Zooming in on the… Sony QX1
Just add a smartphone and a lens to start shooting decent job overall, erring slightly towards warmer tones when faced with some artificial lighting – although you can change this setting.
It’s hard to spot noise in images shot at ISO 3,200 when they are viewed at normal printing and web display sizes.
One of the main benefits of the Bionz X processor should be operational speed. Unfortunately with the QX1, you are tied to how fast your phone is. We tried the QX1 with both an iPhone 5s and an Android-based Sony Xperia Z2: with either device, there was a fairly lengthy time lag between the shot being taken and it appearing on the screen, thus making shot-to-shot times very slow indeed.
Verdict
On one hand, the QX1 produces great images. On the other, the camera is unwieldy. While the QX10 was a cheap and fun addition to your smartphone, which gave you the added benefits of a digital zoom, using the QX1 seems a little incongruous. Surely most people who want this kind of image quality, the freedom to change lenses and the ability to shoot in raw format will invest in a conventional camera.
Although using the QX1 while it’s attached to your phone is a pretty unrewarding experience, it’s a lot more useful when it’s mounted on a tripod or in a different location, with you controlling it on your phone from a distance. But this is something you can do with many wirelessly connected cameras.