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New Interface Mirrorless camera from Samsung, NX100 Review

New Interface Mirrorless camera from Samsung, NX100 Review

i-Function

Started with the NX10, Samsung released the cheaper model NX5. After the NX5, Samsung released the NX100 which is a compact digital camera style with 2 lenses different from the NX10 and NX5. The sensor used in the GX-20 has been adopted in the NX100 with a little tuning, and becomes a simple model by taking out the viewfinder and the strobe. However, for better user interface, buttons have been rearranged and Smart Dial which was applied in the WB1000 is also supported. The iFunction lens is also provided for user convenience. The i-Function will be handled later.

Specifications
Type Sensor size Image Sensor Effective Pixel Total Pixel Color Filter Mount Lens Usable Lens Type Image Stabilization Mode Distortion Correct Mode Dust Reduction Type Type Size Display Resolution Field of View CMOS 23.415.6mm Approx. 14.6 Mega-pixels Approx. 15.1 Mega-pixels RGB primary color filter Samsung NX Mount Samsung Lenses for Samsung NX Mount Lens Shift (depends on Lens) OIS Mode1 / Mode2 LDC On / Off (depends on Lens) Super sonic drive AMOLED 3.0 VGA (640x480) 614k dots (PenTile) Approx. 100%

Viewfinder

User Display Type Type Focusing point Modes AF-assist lamp Type

Focusing

Grid (4types), Histgram, Icons : On / Off EVF (Optional) Contrast AF Selection : 1point (Free selection) Multi : Normal 15points, Close Up 35points Face Detection : Max. 10faces Single AF, Continuous AF, MF Yes (Green LED) Electronically controlled vertical-run focal plane shutter Auto1/4000sec. ~ 30sec.

Shutter Speed Metering System Compensation AE Lock ISO Equivalent

Exposure

Modes

Continuous Drive Mode Bracket Self-timer Remote controller Internal Flash External Flash Flash Synchro (Flash attachment) Modes White Balance Micro adjustment Dynamic Range Expansion Picture Wizard Modes Parameter Modes Shooting Scene Mode

Manual1/4000sec. ~ 30sec. (1/3EV step) Bulb (Limit time : 8 min) Metering : Multi, Center-weighted, Spot Metering range : EV0 ~ 18 (ISO10030mm F2.0) 3 EV (1/3EV step) AEL button Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 (1EV or 1/3EV step) Extension settable : ISO 6400 * Auto ISO upper level is selectable. (Up to ISO 1600) Single, Continuous, Burst, Self-timer, Bracket (AE, WB, PW) JPEG : 3fps up to 6shots (LDC : On) 10shots (LDC : Off) Burst mode : 10, 15, 30fps selectable, 30shots by 1 released RAW : 3fps up to 3shots Auto Exposure Bracket (3EV), White Balance Bracket (3step), Picture Wizard Bracket (Selectable 3modes) 2-30sec. (1sec. step) Wired : SR9NX01 (Optional) N/A Samsung External Flash available (SEF42A, SEF20A, SEF15A : Optional) Hot Shoe Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent (W, N, D), Tungsten, Flash, Custom, K(Manual) Each 7steps in Amber / Blue / Green / Magenta axis Smart Range On / Off Standard, Vivid, Portrait, Landscape, Forest, Retro, Cool, Calm, Classic, Custom (1-3) Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation, Color Smart Auto, Lens Priority, Program, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority , Manual, Scene, Movie Beauty shot, Children, Close Up, Text, Sunset, Dawn, Backlight, Fireworks, Beach & Snow, Night, Portrait,

Sound Picture

Image Size

Quality RAW Format Color Space Format Compression Mode Movie Movie Clip Image Size Frame rate Sound Movie Editing Type Highlight Warning Editing

