Sony's new no body camera

[David Mitchell]

Hi all,

Just seen this, basically Sony are making their next 'camera' without a screen or body, just the lens and sensor, this then simply clips to the back of whatever device you want to act as the screen.

Sony's New Camera is Just a Lens; Your Phone Screen's the Display | Gizmodo UK

It does make sense as there is no reason for there to be a screen physically attached to the camera anymore as you don't need an optical viewfinder for images and the body doesn't need to house any film etc.

An interesting concept

 

[Dan Cattermole]

Today's society to desperately seek originality doesn't win me over most of the time.
It's great to see how innovative people are being, and I never doubt that change is a good thing.
But this..... THIS?!! [sigh]

So without a compatible device is this not useless?
I bet it would be quite an expensive 'add on' for what it is.

Personally, I'd rather buy a camera. a real one.

Prompt find though David.

 

[David Mitchell]

I like the idea of the camera though as I am sure it would simply use bluetooth or something like that to connect which most tablets/phone have. It would have been cool if this camera was modular like some of the medium format film cameras eg you buy the sensor and the body you want and attach whatever lens you wanted. Although saying that I know that Ricoh had interchangable sensors and bodies - this didn;t really work as the sensor is the more expensive part lol

 

[Larry Bolch]

Today's society to desperately seek originality doesn't win me over most of the time.
It's great to see how innovative people are being, and I never doubt that change is a good thing.
But this..... THIS?!! [sigh]

So without a compatible device is this not useless?

Clearly it is designed to only work with a phone, but what is wrong with that? It extends the phone into becoming part of a system. A lens without a camera body is pretty useless too and this goes way beyond just being a lens for the phone.

I bet it would be quite an expensive 'add on' for what it is.

Personally, I'd rather buy a camera. a real one.

With smart phones devouring the P&S market, this is an interesting and potentially successful product. It adds very little bulk to the phone, but certainly extends its photographic capability. With apps and data plans, high end phones involve a degree of expense, not to mention fancy cases for them. The cost of improving their photo capability may be seen as a bargain. From what I have observed, telephony is way down the list of reasons people buy smart phones.

Will it cut into the market for high-end mirrorless and dSLRs? Of course not. However, the bulk of the population has always wanted to be able to be able to capture images without spending years learning photography. You and I HAVE spent those years, so this device does not fit out workflow. Snapshooters don't have a workflow, they just want pictures of their dinner, cats and friends, plus self-portraits in every bathroom mirror they see. Same motivations that kept Kodak in business over the last century—they sold box cameras that used their film. With film dead, so is Kodak. Families still want snapshots however.

Then too, it is a gadget and it is new. If you are a gadget or tech aficionado, you buy it to flaunt at your buddies who don't have one yet. It enhances your self-image of personal power and worth, I guess. People do buy technology for its own sake, without any thought about using it.

 

[David Mitchell]

I do see this as an 'upgrade accessory' rather than a standalone product for those who are wanting better quality but still keep it compact, although with the 41MP Nokia 1020 I don't know how something like this could compete with something like that.

 

[Hamish Gill]

I do see this as an 'upgrade accessory' rather than a standalone product for those who are wanting better quality but still keep it compact, although with the 41MP Nokia 1020 I don't know how something like this could compete with something like that.

if it has the sensor of the rx100 it will be a lot better than the nokia ...

 

[Larry Bolch]

I do see this as an 'upgrade accessory' rather than a standalone product for those who are wanting better quality but still keep it compact, although with the 41MP Nokia 1020 I don't know how something like this could compete with something like that.

Medium format cameras are now up to 80MP and beyond, the D800 has 36MP at very high quality, but many of us find that 12-16MP is more than adequate for our purposes. Resolution is just one factor, and as many of us know, not all that major. A high resolution sensor with nothing else of superior quality, is pretty much meaningless. Without a top quality lens, no amount of pixels will improve the sharpness of the images, for example.

 

[David Mitchell]

Medium format cameras are now up to 80MP and beyond, the D800 has 36MP at very high quality, but many of us find that 12-16MP is more than adequate for our purposes. Resolution is just one factor, and as many of us know, not all that major. A high resolution sensor with nothing else of superior quality, is pretty much meaningless. Without a top quality lens, no amount of pixels will improve the sharpness of the images, for example.

Yeah, that sort of phone isn't for me, I am happy with my modest number of MP on my D3100, don't usually need to crop in much when I do shoot which is where I find it might be useful. Invest in lenses not camera bodies as I have learnt so far, a decent lens will always be a decent lens, a decent camera today will be obsolete within a few years.

 

[Dan Cattermole]

Don't get me wrong, this is very innovative and I can see what it is that they are doing, it's certainly unique, and an idea that I'm sure will give the wow factor to those gadgetarians and gizmotrons out there when they whoop out this tool and blow their chums hungry new tech orgasmic minds away, but this is not my cup if tea as a matter of personal opinion only.
I love change, new ideas, but I can't seem to attach to this one. Maybe it could be the fear factor of how much it may cost for what it does/is, a lens, a sensor, and a wifi or connectivity module of some sort....... Done?
If it does have the RX100 sensor in it, which from what I've seen is pretty damn good, then why not have the RX100 as its small, and easy to store/use. I bet the price of this won't be far off anyway.
I would be very surprised to see this soar into the market and be expanded on in the future.
Putting a lens over an already decent lens seems pretty bizarre to me (over an iPhone if that is)

Does anyone have an idea how much these things will cost?