For all the advances in smartphone photography, you still don’t really have a DSLR-quality camera in your pocket when you’re carrying one (not yet anyway). DxO’s One, a tiny little box with a lens, a relatively large image sensor for its compact size and a Lightning connector changed all that last year, and now it’s getting a suite of accessories to bump up the value.
The new line of DxO accessories includes an outdoor shell, which makes the camera water- and weatherproof while you’re out riding your bike, or at up to 45 meters depth (just shy of 150 feet)  ; a stand, which is equally portable but provides more stability and which works with a new software feature, Wi-Fi remote control; and an optical adapter, which lets you screw new 30.5mm diameter filters over your DxO One’s lens, so you can use things like polarizers or ND filters.
The Wi-Fi remote feature has a nifty feature where it uses your iPhone’s Wi-Fi connection to get you on the local network automatically, and the DxO One will also let you connect to your iPhone directly via Wi-Fi when you’re not in range of any networks (if you’re backpacking in the woods, for instance). The Wi-Fi remote control option is coming to all existing DxO One cameras via a 2.0 software update, which is coming free to device owner sin the second half of September.
The software update also adds a new Mobile Smart Lighting feature that offers intelligent tone control via scene analysis, and improves power consumption. A new on-demand autofocus mode brings it closer to mimicking true DSLR capabilities, and there’s a new white balance setting specifically for shooting underwater images that will balance out the overwhelming blue cast you get when shooting under the ocean.
Speaking of shooting while swimming, that new rugged shell includes two back door options, one of which is designed for use outdoors in rain or on boats (it has IP67 water resistance) and the other for actual submersion of up to 150 feet. Built into the shell itself are a 30.5 mm thread for filter add-ons (like the one on the separate filter adapter accessory) and a tripod mount that can also work with GoPro-style mounting accessories.
DxO’s outdoor case will retail for $59, and the filter adapter will sell for $25, while the stand retails for $20.
The amazing thing about all of this is that a lot of the biggest new features are coming to the DxO One camera free of charge, including that Wi-Fi remote shooting. I’ve been using a DxO One since basically when they came out, and it really makes a difference, especially if you shoot a lot of portraits indoors. Can’t wait to try out the new features, and turn it into my new dive cam.
