Wednesday 18 September 2013

Sony lens-type camera QX10 and QX100 hands-on and first impressions



Sony today launched an array of accessories to go with its smartphones, but the most attention grabbing is undoubtedly their all new smart lens-type camera variants namely the QX10 and the QX100. These are stand-alone cameras that can simply be coupled with smartphones in just one touch (via NFC), and are ready to work. With this new genre of camera enhancements, Sony surely is not only tapping those camera lovers, but is also attracting those who are a bit hesitant on using camera lenses with a lot technicality. And mind you, these add-ons are simply great not just in terms of their functionality but in terms of the pricing in India as well. For Rs 12,990 and Rs 24,990 respectively, we find these two as a quick grab for any one and all. Here we got a chance to play around with these, and following are our first impressions.




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The QX10 lens-type camera comes with an 18.2-megapixel Exmor R CMOS sensor with 10x zoom which is pretty cool in this price. Then there is an f/3.5-3.9 Sony G lens which is usually seen on Sony’s point and shoot cameras. It is light at 105 grams, is very handy and looks pretty as well. Performance-wise, basically one can simply compare it with any of the Sony Cybershot digital cameras. It will give you a very similar type of shooting experience with good images and offers you the option to zoom in up to 10 times. So you can probably use this lens instead of tagging a digi-cam along with you.



The lens worked really well and resulted in some pretty crisp and clear images without any distortion, despite the ambient lighting conditions. If you think that it will by any chance leave you disappointed, we must say that the lens performed really well, and will certainly be fun to use as well.


The QX100, on the other hand, has an upper hand with a 20.2-megapixel Exmor R CMOS sensor and an f/1.8 Carl Zeiss lens with 3.6X optical zoom. You can use the lens-type camera for shooting all sorts of images, but this is particularly good for subject specific pictures with more detailed of the subject. We are told that it has the same optics as that of the RX100. This lens-type camera has a huge sensor size, which certainly adds more value to your images, results in much clearer, simply awesome shots. And just like the other variant, this lens-type camera too shoots pretty well even in low lighting situations. And considering that it weighs close to 170 grams, this one again comes pretty handy.



The best part is that you can remove the smartphone-connecting ring from the back of the camera, which makes these even smaller. And attaching the cameras back to the smartphone is again quite easy as the spring like holder in the connecting ring on these camera help easily connect and detach it from the smartphone.


Then you can either use manual key to zoom in and out on both the lens-type cameras, can adjust the focus by simply tapping on to their smartphone screen and do a lot more. These lenses also have battery indicator and a microSD card slot on these. Sony has made these camera lenses really easy to use and we, at least, were pretty comfortable using them. Impressive, must say. And if this is not enough, the lens-type cameras can also be used to record full HD videos, though at 12-megapixel with 1920×1080 pixels resolution at 30fps in the MP4 format.



The best part about these is that unlike many other gadgets, these are not restricted to Sony smartphones only and can be used to even smartphones by Apple and Samsung via Wi-Fi direct or NFC on the phones, which certainly adds more value to these lenses. Just to remind you, these lenses work with the Play Memories application which can easily be downloaded from the Play Store or the App Store for free.


While this is just the beginning for these lens-type camera series, we are hoping for some even better versions in the future. But for, these two detachable camera lenses seem must-haves for us for sure. The lens-type cameras are available in the market already, or you can wait for our detailed review before you make the purchase.


Photos by: Harshita Rastogi



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Sony lens-type camera QX10 and QX100 hands-on and first impressions

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