With smartphone cameras, you are severely limited by sensor size. You usually also don’t have optical zoom features. Sony’s QX series is aiming to change that. They are taking the lenses from their superzoom cameras and offering them in a self contained unit that clips onto your smartphone.
The QX series comes in two models, the QX10 at $250 and the QX100 at $500. If you’re looking to pay less than a traditional camera, you’ll be sadly disappointed. What they do give you is portability. They wrap up into small hockey puck that can be carried in your bag and with the QX10, maybe even your pocket. The QX10 includes a 10x zoom with a 18.2mp Sony Exmor RCMOS sensor. When retracted it measures 2.5” in diameter and 1.3” high. The QX100 is not as portable. But comes with the same sensor as their new RX100 camera. The QX100 also comes with a Carl Zeiss Lens with a 3.6x zoom and also has a image processor.
They will connect to both iOS and Android with a Sony app. Both versions will be available in black, but the QX10 is also available in a gold white scheme interestingly close to the rumored iPhone 5S. The Sony QX series should be available by the end of the month.
Source: Sony
