Samsung’s NX100 compact size, price, and i-Function lenses may have you leaving your DSLR behind

Samsung NX100

Mirrorless 14.6MP camera

$549 w/ 20-50mm lens

www.samsung.com

If you’ve been paying attention to recent camera sales reports, then you’ll likely have noticed the increasing effect compact system cameras (CSC) or “mirrorless” cameras have been having on DSLR sales in the interchangeable lens camera market. The effects are global, but at the moment more profound in Japan and in Europe. By now our readers should be quite familiar with the role that Olympus and Panasonic have played with their Micro Four Thirds (M4/3) cameras, and more recently, Sony has been making big waves with their NEX camera system. But one player seems quite determined to make an impact on this market, and a large impact at that. It’s Samsung, and with recent proclamations like the following remarks from Samsung’s Jeong Wook Kim, vice president of Samsung’s camera business to Amateur Photographer:

‘It won’t be long before compact system camera sales exceed those of DSLRs, and then Samsung will be the best selling camera brand’

one gets the sense that Samsung is actually quite serious in their aspirations.

Samsung’s first CSC entry was the Samsung NX10, the first CSC to feature an APS-C sensor. It featured a 14.6MP sensor, 3″ AMOLED display, 720p video, and in our opinion was a generally well rounded CSC camera, that was enthusiast friendly, offered very good image quality, all in a DSLR-like, but smaller, camera body. On September 14, 2010 a follow up to the NX10 was announced named the Samsung NX100, just in time for the Photokina photo trade show. It didn’t offer any major specification changes, keeping the same sensor and basic capabilities of the NX10. Instead it differed in design aesthetic, looking more compact-like and less DSLR-like (inspired by a drop of dew on a leaf according to Samsung), and perhaps more importantly, it’s the first Samsung model to come equipped with Samsung’s new i-Function lenses, which allow photographers to control camera setting by simply turning a ring around the lens.

At $549 with the included i-Function 20-50mm lens, the NX100 is slightly more affordable than most of its current competitors, like the Olympus E-PL2 and the Panasonic GF1/2, though for the most part all offer similar specifications. In the case of the NX100, photographers are getting a 14.6MP sensor, an ISO range that extends to 6400, a 3″ 614K AMOLED display, and 720P video. Of course the key distinctions here are the NX100′s larger APS-C sensor, and of course, the i-Function lenses. It turns out that as it was with the NX10, the larger APS-C sensor used here doesn’t offer any real distinct advantage versus the competing M4/3 products, but the i-Function lenses do bring some slight handling advantages. Regardless, the NX100 is a fine camera in its own right that can perform most of the roles of your larger DSLR in a much tidier package. Affordable, compact, attractive, versatile, and an AF system as fast the best available indicate to us that Samsung is serious about becoming the “best selling camera brand”.

Specifications
Camera	Samsung NX100
Street Price	$549 w/ 20-50mm lens
Sensor	14.6MP APS-C type CMOS (23.4 x 15.6mm)
AF System	Contrast AF system | Selection AF, Multi AF, Face Detection, Self-Portrait Tracking AF area modes | Single AF, Continuous AF, MF  AF Modes
ISO Range	100-6400
Continuous Shooting	3fps for 10 JPEGs or 3 RAW files | 30fps option for 1.4MP JPEGs
LCD	3″ AMOLED, 614,000 dots
Viewfinder	optional EVF
Shooting Modes	SmartAuto, Lens Priority, Program, Shutter Priorit, Aperture Priority, Manual, Scene, Movie
Scene Modes	Beauty shot, Children, Close Up, Text, Sunset, Dawn, Back light, Fireworks, Beach & Snow, Night Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Sound Picture
Video	1280×720, 640×480, 320×240 at 30fps | MP4 (H.264) | mono sound
Output	USB 2.0,  NTSC/PAL selectable, HDMI
Storage	SD, SDHC
Dimensions	4.74 x 2.79 x 1.35″ (12.0 x 7.1 x 3.45 cm)
Weight	9.94 oz (282 g) without battery and memory card

