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[Samsung NX100] New way to shoot with i-Function as a mirrorless camera

New way to shoot with i-Function as a mirrorless camera The usage of cameras is divided by the size. Compact cameras have strength in the size, but weakness in the quality,and DSLRs have the weakness in the mobility. That’s why people tried to look for a portable and high quality camera, and the result is the mirrorless cameras.Mirror and penta prism were taken out from DSLR cameras, they are relatively small, and the larger APS-C sensorthan compact cameras allows high quality. Especially, Samsung Digital Imaging has released their third mirrorless camera NX100. The previous NX10 looked likea small DSLR, but the NX100 looks like a compact digital camera, and by adopting the i-Function which controls thebody from the lens, it becomes more convenient. In this review, I’m going to take a closer look at the Samsung NX100.

The NX100 and 20-50mm lens used for this review were not an official version, so they might be different from theofficial products.

NX100 / 1.3s / F11.0 / ISO100 / 24mm / EV0.0

Image Sensor

Type CMOS

Sensor size 23.4×15.6mm

Effective Pixel Approx. 14.6 Mega-pixels

Total Pixel Approx. 15.1 Mega-pixels

Color Filter RGB primary color filter

Lens Mount Samsung NX Mount

Usable Lens Samsung Lenses for Samsung NX Mount Image Stabilization

Type Lens Shift (depends on Lens)

Mode OIS Mode1 / Mode2

Distortion Correct Mode LDC On / Off (depends on Lens)

Dust Reduction Type Super sonic drive

Display

Type AMOLED

Size 3.0”

Resolution VGA (640x480) 614k dots (PenTile) Field of View Approx. 100%

User Display Grid (4types), Histgram, Icons : On / Off Viewfinder Type EVF (Optional)

Focusing

Type Contrast AF

Focusing pointSelection : 1point (Free selection) Multi : Normal 15points, Close Up 35points Face Detection : Max. 10faces

Modes Single AF, Continuous AF, MF

AF-assist lamp Yes (Green LED)

Shutter

Type Electronically controlled vertical-run focal plane shutter

Speed Auto：1/4000sec. ~ 30sec. Manual：1/4000sec. ~ 30sec. (1/3EV step) Bulb (Limit time : 8 min)

Metering Metering : Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure

System Metering range : EV0 ~ 18 (ISO100•30mm F2.0) Compensation ±3 EV (1/3EV step)

AE Lock AEL button

ISO Equivalent

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)

Drive Mode

Modes Single, Continuous, Burst, Self-timer, Bracket (AE, WB, PW)

Continuous

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

Bracket Auto Exposure Bracket (±3EV), White Balance Bracket (±3step), Picture Wizard Bracket (Selectable 3modes)

Self-timer 2-30sec. (1sec. step)

Remote controller Wired : SR9NX01 (Optional)

Flash

Internal Flash N/A

External FlashSamsung External Flash available (SEF42A, SEF20A, SEF15A : Optional)

Synchro (Flash attachment)

Hot Shoe

White Balance Modes Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent (W, N, D),

Tungsten, Flash, Custom, K(Manual) Micro adjustment

Each 7steps in Amber / Blue / Green / Magenta axis

Dynamic Range Expansion Smart Range On / Off

Picture Wizard Modes Standard, Vivid, Portrait, Landscape, Forest, Retro,

Cool, Calm, Classic, Custom (1-3) Parameter Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation, Color

Shooting

Modes Smart Auto, Lens Priority, Program, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority , Manual, Scene, Movie

Scene Mode Beauty shot, Children, Close Up, Text, Sunset, Dawn, Backlight, Fireworks, Beach & Snow, Night, Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Sound Picture

Sound PictureJPEG Only Sound Recording Time (Before and after shooting each 5 or 10sec.) 

