Samsung NX1 Day

"This content is created with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd."

After a long wait, the Samsung thing is pretty much now over. I know some of you were interested on how I found the camera though, so I have a couple of posts lined up for next week rounding it all up with my "conclusions" at the end of the week.

I have had the camera for a few months now, but due to an impromptu photographic day we hosted yesterday, decided to tag along with only the Samsung NX1 in my hand to put it through a days paces. All the photos here were taken yesterday.

A brief bit for the photographers out there. These were all shot in jpeg... I usually shoot RAW, but the editing software I use can not yet read the NX1 RAW file. I did try installing lightroom (which can read it) but the learning curve was took much for me to pick up in a short time frame... I am not an editor! 

I don't think this hampers me much though for the NX1, as I do minimal... and I really do mean minimal editing. Simple crops, and on occasion a slight tweak in contrast and or saturation. That is it. I prefer to get it how I want it in camera. 

"This content is created with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd."

The first thing I want to say is about the screen on the back... It is brilliant! I will admit I was the first to think, "what a gimmick". Thought I would never use it, but I found myself using it quite a bit to save lying down or contorting my body into awkward shapes just to get a photo. It is the best screen on the back of a camera I have seen, so vivid and clear.

It is a touch screen, so you can set it up to focus where you touch on the screen and even to take the photo too. The results are great, and no lack in quality compared to using the view finder. When I could use the viewfinder though, I did... just too used to it I guess. Also the bright sun can hamper using the screen in in the wrong place.

The screen can only be pulled out slightly, and tilted upwards as in the photo above. Would be nice if it was more flexible, especially for low angle portrait shots.

I quickly noticed too that it saps the battery life! The camera is mirror less, so the battery doesn't last as long as a mirrored camera anyway, but with using the screen about half the time for approximately 800 photos... It only just lasted the day from a full charge!

"This content is created with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd."

Being mirror less, looking through the view finder you are looking at a little digital screen. If you come from a mirror camera... this takes some getting used too. I could tell it wasn't the "real thing" I was seeing, but I did get used to it.

The positive thing about it is you can see the changes you make in the camera, and what the image will look like. If you lower the exposure for example, then the viewfinder shows the darker image just as it will be captured. You have to use experience to know what it will look like on a mirror camera. No problem for those that have done it for a while, but tricky for beginners.

What I did find difficult though was that when you take a photo, for a fraction of time... maybe even only a millisecond, it showed the image you took in the view finder before changing back to the live feed. It was so brief many may not notice even, but being used to not having this it really stuck out to me. Not too bad for portraits, but for action shots it really throws you off guard. If an animal was moving, I had to predict where it was going to be in the frame for each shot, as I could only see the last image I took. To be honest, this pretty much made it hopeless for fast moving animals unless they were coming straight towards you on the same line.

You can see with the panning shot above... I would keep the focus on the head normally, and tried to here, but having to guess where the fox was for each shot mean't I was nearly always wrong... focus being on the body for this one. Any I did get was luck.

"This content is created with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd."

15 frames per second is great though, really good in fact. I will talk more about this in the next post, but it really does give you options in some situations.

"This content is created with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd."

You can focus fairly close, and it has all the options of a normal DSLR... so you can throw the backgrounds right out to create clear portraits.

I found that if I was taking a portrait where I didn't move, and the animal didn't move, and took 2 or 3 pics in a burst... nearly every time one of them would be out of focus slightly. Not sure why.

"This content is created with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd."

Yesterday really was a great day. Weather was kind to us, and the camera is so light weight for a DSLR that it was a pleasure to carry around all day.

The build quality is OK, but nothing compared to the 'big boys'. The pop up flash, although something I would never use, feels flimsy and the shutter button and on/off switch just don't feel as secure... good enough though. I would imagine it wouldn't do as well in poorer weather conditions... I would be more reluctant to take it out in the rains for example.

I also noticed that the larger lens, 50-150, often popped up a message on my screen saying "lens detached" and then "lens attached" again. Not the end of the world, but it did mean any focus I had was reset and I has to re focus. Just to note though... this did not happen on the kit lens, 16-50.

