ByÂ
David Pogue
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Sony
Sony’s new QX100 is notable because it contains the components that a cellphone camera lacks. It has a Zeiss f/1.8 lens that zooms, a huge sensor, manual controls and optical image stabilization.
Sony’s concept for the new QX100 is among the most brilliant in its history.
Unfortunately, the good idea ended with the concept. By the time the poor QX100 reached the
production line, it never really had a chance.
Oh, wait — you want to know what it is?
It’s the answer to a long-simmering problem. Digital cameras take excellent photos but aren’t
good at transmitting them. Cellphones are great at sending pictures — but aren’t very good at
taking them.
Sony’s masterstroke: Why not create a weird new half-a-camera that contains exactly the
components that a cellphone camera lacks?
It could have a lens that really zooms. It could contain serious, professional “glass†— a Zeiss
f/1.8 lens, with the quality, multiple glass elements and light-passing capacity that cellphones
wouldn’t have in their wildest dreams. It could have manual controls, optical image stabilization
and a tripod mount.
Above all, it could have a huge sensor, the digital “film.†This sensor could measure 1 inch
diagonally — more than 40 times the size of a cellphone’s sensor.
A large sensor gives you delicious amounts of detail, true colors and exceptional clarity in low
light. A big sensor means less blur, because the shutter doesn’t have to stay open long to let in
enough light.
Megapixels, on the other hand, aren’t a very big deal. Even so, Sony’s semi-camera could offer
18 or 20 megapixels — enough for even giant prints — compared with the 5 or 8 megapixels on your
phone.
So that’s what the QX100 ($500) is. There’s a half-priced junior version, too.
The QX100 is the craziest-looking camera you’ve ever seen. Even on close inspection, you’d swear
that it was just a lens. Not a whole camera — just a lens, like maybe one from somebody’s SLR
camera. It’s a black cylinder, 2.2 inches long, 2.5 inches across.
Somehow, into that space, Sony has crammed most of a camera. There’s a 3X telescoping zoom with
a zoom lever. There’s a real shutter button, a battery, stereo microphones and a memory-card
slot.
There is not, however, a screen, because your phone already has a huge, really great one. So
between this lens thing and your phone, you have all the elements of a top-notch photographic
machine.
To communicate with your phone, you install the clunkily named app, PlayMemories Mobile.
If you have an Android phone, and it came with an NFC (near-field communication) chip, you just
tap your phone against the QX100. That gesture “pairs†them and opens the app, ready for
shooting.
The QX’s pictures are truly terrific. Each photo’s full-resolution self is stored on the lens’
memory card. A 2-megapixel, more easily uploaded and stored version is transmitted into your
phone.
The QX also records movies. They don’t get sent to your phone; they stay on the lens’ memory
card. You can transfer them to your computer using the USB cable, which you also use to recharge
the lens’ 200-shot battery.
All this works identically on the 18-megapixel QX10, the less-expensive sibling. It costs half
as much; it’s about half as long and much lighter; and it zooms 10X instead of 3X.
But the QX10 doesn’t offer anything like the photographic excellence of the QX100. Its sensor is
no bigger than the ones on standard pocket cameras. Its lens isn’t Zeiss glass, and it’s no f/1.8.
And it offers no manual controls except exposure compensation.
And now, the bad news. As it turns out, the QX cameras’ execution just doesn’t live up to the
ingenious idea behind them. Some of the problems:
• The camera requires a cellphone-style memory card, a microSD card (not included), which is
about the size of a fingernail clipping.
• Neither “camera†has a flash. And no, you can’t use your phone’s flash to compensate. (I guess
you could put it into flashlight mode.)
• The sensor and lens of the QX100 are the same as what’s in the RX100 Mark II, but it’s
otherwise missing a lot of that camera’s features. The QX100 lacks a burst mode, shutter-priority
mode, self-timer mode, illustration mode and the amazing Sweep Panorama. And, of course, a hot shoe
for accessories.
• Both cameras take only JPEG photos. They can’t capture RAW files, beloved by professional
photographers for their editability, as the RX100 can.
• Neither camera captures full 1080 hi-def video, as the RX100 does. They have somewhat-lower
resolution, although still better than 720p.
• The writing in the app is laughably bad. For example, when you open PlayMemories on an iPhone,
the app says, “Search the shooting device from the network setting of the terminal and set it.â€
What?
But listen: Let’s not mope. Let’s celebrate the spirit of that spectacular central idea, the
master engineers who brought it to life, and even the executives who greenlighted this crazy,
offbeat product. Let’s hope that spirit survives long enough for us to see a QX 2.0 next year.
David Pogue writes for The New York Times.
Article source: http://petapixel.com/2012/11/22/theory-nikon-d600-sensor-spots-caused-by-scratched-shutter-curtain/
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Sony camera a great idea poorly executed
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