Monday, June 14, 2010

[NX10] Samsung Digital Imaging NX10 digital camera (Chapter 1)

Following is a review of Samsung NX10 mirrorless camera.

Rewrite the history of DSLRs, Samsung NX10


DSLR cameras look and are really heavy, so I couldn’t easy carry or hold them. In 2009, Micro Fourth Thirds with a small size and weight were really popular, but they were all from foreign companies.

Like everyone has been waiting for a small and light DSLR camera, this new type DSLR camera is a great achievement of our domestic technology.

After long waiting more than a year, when I grabbed the body, I felt really amazing and I’m still feeling it. Because I waited for and wanted it, I could really be pleased with it, even though I waited too long.


Before released, it had the nickname like Nox, and it’s the NX10 which is Samsung’s new DSLR and it’s a mirrorless interchangeable camera having 14.6M pixels with 23.4x15.6mm sensor. Except a protruding part, it has 123 ×87×39.8mm (WxHxD) of size and 353g(except Battery and memory card) of weight.


I’m neither a professional photographer, nor a high level DSLR user, but a user enjoying taking pictures with a popularized DSLR camera, so I’d like to review this new type DSLR camera and tell what I felt while using this camera as a beta tester.

These images were taken by the NX10 with 30mm pancake lens and you can see how small it is by looking at the camera the model is holding. This small size and light weight means a lot, because it’s like using a compact digital camera with its great mobility, so women users can easily take a shot and hold it with one hand without much inconvenience.

The center image is the NX10 with the 30mm lens mounted and the left one is with the 18-55mm lens mounted with a hood. The last image is accessories such as lenses, flash, and filters which were exhibited together with the camera. Now you will see them in the market.



Looking like a smaller DSLR. It was the first impression of the NX10 for me, and I was a little unsatisfied with this traditional design, but on the other hand, it was comfortable. It has a 14.6M pixels APS-C CMOS sensor.


The slightly protruding grip art allows users to push the shutter more comfortably, and when using both hands, faster control is possible.


The NX10 supports most of the functions which middle level DSLR cameras support. The 3” AMOLED screen and EVF with 100% visibility and 920K pixels makes it more special.


The body is made of strengthened plastic, and opening up the left cover, A/V output port, HDMI output port, and 9V DC input port are located. A memory slot is on the right side, and a tripod mount hole and battery slot are located on the bottom. With its 1,300mAh BP1310 Li-Ion battery, I could take about 450 pictures.



Looking at the button arrangement of the NX10, most of them are located on the right side in order to be controlled by thumb and index finger.


The NX10 supports all the modes from Samsung compact digital cameras and high-end digital cameras such as Smart / P / A / S / M / Night Scenery / Portrait / Landscape / Scene / Movie mode. Next to the shooting button, a dial button to set the details more quickly is located, and AM/MF / Metering / ISO / WB buttons are separately located for more convenience. In menu, direction key can be used for this.


Fn / AEL / Exposure compensation buttons look very convenient to me. However, the power button is a little too stiff to push it smoothly, and the location of zoom in/out buttons is not good enough to control, but it’s understandable for me, because the stiff power button is to prevent the camera from mistakenly being turned on, and the arrangement is due to the small size.


The above menu images are the composition of A mode. The NX10 has various kinds of menu compositions, and they include ISO from 100 to 3200, bracket, continuous shot, Smart Range, and Noise reduction.


When it comes to camera shape menus, they are slightly different by each menu, and 3 basic setting menus on the right side are the same for all. The menu composition of the NX10 fit in the one page without scroll and is well arranged to easily find what you want. And various function buttons located outside allow more convenience.

Because my DSLR camera is kind of old, I felt inconvenience to use it for a while, but the NX10 has various functions to satisfy all users from beginners to high level users, I think.


Especially, I like the fast AF speed, Face Recognition AF, and focus area modification much.


The image on the top is a basic display screen using the multi AF focus area. The NX10 supports Contrast AF and in multi AF, normal is 15 and in close up, 35 are detected as focusing points and when setting AF to Face Recognition, it detects faces more quickly and easily. When it comes to selection AF, the size and location is adjustable, so you don’t have to use half shutter to set the composition any more. However, it could have been better if the location of focus area was adjusted more quickly by using direction key.




There are 3 lenses released such as 18-55 standard zoom lens and 50-200 telephoto zoom lens for the NX10 in the market.


How is it? When it’s mounted and pulled, it has a way bigger size, so it’s not small or light any more. It’s not consistent with the concept of the NX10, but I just want you to see this could be used like this.


The 18-55mm standard and 50-200mm telephoto lens has OIS function, while the 30mm pancake lens doesn’t. However, it fits the NX10 the best and has great performance with the aperture of F2., so I like the 30mm pancake lens the most.


The 18-55mm standard lens has also great performance, so it’ will be useful in various situations. Samsung will release more lenses including a movie lens, so in 2 or 3 years, there will be more lenses to use together with the NX10.


In this review, I went over the appearance and interface. In the next review, I’m going to take a closer look at the 30mm pancake lens and show portrait and landscape shots.




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