Sony Xperia 1 III and Sony Xperia 5 III officially announced

(Image credit: Sony)

Sony has recently announced the new Sony Xperia 1 III and Sony Xperia 5 III, two camera phones that both include the worlds first variable smartphone telephoto lens with a Dual PD sensor. The latest Xperia 1 and Xperia 5 flagships introduce some exciting new features, including an updated Photography Pro feature and a 4K HDR 120Hz display.

Both the Sony Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III were co-developed with the engineers behind the best Sony cameras. This means that these camera phones were designed to include fast and accurate continuous autofocus across all of the lenses, plus Real-time Eye AF as well.

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The Sony Xperia 5 III will feature object tracking technology, which will is designed to enable photographers to capture moving subjects. Meanwhile, the Xperia 1 III will have an even more sophisticated AF system, with the object tracking upgraded with Real-time Tracking. With AI-based algorithms and a 3D iToF sensor to measure distance, the Xperia 1 III should be able to track a moving subject even if it temporarily moves out of sight.

One of the most exciting features for both the Sony Xperia 1 III and the Sony Xperia 5 III is a variable telephoto lens paired with a Dual PD sensor that reaches up to a 105mm focal length. This means that photographers will be able to choose from 16mm, 24mm, 70mm and 105mm focal lengths, with each lens featuring ZEISS optics calibrated specifically for the Xperia smartphone.

If you love capturing videos on your camera phone, then the Sony Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III are designed to make the experience even better. Featuring Cinematography Pro, both handsets are capable of shooting 4K HDR 120fps slow-motion movie recording, which can capture and playback up to 5x slow-motion when set to 24fps.

These new Xperia handsets aren't just designed to make capturing photos and videos as easy as possible – viewing content should be even more immersive now. The Xperia 1 III features a 6.5" 21:9 CinemaWide 4K HDR OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, while the Xperia 5 III features a similar screen at the slightly smaller size of 6.1".

The Sony Xperia 1 III will be available in Frosted Black and Frosted Purple, shipping with Android 11 from early summer 2021. Meanwhile, the Sony Xperia 5 III will be available in Black and Green, also shipping with Android 11 in early summer 2021. You can find out more about the Sony Xperia 1 III and the Sony Xperia 5 III on the Sony website.

With over a decade of photographic experience, Louise arms Digital Camera World with a wealth of knowledge on photographic technique and know-how – something at which she is so adept that she's delivered workshops for the likes of ITV and Sue Ryder. Louise also brings years of experience as both a web and print journalist, having served as features editor for Practical Photography magazine and contributing photography tutorials and camera analysis to titles including Digital Camera Magazine and Digital Photographer. Louise currently shoots with the Fujifilm X-T200 and the Nikon D800, capturing self-portraits and still life images, and is DCW's ecommerce editor, meaning that she knows good camera, lens and laptop deals when she sees them.

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