There’s a new rumor going around about Sony’s approach to cameras on smartphones. We already know about the Honami phone, with a supposed 20 megapixel camera, but what if you could put an amazing sensor on any phone you have? This is exactly the rumor that Sony Alpha Rumors is reporting and they claim to be almost certainly true. According to two sources, Sony would be working on a lens that can be attached to any phone, and would have a built-in sensor, battery and memory. You would simply attach the lens to your device, and it would transmit the images via NFC and WiFi. If this is true, then Sony has an amazing piece of technology in their hands, it would basically be a camera without the screen and buttons , but it would have to be small enough to be used in companion with a smartphone.
The rumor also states that you will be able to see the live view images on your device, so I’m guessing Bluetooth video, but that usually lags a little, so Sony might reworked some things if they want to have a quality product, nobody wants lag in a camera.
As you see in the picture, the lens is pretty big compared to regular smartphone cameras, but if that means amazing pictures, then I certainly welcome it. The sources also said that it would feature the same sensor and lens than the RX100MII camera, that is a 1” 20.2MP Exmor R sensor and a f/1.8 Zeiss lens and that’s just for the first model to be released, which is said to be soon. After that, a second model will come with a smaller sensor and a larger optical zoom.
The Sony Honami might have a high megapixel count, but we know that cameras are just as good as their sensor/lens combination, so even the best smartphone, is still limited by size and let’s be honest, the Samsung Galaxy S IV Zoom is a joke, no one will carry that as their phone, at the most, they will take is as a camera and use the phone part when they just don’t want to carry their main phone. Sony’s new approach, however, would create a whole new way of photography for smartphones and tablets, cameras won’t need to be that good, so cheaper phones could be made, and if you want a good camera, you just purchase the accessory.
I’m really looking forward to this, since it would be the next step on photography we’ve all been waiting for.