Give Sony points for creativity if nothing else: the QX series is unlike any gadget you've seen before. These smartphone add-on lenses made a big impact (for better or worse) at IFA and now the cheaper model is available for purchase on Amazon, right on schedule. The DSC-QX10 is $248 in both black and white, but the QX100 is marked as releasing on October 15th, and shows as "out of stock" from one of the other resellers. The lenses don't seem to be popping up anywhere else.

Both lenses connect to an Android phone (from any manufacturer) or iPhone and use it as a viewfinder, settings panel, and for photo storage. The DSC-QX10 is the more budget-friendly option, at least in relative terms, thanks to its 18.1MP sensor and F/3.3 lens. It's also got a 10x optical zoom. The DSC-QX100 bumps up the image quality with a 1-inch 20.2MP sensor and a faster F/1.8 lens, but you'll have to make do with 3.6x optical zoom. It's also got a manual focus ring. Numerous operational drawbacks like a short battery life, shockingly slow photo transfers, and a lack of manual settings will probably keep dedicated photography enthusiasts away. Check out our hands-on report for more details.

The QX lenses work with any Android device running 3.1 or higher and include a little clip-on base, so I suppose it might be useful if you want to upgrade your phone's camera and nothing else. But with high price tags and low functionality, I can't really see people lining up for these things. Then again, the Amazon sellers are already running low on inventory, so what do I know?

Amazon: QX10 Black, QX10 White, QX100