The software maker DxO just made their very first hardware. And it’s a [shoplink 37764 ebay]Sony QX[/shoplink] competitor, a plugin photocamera! The “DxO One” uses the Sony 1 inch 20MP sensor in a very compact and portable device which unlike the QX cameras you simply plugin into your iPhone. I have not tested that jiggle yet but from the pictures it really looks like a more handy solution than the Sony QX. it’s more compact, it has a hardware connection (no Wifi or Bluetooth connection needed) and also from the ergonomic it looks more “balanced”.
There is a short video and many more info on their DxO website. What do you think about it?
81 Responses
seams to be an Apple driven product…
Hardware and ergonomics look good, but the price is wrong. You can buy a Samsung NX Mini with basically the same sensor and a 24mm equivalent pancake lens for $199. Is this thing worth the $400 premium? Would you rather get this over an RX100_ or A6000?
Shit, for $599 I would at least expect optical image stabilization.
Interesting concept! A 1 inch sensor camera with fixed f1.8 lens should be able to produce very good IQ. And is nice, small and portable. I hope you can ALSO use it over WiFi. I wonder what the price will be.
from the picture I find it more convenient than the Sony solution. But I hat that Iphone-exclusive-thing…
Depends on your view. i own a QX1 and for people already owning a e-mount it makes much more sense. The way i can use it (and do)
1) charger in the bag, yes i can charge from a 15000mah block while i am shooting with my real camera. I just use the QX1 inside the bag hooked up. Not only do you get a spare battery (from the 299 price) its a mobile charging station.
2) video backup/second camera, I can use the same lenses as my main camera
3) backup camera, sure the quality will be less but can still use my normal lenses if something goes wrong. As a second body its very small (again no lens attached in my
bag)
4) Price : its 299 euro vs 649 euro. Even with a lens its much cheaper to have the QX1
5) You can still use a iOS and/or android device as a remote. The remote part is important and part of the fun of the system. Yes the connection issues are a downside but there is also gains something that is 100% lost with this device.
I think the QX1 is a great ‘plug’ to have with you if you are already invested in e-mount even if the uses are complex and for me a mix of nice to haves from extra battery, charger and backup to having a secondpoint camera for video in a pinch. In that ‘sliced’ value method its very good value.
Daniel.
Why not look at this little thing as a bundle with DxO software? for a limited time they are offering optics pro elite and filmpack along with it. Those software can cost you $300 USD.
Ok maybe my comment was more aimed at what the value is for the sony and i think there are multiple if you are already in the emount world. The same can be stated if you have other logics to get the price down. To be fair i think the base product should be compared with the QX100 not the QX1 given that the specs are much closer.
you are completely right. I wrote my comment from a viewpoint of just owning such a camera without any other e-mount equipment. I also did not had a look at the price..
I can foresee it breaks easily from the connection between the phone and the camera.
Yet, it might ruin the phone’s terminal in the process.
This will be a flop thanks to having an insane price of $600.
Maybe not; this is aimed at the people who bought the watch. It’s a ‘get noticed’ product.
As a company that assess Camera sensors and lenses, I doubt their assessment to their own product and also find it strange that they haven’t published the lens+sensor assessment, like they are used to do with other cameras+lenses combos.
Looks pretty neat, though I’m not sure how durable is the lightning connector, the last thing I want is my lightning connector to be damaged
A extension cable would be a must for me to pair with this camera. It avoids damaging and gives more flexibility, especially when you have a case for your iPhone.
If you look at their web page’s video, the camera wobbles quite a bit when connected to the iPhone. Maybe they need a rubber footing to flush with the area around the lighting connector. But I say it will be less versatile plugged in in contrast with the wireless solution but let down by connectivity bottle neck…
When I did a mockup of something similar six years ago (!), we had little wings that came out and stabilized the device to the phone when connected. It seemed to me that was necessary if you wanted to be able to rotate the device reliably.