Landscape, Sports, Sound Picture JPEG Only Sound Recording Time (Before and after shooting each 5 or 10sec.) JPEG (3:2) : 14M (4592x3056), 10M (3872x2592), 6M (3008x2000), 2M (1920x1280), 1.4M (1472x976): Burst mode only JPEG (16:9) : 12M (4592x2584), 8M (3872x2176), 5M (3008x1688), 2M (1920x1080) JPEG (1:1) : 9M (3056x3056), 6.7M (2592x2592), 4M (2000x2000), 1.6M (1280x1280) RAW : 14M (4592x3056) Super fine , Fine, Normal SRW sRGB, Adobe RGB MP4 (H.264) Movie : H.264 , Sound : AAC Program, Aperture Priority With Audio or without Audio (user selectable, recording time : 25 minutes) 1280x720 , 640x480 , 320x240 (Default : 1280x720) 30fps Mono Sound Still Image Capture, Time Trimming Single image, Thumbnails (3/9/20 images), Slide show, Movie Available Red eye fix, Back light comp., Photo Style Selector, Resize, Rotate, Face Retouch, Smart Filter Vignetting, Miniature, Fish-Eye, Sketch, De-fog, Halftone Dots, Soft Focus JPEG (3:2) - 6M (3008x2000), 2M (1920x1280), VGA (640x424) JPEG (4:3) - 6M (3008x2256), 2M (1920x1440), VGA (640x480) JPEG (16:9) - 5M (3008x1688), 2M (1920x1080), VGA (640x360) JPEG (1:1) - 4M (2000x2000), 1.6M (1280x1280), VGA (480x480) Soft, Vivid, Forest, Autumn, Misty, Gloomy, Classic

Image Play Smart Filter

Photo Style Selector Media

Storage

SD, SDHC RAW (SRW), JPEG (EXIF 2.21), DCF, DPOF 1.1, File Format PictBridge 1.0 14M : RAW 34 14M (3:2) : Super Fine 141, Fine 282, Normal 423 10M (3:2) : Super Fine 195, Fine 391, Normal 587 Capacity (1GB) 6M (3:2) : Super Fine 320, Fine 640, Normal 961 2M (3:2) : Super Fine 732, Fine 1465, Normal 2198 Burst (1.4M) : Super Fine 1161, Fine 2322, Normal 3484

Languages Direct Printing Type GPS Function Digital Output Connector Video Output Interface

12M (16:9) : Super Fine 166, Fine 332, Normal 499 8M (16:9) : Super Fine 232, Fine 464, Normal 696 5M (16:9) : Super Fine 376, Fine 752, Normal 1129 2M (16:9) : Super Fine 850, Fine 1703, Normal 2550 9M (1:1) : Super Fine 210, Fine 420, Normal 630 6.7M (1:1) : Super Fine 288, Fine 576, Normal 864 4M (1:1) : Super Fine 470, Fine 940, Normal 1411 1.6M (1:1) : Super Fine 1041, Fine 2083, Normal 3121 Movie : 1280x720 : High Quality 15min., Normal 22min. 640x480 : High Quality 44min., Normal 66min. 320x240 : High Quality 145min., Normal 210min. These figures are measured under the Samsung standard 16 (Korean, English, Danish, German, Dutch, Swedish, Spanish, Italian, Czech, French, Portuguese, Polish, Finnish, Russian, Simplified/Traditional Chinese) PictBridge Geo-tagging w/ Optional GPS Module (WGS84) - Location Name (OSD) (English and Korean only) - Google Map Link (with intelli-Studio) USB 2.0 (HI-SPEED) NTSC, PAL (user selectable) HDMI 1.3 : (1080i, 720P, 576P / 480P)

Power Source

Physical Specification

Software

External Yes Release DC Power DC 9.0V, 1.5A (100 ~ 240V) Input Connector Rechargeable battery : BP1310 (1300mAh) Charger: BC1310 Type AC Adaptor : AD9NX01 (Optional) * Included battery may vary depending on sales region Still : 420shots / 210min (CIPA Standard) Battery Life Movie : 130min Dimension 120.57134.5mm (excluding the projecting parts of (WxHxD) the camera) 282g (without battery and memory card) Weight 340g (Battery and memory card included) Operating 0 ~ 40 C Temperature Operating 5 ~ 85% Humidity intelli-studio 2.1, Samsung RAW Converter 4, Adobe Reader

Appearance of the NX100

Its the front of the NX100. Different from the NX100, EVF and strobe were taken out, and the design becomes a compact digital camera style not an SLR style. Except the protruding grip, it has a quite simple appearance.