"This content is created with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd."

Talking of the focus. It is good... But just good...

In good conditions, it is spot on... really sharp photos and perfectly in focus. In slightly poorer conditions, low light or less contrasty, then it is not always spot on and sometimes a little soft. Sometimes takes a while searching for what you want it to focus on. This is true for many cameras of course, but for £2,500 I would expect more... like what I am used to.

Speed of focus is good... but just good...

As above. In clear conditions, obvious contrast, it is fast! But in difficult conditions, it struggles to keep up. You can still get your photos, but it is harder to get them.

I like backlight, and although I could still get these pictures, it was more of a struggle.

"This content is created with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd."

After a morning with the mammals, we spent an afternoon in the woods with the owls. A little darker, and some flying actions would really test the camera for wildlife.

"This content is created with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd."

ISO levels are actually quite good. Not as amazing as Samsung claim in their advertising, but then she is a cameras ISO ever as good as any company claim! I will mention more in the next post on this. Needless to say though, it coped just as well as most other cameras in low light.

"This content is created with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd."

Flying birds straight towards the camera is one of the hardest things to photograph in wildlife, and get real sharp images that are in focus. Not to be arrogant, but I can do it... and have done so many times, so know what to do (only through lots of practice in setting up our owl days).

The NX1 struggled... I had it set to 15fps, its maximum, but it was hindered by two things. Firstly, the image just taken popping up on the screen... as mentioned above, I had to guess where the owl would be as it flew towards me. Fairly predictable though as I sat where I knew it would come in a straight line.

So secondly... focus speed! It was just not fast enough to keep the owl in focus between each frame of 15fps. With my camera, I can rattle off a burst and know 4 or 5 will be sharp and in focus. But with the NX1, I would maybe get one in focus and then the rest would be out.

This is difficult though, and the light was not the best so difficult conditions too.

"This content is created with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd."

We tried the barn owl out in the fields with more light. Similar story, but a bit more success probably due to more light. Camera focused quicker and more accurately, but still just one, maybe two in each burst that were in focus.

I will just say though, you can change the fps down to 12, 10 or even 8... so this may help give the camera more time to focus between shots.

"This content is created with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd."

So back home, end of the day, and I was generally happy with what I took. More duds than usual, but I am still getting used to the camera. Had to put it on charge... and a pet hate... no separate charger was included with the kit! Had to plug the camera in to charge the batteries, meaning camera is out of action. You can buy a separate stand alone battery charger from Samsung, but for £2,500 you think they could of supplied one in with the kit!

"This content is created with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd."

Early next week I will continue with some thoughts... mainly about the 3 points Samsung seem to be pushing. The 28mp, 15fps and high ISO! Then finish at the end of the week with my overall conclusions of my time with the Samsung NX1.

Thanks for looking :-)

2015: Catch Up

Harvest Mouse on Daffodil

All this Samsung over the past couple of months... I can tell you, it was lovely picking up my old Nikon again. You forget how much you get used to a camera :-) There will lbw a couple more Samsung posts, but that will then pretty much wrap it up... they seem quite happy with what has been done already, despite it not being how it was all originally intended. Oh well, if they are happy, I'm happy :-)

These are a few photos I have been taking outside of the Samsung experience this year. Not much has been done, but I did have a little shoot with a harvest mouse on a daffodil. It didn't go to well to be honest, but I was happy with the photo above. I really like the way the yellow of the petals is reflected on the underside of the mouses chin!

Water Vole

We put a new family of water voles out on our display island a couple of weeks a go. They normally take a little time to settle, and indeed are this time too for three of them, but the fourth is really bold! Often out on the feeding tile with people around watching.

I spend many an evening down there just watching them, and last night David (the owner) joined me. It was nice to just sit there with no camera and watch them all buzzing around and jumping in and out the water.

Baby Adder with Adult

You all know how much of a soft spot I have for adders, and it won't be long till they start dancing! To warm up though I have been watching them the past few days. The above is one of my favourite adder photos to date. A youngster curled up against mum... nothing maternal there, but it show how tiny they are next to an adult.

