There has been a lot of talk about Sony’s incoming 20 megapixel Honami/i1/Xperia Z1 smartphone which is looking set to be launched next week at the IFA 2013 event in Berlin, Germany, but alongside the phone Sony will also be releasing a 3.6x optical zoom attachment to turn many smartphones into high end snappers.
Word is that the add-on lenses will be launched this year and called “EspressOn”. Their purpose? To add a large Sony G Lens and the other core parts of a digital camera to a smartphone. The attachment will reportedly work on other smartphones such as the iPhone, with the phone connecting via Bluetooth to the camera add-on.
The Sony EspressOn will reportedly launch in two versions; the first called the DSC-QX100 which will come featuring a 20.2-megapixel sensor, f/1.8 aperture and 3.6x optical zoom which has all recently launched on the Sony RX-100 II point and shoot camera. The second lens is a DSC-QX10; a budget version of the QX100 which will have an 18-megapixel CMOS sensor and a f/3.5-3.9 lens.
The lenses will have a dedicated power button, LCD display, shutter button, multifunctional jack, zoom lever and microphone for capturing images as well as its own SD card slot and tripod mount hole so you can use the lenses just like a normal camera. Then, with the Bluetooth connection you can use your smartphone as the viewer when taking pictures, then check them out after shooting, edit and share using your phone’s smart features.
The EspressOn lens is a bold idea for Sony and one that could instantly kill off the new rage of large camera/smartphone hybrid devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Zoom and Nokia Lumia 1050 by offering an add-on to any smartphone.
It all depends on pricing of course, but Tawianese site (ePrice) is stating that the QX100 will sell for €370 and the QX10 for €170, so the prices may be a bit high but depending on the performance, it could be well worth it.