Samsung NX1: Conclusions

"This content was created with the Samsung NX1, provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd"

To finish up my posts exclusively on the Samsung NX1, I thought I would just share my final thoughts/opinions on the camera... kind of wrapping up what I have said in the previous posts. For the accompanying photographs, I decided to repost twelve of my favourites that I took with the Samsung NX1. Hope you like them.

Will I still use the NX1 going forward?.. Yes, it's a cracking camera, but for me it would be situational and used alongside my Nikon.

"This content was created with the Samsung NX1, provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd"

Size wise it is great, not too big not too small and very light for a DSLR. Mirror less, hence the weight. I can see all cameras venturing in to mirror less category, and there are no doubt many positive to this. You can see how the settings alter the image on the back of the camera or through the view finder, and it is quiet! Oh so quiet, even when rattling off the shots at 15fps... brilliant for wildlife!

It does take getting used to looking at a miniature screen through the view finder, but you do get used to it... and I found myself using the screen on the back a lot more. The screen being absolutely beautiful! Touch screen, and you can touch pretty much anywhere on the screen and have it focus there or even set it up to focus and then take a picture.

Downside to mirror less, battery life. It saps the battery life especially if you are using the screen on the back. With the vertical camera grip, I could just about get a days use out of it at moderate use. But if a photo heavy day, you would have to charge half way through. And they don't include a stand alone charger in their kit set up! You have to either buy that separately, or charge by plugging the whole camera in leaving it out of action.

"This content was created with the Samsung NX1, provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd"

The button layout is fairly standard, if you have not used another camera before you have nothing to compare it too, and if you have, it doesn't take too long to get used to. A few of the obvious main features, such as ISO and joystick control, can be a bit out of place to alter on the fly, and no joystick in particular on the vertical grip, but there is the option for a function button on the 'S' class lenses which you can set up for anything. A nice feature.

The build quality... to be honest, I was disappointed. Nothing wrong per say, but for the money you would have to invest in this camera, even body alone, I would expect it to feel a little more robust. Don't get me wrong, it's not flimsy by any stretch, but I would not be too confident with it out in any weather, and some of the buttons and pop up flash just feel a bit... well, less able to take wear and tear.

"This content was created with the Samsung NX1, provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd"

You can set up all sorts of options and setting on the NX1, many of which I never tried for I will never use them... but it's great to have them for those that do want them. You can even set it up to save any photo you take directly to your smart phone via bluetooth. Lot of options for in camera edits while taking the photos too, and it does have more of a lean towards people new to photography in that sense. I wouldn't want to call them the "gimmicky" options, even though I kind of just have :-) , but as above, I don't see any reason not to have them. If you don't like them, don't use them, and if they help someone out then great!

I just want to mention the screen again, because it truly is beautiful! The screen on the back of the camera is so clear and precise, but far the best I have seen on any camera, and as said previously... I didn't think I would ever use it originally, but soon found myself using it a lot and almost exclusively for some shots.

"This content was created with the Samsung NX1, provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd"

28MP. Fantastic! It does lead to large file size, but there are options to lower the MP count in camera if you are worried about that. The 28MP offers you plenty of options for cropping later, and still keep a highly detailed image. You need to make sure all is spot on in camera and with the original photo, but if you manage this, you can experiment with the crop later.

"This content was created with the Samsung NX1, provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd"

ISO is never as good in any camera as the companies profess it to be in my opinion, but the Samsung NX1 is very good at high ISO. Certainly no worse than most other cameras out there, and I would be very happy photographing at 6400 for large prints etc, and even 12800 or 25600 for web use!

Full screen the highest ISO values are ok for web use I think, it's only when you crop you really notice heavy noise. I was very impressed with the ISO capability of the NX1.

"This content was created with the Samsung NX1, provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd"

15 fps is stunning, simply put! I loved it, and for wildlife in capturing the little movements and motions it was fantastic. When the animal is in one place, but moving or twitching whiskers etc it really does help to give you options later.

