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New Sony QX 'Lens-Style' Cameras Revealed in Leaked Press Release, Will Retail for $250-$500

Sky Blue said:
Does that save photos to the camera roll or a separate Sony app?
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I would love for it to save to the camera roll, at least as an option. Or be able to transfer it from the designated app to the camera roll. The only reason I don't take more pictures with my "professional" cameras, is that I usually need/want to share my photos instantly, instead of going home/inside, and downloading them from the camera card... This has a huge potential for helping me out.
 
I hope it doesn't take too long for someone to hack together a control interface for MacOS.
 
Interesting idea, but I am not sure how well it will work. It might be difficult to aim and operate the lens and the viewfinder on the iPhone simultaneously if they are physically aligned.
 
I love the idea of this but I hope it can do video, sort of like a go pro but using your phone as the display to line it up. I've got a 600D and tonnes of lenses so can't justify if its only for photos.
 
If you want something similar on your iPhone, you can do the whole remote viewfinder, shutter release, etc. with a GoPro Hero 3 and their free app.

It has 2 main downsides that I wonder if Sony will be able to overcome:

Viewfinder lag.

Battery life on the camera when transmitting to phone.
 
This is brilliant for travel. However there are some questions that haven't been answered yet.

1) how's the battery life?

2) do you NEED the smart phone out to take pictures or just use as viewfinder? I'd rather have a simple glass view finder on the lens rather than having to drain my phone battery every time i wanted to take a picture.

While traveling I still use a point and shoot camera for it's quick shots and compact design. It uses it's own battery and doesn't drain my phone. I'd love to get one of these devices but there are just some limitations that still make me want to keep my point and shoot.
 
GoldenJoe said:
That's interesting, but I'm not sure I understand the purpose. Why would this be more desirable than buying a camera that is independent of your phone?
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With a modern smartphone you've got a large, high-res display for viewfinder and preview, a shedload of storage, mobile data access (and pre-configured links to your cloud/social networking/email accounts) as well as enough CPU power to do basic photo editing. This is far more power than you get on the typical stand-alone camera - and if you've already got that power in your pocket, why duplicate the functionality on a camera, when you could get a "smart lens" that just links to your phone?

Also, I think digital photography is now a bit more mature than smartphones - so a system like this could survive several smartphone updates.

inlinevolvo said:
I guess I don't see the innovation here. Innovative would have been if the standard camera on the smartphone could do this. Seems like it will fill a niche market. I paid 4 figures for my dSLR and wouldn't pay a hundred for this...
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The quality of the built-in camera on a smartphone is always going to be limited by the small sensor & small lens, leading to poor low-light performance, limited zoom, inability to control depth-of-field etc. While sensor technology may improve, there's no substitute for a decent bit of glass on the front. A smartphone with a decent lens is always going to be too bulky.

Then there's the more practical aspects: smartphone camera lenses are ground zero for fingerprints, dust and scratches. With this, you only get the camera part out when you are "doing photography" sparing it the day-to-day wear and tear.

I agree, though - what would be interesting would be doing this with a DSLR- or Bridge- class body that offered a head-and-shoulders improvement over the phonecam, rather than what looks like a "compact" class lens.
 
APlotdevice said:
I hope it doesn't take too long for someone to hack together a control interface for MacOS.
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Why? For 'real' cameras we have this already on both Mac and Win. This quirky solution is meant to be extremely portable. Even with an MBA, that would kinda defeat the purpose.
 
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theluggage said:
With a modern smartphone you've got a large, high-res display for viewfinder and preview, a shedload of storage, mobile data access (and pre-configured links to your cloud/social networking/email accounts) as well as enough CPU power to do basic photo editing. This is far more power than you get on the typical stand-alone camera - and if you've already got that power in your pocket, why duplicate the functionality on a camera, when you could get a "smart lens" that just links to your phone?

Also, I think digital photography is now a bit more mature than smartphones - so a system like this could survive several smartphone updates.



