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The Sony Xperia Z2's impressive camera tests

The Sony Xperia Z2 has a great 20.7-megapixel camera. We took it for a spin to see what it's capable of.

Andrew Lanxon
Andrew is CNET's go-to guy for product coverage and lead photographer for Europe. When not testing the latest phones, he can normally be found with his camera in hand, behind his drums or eating his stash of home-cooked food. Sometimes all at once.
Andrew Lanxon
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The Sony Xperia Z2 has a great display, loads of power and a gorgeous, waterproof body. Its 20.7-megapixel camera put in a great performance too. Click through to see our test photos.

This first shot was taken at the maximum resolution. It's well exposed and the rich blue sky looks great.

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Again, there's plenty of colour and detail in the shadows, but a surprising lack of clarity at full screen.

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Looking out over Ealing, the HDR mode on the Z2 kept the bright sky under control but still maintained detail in the darker patches.

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These flowers have been captured beautifully.

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And so does this little white one.

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This flowerbed is well exposed but the colours are rather cold.

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A tweak of the white balance warms things up a bit.

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Like the flowerbed, shooting in full auto mode has made this pine cold look rather drab and lifeless.

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A custom white balance setting helps inject a bit of colour.

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It's the same story with this tree stump. There's loads of detail in the wood bark, but the colours don't look brilliant in automatic mode.

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It's warmer now, but it has made it look a little unnatural.

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Great exposure, good colours, loads of detail. What's not to like?

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The Z2 did well in low-light as well, capturing a bright, colourful shot without much image noise.

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Good old St Paul's Cathedral. It's captured here with loads of detail and a very even exposure.

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Sadly, the brilliant blue sky had passed, but this pond in West London still looked great.

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Apart from being full of tourists, Richmond in West London is a great spot for testing cameras.

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Not all days are as sunny and beautiful as this in London.

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The clarity on the peeling paint on this bridge sign is great.

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My house and garden came out great.

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In manual mode, the sky is a little overexposed, but it's not a bad effort at all at this difficult scene.

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With HDR mode enabled, the bright sky is kept under control.

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