For the price tag I think I’ll just stretch the few hundred more and get an RX100…
I do like the ergonomics of it though. Hopefully Sony is watching 😉
I’m sure sony was the one that approved of this, as it uses sony’s 20mp BSI 1″ sensor. Normally sony keeps the BSI 1″ sensors to themselves. They probably approved it because economically, the QX was a failure (didn’t sell that many, but good concept however), therefore they aren’t loosing by giving up that niche market.
The 1″ BSI sensor is on Sony’s list of sensors they’ll sell to anyone.
anyone? what about hobbyists?
Yes and no. A true hobbyist would have a difficult time getting the sales department’s attention, and then they’d probably be refused because Sony doesn’t sell onesies. Some “smarter” hobbyists cloak themselves as a startup and order an evaluation kit (warning: more expensive than a sensor).
Sony Semiconductor isn’t set up to deal with consumers; it deals with OEMs. Approach it like an OEM and you’ll probably get the key to the door. Approach it like a consumer and you’ll find the moat filled with water and crocs, the bridge up, and the gate locked.
are prices for evaluation kits public?
why don’t other traders (e.g. on ebay) sell sony’s sensors? besides hobbyists, there are repair shops
I suspect that one needs so sign NDA before getting eval kit, so it’s not what I understand as “sells to everyone”
But as DxO said they are providing filmpack and optics pro elite (the latter is a limited offer) along with the camera at this time, the price seems OK. DxO’s elite OP has 3 seats, thus it’s a pretty nice bargain compared with Capture 1.
And the Apple only thing, just, why?.. Do companies not like making money? Do they enjoy spitting in the face of the market majority? There were over 1 billion Android handsets shipped in 2014 alone. And probably like, at least, two dozen whole Windows phones.
Android devices vary vastly in price. There is a high chance the amount of android users who are into this concept is smaller compared with those among iPhone users.
No, it’s not Android price differences that are the problem, it’s Android OS versions, connectors, sizes, and other physical differences that become problematic. With Apple, you can design to a common standard (indeed, Apple enforces this), and you could even require that the user update to the latest OS version. You can’t get that level of commonality in the Android world. Indeed, even within just the Samsung products, I’m not sure that you could get a single commonality as large as the iPhone/iPad commonality.
DxO is obviously targeted the biggest one-design audience it could find. If the ONE is successful, I’m sure that they’ll bring it to a subset of the Android market.
This is of course part of the issue. Yet I don’t think you should put this before considering whether your target customers would like this.
Android users are smart enough to get a a6000 instead at that price.
Cellphone charging ports are constantly being damaged merely from chaging.
Use of this device will quickly destroy your charging port.
Phone companies will not fix broken charging ports, tjey require you to get a new phone…
I am more concerned the plug on the camera would get snapped. In rare cases, malfunctioning chargers caused real damage. Most of the time an iphone does not hold charge because the battery reached the end of life.
Yup~ Look at the video on their web page. It wobbles on the iPhone when using it… bad sign…
I suspect you’re an Android user ;~).
The Lightning connection on the iPhone/iPad is a bit different than the USB connectors used on many other products. The vulnerability for most Lightning connections isn’t the connector itself, it’s the circuitry that lives in the little plastic bit outside the connection, which on the ONE would be housed in the camera.
I constanly use mobile devices in the car.
Both the male and female emds of the charging ports fail long before the devices fail, just from charging and car movement alone.
Port failure is not covered in any warranty and cell phone providers do not repair ports.
A bulky plug in device will most definitrly damage both the camera and phone ends of the connection. This device will be a consumer nightmare.
And these mobile devices are Apple iOS devices with Lightning connectors?
So far I have only replaced the charger on an iphone but have had damaged ports to 2 apple notebooks and niumerous non apple devices.
The nature of what I do subjects these devices to more movement and vibration than the average user.
This device visibly appears to create undue stress to the port, and there is no long term endurance testing available to show that it does not.
Anyone using this device will do so at thier own risk because apple does not support it.
Sonys device attaches to the phone itself and not the fragile port.
I predict that DxO will be overwhelmed by complaints like this and this product will not be on the market long.
