SINGAPORE — This year has been an exciting one for smartphone cameras. Nokia recently launched its Lumia 1020 smartphone with a 41-megapixel camera while Samsung’s Galaxy S4 Zoom impressed many with its 10x optical zoom.

Now it is Sony’s turn to rewrite the rules of mobile imaging with its new range of Cyber-Shot lens-style cameras — the QX10 and the QX100.

We managed to get our hands on a review unit for the QX10, and were impressed at what Sony’s innovative new creation has brought to the world of cameras.

The QX10 is the cheaper of the two new devices, and features a 18.2 million pixel, 1/2.3-inch sensor, 10x optical zoom and a Bionz image processor. By comparison, the QX100 features a one-inch, 20.2 million pixel sensor.

Connecting the cameras to your smartphone or tablet is simple enough. You can pair the camera to any Android or iOS smartphone or tablet via WiFi using Sony’s very own PlayMemories Mobile app or — if you have a compatible device — through NFC (near-field communications), which I found to be the easier option. The QX100 and QX10 can also be physically connected to devices that are 54-75mm wide and no more than 13mm thick using an attachment.

After pairing the devices, your smartphone or tablet will serve as a viewfinder for the lens and you can also control the zoom, focus and shutter from the screen.

The biggest highlight for me was the QX10’s ability to take a picture without needing to be attached to your smartphone. This is useful for everything from taking selfies to framing high-angle shots. To make life easier, the QX10 has a flat bottom so you do not even have to use a tripod to keep it stable.

Unfortunately, the QX10 is not the ideal device to have when you need to capture a moment quickly.

Clipping on the lens to the smartphone is time-consuming and there is a slight time lag when viewing the QX10’s display on the smartphone, which gets worse the further you zoom.

The QX10 also lacks some important features found on many compact cameras. Shooting options in low-light conditions is limited due to the lack of a built-in flash and you cannot capture several images at once due to the lack of burst modes.

Despite these shortcomings, the QX10 does take some fabulous pictures.

Images captured are crisp and clear and the colour accuracy is better than anything taken on all the smartphones and compact cameras I have tested this year. Auto focus was also very quick and the camera responds smoothly when you attempt to can change the autofocus point by tapping on the screen of the paired device.

I was also impressed with the quality of shots taken in low-light conditions given the fact that the QX10 does not have a built-in flash. This is mainly thanks to the QX10’s large sensor and Twilight Mode, which takes a number of shots and then combines them to produce an image with lower noise.

The QX10 is not the perfect camera, but its positives greatly outweigh the negatives. It is small enough to fit in your pocket, easy to set up and most importantly, takes great pictures. Sony has started something bold and exciting with the QX10 and QX100, and with a few improvements, it could just be the future of photography.

The Cyber-Shot QX10 and Cyber-Shot QX100 lense-style cameras will be available in Singapore from Oct 24 and will cost S$349 and S$649 respectively.