What you need to know
- A $6,000 Zeiss camera is finally going on pre-order soon.
- The camera was announced in 2018 for release in 2019 but has suffered delays.
- It's powered by Android to make tweaking and sharing your photos more convenient.
An Android-powered camera made by Zeiss will soon available for pre-order, a report from DPReview says. Known as the ZX1, The camera was announced years ago in 2018, but has since then existed in vaporware limbo. At least, until this weekend. Speciality retailer B&H sent out emails notifying customers that the Zeiss ZX1 was available to pre-order at an eye-watering price of $6,000 at long last.
As far as its basic camera hardware goes, it's a full-frame, fixed lens camera. Hardware-wise, it features an integrated Zeiss Distagon 35 mm f/2 T lens with autofocus paired with a 37.4 megapixel full-frame sensor. It's a camera that brings the point and shoot aspect that's popular with smartphones (and point and shoot cameras of the old days) back into focus. So why the Android integration?
Jörg Schmitz, Head of the Consumer Products business group at ZEISS, explained:
We know that we exploring new ways and initially addressing a special target group with the ZEISS ZX1. With our concept we are focusing on ambitious, professional creatives who want to produce their photographic experiences quickly and efficiently, and inspire as many people on the Internet as possible. This requires a streamlined workflow in addition to high-end features. This is exactly what the concept of the ZEISS ZX1 offers. explains
TL: DR, Android integration is important for powering the "shoot, edit, share" workflow that Zeiss is pushing. With Adobe Lightroom on board, you can edit your photos right on the camera without needing to offload them to a tablet or other adjacent devices. There's a lot of space for photo-storage too. It comes with 512GB of storage built-in which Zeiss says can store "6,800 RAW files (DNG) or over 50,000 JPGs". Not that the company will stop you from getting your photos off the camera, whether you want to use Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth, or USB-C, it's got support for all three standards.
DPReview says the camera is available for pre-order, but it's possible the notification email from B&H came just a smidge to early. Looking at the site, there's only a box that says "Notify when available" visible at the time of writing. On the other hand, if you were excited for this camera, you probably don't have much longer to wait.
Zeiss ZX1
This could be the best Android camera you buy if you can look past the price. Offering a Zeiss Distagon 35 mm f/2 T lens with autofocus paired with a 37.4 megapixel full-frame sensor, 512 GB of storage, built-in Lightroom, and a 4.3-inch touch screen for fiddling with your photos, it's not a bad deal.