Baby Adder

A close up of the same neonate. I have seen three at once since hibernation, youngsters that is, and all five adults are now out and in the process of shedding. I would guess they will start dancing within the next week.

Baby Adder

Even from a young age they look quite fierce, but they also look quite cute don't you think?.. No?.. Maybe if you squint, and keep squinting till you can't see them?.. There ya go :-)

Thanks for looking :-)

Samsung NX1... It begins...

Me with Flo and the NX1, photo taken by Gary K Mann

Samsung very kindly asked me to use their new flagship DSLR, the Samsung NX1, for an eight week period to see what I thought of it. I would provide them with some of the images I take each week, and in return they would allow me to keep the camera with the kit lens.

This was all organised the week before Christmas, and that is when I received the camera, but unfortunately the kit lens has only just arrived. It was an honour to be asked to do this for them, and I was really looking forward to it... and have really enjoyed using the NX1 for the past couple of months. They have since asked me just to upload enough images I have taken, and will take, to cover an eight week period. This is great, as it makes it easier for me... many images I already have for them on my hard drive... but does mean I will no longer be doing as many blog posts as I was originally intending on it.

I will however still do a few over the coming weeks, sharing some images, and sharing some thoughts on the Samsung NX1... a lot of people have asked me already what I think of it, and to sum the camera up in one word I would say "Promising!" :-)

This was the package that arrived for me on Christmas Eve... seems so long ago now, and what was inside...

The Samsung NX1 and vertical camera grip. I am not a camera geek I am afraid, so I will link in the camera name in this sentence the website with all the NX1's technical details etc for those interested. In short though it has a 28.2MP sensor, is mirror less and can shoot at 15fps!

And this is what arrived for me last week... the kit lens that goes with the camera. I believe the rrp for all the above is just shy of £2,500.

I am very fortunate that as a thank you I get to keep all the above.

In addition to this, Samsung have loaned me their 18-200mm lens and 50-150mm 'S' class lens. I asked for a longer reach, since I will be photographing animals, and they kindly agreed... they will be collecting these when I have finished, but I have had these since Christmas so have had a good 3 months with a working camera!

Samsung NX1, photo taken by Gary K Mann

I have not been afraid to put it through its paces, at the end of the day I have used it as I would the camera I normally use. It needs to stand up to that for what I photograph... at the same time though I went at it, and still look at it with an open mind. Try not to compare it to other cameras and rate it on it's own merits. I will be honest, I have been surprised at what it can do, and have very much enjoyed using it so far... Will it ever compete with the 'big boys' of Canon and Nikon... I don't know, but it certainly has a lot of potential!

"This content is created with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd."

This is one of the photographs i took with the first lens they loaned me, the 18-200mm. To be honest, this lens is not worth it... very poor at the long end of the range. I will post other photos later, but it wasn't too bad at the wide angle.

The first thing that struck me about the camera was the weight... it is so light for a DSLR! I guess because it is mirror less. And the fact that it is mirror less has taken a while to get used to. It has it's minuses, I'm not going to lie, but it also has it's pluses.

"This content is created with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd."

This photo above was taken with the 50-150mm 'S' class lens... much better, and a very good lens too! This is the lens I have been using, and will mainly use with the camera over the next few weeks. Initial thoughts, I like it... I like it a lot!

"This content is created with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd."

And this one was taken yesterday afternoon. I spent ten minutes in with our otters, just to quickly see what the 16-50mm lens was like, and again... at this very early stage of having only taken around a dozen photos, I think I will like this lens too.

I used the screen on the back of the camera for this photo, to see what I was photographing and compose the image. Something I thought was a bit of a gimmick and I would never use, but have to say I have found myself using it a lot over the past few weeks... especially to get the really low angles.. and it seems to take the photos just as well and sharp as if using the view finder. The screen on the back of the camera is absolutely gorgeous by the way! So vivid and sharp, and touch screen too, by far the best rear camera screen I have used.

"This content is created with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd."

Anyway, I will be uploading images to Samsung over the coming weeks, and will share in a few posts these images with you here as well as my thoughts on the Samsung NX1.

Thanks for looking :-)