“Charger on an iPhone” is the brick cube, which is a USB plug. “Ports on 2 Apple notebooks” are also USB plugs would be my guess. Don’t conflate your results with one connector with all connectors. Also, I’d point out that I travel all over the world, and into the extremes of Africa with my Apple gear and don’t have the problems you report. I’m not exactly gentle with my gear, either. I’ve yet to have a port problem on anything, and I’m charging MacBook Pros in Land Cruisers while bouncing around the savannah. But again, that’s not a USB connection ;~).
And again, I’ll point out that companies like Zoom have been making devices very similar to what DxO is doing for quite some time and continue to do so. I’m not aware of them having undue issues with the Lightning port.
You sound like a total clutz if what you say is true. I’ve owned smartphones since before they were the least bit smart and I’ve never had a port fail on me (knock on wood). A consumer nightmare? OK, Machiavelli.
Due to circumstances I cannot control my mobile devises have a much tougher life than the average mobile devises.
QX1F (Full Frame) will be much appealing~
But hey, Sony really needs to fix the connection bottle neck or maybe wait for next gen connectivity to be matured.
I’m not sure if the wifi connection is really the issue with the QX series – plenty of devices have no problem streaming realtime video over wifi.
The issue is that the CPU handling the wifi connection and/or the software is very weak/fragile. My QX100 is a massive deadlock-fest. Also, Sony keeps forgetting that these devices don’t have any buttons and that they have to add features to the wifi connection that aren’t needed on cameras with buttons, such as the ability to actually delete pictures. Not even the cheapest of point-and-shoots require you to connect a PC to delete pictures, but the QX100 sure does.
I suspect is the firmware and stuff, sony really sucks at software. When I got myself the A77, Im thinking why the startup time so long and the firmware feels clumsy and very sluggish. They need to hire more software engineer~
WiFi introduces an unpredictable lag. It’s not that you can’t move the data over the connection, it’s that the data loses a connection with real time. In essence, shutter lag.
those ARE needed on cameras with buttons too… just to lesser extent
e.g. when camera is on tripod
After 2 weeks of the DXO launch, users report lighting connector snapped and jammed in their iPhone.
After several years of using products like the Zoom iQ series of mics that do the same thing, no reports of Lightning connectors snapped that I’m aware of.
Usb input would’ve enabled android versions and older iphones and perhaps the future iphones as well…nice try though.
I’m sure if the ONE is successful, DxO will do an Android version. Might be a little trickier, though, as there isn’t much commonality in OS version, plug use, or device size/characteristics in the Android world.
The price is right there on the DxO site. €649. And “only” $599 in the US.
wonder how long until people are complaining because they screwed up the port on their iPhones???
The 30-pin and Lightning connectors on iPhones and iPads have been used for mechanical and additional devices for some time, mostly in the music and audio side of things. Some of those “add-ons” are bigger and heavier than the ONE, but I’m not aware of any problems caused by them.
If I desperately need a 1″ sensor in my mobile Panasonic’s CM1 phone that uses the same Sony sensor is a much more practical solution.
Alternatively I can just carry an RX100 camera that’s also fully pocketable and gives way better IQ, lens, EVF, ergonomics, especially the latest version with the newer gen. stacked sensor.
Sony QX cameras at least have some usage off-camera being connected via wifi, while this thing has to be connected to an iPhone.
I’ll grant you the EVF and ergonomics. I think you’re premature at judging something in terms of its performance when it hasn’t been tested by anyone but its manufacturer yet. While I think DxOMark is now completely tarnished by what DxO did in the ONE announcement (e.g. present a post-processed score for the SuperRAW), they did measure the raws from the ONE the same as they did the RX100III, and the ONE scored higher.
it has PRIME lens therefore it has more IQ in smaller package.
The Panasonic CM1 has prime lens as well, plus it is built into your phone already.
this is the most ridiculous design I ve ever seen.
No wifi but a lightning connector? not even an extended cable for more flexibility？
and wow, can’t use it alone？
I am more interested to know what kind of drug did the designer use and where to buy
You can use it alone. You just don’t have a viewfinder or image review.
