GEAR SONY XPERIA PRO
ULTIMATE PHONE FOR FILMMAKERS with a low dielectric constant, offering less interference when
From the moment you pick up Sony’s Xperia Pro smartphone, it’s obvious it has been designed for professional image makers. Instead of a super-smooth, glass-like body – or aluminium of the latest iPhone devices – it mimics the look and feel of a Sony Alpha camera. It has a rugged, lightly textured polycarbon body, with Corning Gorilla Glass 6 protection on the front to resist scratches and damage. This body is not just for looks, but is made frommaterial
“This body is not just for looks, but ismade frommaterial with a lowdielectric constant, offering less interference when broadcasting over 5G”
broadcasting over 5G. The phone is also completely dust-proof, able to withstand rain and short periods of complete immersion in water – it’s not an underwater camera, though. And it has a real headphone socket. The real benefit is that it can connect to a Sony camera – or any other mirrorless camera – with a Micro-HDMI cable, and click on the External Monitor app. This makes it a fantastically light and
compact monitor you can mount on top of the hotshoe using any one of the commercially available phone mounts, and it will last for hours due to the battery technology. It feels so much more in-tune with compact mirrorless cameras than
CRYSTAL CLEAR Accuracy and clarity are Sony watchwords
a typical monitor, which usually has a pair of large NP-F batteries to power it. These sorts of monitors are significantly brighter, though. The image on the 6.5in 4K HDR OLED screen is a 21:9 CinemaWide ratio view at 24, 30 or 60fps, offering sharper colour, and a larger image to view, than the rear screen. This makes it more accurate for composition and checking focus. With a BT.2020 HDR colour space, DCI-P3 100% colour gamut, and calibrated D65 white point, it is more accurate for colours than the camera screen – which has options for grid lines and other controls, but sadly no waveformmonitoring. As the phone has a 5G cellular connection and easy set-up with streaming services built in, live streaming is instant. So, for YouTube Live, Facebook Live, Instagram Live, Twitch and Periscope, you can broadcast in seconds. Currently, some services accept the feed direct from their own app, but others need to go via a recognised Android app, like Streamlabs. To make sure everything works when about to go live, a Network Visualizer app tests signal strength. The Xperia Pro uses a 360° antenna,
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PRO MOVIEMAKER
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