The autofocus is very good and quick in good conditions, but struggles a little in poorer conditions where there may be less contrast between subject and background, back light or poor light. Often I found it searching, and even then sometimes didn't get it spot on. With moving animals, side to side was fine. but coming towards you and the camera struggled to have the focus keep up with the animal.

My biggest gripe with the camera, and more obvious when shooting a series in a burst, it displays the last image you have taken for a millisecond or so in the viewfinder. Making it harder to track what you are trying to focus for the next image. As far as I could see, there was no way to turn this off! This has to be an option in the future.

"This content was created with the Samsung NX1, provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd"

I am hoping this doesn't all come across as negative, as I honestly really do like the camera, but it is just I am used to using Nikon and have used Canons, and been lucky enough to be in a positions to use the high end of both of these 'Big Boys' when the professionals come to the Centre to test them. I can't help but look at how the Samsung compares. If it is a DSLR, and wants to eventually compete with them, it needs to hold its own.

Does it?.. Well, overall I would have to say not yet... but... BUT!!! There is a lot of potential there, and I think given their name and resources if anyone can get there it is possibly Samsung. The NX1 has a lot of potential. A lot it is doing right already, but I think it can improve in a few areas to really excel.

"This content was created with the Samsung NX1, provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd"

Photos straight from the camera just don't have the "oomph" I am used to. I can't explain it, but I feel there is just something missing from the image. Very good, again don't get me wrong, and I am very happy with them. But it's just something not there... maybe I am just too used to seeing images from my Nikon that I have a bias though.

"This content was created with the Samsung NX1, provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd"

One of the biggest problems I think though is price! The NX1 with the 'S' class 16-50mm lens and vertical camera grip is rep of £2,500. That is a lot of money! If you are already in to photography and willing to spend that, I would imagine you are probably already with Nikon or Canon. And if you are thinking of starting out, and have that amount as your budget, then due to reputation Nikon and Canon would probably be who you look too.

Simply put, for that price, I think you get more of a camera with one of the big boys in terms of build quality. And although you could argue the NX1 has more options and setting on paper, in reality the others would be more than capable and have the lens options etc which Samsung are currently lacking.

"This content was created with the Samsung NX1, provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd"

Do I like there Samsung NX1? Yes, very much so.

Will I still use the Samsung NX1? Yes, with out a doubt.

It is a cracking camera, and I have thoroughly enjoyed using it and testing it. It will certainly have a place in my kit bag alongside my Nikon D300s. I would imagine I will mainly still use my Nikon, I am so used to it and have the lenses I like. I also prefer the final image look. but the NX1 is a capable camera, and in some cases I can see myself choosing it over the Nikon for what I need around the Centre.

"This content was created with the Samsung NX1, provided by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd"

So to briefly conclude...

Not so good points:
 - Build quality
 - Focusing in poorer conditions/light
 - Image displayed on screen after taking it in continuous shooting

Good points:
 - ISO performance
 - 28MP
 - Light weight

Great points ;
 - 15fps
 - So very quiet!
 - The screen on the back


Thanks to Samsung for giving me the opportunity to use the NX1, I hope you appreciate I have been honest with all feedback, and I greatly appreciate the camera you have given me.

Thanks to all the new viewers to this blog due to the NX1 posts. Hope you stick around to see more photographs I take from around the British Wildlife Centre.

And as always to you all, thanks for looking :-)

Samsung NX1: Frames per second

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

So, on to the last "main" thing that Samsung seem to be pushing in terms of the NX1... the frame rate. The Samsung NX1 boasts an impressive 15 frames per second (fps). Yep, that's right... 15! In fact, I was told this is one of the main reasons why they asked me to test the camera, because they thought the 15fps would be good for wildlife. Where they right?...

Well. Yes... and No... but mainly yes! And I think where the camera did let me down, it wasn't due to the fps but due to other aspects. Let's have a look. 

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

Firstly, who is going to turn down 15fps?.. No one, its an amazing frame rate, and if you don't like it you have two options. With the NX1 you can change it down to a slower setting, either 8fps, 10fps or 12fps. Your second option, which you could do with any camera, just take one photo!

