14 DAY TRIAL // Prices of over several thousand dollars/Euro for consumer electronics are scary any day of the week but, sometimes, a product shows up that almost justifies its price tag.
Sony's RX1 digital camera may just be one of those devices, even though it seems to lack the ability to change the lens.
And by that we mean that we can see no lens release button on the photos leaked by a certain website called photoprice.ca.
Amateur photographers probably won't mind, since only real experts know when to change settings so radically, and can make the best of switching a lens for another.
Then again, the price of $2,799 / 2,189-2,799 Euro makes it clear that few people outside the professional photographer segment will see a point in buying the item.
And so we reach the point where the main perk is mentioned, one that, in the eyes of some, may even offset these two perceived disadvantages: the sensor.
Long story short, the camera has a full-frame sensor, unusual for cameras compact enough to fit in a pocket. Full-frame sensors are what give high-end DSLR cameras their quality, and such cameras aren't easily found in such small forms.
For those who want more technical details, full-frame image sensors have the same size as a 35 mm (36 x 24 mm) film frame.
That said, Sony's RX1 comes with a large 35mm f/2.0 lens rocking Carl Zeiss optics (a Sonnar lens), as well as toggle for macro focus, controls for aperture and exposure compensation, a pop-up flash, a hot shoe (for accessories) and a dial that permits owners to select between three custom settings.
Sony should formally launch the RX1 soon. Perhaps we'll get lucky and find out that the lens is, in fact, interchangeable, and that the price isn't quite so steep. Then again, we've seen this same product estimated at $3000, so the revelations can go either way.