Say goodby to the “old” CCD sensor tech. Sony now officially switched all their effort on CMOS sensor development and production only. The news comes via Allied Vision:

“Many in the industry had expected this to happen sooner or later. As you know, CMOS sensors have become more and more popular in the last couple of years. With greatly improved image quality, sensitivity, dynamic range and speeds, they have outpaced CCD technology of late. Sony’s decision is a logical step in that context to provide further capacity for CMOS growth.”

Found via Image Sensor World.

If you want to know how Sony describes the Sony QX concept you can read their full patent here: freepatentsonline.com/8947589.pdf. A small curiosity: They also have the idea to make a square QX camera (image on top).

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QX1-QX30 store links
E-mount QX1 in USA at Amazon (Click here), SonyStore US (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), FocusCamera (Click here).
E-mount QX1 in Europe at Sony DE, Sony UK, Sony FR, Sony ES, Sony IT, Sony NL, Sony NO, Sony BE, Sony PT, Sony SE, Sony FI.
E-mount QX1 in Asia at Digitalrev (Click here).
QX30 in USA at Amazon (Click here), SonyStore US (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), FocusCamera (Click here).
QX30 in Asia at Digitalrev (Click here).

QX10-QX100 store links
QX100: Amazon (Click here), SonyUS (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), SonyCA (Click here).
Black QX10: Amazon (Click here), SonyUS (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), SonyCA (Click here).
White QX10: Amazon (Click here), SonyUS (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here).
Black QX100 at SonyDE, Amazon.de (via DealsRunner), Amazon France (via DL), SonyUK, SonyES, SonyIT, SonyNL, SonyBE, SonyAT, SonyCH, SonySE, SonyFI, SonyNo.
Black QX10 at SonyDE, Amazon.de (via DealsRunner), Amazon France (via DL), SonyUK, SonyES, SonyIT, SonyNL, SonyBE, SonyAT, SonyCH, SonySE, SonyFI, SonyNo.
White QX10 at SonyDE, Amazon.de (via DealsRunner), Amazon France (via DL), SonyUK, SonyES, SonyIT, SonyNL, SonyBE, SonyAT, SonyCH, SonySE, SonyFI, SonyNo.

The Germany company Meyer-Optik-Görlitz took the Chinese Zy Optics f/0.95 lenses and “upgraded” them. UPDATE: Meyer-Optik-Görlitz contacted me to share the following info:

“Components for Meyer-Optik-Görtlitz lenses are :
*   sourced internationally
*   assembled, adjusted, tested and therefore made in Germany
*   shipped with a 5 year guarantee from a German manufacturer”
*   Our lenses are improved in terms of material characteristic and mechanical quality
*   To name a few: We use alternative components, eg. use materials supplied by a supplier of the German Avionic industry to guarantee precision
*   we apply high-tech oils to improve slide ways and adjusting ranges
*   special focus is assigned to quality assurance and minimization of the serial spread. Thus our QA testing and adjustment for each lens takes up to 3,5 h and 2 h on average.
*   Our close quality tolerances currently lead to a  reject rate of 50% for core components

This means they add a serious quality control on the Zy Optics lenses.

Their Nocturnus 35mm f/0.95 E-mount lens is priced at 1.999 Euro and has the exact specs of the 2-3 times cheaper [shoplink 33793 ebay]Zy Optics 35mm f/0.95 lens you can find on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. The same lens also can be found under the [shoplink 33798 ebay]Mitakon brand name (Click here)[/shoplink].
Their Nocturnus 50mm f/0.95 E-mount lens is priced at 1.999 Euro and has the exact specs of the 2 times cheaper [shoplink 33795 ebay]Zy Optics 35mm f/0.95 lens you can find on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. The same lens also can be found under the [shoplink 33799 ebay]Mitakon brand name (Click here)[/shoplink].