Sony QX-10, a special experience

[alex ph]

You might know these "cameraless" devices from the 2013 conceived by Sony (as well as by some other makers) to work as a smartphone extension. I mean Sony QX-10 as a simpler model and QX-100 based on the same highly praised 1" sensor as RX100 M2. What you get in your hand, when you have a chance to put one in it, is basically a short lens in a large barrel. There is a couple of buttons on it, and that's all. A very futuristic blind photo camera / lens, if operated without a smartphone attached.

Last year Sony stopped PlayMemories application line and withdrew it from their sites and third party stores. The app which came to change it has some compatibility issues with older cameras, at least I haven't managed to run it on my smartphone with a newly and cheaply acquired second-hand QX-10. So, I used the device as a standalone automatic shooter which might be used for street and interior candids in quite a versatile way, having in mind you cannot frame on a screen and have to guess the composition, especially when the lens is zoomed out.

The blind way of shooting delivers pretty much of fun, and sometimes disappointment when the guessed and lively imagined shots fail. The fact that you operate with your arm as with a kind of bellows or a stick changes pretty much the perspective. And when you look at the results the IQ from this sensor and automatic processing are capable to impress. I'd say, this is another level of experimenting autofocus and "auto-everything" without a guaranteed outcome.

Here are some candid blind shots from the... I wished to say camera and I hesitate saying AF lens.

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