The Sony Xperia 1 IV allows creatives to shoot incredible video content, and that includes slow-motion video in 4K 120fps at varying focal lengths. The team at Art of Visuals (@artofvisuals) recently took the smartphone out to Venice Beach for some dreamy slow-motion footage that perfectly captures those summer vibes. We connected with Creative Director DJ Ramirez for his thoughts on using the Xperia 1 IV for slow motion video. “I feel like the Xperia 1 IV is my favorite phone thus far,” he says, “especially for the quality of slow-mo that you can get out of it across all of the lenses.” See more on what he had to say below.

We connect with Art of Visuals’ Creative Director DJ Ramirez to hear more about his experience using the Sony Xperia 1 IV to shoot slow-motion video.

Getting Creative With Slow-Motion

As part of his role with Art of Visuals, Ramirez takes a deep dive into new gear to learn more about it and show other creatives how it performs. He had been traveling around and using the Xperia 1 IV to really get a chance to play with its features, and while walking around California with the smartphone, he found the perfect opportunity to create using slow-motion. “I had been taking this phone all over and just playing with it for a few months,” he explains. “I was in California just walking around with Prince, the CEO of Art of Visuals, and we ended up having the perfect light and just really interesting subjects all the time. It was a perfect setting to try out the slow-motion.”

He continues, “We found that the slow-motion quality was amazing. Of course the Sony Alpha 7S III is amazing at slow-mo and hard to beat, but you could take the slow-motion from the Xperia 1 IV and cut it with slow-mo from a Sony Alpha camera and it would be hard to tell the difference.”

Ramirez was also surprised with how well the smartphone handled the intense sunset in Venice Beach. “The dynamic range was also amazing,” he explains. “For the size of the lenses that you have and the aperture, the video quality is very high. It’s just so impressive that you’re getting that much quality. It’s so tiny you’re thinking, ‘How much light can this thing possibly take in?’ It’s very comparable to a bigger camera and you can certainly use it with footage from an Alpha camera.”

Capturing A Wide Range With 3 Lenses

The Xperia 1 IV includes three lenses – a 16mm ultra-wide lens, 24mm wide lens, and an 85-125mm telephoto zoom. Ramirez utilized these different lenses when capturing the slow-motion footage, allowing him to get those-closeups of skating without actually getting too close to the action. “It was really nice to use the Xperia 1 IV with the different lenses because you could capture a whole scene or you could punch in on a closeup of someone skating,” he says. “Having different lenses and knowing that you're going to get good quality on all of them, that's huge for the Xperia 1 IV. It’s just not how it typically goes with other phones. It’s really nice having those options and being able to change your focal length when you can’t get too close to the action. It's a game changer having three good lenses and it was awesome to have with the slow-motion.”

Using The Videography Pro Feature

The Xperia 1 IV has a “Videography Pro” feature that was developed based on direct feedback from video creators. It allows users to easily adjust settings and Ramirez found that it delivered the professional video experience he would typically expect from his complete system. “Videography Pro basically turns the phone into having the same settings as you would on your Alpha camera,” he explains. “So if you’re working with shooters who use Sony cameras, you could hand this to them and tell them to set the frame rate and everything and they would be able to do all of it. When you’re a cinematographer, you’re renting cameras all the time. Knowing the Sony system and being able to just jump in and use the Xperia 1 IV is really easy. It’s a very professional experience.”

Other Features Creatives Will Love

As we mentioned, Ramirez has a ton of experience testing different gear, and he found a few things about the Xperia 1 IV to be what a creative’s dreams are made of. The first one he says is pretty simple: “Being able to offload your media straight to an SD card and put it in your computer to start editing is great. It’s not groundbreaking but it’s a basic feature that really makes a difference.”

He continues, “The other favorite feature of mine would be the screen. Being able to shoot 4K footage and then preview it back in 4K as well, or to hook it up to your camera, that's another huge benefit. It's a really nice, bright and beautiful screen. To be able to see your videos as they're going to look on your computer, or once you're editing them makes it really nice. Especially where we were in California, it was super bright. We're in all kinds of changing lighting environments and to be able to know that you can point it there and still see your screen gives you that peace of mind you can’t always get with other phones because of glare.”

See more from Art of Visuals on Instagram @artofvisuals.

Learn more and pre-order your Sony Xperia 1 IV HERE.