Image Size

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) 

Quality Super fine , Fine, Normal

RAW Format SRW

Color Space sRGB, Adobe RGB

Movie

Format MP4 (H.264)

Compression Movie : H.264 , Sound : AAC

Mode Program, Aperture Priority

Movie Clip With Audio or without Audio (user selectable, recording time : 25 minutes) 

Image Size 1280x720 , 640x480 , 320x240 (Default : 1280x720)

Frame rate 30fps

Sound Mono Sound

Movie Editing Still Image Capture, Time Trimming

Image Play

Type Single image, Thumbnails (3/9/20 images), Slide show, Movie

Highlight Warning Available

Editing Red eye fix, Back light comp., Photo Style Selector, Resize, Rotate, Face Retouch, Smart Filter

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)

Photo Style Selector Soft, Vivid, Forest, Autumn, Misty, Gloomy, Classic

Storage

Media SD, SDHC

File Format RAW (SRW), JPEG (EXIF 2.21), DCF, DPOF 1.1, PictBridge 1.0

Capacity (1GB)

14M : RAW 34 14M (3:2) : Super Fine 141, Fine 282, Normal 423 10M (3:2) : Super Fine 195, Fine 391, Normal 587 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 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.

Checking out the specification of the NX100, it has 14.6M pixels CMOS sensor and the lens is Samsung’s own NXmount. When it comes to the lens, in addition to the previous 3 lenses, the 20-50mm and 20mm i-Function lenseshave been added, so total 5 lenses can be used. Besides, the 3” AMOLED is installed and it supports Picture Wizardand Smart Filter.

320x240 : High Quality 145min., Normal 210min. ※ These figures are measured under the Samsung standard

Languages

16 (Korean, English, Danish, German, Dutch, Swedish, Spanish, Italian, Czech, French, Portuguese, Polish, Finnish, Russian, Simplified/Traditional Chinese)

Direct Printing PictBridge

GPS Type Geo-tagging w/ Optional GPS Module (WGS84)

Function - Location Name (OSD) (English and Korean only) - Google Map Link (with intelli-Studio)

Interface

Digital Output Connector USB 2.0 (HI-SPEED)

Video OutputNTSC, PAL (user selectable) HDMI 1.3 : (1080i, 720P, 576P / 480P)

External Release Yes

DC Power Input Connector

DC 9.0V, 1.5A (100 ~ 240V)

Power Source Type

Rechargeable battery : BP1310 (1300mAh) Charger: BC1310 AC Adaptor : AD9NX01 (Optional) * Included battery may vary depending on sales region

Battery Life Still : 420shots / 210min (CIPA Standard) Movie : 130min

Physical Specification

Dimension (WxHxD)

120.5×71×34.5mm (excluding the projecting parts of the camera)

Weight 282g (without battery and memory card) 340g (Battery and memory card included) 

Operating Temperature 0 ~ 40 °C

Operating Humidity 5 ~ 85%

Software intelli-studio 2.1, Samsung RAW Converter 4, Adobe Reader

NX100 / 8s / F11.0 / ISO100 / 20mm / EV-1.0

The sensor was blocked by the mirror in the previous DSLR, but the Samsung NX100 has taken out the mirror andpenta prism, so it became smaller and like the above picture, the sensor is exposed. Therefore, it has a vulnerablestructure to dust, so you’d better change the lens in a clean area. The ultrasonic dust elimination function is alsorecommended.

The above picture is the 20-50mm standard lens mounted on the NX100 body. On the left top of the picture, AFassist light / Self timer lamp is located and beside the lens, lens detach button is located. In the review, it’s black, butnow white and brown products have been released.

The top design of the NX100 was based on a leaf. The shutter has been designed from a water drop on the leaf.Before released, people talked about the design a lot, but after released, people said it’s okay.

The Samsung NX100 doesn’t include a built-in flash. That’s why it needs an external flash to secure more light.SEF42A, SEF20A, and SEF15A have been released as an external flash, and they can be connected to the accessoryshoe on the top. On this shoe, the GPS receiver can also be attached. On the front, a separate smart shoe isattached, and on this shoe, an external EVF can be attached.

On the top, a mode dial, shutter, jog dial speaker, and power button are located. Looking at the mode dial, differentfrom other products, ‘i’ is printed and by using this, in i-Function lens, i-Scene function can be used. It could havebeen better if the power button was designed with more elegant design.

On the side of the NX100, a depth preview button is located and compared to other cameras having it on the sideof the lens, it’s quite unique. Opening the cover next, USB/AV out connector, shutter release port, DC IN, and HDMIconnector are located.

