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Samsung NX1

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
The good news are that there will apparently be more lenses for the NX Series next year:

At least 4 new Samsung lenses to come in 2015... | Mirrorless Rumors

The bad news is that, according to my camera pusher, Samsung have decided to only sell through this country's biggest chain of camera retailers, Big Camera. The most prominent feature of Big Camera, apart from their vast number of stores, is their employees' lack of competence. On a good day, most of them will be able to inform about the number of megapixels of most cameras in the store, if that number doesn't exceed the size of numbers known to that particular employee.

Even if I was interested in buying photographic gear from outlets like that, I will never buy a camera from a corporation that excludes camera shops with qualified personnel and long traditions in the camera business from selling their gear. That indicates strongly that they aren't really interested in me as a customer or what I can do with their gear, only in how much money they can gain from working exclusively with the largest retailer chain. While that may make sense from the view of Samsung's shareholders, it does not make sense to me as a photographer.

Am I a silly old fart?
 
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Vivek

Guest
If that retailer has a 30 day return policy, buy it and check it. I have heard more interesting things about the local Sony (official) repair outfit.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
If that retailer has a 30 day return policy, buy it and check it. I have heard more interesting things about the local Sony (official) repair outfit.
Return policy? In Thailand? Best case would be if they let me trying it in the shop without paying for it first. Each employee is probably personally responsible for any dust, fingerprints and other damage to the camera and will get a corresponding deduction from his or her salary. There are shops that shrink wrap the cameras to avoid this. :ROTFL:
 
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Vivek

Guest
Return policy? In Thailand? Best case would be if they let me trying it in the shop without paying for it first. Each employee is probably personally responsible for any dust, fingerprints and other damage to the camera and will get a corresponding deduction from his or her salary. There are shops that shrink wrap the cameras to avoid this. :ROTFL:
Hope it will change (someday), Jorgen.

It was like that here not so long ago. Amaxon loosened up everything quite a bit.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Thank you for posting this. It's becoming pretty clear that, when it comes to bang for bucks, this camera is way ahead of anything else out there. It does 28MP and 15fps and 4K video and has a hybrid AF that works very well, all in a solid package with lenses, although very few this far, that are of very high quality and all for a very reasonable price. It looks like a perfect camera for my use.

The question is: Is Samsung up to it? What I hear locally is that the sales and marketing departments here are more interested in pushing large quantities of smart phones and p&s cameras. That is where they get their bonuses. What happens if it breaks? Will they service it? In one day, one week or one year?
 

foveon

Member
They developed their own chip with real new technology so I think Samsung will stay in the game for some time.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
They developed their own chip with real new technology so I think Samsung will stay in the game for some time.
I also think they will stay in the game for a while, maybe for a very long while. The question is if they will stay in all markets with all products. Samsung had a revenue in 2013 of USD 327 Billion and a net income of USD 30.1 Billion. They can do pretty much what they want. Sony and the other camera manufacturers are mere dwarfs compared to Samsung.
 

ohnri

New member
To revive this thread a bit ...

My NX1 is due to arrive shortly. I'll be checking it out for some indoor ice hockey within a few days. I am interested to see how it does relative to my Nikon D4.

I have to say the stream of firmware updates that Samsung has provided thus far is very encouraging and was a significant factor in my purchase.

Best,

Bill
 

ohnri

New member
So far the NX1 is very impressive.

However, it does not feel like the small camera that my A7 does.

But, it has far superior focusing and just feels a lot more responsive.

My early impression is that it beats out my D800 overall on those counts as well.

My D4 is another matter.

The NX1 crushes it for video. And I got some very nice frame grabs from 4K footage at the ice hockey practice.

I'll need more time to evaluate the focusing. I was using original firmware yesterday and it has been updated since.

A further large update is supposed to be at hand.

Best,

Bill
 

ohnri

New member
For shooting ice hockey-

I find the NX1 to be far better than the Panasonic GH3, the Olympus EM5, the Leica M9, the Sony A7 and the Nikon D800.

It is nearly the equal to my D4. It takes more thinking to use because the focusing is a bit idiosyncratic, but I am getting the hang of it.

I have not tried the tracking AF yet as I understand it is a work in progress.

By putting my chosen focus point over my target and keeping it there I have been able to do very well. I have not found this to be difficult.

I do lose focus when too many other players come between me and my target though. The Nikon is better at this.

I'll keep practicing.

-Bill
 

ohnri

New member
My NX1 continues to do very well for indoor hockey. It is still not D4 level but it does exceed my comparatively creaky D800 by a large margin.

The NX1 has also done a fine job at an indoor swimming pool and an indoor/outdoor children's party.

During a sword fighting demonstration I shot 4K video. Then I took several frame grabs and quickly beamed them to my iPhone. I made a couple of quick edits in the phone before easily sharing them with everyone.

The NX1, coupled with the S lenses, is one slick package.

-Bill
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
Sounds like a great camera in reality and maybe even a revolution in AF capability for mirrorless cameras although I can't think of an application where I'd need 15FPS burst. I just wonder if Samsung priced this out of range for most people looking to get into this system at $2800 with S model kit lens. It's more than most entry level pro FF bodies like the 5Dmk3, 6D, D750, D610, or Sony FE cameras. It's priced significantly more than the pro APS-C bodies like the D7100/7200, A77II, or 7Dmk2 while have a more limited lens collection.

I don't know if adapting lenses to the body is an option though as I haven't looked heavily into the system myself.
 
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Vivek

Guest
Tre, the A7s is no slouch when it comes to fps either. In speed prioty shooting mode, the A7s and the A6000 can record quite a bit and can be pressed for action shots (i have posted a couple of examples).
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
Yeah I like the A7S when I tried it last Spring when it was first released and if they ever make a version with more megapixels (16-24mp) then I'd buy it as my "everyday" system camera to pair with the high resolution camera. To be honest 12 megapixels just isn't enough for me and that's the huge limiting factor that makes it a no go for anything that isn't the work that will only go on the web or the lowlight event type work I do on the side.

To be honest though I don't really pay attention to the FPS the 4 or 5 fps of the A7R and A7 are fine by me. I usually AF to get close and MF to fine tune it. Four years of being nearly exclusive with a Leica made me a pretty fast with manual focusing.
 
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