Looking at the side, USB 2.0, HDMI, release, and 9V power ports are located with C button. This C button makes Continuous AF available while recording a movie. It will be useful when comparing the AF performance with the Sony Alpha NX-5.

Its the back of the camera. The 3 ALMOED is located and on the right side, buttons are located. Personally, the arrangement of buttons is a little more convenient than the NX10, and Smart Dial which was applied in the WB1000 makes it more convenient. It was included in the EX1, and since I used the EX1 a lot, I really get used to this Smart Dial.

At the meeting of the NX100 with Power bloggers, the NX100 has a leaf design, but to be honest, I dont know if it is. Except the additional dial to select Scene mode with i-Function, its not that different from the NX10.

As the NX10 users might have noticed, that the battery was inserted with a wrong direction has been solved. If some beta tester didnt point it out, the NX100 could also have had the same problem. As an experienced user, I wont have any problem with it, but for most of the users, this slight mistake could be a big weakness, so its very good to have fixed it.

In order to be better, Samsung has to catch and improve the small things, and makes the camera easy to use even for beginners. I think that leads the i-Function. I hope they will be better.

Theres a little port on the upper side of the AMOLED, and this is the EVF port. I used it at the launching meeting of the NX100, and like the EVF of the GF1, it was not that good. Especially, Id rather not recommend using it on a sunny day. Actually, the AMOLED is visible on a sunny day, so I dont think its necessary.

Instead of built-in EVF and strobe, external strobe and GPS can be attached. However, I think it could have been better if it was included in the package like the Sony Alpha NEX-5. The built-in strobe is quite more useful for users than expected. That Panasonic includes the built-in strobe in the GF1/2 means a lot to the NX100, I think.

At least for manufacturing a mold, Samsung would be much better than Panasonic, I think, so I hope they put the built-in strobe in the camera with a smaller body, or at lease provided like the Sony.

i-Function, Samsungs consideration for beginners

Personally, I unofficially heard that there would be i-Function included in the NX100. At that time, to be honest, I thought They should have focused more on the image processing engine. However, after the NX10 has been released, people who are not used to interchangeable lens cameras like this function. Especially, people in my office liked it because of its convenience. However, I still dont use the i-Function much.

Other than users like me, beginners were comfortable to simply adjust the camera settings with the iFunction and focus ring without using various buttons on the camera.

Clicking the iFn button, by the shooting mode, the function is changed in the order.

Shooting mode Shutter speed Aperture value Exposure value White balance ISO

P O O O

A O O O O

S O O O O

M O O O O

I had started shooting with a compact digital camera, but have been used to high level DSLR cameras. Thats why I am still not used to these functions, but the idea adopting the UI in a lens is really great.

Theres one more sign This lens is suitable to shoot this. on the lens body for beginners. The NX 20500mm F3.5-5.6 lens having a mountain and woman is for landscape and portrait, and the NX 20mm F2.8 lens having only mountain is a wide angle lens for landscape. Because only these 2 lenses have the mark, I dont know which mark will be added on the next lens. However, this shows how much Samsung care about beginners.

New NX lenses
With the NX100, Samsung has released 2 lenses. They are the NX 20mm F2.8 and 20-500mm F3.55.6. One is semi wide angle lens for landscape, and the other is a standard zoom lens which makes the NX 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OIS smaller. I didnt think people use it much due to the angle, but a lot of people use them. The 20-50mm angle was not inconvenient as much as I expected. Of course, I was not fully satisfied with it.

The left one is the NX 20mm F2.8 and the right one is the NX 20-50mm F3.5-5.6.

Given that the pancake lens from Samsung is quite small, the NX 20-50mm F3.5-5.6 is also pretty small. I think its because Samsung used to work with Pentax, so cameras were small and also the lenses with high performance.

