Longtime followers of my blog know that I have reviewed all previous Samsung NX cameras since their first review
NX10
and conducted dozens of Samsung NX workshops on all NX models.The last NX camera released by Samsung in April 2013, the
NX300
, for me, was a leap for the NX series mirrorless camera. But Samsung made NX owners wait another year before launching another NX professional camera.
Samsung NX cameras were designed to give users flexible shooting controls, something any old-school photographer would appreciate. I love the number of direct hardware buttons I can use to control iris, shutter, ISO, white balance, capture drive, exposure compensation, etc. The i function allows the user to adjust the settings by rotating the lens ring. The wireless file transfer function works better than other competitors.
Despite the excellent recording controls, the development of the NX hardware has remained somewhat stagnant over the years. Meanwhile, other manufacturers are already making progress. The Nikon 1 series offers an amazing 30 frames per second with continuous autofocus. The Sony NEX series offers the best low-noise High ISO performance. The Olympus OM-D EM1 comes very close to the DSLR shooting experience due to the precise fast AF and the short EVF blackout. The Fuji X-series is the favorite for fine art photographers due to the film-like dynamic range. Each of the brands has a unique trait that attracts a specific target segment.
When Samsung finally announces the NX30, I was excited to get my hands on it. I want to find out how much Samsung has improved on their top-end NX model.
For existing NX10/NX11/NX20 users
Here's a list of features that Samsung has improved over its flagship line:
draft
suitable for serious shooters.Samsung strengthens the handgrip, offers a taller mode dial for easier handling, a more protruding clasp, a better contoured bulge on the thumb rest.It's an absolute comfort to hold.There's no need to spend extra money to buy a separate handle like other manufacturers have done.
Generously
handle
also means better handling of heavy lenses like that
18-200mm f/3.5-6.3
or the
85mm f/1.4
portrait lens.
NX20, NX30 and Nikon D600
The NX30
touch screen
Experience feels responsive and lag-free. With the touchscreen, managing settings, browsing images, making on-screen selections, and typing on the onscreen keyboard become much faster.
battery remaining indicator
is shown in percentages.Now I know exactly how much battery is left and plan my charge more effectively.
A pretty useful one
notification panel
, inspired by the Android UI, shows memory and battery levels and allows you to quickly adjust the brightness. No more navigating the menu to temporarily adjust the screen.
iFnPlus
, a new custom function for users who want to use iFn button to access menu functions other than Aperture, Shutter, ISO, WB. Now I can use iFn button to adjust quality, set video multi-motion or Quickly disable touch controls.
i can hire
minimum shutter speed
when using program or shutter mode. This allows the NX30 to automatically select the appropriate ISO only within the shutter speed I want (minimum shutter speed is disabled if ISO is not set to Auto).
I can disable that now
mode help
, so I can switch modes faster. Before that, when rotating the mode dial, the animated UI appears with help text, which can be helpful for beginners, but slows down the mode switch.
You can configure to record automatically at defined intervals, which are activated in the "Self-timer" recording mode. Finally,
interval shooting
is a variant of timer shooting.
There is an option to disable
touch operation
, which disables the use of the touch screen during normal shooting. However, the NX30 will automatically re-enable touch operation when the user presses a button to enter function selection mode. This is a clever design: if you need to adjust the setting press a button, e.g. B. ISO, you obviously want to use the touch screen.
New smart modes
: Multiple Exposure, Smart Jump Shot, adds more creativity options without much effort.
RAW processing
: When shooting in RAW, the NX30 does not freeze for as long compared to the earlier models as it empties the buffer faster to allow for new RAW shots. However, if the buffer is more than half used and you are trying to play back images or changing capture settings, the screen freezes with "Processing". This behavior is no different from previous NX models, except that there is more buffering to prevent this from happening too often. I find that capturing bursts of 4 RAW + SFine images is fine, but anything else would hit the buffering issue. Using a faster SD card might mitigate this issue.
For readers new to Samsung NX
For others who have never touched a Samsung NX camera before, here is a short list of unique features to tempt you to try the NX30:
Dedicated keys
for quick shot checks. Aperture and shutter are easily adjusted with 2 separate wheels. Changing ISO, white balance, AF area, AF type, EV, recording drive is done using dedicated buttons and dials.
The NX series has similar buttons for an easy upgrade.
iFn
.It's a button on the camera lens that gives you access to the usual shooting controls like Aperture, Shutter, ISO, EV (Exposure Value), WB (White Balance) and adjusts it with the lens ring.For advanced users, the i-Mode lets you do the Adjust depth and contrast with no technical knowledge required.
Countless creative shooting modes. For the non-serious user, you can access the
16 smart modes
, such as Landscape, Fireworks, Portrait, Action, Panorama. Some modes such as Portrait automatically apply the skin softening effect.
image assistant
is a capture setting that lets you capture images with custom hue, saturation, sharpness, and contrast, or choose from presets such as Vivid, Retro, or Classic.
20.3MP APS-C CMOS sensor that delivers higher image detail than Micro Four-Thirds and smaller sensor formats.
Hybrid AF
, which combines AF with contrast-detection and phase-detection for faster AF.
