Sony introduced Wednesday, two new unique lens-camera add-ons that can work with most smartphones, including those from rivals Apple and Samsung.
The lens-cameras can either attach to a smartphone or simply be held separately from the phone. Once connected by WiFi, the smartphone’s screen acts as a viewfinder. The phone also remote-controls the camera and stores photos using a Sony app.
The add-on cameras provide the kind of greater optical zoom and better image quality of a standalone high end compact camera, said Sony, reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The new CyberShot add-on lenses include the top end QX100 that comes with the same large image sensor and image processor used in Sony’s CyberShot RX100M II. It will sell for $500. The QX10 has a smaller image sensor but it has a 10X optical zoom (greater than the 3.6X zoom of the QX100). It will sell for $250.
Specialized cameras are sweeping the smartphone market. Samsung recently introduced the Galaxy S4 zoom with a built-in lens type camera and Nokia’s new Lumia 1020 has a built in 41 megapixel camera.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