As with everything about this camera I tried to go in open minded, but having used top range DSLR's I couldn't help but have some things cross my mind. The main thing, would the autofocus on the camera/lens be able to keep up with the 15fps for a moving subject, secondly, would the buffer be able to cope in saving these images. 

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

So let's start with the buffer. For those that aren't photographers, very simply every time a photo is taken it has to be saved to the memory card. Lots of things can determine the speed it does this, and if you take lots of photos in a short space of time that's a lot it needs to save... after a while it begins to slow down taking the photos, while some you have already taken are "buffering" waiting to be saved to the card. At 15 fps, you can imagine you can take a lot of photos in a very short space of time. So how does this crunch in to numbers...

For the photo guys out there that want the memory card speed, I used  SanDisk Ultra 40MB/s, 16GB card!

Shooting in RAW format, and holding down the shutter in good conditions, the NX1 took 20 photographs before the buffer started to slow... just over a second. Very good in most situations.

Shooting in the highest quality jpeg, holding down the shutter and the NX1 took 72 photographs before the buffer kicked in!

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

The best thing about the 15fps was no doubt the options it gave you when looking back at your images. I mentioned in a previous post, even if the subject and you stayed still, you had the odd one or two that were out of focus... no idea why... so taking 15fps would mean you had a good range to choose from.

A beauty with wildlife, is that even in a short burst they can show little nuances in their pose that make a particular image stand out. For example, with the weasel at the top. Normally I would wait and take a couple of photos as she poked her head out of the hole in the log. Because I was testing the NX1, I just held the shutter down for a second. 15 photos, all the same, but just this one that caught her tongue out!

The NX1, with its 15fps, has been a pleasure to use with the adders. They stay in roughly the same place when dancing, but move at an incredible speed when wrestling with each other on the spot. The 15fps allowed me to keep snapping, catching the little differences in movement and motion, and then pick my favourite from these to use.

Likewise above with the wildcat. Macavity started to snarl, I pressed the button... again, wouldn't normally take this many, but since testing the camera rattled off about 30 photos. Yes most of those looked exactly the same, but they picked up the slight movements of the paw being drawn back in each frame, the back slightly arching and the eyes closing. I could pick the one I thought best... half closed eyes, paw ready to snatch.

15fps certainly gives you options.

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

When the animal is not moving, as in not changing place, it is great. But what about where movement is concerned. Of course this is due to tracking, and focus speed, but I think fits in with this post.

I didn't allow the camera to track the animal, apart from a couple of tests. Why, because I never do. The way I see it, the more I am in control of, the less the camera is and so the less it can get wrong. I did try the tracking on a plane flying over in the sky on a bright blue day. It was faultless... kept the plane in focus and tracked it all the way out of the view finder. In poor conditions though, it really did struggle to stay on the animal. If there was little contrasts between the animal or background, or it was dark, it was very hit and miss. All cameras struggle with this, but other can handle it better... especially others in the NX1 price range. 

So... I was tracking the animal. Difficult, yes, but not to be arrogant I have had enough practice I am pretty good at it now. When the animal was moving across the view finder, the focus was fine. I had to guess where the animal would be as the view finder kept showing me the last image I took for a millisecond or so, but after I got used to the pace of the animal I could second guess this. The camera stayed in focus on the animal, and the 15fps worked great... all be it with one or two a little soft, as mentioned before, and I still can't understand. 

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

One of the hardest things for the camera to track is an animal coming towards you, could the NX1 keep up with this. Yes... but it was a unreliable. Don't get me wrong, this is tough! And most cameras would struggle, and it could be the lens or other factors, but it did get it in some circumstances. 

As is the case with everything I have said so far about the NX1, in good conditions it was good, in difficult conditions it was capable but struggled a lot more. 

The owl above was on a slightly overcast afternoon, they fly fast... especially with the wind behind her we had that day!, and as you can see. I could get a nice sharp image in focus, but the camera then struggled to hold the focus on the owl between each frame. Normally I would get three or four in a sequence in focus, but with the NX1 I was lucky to get a second.