The NX 20mm F2.8 is mounted. The NX100 is a compact digital camera style, so pancake lenses fits better than the NX10. I could see the future of Samsung camera from these small and simple lenses. In the interchangeable lens camera market, lenses are the asset, so Samsung needs to keep designing good lenses.

Comparison of camera appearance

Let me try to compare the NX100 with my cameras in size.

I compared it with the EX1 which has the best design of all Samsung cameras, I think. The EX1 might be a little bigger, but given that the 6x larger sensor size, the NX100 is smaller than I expected.

I put it with the Sony Alpha NEX-5. Its much smaller than the NX100. Of course, in the lens size, the NX 20-50mm F3.5-5.6 is smaller than the E 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 SSS. Ill compare them later.

Noise and Detail performance test of the NX100

In this time, Im going to show you the comparison to Nikon D3 which is the first full frame DSLR and Sony Alpha NEX-5 which is a competition model in noise and detail performance. For the most objective test, I tested them after setting cameras as below. On a tripod with the same distance JPEG Fine Large and NR off 135 format and 50mm Focal length Exposure 1/2 sec and F5.6 in ISO 100. Setting the shutter speed by raising the ISO Using a white paper to set the custom white balance The red box means noise reduction, and the blue box is detail loss by the increase of noise. The results are original cropped images and the left is the NX100 and the right is from others.

 RONUD 1 : Samsung NX100 vs Nikon D3

The first test is the Nikon D3. It has a different size, but we could see the difference in performance between 2007 and 2010.

As we could see from the results, up to ISO 200, the NX100 showed sharp images, but from ISO 400, details loss and noise came more. From ISO 800, the detail was harmed more and there was severe chroma noise at the same time. Of course, there was some halo effect in the NX100 due to the strong sharpness. For your information, because the JPEG detail of the Nikon D3 is a little insufficient, I took RAW+JPEG Fine Large and just converted RAW from Nikon capture. It showed the better detailed. Thats why we need to see RAW converted to see the real detail of the D3. Anyway, the image of the NX100 in low ISO is quite cool, I think.

It kept good details in up to ISO 200, from 400 to 800, it could be used for blog or web sites, and from ISO 1600, it could only be used for SNS after resized, I think. I dont want to recommend ISO 400 and higher when comparing it with the D3. However, comparing to other APS-C format cameras, ISO 800 is good enough to use, and up to ISO 1600, its not that bad.
st

Result of the 1 round: NX100 < D3

RONUD 2 : Samsung NX100 vs Sony Alpha NEX5

The second test is with the APS-C interchangeable mirrorless Sony NEX-5. After the A550, Sony has started to have good high ISO performance, so I could expect its better than the NX100 in high ISO performance.

Samsung tried much, but they could reduce the size as small as the NEX-5. Given that it has a long flange bag, Samsung did a good job to reduce the size. Because Samsung is very good at reducing the size of the lenses, I can expect the next model. Like the previous test, heres the result.

I didnt test the ISO 1600 of the NX100, because its useless. In Up to ISO 200, both cameras showed the great details. However, by increasing ISO, the details started to decrease. When it comes to the NX100, from ISO 800, saturation went wrong. Besides, it couldnt keep the detail as much as the NEX-5. Given that the NEX-5 also couldnt keep the details from ISO 800, the performance of sensor and processing engine of the NX100 has to be improved.
nd

Result of the 2

round: NX100 < NEX5

The 1 round with the D3 was like a practice to see the current level of the NX100, and the 2 with the NEX-5 is more important. I hope Samsung will make a better camera

st

nd

round

Smart Filter
The NX100 provides 7 kinds of Smart Filters. They are as below Vignetting, Miniature, Fish-Eye, Sketch, Defog, Halftone Dots, Soft Focus

After shooting, images are retouched by using the processing of the body.