Technical Analysis

Samsung’s main claim to fame with their NX-series of cameras is that they are the first company to offer an APS-C sized sensor in a CSC camera, with the assumption being that the larger sensor should aid in images with less noise and overall improved image quality. It is our contention after spending some time with both the NX10 and the NX100 that this is indeed the case, but not to the extent that it ends up making a dramatic difference on screen or in print. It’s been somewhat disappointing that the NX100 doesn’t offer more of an advantage, but it appears that the 14.6MP sensor used by Samsung isn’t one of the best, so while being APS-C in size, it seems less capable than most current entry-level DSLR cameras that use APS-C sensors, or even the NEX-series from Sony, that also uses APS-C sensors. That said, it offers image quality far better than any compact- there’s really no comparison here, but it is only slightly better, but by no meaningful degree, than the M-4/3 competitors. Our biggest complaint is image noise, which is apparent at ISO 100 and by ISO 800, starting to become a problem. Relative to the competition, this is quite comparable, but it is worse than the recent DSLRs we’ve tested, and worse than the NEX-series from Sony, which means the blame can only be placed on the particular sensor used by Samsung in the NX-series. Outside that, the image quality is quite good,  you’ve got a usable ISO range to 1600 in most cases, nice sharp detail, excellent JPEG output, and a certain color characteristic that’s appealing though difficult to describe, but one we’ve noticed amongst several Samsung models. Don’t get us wrong, the NX100 delivers on detail, accuracy, dynamic range, and ISO performance when compared to any compact or M4/3 camera. We just hope that for the next generation of NX cameras Samsung brings in a sensor that truly delivers the differences we expect (and at minimum matches the output of the NEX-series cameras)

When it comes to focusing, the NX100 faces some seriously stiff competition in the form of Panasonic’s GF1 and GF2, both of which feature blazing fast AF systems, not to mention the NEX-series cameras that are also no slouch in the AF department. The good news here is that the NX100 is up to the task, itself offering a contrast-detect AF so fast, it rarely should be a factor in missing your shot. Its only noticeable weakness is in acquiring focus in dim light on areas of low contrast, but for everyday-type shooting the NX100 is generally very reliable. The AF system used here is pretty clever too, the position of the AF point is adjustable by the user, as well as the size of the point, both being done quite easily and quickly via the multi-selector and command dial. Manual focus happily works great too. Pull the focus ring on the lens, and the NX100 quickly jumps to a clean magnified view allowing you to quickly achieve accurate focus. Continuous focus is strictly a “hit-or-miss” type affair as the LCD blacks out between captures making tracking difficult, but the lackluster results are largely typical for CSC cameras at the moment.

The Samsung NX100 in the Field

As we mentioned, the NX100 takes a decidedly different tactic in camera appearance when compared to the NX10. Where that camera features a very traditional look, the NX100 is far more contemporary looking, resembling a large but stylish compact camera. The camera body has a very plastic feel to it and camera grip comes only in the form of sweeping contours, there is no grip material or texture to be found. Build quality is largely average, there’s a flimsy door hiding the NX100′s connectivity options, and the multi-selector’s surrounding dial isn’t as firm as we’d like, but outside that, the camera seems durable enough, with well labeled buttons, a tight shooting mode dial, and a useful command dial that doubles as the zoom in/out control. Overall, ergonomics are pretty good, the NX100 sits nicely in your hand and feels quite comfortable, the subtle curves providing a pleasant surface for fingers to make contact with. We will point out a personal issue here with the NX100′s exterior design, that being the design is so specific, that it fails to “match” with a lens attached. So, instead of looking like a camera system, it looks like a camera with some random accessory tacked on. This isn’t a critique per se with how the NX100 looks, because it certainly got its share of passerby attention during our review time with it. Our point is just that it seems important to us for manufacturers to insure that the cameras and lenses in a camera system truly connect, in more ways than just the obvious physical one.

The control setup of the NX100 is fairly simplified, but cleverly setup so that the essential camera setting controls are found on the camera body. AEL, exposure compensation, drive modes, WB, focus modes, and yes- ISO are all present and accounted for. Past that, one thing we’ve been really impressed with on the NX100 and other recent Samsung cameras, is their interface approach. A “Fn” button allows access to settings not addressed by physical controls and the visuals and approach used allow the photographer to quickly set their desired options by first pressing the “Fn” button, scrolling through the camera setting options, then making the desired change- all of which happens rather neatly over a live view of your composition (no drilling down through various pages). One thing for enthusiasts to note, there isn’t much in the way of customization to be found in the menu section of the NX100. The basics are all accounted for, but for loads of in-camera tweaking one will probably want to opt for Olympus’ offerings.

