will update this article if Sony responds to my question. It seems like moving optics can be moved out of alignment more easily than fixed lens. I would want to know how careful I should be with this phone.

Sony put a good zoom in a phone. That is an impressive feat. It is less impressive in practical use. Portrait photography is served by two lenses that are essentially the same. The optical zoom connecting them doesn't make them more versatile. Maybe the next iteration will have a longer zoom range. This concept is still under development.

Allison Johnson is a photographer.