When it comes to the depth preview button on the side, other functions can be assigned. Checking out the buttonfunction setting in the menu, on the AEL button, AEL, AFL, and AEL+AFL function can be assigned, and on the depthpreview button, one function can be assigned among one touch white balance, depth preview, and one touchRAW+.

On the side of the NX100, a camera ring is located and different from the NX10, it’s rotational to various angles. Itallows users to hold it more stably.

On the bottom, a metal hole is located to connect a tripod and next to the hold, a serial number is printed. On theright side, a battery cover is located.

When it comes to the NX10, the battery was supposed to be inserted from the bottom and the SD card was fromthe side, but both the battery and SD card are supposed to be inserted from the bottom for the NX100. Personally,

it could have been more convenient, if the direction of the cover was opposite.

On the back of the NX100, the 3” AMOLED is installed and the right side, various buttons are located. For theNX100, one function is allocated on one button, so users can use what they want.

The 3” AMOLED on the NX100 has VGA (640x480) resolution. The AMOLED is a self-illuminated material, so itdoesn’t need a backlight like the LCD. Therefore, it has a good quality and less battery consumption. However, thecolor of the AMOLED is a little deeper, so the color might be different from the computer LCD.

On the right side, status LED with various buttons is located. In the center, rotational Smart Dial allows moreconvenience. By using the jog dial on the top and Smart dial on the back, the aperture and shutter are adjustable.

NX100 / 4s / F11.0 / ISO100 / 20mm / EV-1.0

Samsung has released 2 i-Function lenses together with the NX100. One is the 20-50mm standard zoom lens.Compared with the previous 18-55mm bundle lens, it has more compact size, but doesn’t include OIS function.

Checking out the information of the 20-50mm, landscape and portrait icons are shown. It has F3.5-5.6 and includes 1non circular lens and 1 less distributed lens

On the side, i-Function button is attached, and by using this button, from the lens, aperture, shutter speed, exposure,and ISO can be adjusted. On the back of the iFn button, the protruding part of the 20-50mm lens can be inserted byusing a button.

When the protruding part of the 20-50mm lens is inserted, like the picture, the status ‘the lens is fixed’ is displayed.When rotating the lens, the protruding part is protruded to outside.

The difference of the 20-50mm lens from the previous 18-55mm lens is the compact size. When it comes to the 18-55mm lens, the lens was protruded in the 55mm area, but as you can see in the picture, the 20-50mm lens was notthat protruded much in the 50mm area.

Together with the 20-50mm lens, the 20mm pancake lens has been released. It also includes i-Function and has asmall size. It has a short focal length, so semi-macro shooting is also available.

When mounting the 20mm lens on the NX100, like the picture, it has the compact size. On the top of the 20mmlens, the landscape icon is shown and the aperture starts from F2.8.

On the side, iFn button is located and the NX100 has a flat front surface, so there was no inconvenient to push theiFn button of the 20mm lens. However, when it comes to the NX10, due to the built-in flash, the upper side is a littleprotruded, so when mounting the 20mm lens, the button was a little inconvenient.

NX100 / 1/400s / F10.0 / ISO100 / 50mm / EV0.0

The NX100 includes the same camera strap as the NX10. Since the NX100 has been released in various colors, itcould have been better if various camera straps were provided.

The battery of the NX100 is the BP1310 and has 1300mAh 7.4V. Because it’s the same battery as the NX10, so it’scompatible. It’s a power saving type, so on CIPA standard, 420 shots can be taken. It’s actually amazing.

The battery charger is like the above picture. Since it has an LED on the side, the charging status can easily bechecked. However, because there was no hole or something in neither battery nor the charger, it could be connectedwith the opposite direction.

The USB cable is also included and by using USB/AV out connector, it can be connected.

NX100 / 1/200s / F6.3 / ISO200 / 38mm / EV-1.0

Due to the sleek design of the NX100, it looked like having an inconvenient grip, but the actual grip was muchbetter. On the Smart Dial, there was a hole for comfortable grip.

