Over the following nine minutes, air traffic controllers frantically tried to make contact with the cockpit, from which only heavy breathing and electronic noises could be heard before the microphone finally went dead.

BBC: Australian 'ghost flight' still a mystery

Both models include 270-degree swivel 921k-dot touch-enabled TruBlack LCDs and XGA OLED eye-level electronic viewfinders, along with Sony's new Multi Interface Shoe, which enables XLR microphone inputs through an optional accessory.

ENGADGET: Sony announces NEX-VG30 and full-frame NEX-VG900 Handycams, we go hands-on

The cameras were revealed along with a slew of new products that Leica's showing during Germany's Photokina convention, including a range of new accessories (the Leica R-Adapter M, the Leica EVF2 electronic viewfinder, the multifunctional handgrip-M with optional finger loops, and the Leica Microphone adapter set).

ENGADGET: Leica launching new Leica M in early 2013, stripped-down M-E available this month