It will be more attractive if it can shoot 4k video.
Also I only use Xperia Phone from Sony. 🙂
As it turns out, the DxO ONE is about the lowest price 1″ sensor product out there. That’s even more true when you consider they’re throwing in a 64GB card and DxO OpticsPro.
The Nikon 1 J5 is $499 with lens. Considering you can often find a 30% opticsPro coupon (retailmenot) and data cards are cheap (or included with some purchases, the Nikon remains competitive – especially if you don’t need/want that bundled software.
Which is why I wrote “about the lowest price…” and not “the lowest priced.”
ONE is small where J5 is nearly A6000-sized which not much higher in cost.
You have got to be kidding. This is basically a stitching box with a crappy little lens.
From its review ( from DXO themselves ……!! )
“The DxO ONE camera’s score of up to 85 puts it on par with many DSLR cameras, such as the Nikon D7200 and the Sony A7S (both with a score of 87), and is well above such Canon DSLRs as the EOS 5D Mark III (81) and the 7D Mark II (70). This score also places it in third among compact cameras, just behind the full-frame Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1 and the DSC-RX1R, which score 93 and 91, respectively.”
DXO just lost all credibility now.
OK, so its 649,– € has an akward design, shitty to hold, poor battery life, no flash, no zoom, crappy lens. It will drain both iphone and own battery. and look at the dimensions:
one: 67,5 x 48,85 x 26,25 mm
rx100mk3: 102 x 58 x 41 mm
Add additional 20,– € and you’ll get an rx100mk3. I’d rather put the rx100mk3 in my pocket…
I know that Iphone have bad camera, but WTF, nobody use a IPhone…everyone and his sisters are using android phone. this is a nice market for some people that already in a nice market…
Calling a 200Milj. units a year products a nice market is pushing it. I am sure they did the research and found that the avg iphone owner would be more willing to buy this product and the size of the market is big enough.
Maybe in Uzbekistan, where it sounds like you’re from, but in the U.S. The iPhone has 43% of the smartphone market.
I guess it was about a month ago now, but DXO had the iPhone 6 ranked as its best phone camera.
Yeah, not only you don’t get your number wrong but you’re racist. A real Iphone user.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2015/04/06/apples-worldwide-iphone-market-share-declining-except-in-china/
What race am I insulting? A nationality isn’t anything sacred. Feel free to take a sh** on the U.S. if you want, it’s practically expected internet etiquette.
Forbes is the Teen Vogue of the business lit world, but, using 38% or 43%, I think you get the point.
btw IIRC homosexual acts still not legal in Uzbekistan, surely they won’t like Apple
as much as I hate apple I don’t agree. They have a pretty good camera an almost everyone owns one.
What? Are you high?
Sensible idea from dxo!! unlike sony’s QX.
It’s so small so it risks being outlawed 🙁
It’s got no zoom. I expected more from a camcorder design. So essentially for $600 you are just paying for a gain of 2 stops in ISO. Still have to use digital zoom though. I see much more sense in QX than I do in this thing. And QX is Android compatible too, this thing is not.
So let’s see:
Pro’s:
1) more compact
Con’s
1) Phone System locked
2) has to be plugged into a phone
3) no zoom
4) no flash
i didn’t know they ask $600 for it. strange why there are no cheap 1″ cameras. NX mini costs almost as much as A3500 which also has EVF.
1) they probably will release android version eventually
2) it has shutter button so it can operate w/o phone
2) that is just to give you a physical button to focus and take the picture, not for using it detached.
hey, a hint for you — put it in a DSLR mockup, and you’ll see its image quality raise tremendously.
For $600, I’d rather have RX100ii and WITH ZOOM…
Yep, and RX100 has a score of 66, which has the same sensor, and a ton of other features that this doesn’t have.
Don’t own an iPhone.. don’t want an iPhone.. At least Sony I can use other phone platforms.. though in general I still don’t get the value of a camera that can fall off your phone and eats its battery vs just having a nice portable camera when you want more than the phone can do.