Cell phones keep getting better: Sony boss announces the death of the DSLR camera

The boss of Sony’s semiconductor business is certain that SLR cameras will be overtaken by mobile phones in the next few years. Smartphone photos would soon provide better image quality, he says. Artificial intelligence plays an important role in this.

Sony: Cell phones will soon be better than DSLR cameras

There have been similar forecasts for years, but so far no smartphone manufacturer has wanted to commit to a specific date. That the Quality of cell phone photos and videos has risen sharply should be beyond question. However, DSLR cameras are still superior to them when it comes to the professional sector. But that should change, says Terushi Shimizu, who works as CEO at Sony’s semiconductor division.

During a presentation, Shimizu made some interesting predictions on the subject. He assumes that smartphones “will surpass the image quality of SLR cameras in the next few years” (Source: Nikkei).

Elsewhere he gets even more specific, naming a specific year. Mobile phone photos should already look better by 2024 than those created by interchangeable lens cameras (ILCs). Those are two slightly different claims, especially since ILCs also include today’s mirrorless cameras as well as older DSLR tech.

How did smartphone cameras actually get so good?

Sony: AI and “quantum saturation” for better photos

Sony expects the size of camera sensors in flagship cellphones to increase by 2024 doubled compared to today. Multi-frame processing should then be possible, which together with Super HDR modes and zooms leads to a “new imaging experience”.

In addition, SLR cameras with artificial intelligence in smartphones, although Sony does not give any real details here. This also applies to the somewhat vague “quantum saturation” that Sony wants to implement.