You may remember back in September, IFA was getting underway, when Sony unveiled a new “accessory” for your smartphone. It was basically a camera lens that could be attached to almost any Android smartphone and was controlled by your smartphone, to allow you to take awesome pictures through these two superior Sony lenses.
Two models were introduced – The QX10 for $250 and the QX100 for $500, with both devices using Exmor CMOS Sensors. I will not run through all of the specifications in this article but you can see them in our previous article. The QX10 offers a 1.0-inch CMOS Sensor, 18 Megapixels and 10X Optical Zoom, while the X100 has a 1/2.3-inch CMOS Sensor, 20 Megapixels and 3.5X Optical zoom. Our good friends from B&H Photo did a great video, as seen below, that will really explain exactly how they work.
Now remember, the QX10 and QX100 will work on almost any Android smartphone – they simply use a spring-clip to attach them to your camera and they are controlled via a Sony app and in conjunction with either a Wi-Fi or NFC connection. As an added bonus, Snapseed is built right into the app, so your picture can be taken and directly show-up in Snapseed to be adjusted to your liking before you send it off to your favorite social media spot.
One of the benefits of owning a Sony smartphone when paired with the QX10 and QX100, is that they were to have a dedicated QX lens assembly for the Xperia Z Ultra for a cleaner, more customized fit (see above). They would have a protective shell back with an embedded raised ring, so users can easily connect QX-lenses to their Z Ultra. The protective shell has been announced to go on sale in Hong Kong this January for approximately $30 and will come in black and white.
Let us know on our Google+ Page if the QX10 or QX100 is something that you would be interested in purchasing, or if you already have one of these devices, let us know how you like it. We included them as one of our Holiday Gift Ideas #5.