Looking for a new camera and happen to have a couple thousand bucks burning a hole in your pocket? You're in luck: Sony and Leica on Wednesday both announced new cameras that will have any photographer unintentionally reaching for their wallet.
Leica's is perhaps the biggest surprise. The Q, or Type 116, combines the elegant styling and excellent build quality Leica is known for with a powerful 24-megapixel, full-frame sensor and a fixed 28mm F/1.7 lens. Considering Leica's other cameras in that range cost several thousand dollars and their lenses often cost even more than the cameras themselves, it's a surprise that the Q sells for a measly (in Leica terms) $4,000.
Of course, that makes it a wildly expensive luxury item for most, but it's half or a quarter the price of other Leicas and, if early impressions are to be trusted, just as capable.
Sony, for its part, released a new version of the popular RX100 series, now up to the Mark IV. The point-and-shoot-sized camera has a new 20-megapixel sensor that can capture 4K video — and also super slow-motion video. The electronic viewfinder has also been given a resolution boost. It'll cost about $1,000 when it's released later this year.
But the true flagship of Sony's fleet is the a7R II, a compact but insanely powerful interchangeable-lens body with a new full-frame sensor so sensitive you could probably use it as a night-vision camera — and it's great at video, too. Autofocus has also been improved, and can be used with some non-Sony lenses. At $3,200, this camera is definitely aimed at pros.
