If you can’t beat them, join them. The DxO One.

If you can’t find the small camera that you dream of, what can you do? Well you can build it yourself as DxO has done. But the world is full of compact cameras vying for the market that Smart Phones are slowly taking over. But in a ‘thinking out of the box’ exercise DxO’s thought was ‘if you can’t beat them (literally) join them’.

The DxO One camera is the latest in a small line of camera accessories that attach themselves to smart phones, in DxO One’s case exclusively at the moment to iOS devices from iOS 8 up.

As you can see from the images the camera is able to be used standalone but by joining the iPhone and using it as a viewfinder and controller you enter a much better photographic world with specs like 20.2 MP and an one inch BSI sensor with an f1.8 lens.

Made of high-grade aluminum, the DxO ONE has been engineered with the iPhone and iPad in mind. It attaches via the Lightning connector, turning the iPhone display into the camera’s viewfinder. The camera only swivels ±60° so caution is advisable as you search for an angle.

A free iOS app enables control of the individual settings on the DxO ONE camera, including aperture (from f/1.8 to f/11), shutter speed (from 15s to 1/8000s), and ISO (from 100 to 51200). In addition to an Auto mode, the DxO ONE app offers various capture modes, including multiple Scene modes, Speed, Aperture Priority, or full Manual mode – and the camera interface automatically adapts to the selected.

It also records videos at 1080p/30fps or 720p/120fps.

In addition to the built-in microSD memory card, photos or video can be automatically stored in the iOS camera roll, where they are displayed on the iPhone’s or iPad’s screen, and can be shared to the usual places.

You can record two types of RAW files: default RAW files in DNG format, and DxO’s proprietary SuperRAW™ format which automatically merges four RAW files into one.

“SuperRAW™ and DxO’s image processing, which includes the very latest in spatial and temporal noise reduction, allows the ONE to achieve a DxO Mark sensor score of up to 85*, demonstrating that the quality of images produced by DxO ONE far exceeds that of most high-end digital cameras, even DSLRs costing and weighing considerably more.”

DxO ONE is powered by its own rechargeable battery and saves the pictures you take to a microSD memory card. They promise it won’t drain your iPhone battery, and you can choose whether or not to automatically save photos to your iPhone.

You can use the DxO ONE as a standalone camera, but you’ll need a compatible iPhone or iPad to get the big, interactive viewfinder and many other DSLR features. When connected, you can access your DxO ONE photos on your iPhone and iPad.

Default images from DxO ONE are captured as DNG files so you can view and edit them in Adobe Lightroom or your preferred photo app. In addition, you get DxO FilmPack for free and DxO OpticsPro Elite Edition (free for a limited time).

This all sounds great and new until you get to the price which is a whopping £499 in the UK, ironically you could possibly get an iPhone 6 for that.

The DxO is now available for pre-order via their website with delivery planned for Q4 2015. (For a limited time it comes with free licenses for DxO OpticsPro (raw image processing software) and DxO FilmPack for analog film looks).

DXO

If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them. The DxO One Camera