Sony Cyber-shot DSC-QX10

Sony released the QX10 in September 2013 as a lens-sensor module — not quite a camera, not quite an accessory. It clips onto a smartphone via a spring-loaded bayonet, borrows the phone's screen as a viewfinder through Wi-Fi, and puts a 10× Sony G zoom with Optical SteadyShot and an 18.2MP BSI Exmor R sensor where the phone's camera used to be. The shutter button and zoom lever are on the module itself. The phone is optional.

THE LOOKS

The QX10 in black is a 62 × 62 × 33mm cylinder — nearly square in cross section, with the Sony G lens at the front and a single status LED on the side. When clipped to a phone it looks purposeful, almost mechanical. When held alone it looks like a lens cap that got ideas above its station. The bayonet bracket adjusts to fit most smartphones and locks with a twist.

THE SPECS

The 18.2-megapixel BSI Exmor R CMOS and Sony G 10× zoom covering 25–250mm are the same optics and sensor Sony was putting in full compact cameras — here repackaged into a 105g cylinder with no screen. The camera connects to a smartphone via NFC tap or Wi-Fi, using the phone's display as a viewfinder through PlayMemories Mobile. Optical SteadyShot keeps shots stable at the 250mm end. 1080/30p video in MP4. The bayonet mount adjusts to fit most smartphones. 62.4 × 61.8 × 33.3mm, 105g.

DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS

• No screen — the smartphone is the viewfinder via Wi-Fi: removing the LCD entirely kept the module small enough to actually pocket alongside a phone.
• 25–250mm Sony G zoom with Optical SteadyShot in 105g: the reach of a superzoom and sensor quality well beyond any 2013 smartphone, in a body small enough to clip to a phone case.
• NFC one-tap pairing with Android: touch the QX10 to the phone and the connection establishes — no menus, no passwords, the fastest wireless camera pairing of 2013.

THE VERDICT

The QX10 is awkward in exactly the way all new ideas are awkward. The PlayMemories app was slow, the Wi-Fi pairing added latency, and holding a phone with a cylinder bolted to it required a new grip every time. What it delivered in exchange: 25–250mm reach and a BSI sensor that no smartphone of 2013 could touch. It never became a category. It remains one of the more interesting objects Sony ever made.