[Xperia Z3 General] One Twelve:
Simple, if you do not see a shutter time mentioned in the exif then you got an HDR. HDR is 3 pics, with EV-1 + EV0 + EV+1 blended.

LG & Samsung don't do shutter lower than 1/8 and this was true with iphone as well upto ios8. Reason is you get camera shake and people will start banging the camera.

Sure, question is how and why. Sony allows slower shutter than 1/8, in fact it can go as slow as 0.8s. That is the main reason you can get better low light shots so long as you stabilise the unit with shutter slower than 1/8.

Another point is BSI (back side illuminated) sensor. Increases sensitivity is better than non-BSI.

G2's OIS was no good, G3 is the same camera with so called 'laser' which is an IR blaster to get faster focus. If you can get focus you get a clear shot. About OIS, there is something called the reciprocal rule. It says you cannot hand hold a camera and get a steady shot if shutter is the reciprocal of the focal length. What this means is.. focal length of your typical camera phone is 4mm. So a shutter of 1/4 takes skill to get. iP6+ allows to pull off a 1/4s shot because of OIS. OIS mainly helps to get shots at 1/4 or 1/8 shutter time. Its redundant for shutter speed faster than that. That is all OIS does but there is so much hype about it and why its a deciding factor and why your next phone must have it. Its nice to have but not essential for a fixed focus lens. I've seen Z1 shots which as you know has no OIS do the same but it takes skill and practice. btw same applies to iP6 which has no OIS or any other phone that allows shutter to go as slow as 1/4. Many do not.

With optical zoom OIS becomes essential because focal length can be 2 or even 3x times 1/shutter speed, this is where OIS matters. Can take shots with 22mm with shutter of 1/6 or 1/10.

You will get a lot of noise with iso 12800, i've seen iso 3200 & 6400 with earlier Z's and they look like oil paintings. Better to use low iso and long shutter to get best photos. Use a tripod if you can for night scene.

Just learn to take photos and you will get equivalent ones. There isn't much difference between phones of the same generation at flagship level. Don't believe these review sites, they just do lame auto shoot outs that too with very low sample size. A few pics and they come up with big statements. pffft.

DIS is impressive on the Z3. But its limited to video. About slo mo make sure you have lots of light when doing those 60 & 120 fps shots as shutter time also reduces. 1/30 is brighter than 1/60 is brighter than 1/120 with any camera.

Agree and its apparent in most reviewers videos.

Here is a tip, get used to the on screen shutter button (touch to focus + on screen button is two stage btw) if you want clear shots, that hardware button introduces shake and you will get blur in sub standard lighting. Very apparent with the guy (Andy?) who posted comparison shots of m8 vs z3. He says he can't hold the camera steady but all his m8 shots are very clear. So he can hold the camera steady just that he was using hardware button instead of on screen shutter button.

This requires anticipation so you do a few test shots to get wb, exposure right where the kid is and then you can either try with burst mode or pull 8MP frames out of a 4k video. It takes a bit pof practice but you will get it eventually.

Its true there is some shutter lag, about 1.2 second, makes the point on a shutter lag league

table

(see camera speed iP6 vs z3)so learn to work around it, anticipate the shot. 1.2 s more slow is not a valid excuse to not get the shot.

If you check DXO to compare z3 & iP6 the difference is very small for exposure & contrast. These are lab test not the quick empirical tests and grand statements made. Learn to use metering that is all i can say and you will get similar dynamic range with both. Learn how to compensate yourself.

Best depends on who you ask. it's true the camera isn't the main reason but an important decision.

Just realise cameras from the same generation from the same range level are more or less the same. There are a few differences like DIS which stand out but for stllls the differences are minute. If pictures show large variation its more down to WHO took the photo rather than WHAT did :)