Sony QX100 and QX10 Digital Camera Modules for Smartphones
Sony is shipping the new Sony QX100 and Sony QX10 “digital camera modules” for smartphones. These devices attach to the phone (or can be held separately), and transmit images to the phone wirelessly, for both shooting/framing and recording.
I applaud Sony’s innovation and indeed the mindset that even allows it to happen (versus most other camera brands). It is good to see such risks taken, it is good that such trial balloons are wafted.
But given that the QX100 costs as much as a real standalone real camera, and given the Sony RX100 II which also has wireless connectivity, and given its price and limitations and extra bulk and ergonomic issues, I see it more as a curiosity than as a tool I’d want to use.
Another unexpected and disappointing wrinkle is that the QX100 shoots JPEG only, so it’s not even a real replacement if one actually wants top image quality. Compromises are fine, and on that account I’d rather just shoot the camera built-in to my smartphone, and these just keep getting better. The camera smartphone has equally terrible ergonomics, but it fits into my pocket with ease.
It is the right blend of features that attracts me; here I see the QX100 as unappealing. Hence the fantastic attraction of the Ricoh GR and Sony RX1R and Sony RX100: each of those fulfill certain uses exceptionally well.
