XPONENTIAL is celebrating its European premiere, and Sony will be present. Europe's new leading trade fair for autonomous systems, autonomous mobility and robotics opens its doors for the first time at Messe Düsseldorf from 18 to 20 February. Together with drone specialist Dronivo, Sony will be presenting its high-resolution and easy-to-integrate camera systems for drones in Hall 1, Stand C20. The focus will be on the compact interchangeable lens camera ILX-LR1 and highly light-sensitive zoom camera modules (block cameras) with integrated autofocus zoom lenses. Areas of application for professional Sony cameras include autonomous systems such as drones and robots - on the ground, under water and in the sky. 

Ideal for inspection and measurement from the sky 

In response to the growing need for high quality images for professional and commercial drone users, Sony has developed the ILX-LR1 camera. The ILX-LR1 is a professional interchangeable lens camera with a 35mm full-frame image sensor with approx. 61.0 megapixels (effective) and is compatible with the Sony Camera Remote SDK, which allows various functions to be controlled remotely. With an extremely high resolution and a lightweight, compact form factor, it is ideal for drone use. The camera housing measures just 74 x 100 x 42.5 millimetres and weighs 243 grams. It has screw fixings on the front, back, top and bottom as well as on the two side surfaces for secure attachment to various frames. 

The ILX-LR1 is equipped with a back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS image sensor and Sony's exclusive BIONZ XR processors, which can deliver continuous images at up to three frames per second over an extended period of time and eight frames per second in continuous shooting if required. This makes the camera ideal for aerial photography, inspection and surveying tasks that require high precision with high resolution and great flexibility in lens selection. 

Block cameras with optical zoom capability ​ in 4K 

Block cameras for industrial use are another focus of the trade fair. For example, Sony will be showing its new block camera FCB-ER9500 . It has a 4K60P image output, which is supported by the STARVIS2 4K image sensor and a 25x optical zoom lens. This makes it suitable not only for industrial applications, such as automation technology, but also for surveillance technology. Thanks to its high light sensitivity and optical zoom power, it can deliver high-resolution image content from autonomous systems such as robots and drones, even in poor lighting conditions and at night. 

"The XPONENTIAL show is coming to Europe at exactly the right time," says Matthew Swinney, Head of Image Sensing Solutions, Sony Europe. "The use of drones in industry, agriculture and the energy sector is growing steadily and with it the need for professional and industrial imaging processes embedded in the corresponding workflows. As a technology partner, we can demonstrate the advantages of our professional camera systems here. Optimally integrable, highly flexible, powerful and easy to operate - these are the demands placed on camera technology in drones and autonomous systems. And this is exactly what our professional camera systems, together with our ecosystem partners, enable." 

Sony will be exhibiting at XPONENTIAL together with drone specialist Dronivo in Hall 1, Stand C20. 

For more information about Sony Digital Imaging Solutions for Business: https://pro.sony/de_DE/digital-imaging and https://www.image-sensing-solutions.eu  for our industrial camera range.