The design of the camera and the control setup make the NX100 a pretty easy and intuitive camera to use. If you’re not content to let the adept “Smart Auto” handle things, it’s still a piece of cake to make exposure and other manual changes to the NX100 (further aided by a live histogram option), allowing the photographer a better chance at getting those spur of the moment type captures. Then there’s the i-Function lens. We tested our NX100 with the i-Function equipped 20-50mm lens, and while it only offers average kit lens-type optics, it does provide a novel way of interacting with your camera. The key is the lens’ “i-Fn” button which when pressed gives the photographer access to aperture, shutter speed, exposure compensation, white balance, and ISO. Just press the button and turn the control ring, and surprise… you’re controlling the camera’s aperture. Press the “i-Fn” button and you move on to exposure compensation, and so on. We’ll admit to initially feeling like we needed three arms to handle the camera and i-Function, but once adjusted to, we have to say that perhaps Samsung is really on to something here…

Camera performance isn’t anything that will blow photographers away, but it is largely in-line with the competition. Start-up is instantaneous, and as we detailed, the AF performance is plenty fast enough. It’s the continuous shooting that feels average, firing at 3fps for 10 JPEGs or just 3 RAW files isn’t all that exciting, and the 30fps option for 30 frames comes at the cost of paltry 1.4 megapixel JPEGs. Still, general camera function is pretty snappy, the jump back to playback and Live View is a half-second or less, and captures scroll through near instantly, all minimizing the photographer waiting around for the camera to do something.

So, yes the NX100 is quite the competent camera to use, and reliable to boot. But it also offers some creative fun too, thanks to Samsung’s customizable Picture Wizard, and post-capture…”Photo-Styles” and “Smart Filters”. We got some fun results from the “Vignetting” and “Miniature” filters, and frequently turned to the “Vivid” photo-style. The in-camera results largely mirror effects that many photographers might try themselves in their post-capture workflow, but here the NX100 makes the results instant and easy.

Image Samples

We’ve attached a few image samples to provide you with an idea of what the Samsung NX100 is capable of. For further examples check out our full-size RAW ISO samples, JPEG ISO samples, and the original full-size image samples.

What About Video?

Video is not the NX100′s strong suit, but it is capable nonetheless of pretty good HD video quality. Video options include 1280×720, 640×480, and 320×240 at 30fps recorded in the MP4 (H.264) format. Sound is unfortunately handled by a mono only mic, with no input for a stereo mic (the NX100 offers a “smart shoe” connection and Samsung has accessories for it like an electronic viewfinder and GPS module, but no microphone at the moment). The NX100 also doesn’t offer full manual control over exposure, though it at least allows for aperture priority and exposure compensation. Left to its own devices, the NX100 is suspect to exposure shifts during recording and while it offers continuous focus during video (that mysterious “C” button oddly placed on the camera’s left side) it isn’t fast enough or smooth enough to be preferred over manual focus control or simply using the smallest aperture possible for maximum depth of field. As we said, video quality looks good for 720p, but the NX100 is not a serious tool for videographers to say the least.

Final Opinion

Samsung NX100

likes:

innovative i-Function lens

intuitive interface and fast AF

visually appealing output

dislikes:

more noise than average APS-C sensor

no manual exposure control for video

average continuous shooting

The Samsung NX100 makes a compelling option for photographers looking to travel with all the benefits of their DSLR camera (image quality, control, and lens options) minus the weight and burden of a much larger camera system. In most regards the NX100 achieves the goals of a compact system camera, and innovations like the i-Function lens capability certainly help to distinguish it from the growing number of competitors.

Our problems with the NX100 largely stem from our expectations of what an APS-C sensor should be delivering in a contemporary camera. Given that cameras like the Sony NEX offerings or any entry-level DSLR ultimately perform better, we can’t help but to be somewhat disappointed by the performance of the 14.6MP sensor used in the NX100. This isn’t to say it delivers bad image quality, it doesn’t, and it is superior to the M4/3 offerings, but we know it could be better…and likely much better. Further, we think Samsung should be wary in the future of being too style specific in future models, our concern here being how the NX100 holds up aesthetically over time, and in conjunction with Samsung’s lenses. What makes more sense, the more traditionally styled NX10 with any Samsung lens attached, or the NX100? We’d say the NX10. Of course this is an aesthetic issue, and while the CGG staff may be undecided on the NX100′s looks, we can say that most casual photographers found it to be very appealing.

If it sounds like we’re down on the NX100, we’re truly not. The image quality has great visual appeal and is as we said, better than any compact, and almost as good as any APS-C DSLR. The NX100 is intuitive to use and surprisingly adept at delivering excellent photos, and it does all of this for just north of $500. If you think that Samsung’s i-Function lenses will appeal to you (and they should) and you’re looking for a stylish, simple to use compact system camera, we have no trouble “Highly Recommending” the NX100. Enthusiasts aren’t going to find all the customization they want here, nor will videographers be too thrilled with the NX100′s very basic video functionality, but for moderately skilled photographers seeking alternatives to bulky DSLRs or the limitations of compact camera image quality, the Samsung NX100 is a very solid option.

CGG Editor’s Rating:
value:
9
design:
8
features:
8
performance:
7
image quality:
8

Shop the Samsung NX100 Digital Camera