Original

 Vignetting

Miniature

 Fish-eye

Sketch

 Defog

Halftone Dots

 Soft Focus Miniature and defog filters werent that effective. The miniature is useful in the area surrounded by a lot of building, and the defog filter could have been more effective if the weather was cloudy.

These various effects are cool, but it could have been better it provided the result preview function in a live view status. I think live view camera could have this strong point. Since the E-30 DSLR supports this function, the NX100 should also support it, I think. I hope the next model will support this function. As I know, the micro four third cameras from Olympus supported this function from the E-30.

Picture Wizard
Since the Custom Look from Kodak, manufacturers have provided users with various settings of saturation, contrast, and exposure. Samsung also offers various color settings with the name Picture Wizard. Like previous Samsung cameras, the NX100 offers 9 kinds of Picture Wizard modes. Standard, Vivid, Portrait, Landscape, Forest, Retro, Cool, Calm, Classic, Custom1/2/3

They are the results of Picture Wizard except Custom Picture Wizard.

 Standard

Vivid

 Portrait

Landscape

 Forest

Retro

 Cool

Calm

 Classic

Like the Smart Filter, retouching is also available by using the processing of body. Since the Standard picture wizard had high saturation and contrast, for portrait shooting, the Portrait was better. The samples in the NX100 review were taken with Portrait or Standard. If you take shots with the intension to use retouching, I think the Portrait is better.

Comparison with the NEX-5

This is the main part of this review, but I should have more focused on this part. However, I hope this is going to be an opportunity to see the feature of each camera. Heres the order. Appearance Sunstars of bundle lenses Resolution Comparison (Center and Corner) I didnt test the noise level, because it was already done in the previous section.

ROUND 1 : Appearance

Its the front. It has the same size of the sensor, but the body of the NX100 is bigger in the the height and width. Nevertheless, the NX100 has a smaller mount size, because the E mount of Sony is as big as A mount. In the design, the Nx100 looks simple, but the NEX-5 is more cyber and aggressive.

Both cameras support HDMI and USB 2.0, but the NX100 doesnt have the common port which is used for other various cameras. Especially, for me who use a lot of mobile devices, its really inconvenient to carry a separate cable. They should have followed the standard in this basic part.

Even the recent Olympus E-5 has a better LCD, so high quality LCD is necessary. The NX100 has adopted the AMOLED. The preview quality is not good enough, but the AMOLED is an advantage for mirrorless cameras having only live view.

The bundle lenses are the NX 20-50mm F3.5-5.6 and E 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OSS. They dont have IS and have compact angle, so the size of the lenses are quite different. The weight is more different, as I felt. The NX 20-50mm F3.5-5.6 is made of plastic, so it looks a little cheaper.

They are small for me, but Samsung tries to have a small lens on a comparably big body, while Sony tries to use a small body with a big lens. I personally prefer the NEX-5 body to the NX100 in appearance, but because I expected the performance of the lenses from Samsung, I have selected the NX100.

ROUND 2 : Sunstars of bundle lenses Lets test the sunstars and flair of the 20-50mm F3.5-5.6 E 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OSS. Normally, its not easy to see flairs, but I checked it just in case.

Both lenses were tested in the wide angle, and I cropped the blue box. The left is the combination of the NX100 and NX 20-50mm F3.5-5.6, and the right is the combination of the NEX-5 + E 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OSS.

The weakness of Samsung NX lenses is the sunstar, and it was not different with this lens. But the E 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OSS also didnt have that good sunstar, and it had flair much. (There was no filter for both lenses.) The picture of the NEX-5 was a little better with AWB as below.

NEX5 + E18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OSS

 NX100 + NX20-50mm F3.5-5.6

nd

Result of the 2

round: NX100 > NEX5

ROUND 3 : Resolution Comparison (Center and Corner) Lets take the resolution test of the NX 20-50mm F3.5-5.6 and E 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OSS. Due to the light source of my home, I used the timer and tripod and turned off the OSS function the NEX-5.

