New cameras appear from all corners on an almost daily basis but the DSC-R1 from Sony is worthy of some attention. It’s the latest and greatest model in Sony’s line of “prosumer” digital cameras and it’s got a few very interesting features:

- An APS-C sized sensor. To put it simply the sensor is responsible for capturing the incoming light from the lens and turning it into an image. Bigger sensors = better picture quality and this sensor is the same physical size as the ones Canon and Nikon put in their SLR’s! This is a first for the smaller digital cameras.

- The bigger sensor gives them more room to play with, so they used it wisely. The DSC-R1 has 10.3 megapixels which makes it completely unique.

- A 24-120mm (35mm equivalent) Carl Zeiss zoom lens. Zeiss make some fine optical glass and Sony have partnered with them before on their high end models to very good effect.

DPReview have the lowdown and a hands on preview.