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

As I said at the beginning of this post though, you can change the settings to 8, 10, 12 or 15 fps. So I went out one evening to test this with my faithful companion, "Bess"

This was one evening, beautiful light, obvious contrast difference between her and the background, and she was not moving that fast. Moving towards me, but at a trotting speed as opposed to a full on run.

My theory, I would have more frames in focus at 8fps than 15... the camera has more time to track and keep up... What I found... the complete opposite!

Now maybe I was doing something wrong, but I actually had a higher percentage hit rate of in focus photographs at 15fps. The only thing I can think of is the camera had less time to focus between shot, and so less time to worry about searching to make sure it was correct. 

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

So. 15 frames per second... any good?.. Yes. I loved it, I won't lie, and with patience you can get some great stuff with it with moving subjects too, but in poor conditions it does struggle. For fast moving animals towards me, I don't think I could rely on it as I can my other camera, but as I say this could be due to more than the NX1 its self.

But for fast moving action that stays in the same space, such as the adders which have been on top form this week, it was incredible and a real pleasure to use! I can honestly say some of my favourite dancing adder photos this year where taken with the Samsung NX1!

Samsung NX1: ISO Performance

ISO 100 Full frame

Some lovely feedback from the NX1 posts, thank you, only a few more to go then back to just sharing extra photos from around the BWC! :-)

This is an extra post I am putting up today. I had a few people ask me to show the photos at an ISO of less than 400, and at the highest setting of 25600, so thought I would do all values. 

For the non photographers out there, may be best to skip this post... it is nine photos of the same thing, with another nine showing a 100% crop. Probably a bit boring, but check back in next time to see some photos I use to show of the frame rate. Probably up live over the weekend. 

For the photographers out there... I was asked to show different ISO's on the same photo and crop. The different photos I used in the last post I admit make it harder to compare as different image and crops, my mistake on the second bit, so here is a fair comparison.

Firstly, all these photos were taken within a minute and are all straight from camera with no editing done what so ever... except the obvious crop to show each one at 100%

Secondly, although a rather bland photograph, I deliberately chose this to show noise in the detail and the blacks of the image.

Thirdly, all shot as single shot so that I could select the higher ISO values. Full frame meter, aperture f/8, exposure -1.3 and at 150mm. 

Finally. It goes with out say really, but "All this content was created by the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics. Co. Ltd."

So photograph above is ISO 100, and the 100 crop below. I have said my thoughts on the ISO in my previous post, so will leave this up to you...

ISO 100 Crop

 Next two photos at ISO 200...

ISO 200 Full frame

ISO 200 Crop

 Next two at ISO 400...

ISO 400 Full frame

ISO 400 Crop

 Next two at ISO 800...

ISO 800 Full frame

ISO 800 Crop

 Next two at ISO 1600...

ISO 1600 Full frame

ISO 1600 Crop

 Next two at ISO 3200...

ISO 3200 Full frame

ISO 3200 Crop

 Next two at ISO 6400...

ISO 6400 Full frame

ISO 6400 Crop

 Next two at ISO 12800...

ISO 12800 Full frame

ISO 12800 Crop

 Last two at ISO 25600...

ISO 25600 Full frame

ISO 25600 Crop

OK, i will give my thoughts again :-)

Overall I am impressed. Even up to 6400 I would be happy with for smaller res images for websites etc when full frame, maybe not cropped, and happy up to 3200 for any use. Of course, the lower the better and that does show.

However, even 12800 and 25600 when full frame are not that bad, and passable for web sharing. Obviously a lot of noise is there, and obviously more noticeable at 100% crop, but at the end of the day as I keep telling people, if you have to use a higher ISO, do!.. Don't be afraid to push it. Much better to have a sharp image with some noise, than no image at all.

Thanks for looking :-)

Samsung NX1: More thoughts

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

Look... the adders have been dancing! I'll share some photos at the end of next week, but for now will continue with my thoughts on the Samsung NX1.

Look back to my previous post for initial thoughts, and my conclusions will be early next week.