Looking at the front and top, thanks to the shutter and protruding design on the top, it has good grip also on thetop and front. However, it could have been even better if the body was made of material with more friction.

When it comes to iFn lenses, like the picture, users can change the setting by pushing the button with a left handand using the focus ring. Normally, a left hand was not used except for adjusting the angle, but by using the lefthand, users can conveniently change various settings without changing the direction.

NX100 / 20s / F18.0 / ISO100 / 50mm / EV-0.6

By using the left hand and pushing the iFn button, like the above picture, iFn interface is displayed and i-Scenemode can be set in the lens priority mode, and by M, P, and A mode, iFn interface slightly changes.

Selecting the lens iFn function in the menu, WB and ISO value can be turned on/off. Turning the function OFF, thatfunction is not displayed in the interface.

The Samsung NX100 supports Manual shooting mode. However, if you are not familiar with a manual camera, Irecommend using Smart Auto function. According to the various situations, the NX100 automatically optimizes thecamera setting and help users take pictures.

The NX100 is an advanced digital camera, but cannot be 100% accurate, so by using Scene mode, users canmanually set the setting. The mode change can be done by the Fn button.

Checking out the interface in P mode which is the most frequently used, the composition is like the above picture.Various settings are displayed as icons on the desktop, so users can easily find out the current status of the NX100.

By using the DISP button on the top, icons and guidelines on the desktop can be displayed or not. Users can alwayschange it.

Selecting the AEL button on the back or exposure compensation button, the screen is like the above. Below the AELlamp, AFL lamp is located. The AEL is used to fix the exposure and AFL is used to fix the focus.

NX100 / 1/200s / F7.1 / ISO100 / 50mm / EV0.0

Selecting the Fn button, users can set the size, quality, AF area, and metering as they want. RAW quality wasprovided and in AF area, Face Recognition function could be used.

Using the Smart Range function, ISO started from 200 and it highlights the dark area in a bright environment. It willbe useful for those who take shots in the over exposed situation.

Using Picture Wizard, users can select a function among Standard, Vivid, Portrait, Landscape, Forest, Retro, Cool,Calm, Classic, and Custom (1-3), and they are all unique.

These were taken after applying Picture Wizard. Color feels were different by each mode. I liked Vivid and Classic. It

was useful to change the color feel simply.

Pushing the OK button on the back, the location or the size of AF area is adjustable. By using the jog dial on thetop, the size of the AF area is adjustable, and by using the direction key, the location can be changed. If you want todetect a certain object in various objects, you can just make the AF area smaller.

The NX100 supports ISO 100 to 6400 (Extended). The previous NX10 supported up to ISO 3200, but the NX100supports up to 6400 extended. When the light is extremely insufficient, it might be useful.

If you want to deactivate ISO 6400 from user interface, you can set the ISO extension to Off in the menu. Due to thehigh noise in ISO 6400, it’s not used much for normal situations.

I checked out the noise increase during the day and night by the ISO value. It was a 100% cropped picture, and inup to ISO 800, there was no inconvenience to use. However, there was a lot of noise from ISO 1600 or higher.

Selecting the AF mode, users can select what they want from Single AF, continuous AF, and MF. For more uniquefeeling, when using MF, users can select magnifying or FA type from MF assist. Selecting the magnifying, it’s easy toset the focus, because it magnified the object. Using the FA function newly added, bar graphs are displayed and themore accurate the focus, the higher the value.

In shooting type, users can set the continuous or bracket mode. In high speed shooting, 30fps shooting is available,

and the resolution is fixed to 1.4M (1472x976). Bracket can be set to exposure, white balance or Picture Wizard, andit takes 3 different pictures at once.

After taking 120 shots which is 4 times of 30fps high speed shooting, I made them as a video. The low quality was alittle unsatisfactory, but was useful to take fast moving objects.

10 white balance modes are supported such as auto, daylight, cloudy, fluorescent W, N and D, tungsten, flash,custom, and color temperature. They can be applied in real time, so users can change it according to the lightsource.

These were taken with each different white balance. They all have slightly different color feeling, and by using the

grey card or something, users can accurately set the custom white balance, and without this instrument, by adjustingthe color temperature, it can be set accurately.

