[Xperia Z1 General] showlyshah:
We all know( or most of us know) that, Sony zx1's camera will stop functioning if we unlock bootloader before we update to Android 4.3. Sony has confirmed it, and fixed the bug in 4.3 update, and noticed this in their developer support site.We traced that it is due to the DRM keys being lost while updating TA partition while doing the unlock process.Similar case is also applicable for BRAVIA/X-Reality engine which will stop working after unlocking bootloader. But we wont notice that very much since we can live with out X-Reality or Bravia engine or so. But here is another big deal, especially for zx1 owners. ZX1 is sony's current flagship device with a much hiked camera/display/processor/build bla bla bla... Well telling about camera of ZX1, it is the highest mega-pixel one ever an android device have en-capsuled. 20.7Mp is big in papers. and additional hardware enhancements like G-lens, Exmor RS CMOS sensor (1/2.3-inch), BIONZ Image processor chip.. etc. Well everything related to camera seems good with lil WOW factor.

The question is will Sony still give us all these camera "POWER" if we unlock our bootloader??

There are rumours that the BIONZ image processor will stop functioning after ZX1's bootloader is unlocked. I came across this yesterday here on xda where i have put a thread on regaining X-Reality for unlocked bootloader xperia's(http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2642608) with the help of DRM patching. And there, one of XDA member asked me about, regaining BIONZ functionality by patching DRM check. I was unaware of that till he asked so, all i thought was about that X-Reality issue and Music ID issue. Thus i happened to give it a check.

AND i was shocked with the result!!! WTF Sony screwed us again??

I had TA backup of my one week old XZ1, and have unlocked boot after updating to 4.3 (I thought i was one of the lucky guys who read a bit before screwing a nice piece of hardware.) and then i took single pic under low light condition ( becoz BIONZ and Exmor RS CMOS sensor is said to enhance pic quality in low light conditions according to Sony.) with superior auto mode and all other manual modes provided. Then i restored my TA backup ( Just that only , as i was using stock kernel, and i happened to unlock bootloader to just to get recovery and root on my stock C6903 14.2.A.1.136 firmware.) Then clicked pics exactly as what i did before, and then copied both sets to my computer to compare them.

Sony.... we will pardon you for not giving some software enhancements but not this one#*&^%$&^

As doubted earlier.. Sony have disabled some thing related to camera (BIONZ??) too for unlocked bootloader users!. This is not my conclusion, this is what those pics says.. Now i think this , it may be that piece of software crap ( just like X-Reality) which need a DRM key( Which is lost when unlocking bootloader) , makes the difference in image quality. As you can clearly see ( check my attached rar file) the low light processing is much better with a locked bootloader , though there is some purple tint in it.

OR... who know.. does the BIONZ processor will really work with an unlocked bootloader, or is it just the cpu which process the image instead of BIONZ for an unlocked device , like what that happens in normal sony phones which does not have BIONZ in them(this is a doubt provided by an XDA member on my topic about X-Reality).

Take a look at the attached file, all of them are taken under same lighting condition and phone is kept at same position.

While cross checking the images, all exif parameters for both unlocked and locked pictures are same for same picture modes, like shutter speed, iso, f, etc.. only the difference is in picture quality and sizes ....

XDA'ns we got another challenge from "DEVELOPER FRIENDLY SONY"!!!!

We will make it work soon.............. you SONY!!!!

Here is my dropbox link if somebody want to check the original picshttps://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65718497/camera.rar