I am one for a camera having to be comfortable in the hand, and easy to use. You don't want that being an obstacle. Bit of a cliché I guess, but you have to feel like the camera is an extension of you and use it without second thought. I am so used to my Nikon, that I can change settings on the fly without my eye leaving the view finder.

The Samsung NX1 is a comfortable camera in the hand, it would be unfair to compare it to any other camera in this area, as this is all down to personal preference and what you get used to. But it certainly wasn't a pain to have to pick up and use. I mentioned in the last post I felt it was not built to the high standard of other DSLR's in it's price range... feels a bit less solid, protected and the bits that move feel flimsier, but I have had no problems with it up to now.

As with the build, button position is a preference thing and what you get used too. Overall things seem logical on the NX1, but for me personally I think they could improve on it. As I say, I like to change things on the fly... I could do this for most settings that I tinker with, but ISO was difficult and I found myself having to pull away from the view finder. You can a function button on the lens to anything though, so this would be an option.

As someone who uses single point focus, and moves it with the circle button on the back, it was a bit of a stretch with the thumb to use and could of been easier if placed higher. When shooting in portrait mode... it was a real stretch, and quite uncomfortable. A second joystick on the vertical camera grip wold solve this.

The displays were good, and the rear display is simply beautiful! The whole camera is a nice looking thing, but to me just doesn't look like a £2,500 piece of kit.

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

The main selling points I have been seeing are the mega pixels, frames per second and ISO. I'll mention FPS at the end of the week, and briefly the others now.

The megapixels are 28mp. This is over double what my Nikon has available... I thought I may not notice it. Not being funny, I think megapixels are sometimes over rated. I can blow up my images to billboard size for the Centre with the 12mp the Nikon offers me as long as the image is good enough in camera, but I soon realised the options extra mp gives you.

The photo above is as it was taken in camera, and below a fairly heavy crop...

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

Still retains all the detail, and I could blow this crop up to a very large size with no loss of quality. Basically, if using the whole frame, the extra mp don't matter. But what the extra mp does do is gives you the option to heavily crop a photo and still have it retain the quality to use at large sizes.

More crops are below to show off the ISO.

Samsung are hailing the high ISO as vein innovative, and producing crystal clear images virtually free of noise even at 25600! I looked at this with a pinch of salt... all new cameras promise revolutionary improvements in noise at high ISO, and few truly deliver, but I was fairly impressed. Certainly no worse than any other camera I have used.

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

This image was taken at ISO 400, and below is a crop. I rarely shoot lower than 400 hence no lower ISO images.

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

Not sure who this will appear once uploaded and compressed for the blog, but there is no noise.

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

Photographing at ISO 800, and again a crop below.

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

Minimal noise, and easily comparable to other cameras I have used.

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

This little owl was shot with an ISO of 1600.

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

The crop shows noise is now creeping in. Remember, I don't do any noise reduction, this is all straight from camera. Personally I think this image is good at 1600... Uncropped it is hardly noticeable, and even zoomed in it is comparable to most other cameras at his range, and better than many I have used.

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

Finally, this stoat shot at 3200. Full frame, again not really that noticeable and better than many cameras out there I have used, only bettered by the high end Nikon and Canon cameras.

The crop below shows more noise creeping in, but keep in mind this is 3200 in dull conditions. I was impressed.

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

The camera goes up to 25600. I have no more examples to show you here, but have tried them all... In high continuous shooting mode you can only set the ISO up to 6400. Not sure why, but on single frame or slow continuous shutter you can set it up to the max of 25600.

12800 and 25600 personally I think are not too great. Maybe my expectations are too high, but even uncropped you can see a lot of noise creeping in. Still usable, and I have to say far better than the Nikon I am currently using, but not the "crystal clear" they claim. 6400 is not too bad, and I would push it to this if I had to, but would try and keep to 3200 or below. 800 and below if thinking I need to crop it heavily later.

Anyway, few more thoughts for you there. Frames per second at the end of the week, with a round up the following week. I won't forget the dancing adders... if all goes to schedule, that will be the end of next week. May be able to get a few more of them in the meantime.

Thanks for looking :-)