Shutter speed 1/8000s, 9 fps (frames per second) full 20.3 MP resolution or 10/15/30 fps at 5 MP
Unique
tiltable EVF
lets you shoot at challenging angles. Although the 3-inch Super AMOLED tilting screen is more flexible, the EVF is better for composing shots with better stability and less distraction.
edit pictures
is easy for the NX30 after you've taken the shot. From cropping and resizing to adjusting brightness, contrast and hue, images don't need to be downloaded to your PC for easy editing.
Able to
charge
the NX30 with portable battery via micro USB. You can even use the camera while charging. The NX30 battery is rated at 1410 mAh and is not compatible with previous NX models.
Large selection of lenses
.Today there are NX lenses that cover 10mm to 200mm.In addition to the usual 18-55mm kit lens, there are rectilinear fisheye lenses 10mm, wide-angle lenses with a fixed focal length of 16mm, 20mm, 30mm, the Ultra wide-angle zoom 12-24mm f4-5.6, the all-in-one zoom 18-200mm f3.5-6.3. There are specialty lenses such as macro 60mm f2.8, portrait 85mm f1.4, 2D/3D 45mm. There's even the high-end pro zoom lens 16-50mm f2-2.8 (below).
The huge 16-50mm lens feels comfortable with the NX30's large grip.
Bundled with
Adobe Lightroom 5
.Samsung bundles over $200 worth of Lightroom 5 so you can easily enhance your photos. I also use Lightroom to edit most of my photos.
A little post-processing goes a long way.
Wireless photo sharing
As with other Samsung smart cameras with Wi-Fi, you need to install the Samsung Smart Camera app on your smart device (phone, tablet) to perform wireless photo transfer to your smart device:
MobileLink:
Transfer images selectively from camera to device. With NX30, you can now transfer to multiple devices at the same time instead of just one device at a time.
Remote Viewfinder Pro:
allows you to control the NX30 with live view from your smart device. With the NX30, you can now select the PASM shooting mode and set the shooting parameters (aperture, shutter, EV, WB, AF mode, etc.)
This image was taken with the Remote Viewfinder. See my finger on the screen shutter?
baby monitor:
allows the NX30 to alert you on the smart device when it detects noise.
Email and cloud sharing:
You can send pictures from the NX30 to email, Facebook, Picasa, YouTube, Dropbox and Flickr. The touch screen makes it much easier to type messages before uploading.
The NX30 offers a new and amazingly simple way to transfer pictures to your NFC-enabled smart devices.
AutoShare:
basically works like Eye-Fi or Flucard, every photo taken with the NX30 is instantly transferred to the smart device. The session stays connected even if you change the capture mode or playback mode, until you end the session manually or turn off the camera. To AutoShare To activate, simply press the appropriate button next to the trigger.
photo beam:
When viewing photos in Playback mode, when you find an image you want, simply bring your NFC-enabled smart device (with the Samsung Smart Camera app running in the background) to the left side of the NX30 and the wireless transfer will initiate. You don't have to Trigger function on NX30 - just tap your smart device and the file will be saved!
picture quality
At low ISO, the NX30 offers excellent image tonality.Since the earlier models I haven't had any problems with low ISO and when shooting in RAW I get the same image control as on my DSLR.It's the high ISO that I got on earlier models did not like. Therefore, I focus here on the comparison with high ISO values.
When examining the image at high ISO, the NX30's image processing engine attempts to eliminate the ISO noise through noise reduction, resulting in a loss of image detail. But it's still better than the NX20's chroma noise.
The NX30 also delivers punchier images. But if you prefer otherwise, you can always use one of the Picture Assistant presets to fine-tune.
With well-exposed images, shots with a high ISO value are also very useful.
In the absence of other camera brand models, I cannot make any further comparisons. But based on the
Nikon 1AW1
I did a test earlier this month, the Samsung NX30 is definitely better at high ISO noise and image detail.
For better and for worse
The NX30 doesn't fix every issue that bothers me from the earlier models.
Playback files are sorted in descending order, meaning earlier photo is on the right, unlike most cameras which sort playback files in ascending order (earlier photo is on the left). This sorting order cannot be customized. I also like the grouping of burst photos in folders during playback and would prefer to have an option to disable this.
I don't find the new shutter drive dial very useful. This is because for some of the shutter drive modes I would still have to go into the settings to make changes. For example, there are 3 burst settings and 4 bracketing.
EVF and touch screen have different color tones. The EVF color looks neutral, but the touch screen is more saturated.
The highest auto ISO stays at ISO 3200. I would prefer it to go higher and hopefully I can get my wish through firmware updates.
The battery drains fairly quickly, although the percentage display is a saving grace, allowing me to better manage my usage. Luckily, I can keep shooting while plugging in an external charging source.
The high ISO image quality still cannot be compared to the premium DSLR I know.
Competent professional
My top favorites of the NX30 are the excellent grip, which offsets the weight when using heavy lenses, and the Photo Beam feature, which allows me to beam images just by tapping the smart device during photo review. I find it the touch operation is also very responsive, smooth and well thought out. The battery percentage display is also highly appreciated. The NX30 has certainly made photo sharing much more convenient, which pleasantly surprises me.
Other cameras may appeal to consumers with their retro or modern design, but the Samsung NX30 will delight the serious photographer who appreciates the ability to capture and share images quickly and easily. I'm thrilled that Samsung has made the user interface faster , to please users like me who are too used to the DSLR way of things.
Is the NX30 too professional or too bulky for you? Samsung has just announced
NX Mini
, the thinnest interchangeable lens camera. Come back to my blog soon to check it out.
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