Sony has unveiled a pair of miniature cameras that pair with smartphones to take better shots than integrated snappers.
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-QX100 and DSC-QX10 look like lenses, but are actually small cameras that link over Wi-Fi to a smartphone, which is used to frame and take a shot.
The system is designed to make it easier to use a smartphone to take better quality photos, with Sony saying it pairs the power of a “premium camera” with smartphone convenience.
The DSC-QX100 and DSC-QX10 can attach to any smartphone with a width between 54mm and 65mm, and a maximum thickness of 13mm.
The lens and smartphone don’t need to be physically attached, however, letting you take shots and videos from different angles – and improve your self-portraits. That also means they can be used with tablets: they work with Android or iOS devices.
They connect to the handset via Wi-Fi or NFC, with the smartphone display used as the viewfinder, to fire the shutter, and to adjust settings.
The DSC-QX10 weighs 105g, boasts an 18.2-megapixel CMOS sensor, and 10x optical zoom. It has an aperture range of F3.3 to F5.9, and focal length of 25mm-250mm. It costs £179 inc VAT.
The DSC-QX100 weighs 179g and features a 20.2-megapixel CMOS sensor and 3.6x optical zoom, an aperture of F1.8 to F4.9, and focal length of 28mm-100mm. It costs £399 inc VAT.
Both come with image stabilisation, but only the more expensive DSC-QX100 allows for full manual focus. The lenses are available for pre-order now, but won’t ship until the end of the month.
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