The quality of the built-in camera on a smartphone is always going to be limited by the small sensor & small lens, leading to poor low-light performance, limited zoom, inability to control depth-of-field etc. While sensor technology may improve, there's no substitute for a decent bit of glass on the front. A smartphone with a decent lens is always going to be too bulky.

Then there's the more practical aspects: smartphone camera lenses are ground zero for fingerprints, dust and scratches. With this, you only get the camera part out when you are "doing photography" sparing it the day-to-day wear and tear.

I agree, though - what would be interesting would be doing this with a DSLR- or Bridge- class body that offered a head-and-shoulders improvement over the phonecam, rather than what looks like a "compact" class lens.
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It's a 1 inch imager which is real quite large relative to the imager in an iPhone. On the other hand, I can use WiFi quite successfully with a D3200 and an iPhone, but that's a lot more bulk and weight than the QX100.

Always tradeoffs.
 
JAT said:
Why? For 'real' cameras we have this already on both Mac and Win. This quirky solution is meant to be extremely portable. Even with an MBA, that would kinda defeat the purpose.
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It's a wireless camera. With a tripod mount no less. This could be an awesome tool for serious photographers, ESPECIALLY if it can be connected to a computer.
 
djphat2000 said:
I think Apple could improve on this idea ... This thing should be magsafe connected to the back "minus" any actual port to plug into. Meaning, you should be able to wave the phone over the lens and it just jumps on the back of the phone. Slidable from end to end of the phone just for comfort, and a safe release button on the lens to pop it off.
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Wouldn't a magnet stong enough to hold a lens like this seriously interfere with the phone signal? Not to mention cling on to the keys in your pocket and every other piece of metal your phone comes close to.
 
Zaqfalcon said:
A shorter zoom range permits a greater maximum aperture therefore better low light performance.

You can choose a large zoom range or a fast lens, you can't have both. Not unless you're prepared for it to be very large, very heavy and very expensive e.g. 70-200 2.8 zooms.
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Well sure, but the point of my post is that aperture is what defines better low light. You want a faster lens. How you achieve that faster lens is a whole different story. The article was misleading.

Side note: I own a Canon 70-200 f/2.8. Incredible lens and damn heavy. I thought my 180mm macro was heavy until I spent a few days carrying the 70-200. Now I pick up my 180mm macro and laugh at how light it is LOL.
 
flottenheimer said:
Wouldn't a magnet stong enough to hold a lens like this seriously interfere with the phone signal? Not to mention cling on to the keys in your pocket and every other piece of metal your phone comes close to.
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One of the reasons I said the lens would have to be REALLY light.
Also, the magsafe connector on the Macbook's, to me seem strong enough to hold a lens like the one Sony has made. Again, its just has to be strong enough to hold it in place. Not sure what the weight would have to fall under to be good enough to hold. But, I don't think (after just testing with Magsafe on my MacBook Pro 17"), it would attract your keys that much. But, just as a safety. Maybe it would require being next to or near the camera lens before the magnets turned on. I'm sure that would a technological challenge. But, screw it, why not try!
 
TMay said:
This is going to be a very disruptive product if Sony does in fact make it near effortless to interface with a smartphone (for me iPhone).

I like the fact that the lens module can be used independently of the smartphone up to some as yet unknown range. I especially favor the 1 inch imager as an excellent compromise of size over image IQ (I also have a Nikon V1).

I'll will be preordering the QX100 when I see it available on Amazon.
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They're available already for pre-order today, shipping September 27th: Black, White/Champagne and the uber DSC-QX100.

But good luck with that, I'd rather wait for the price to settle and order it after the 27th.
Due to high demand we anticipate being unable to fulfill all customer orders with our first allocation. Product supply from Sony is very limited. Your place in line will be maintained, and we will not charge your credit card until we ship the product.
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Also, if you intend to take lots of photos, a Micro SD card might be in order.
 
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