The test was made with wide (NX100 : 20mm, NEX-5 : 18mm),, middle (35mm), and telephoto (NX100 : 50mm, NEX-5 : 55mm) and the results are as below. The left is the results of the NX100 + NX 20-50mm F3.5-5.6, and right is the results of the NEX-5 + E 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OSS. Wide angle test For the wide angle test, the following areas are divided into the center and corner, and the original images were cropped. The red box is the center, and the blue box is the corner. Fortunately, both lens have the same maximum aperture value, so there was no difficulty to set the aperture value.

Heres the test result.

When taking with F8, due to my mistake, I got a heavily blurred image, so I took it out. Compared with the NX 20-50 F3.5-5.6 20mm showing the good results, the E 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 showed blurry result in both center and corner, but from F4, it started to be stable. However, even in F5.6, the corner quality wasnt good enough. In wide angle, the NX 20-50mm F3.5-5.6 was better.

Middle angle (35mm) test This was done like the wide angle test.

In 35mm, except the open quality, the NX 20-50mm F3.5-5.6 was insufficient. Especially, in F8, the result was worse than I expected. The E 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OSS was better.

Telephoto angle test This was done like the wide angle test.

In telephoto angle, the NX 20-50 F3.5-5.6 showed the better quality in opening, but it became similar in F8. Its not quite enough to see the performance of both lenses, but the NX 20-50mm F3.5-5.6 showed better quality in opening and corner quality. As some users said, Samsung for Optics and Sony for Body was meaningful to me.
rd

Result of the 3 round: NX100 > NEX5

Other comparison After using them for 6 weeks Continuous AF : NX100 > NEX5 It was fast in the NX100, but not smooth, while the NEX-5 shows slow, but smooth movement. Movie quality : NX100 < NEX5 Various functions : NX100 = NEX5 NX100: Framing mode, i-Function, and Smart Filter / NEX-5: Sweep Panorama and HDR

Conclusion The NEX-5 was better than the NX100 in the overall camera performance. However, the NX lenses were better than E lenses. Generally, the technology of lenses is more difficult to be improved than cameras, so Samsung can easily be better, but Sony also provided powerful lenses in the Alpha mount, so their weakness can also easily disappear, I think. Samsung needs to focus on the body, while Sony needs on the lens. Anyway, so far, lens is for Samsung, and body is for Sony.

Sample pictures taken by the NX100

Lets take a look at the sample pictures taken by the NX100. All the sample images were taken by NX 20-50mm F3.5-5.6 or NX 20mm F2.8, and for studio portrait, Portrait picture wizard was used, and for others, Standard picture wizard was used.

When taking studio portrait shots, I used a wireless controller, and framing mode was helpful. The weakness of live view cameras is that when using flash synchro, the result is not reflected, so the screen goes black. However, the framing mode raises the sensitivity by using the software, so

although the live view image is not clear, its displayed as if its a proper exposure for more convenient shooting.

IF you are about to use the NX100 or NX10 in a studio, I strongly recommend using the framing mode.

The model is Park Ga-Hee belonging to My Ent. and made her debut as an actress. I and Park GaHee have the copyright. And My Ent and Park Ga-Hee have the portrait rights. Please do not copy or upload, but just watch them.

Conclusion
Good design and useful functions, but the sensor needs to be improved.

This is my conclusion of the NX100.

AF speed : BAF accuracy : B AF performance : D Noise reduction : C-

Detail : B Movie quality : BAMOLED : AA Interface : B AWB : BGrip : C Battery : C

Generally, the design, body size, and the lens performance are good, but the insufficient high ISO noise performance due to the old sensor and the movie quality are weaknesses. However, its easy to use, so its good for beginners.

I already have the D3 and D7000, so the NX100 will only be used when going out somewhere without big baggage, because the F mount of Nikon consists of large and expensive lenses such as AF-S NIKKOR 200mm F2G Super ED VR, AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm F2.8G ED N, and TAMRON SP AF 70300mm F4-5.6 VC USD. Instead of the D7000 having a small body compared to the lens size, it will be used for indoor shooting or movie recording.

I recommend this camera for users having various cameras like me as a sub body, or for mother and father, as a main or family camera.