The frame mode has been added in the NX100. The NX100 shows the screen with real time exposure value. That’swhy when the exposure is insufficient, the screen goes dark, but the frame mode can keep the brightness of thescreen.

The left one is Frame mode Off and the right one is on. Both are under exposed, but the right one keeps thebrightness. It’s useful for synchronized shooting.

The NX100 supports 720p (1280x720) movie recording. Like the photo shooting interface, users can check thesettings with various icons for movie recording.

Pushing the Fn key, like the above picture, options are shown, and exposure mode, size of the movie, quality, andfader can be set, and Picture wizard can also be applied to the movie.

The above movie was testing the AF function by using the depth preview button while recording. It was difficult totrack the moving object, but was useful to change the focus of an object.

The above movie was setting the focus with the MF mode. It was useful when the distance between objects wasshort, but when taking objects having distant focus lengths, it was not easy to use the MF.

NX100 / 1/200s / F5.6 / ISO200 / 50mm / -3.0

Let’s take a look at the play function to see the taken pictures. Selecting the play button, like the picture, the shutterspeed, aperture, and photo number are displayed.

Using the DISP button, various information such as mode, metering, focus length, white balance, and Picture wizardcan be checked.

In the play mode, by using the jog dial on the top, like the picture, the number of pictures in a screen is adjustableto 3, 9 and 20 pictures. Sorting type is also adjustable.

Using the Fn button in the play mode, the editing function is available. Red eye reduction and backlightcompensation are provided.

Using the backlight compensation function, the picture in the left side becomes the picture in the right side. Thebrightness has been improved a lot. It can also be used when the picture was taken too dark.

The third one is Photo Style. The color feel of pictures taken is adjustable. 7 Photo style modes such as Soft, Vivid,Forest, Autumn, Misty, Gloomy, and Classic are provided.

I applied 7 different Photo Style modes to pictures taken. Various feelings could be applied, and for those who can’tuse an editing tool, it was very useful.

In the play mode, resizing and rotating function is provided. It looked useful when trying to editing a picture withoutusing a computer.

Skin compensation and Smart filter function are included. When it comes to skin compensation, it needs a lot ofwork, but it was convenient with the NX100. Smart Filter could make a unique picture.

Smart Filter consists of 7 modes such as Vignetting, Miniature, Fish Eye, Sketch, Defog, Dot, and Soft focus. It wasuseful for those who want pictures having unique pictures.

NX100 / 30s / F11.0 / ISO100 / 20mm / EV-0.3

The menu of the NX100 is composed like the above picture, and main functions are assigned to the Fn or otherbuttons. At the moment, Flash and OIS are not activated, but by connecting the external flash or mounting the OISlenses such as the 18-55 or 50-200mm, they are activated.

In the menu, users can format the memory card and use the quick view and power saving mode. The NX100supports the ultrasonic dust elimination function, and when the NX100 is booted, it can be activated as an option.Besides, GPS and iFn setting menu is provided.

When it comes to the 20-50mm lens released together with the NX100, it has a narrow angle compared with the 18-55mm, but because it’s very compact in the maximum telephoto angle, it’s easy to be carried.

I checked out the sharpness of center and corner areas in 20mm angle. The center quality was good, and the cornerwas a little blur, but from F5.6, it showed the good details.

In the 50mm angle, the detail in F5.6 was a little insufficient, but from F7.1, it got back the details. The above imagewas taken with a tripod and 100% cropped.

The 20-50mm lens has 7 blades, so there were 14 sunstars and they were quite clear. When it comes to bokeh, itkept the original one well.

We’ve looked at the NX100 closely. I thought it has been improved a lot compared with the NX10 in convenience.Because this is the third mirrorless camera, Samsung could make a better camera. Especially, the i-Function in the 20-50mm and 20mm lenses helped users use the NX100 more conveniently byallowing users to change the camera setting with their left hand without changing direction. However, it was unsatisfactory that it didn’t include the built-in EVF and flash for a compact body. It could have beenbetter if a bundle external flash was included in the package. Let’s enjoy sample pictures taken by the NX100 and 20-50mm lens.