Android smartphones with built-in cameras are very common, but do you know about "Android-equipped cameras"? In fact, in 2018, the German optical equipment manufacturer ZEISS announced the Android-equipped camera “ZEISS ZX1”, which will be released in Germany after October 2020. After that, the market continued to expand.
In the past, Panasonic also released an Android-equipped digital camera "LUMIX CM1/CM10", but as a camera it was a small 1-inch sensor. However, the ZX1 has a full-frame sensor.
The ZEISS ZX1 is being reviewed by Canadian gadget YouTube channel "ShortCircuit".
ZEISS has developed many cameras, but this is the first Android-equipped model. The theme of "Shoot, edit, share" is written on the box, and unlike smartphones, you cannot install your favorite apps, but image editing software "Adobe Lightroom CC" and "Instagram" are built-in. , from photo editing to sharing, all in one unit.
A strap made by Peak Design is included, and this is not a bonus level, but a luxury item that photographers actually buy and use. The price is $6,000 (700,000 yen), which is expensive for both an Android device and a camera, but is it worth it?
First of all, the camera specifications are a non-interchangeable 35mm f/2 lens and a full-size 37.4 megapixel CMOS sensor. The main body has a simple design, and it is designed to adjust various settings such as shutter speed with a physical dial, which is highly evaluated in the video.
The touch display is 1280 x 720, and a slide bar for changing camera settings is displayed in the sidebar. Even while using the EVF function (when looking into the camera), settings can be adjusted on the touch screen, and the interface seems to be displayed in the viewfinder. This was highly evaluated as "super cool!" The touchscreen sensitivity is not expected to be on par with smartphones, but it is said to be one of the most accurate in a camera.
Equipped with a leaf shutter, the shutter sound is very quiet, but there is also the drawback of sacrificing the shutter speed. Although it is not suitable for shooting momentary moments of moving animals, it is necessary and sufficient for general purposes.
Many cameras have many buttons, but the ZX1 has only one button. It is a custom button that can be assigned any function in the settings, and the rest will be done on the screen. It also has a USB-C port and battery slot, but no SD card slot. This is due to the built-in 512GB SSD and design that does not require an SD card.
Of course, video recording is also possible, up to 4K/30fps or full HD/60fps. It's very mediocre and doesn't really stand out.
As mentioned above, the only applications that can be installed are Lightroom and Instagram. Dropbox and OneDrive can be wirelessly connected and data synchronization is possible. Although uploading to Facebook is supported, the fact that other SNS services such as Twitter cannot be used is not sufficient for the concept that it should be possible to "take pictures and share with one device".
Then what about the actual performance? In this video, we interviewed two people, a cameraman and a geek (meaning gadget geek), about their impressions of the device. We are making an interesting attempt to verify how it works as a camera and as an Android device.
First of all, an evaluation from the perspective of an Android device from a geek. As far as I can see, the OS is Android 8 or lower. It is a function that can be adjusted from the touch screen with EVF, but it seems that it is not very popular. It is an evaluation that "I can not like it at all". The design is also "too simple. If you're targeting customers who buy things like the high-end Tesla or iMac Pro 5K, you'll understand, but I think it would be nice to have a few more buttons to give it a more luxurious feel." The list design backfired.
When asked, "How much will you pay for this?" And a terrible reaction....
A very unpopular reaction
Then the second person, this time the evaluation from the cameraman.
Regarding the design, I don't really like the fact that the grip is slightly small and you have to grab it with your fingertips. The setting function in the EVF is more highly rated than before, but rather than being functional, the reaction was just "interesting".
It is a function that allows you to edit photos on the touch screen, but "editing on a small screen feels strange and it is difficult if there are a lot of photos". The estimated price is 4000 dollars (460,000 yen) even considering that it is made by ZEISS. When I heard the list price of 6000 dollars, I returned a negative reaction again, ``Is it a bit tough ...?''
There is a slight gap between the main body and the hand, and it is not as easy to hold as it looks.
After actually using the interface such as the editing screen, it was amazing to be able to use Lightroom at this size, but it was too small and the slide bar was difficult to operate.
Editing interface
The sharpness of the image quality is very good and has been well received.
As a general comment, "The high price of 6000 dollars is probably due to the fact that it is all made in-house. That level of technology is just like ZEISS, but I don't think there is much demand for a camera with this functionality at this price. No." "It's still difficult to edit images on a small screen, but I felt that it was a very high level of technology. I can't get rid of the prototype feeling of this unit yet, but other manufacturers will develop this concept in the future. I look forward to developing the camera."
I don't have a hobby of photography, so I don't know much about the market, but I couldn't believe that the price of 700,000 yen was so inconsistent, even though it was made by a good manufacturer. I'm looking forward to the development of this gadget category.