My Experience with Samsung NX1

First of all I wish to thank Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. for giving me the opportunity to join the global imagelogger program. Because of this I got the chance to explore and shoot with this Samsung top range NX1 smart camera. What I received in the box can be seen from the video and I'm also trying to list them out as below https://vimeo.com/149571890

Samsung NX1 16-50mm f/2-2.8 kit contains the following items:

  • Samsung NX1 body
  • Rechargeable lithium-ion battery packs
  • Vertical battery grip
  • USB cable
  • USB wall charger
  • Body cap
  • Hot shoe cover
  • 16-50mm f/2-2.8 S ED OIS lens
  • pouch
  • Lens cap
  • Lens hood
  • Strap
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Quick Reference Guide
  • Software DVD (Includes Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5)
  • Warranty cards
Samsung NX1

Samsung NX1

The NX1 is Samsung's most 'professional' camera to date and. The NX1's 28.2-megapixel APS-C sensor produces outstanding, high-resolution images, especially at low to mid ISOs, with very good dynamic range for an APS-C camera. The sensor is the first backside-illuminated APS-C sensor and is capable of recording 14-bit RAW files, which increases sensitivity for cleaner, low-light images, as well as a 15-fps max shooting speed, which makes it the fastest high-end camera on the market.

No doubt The Samsung NX1 has many interesting and useful features and delivers very good overall performance but as a landscape photographer I normally just stick to the few routine setting which I normally use. So I’m not going to touch every single mode or function here. I just try to share some of the feature I found it useful and which I love to use the most.

Touch Screen Focus & Tilted LCD Screen

The touch screen is handy not only for rapid access to menus and settings but also for quickly setting focal points during live view mode. Just by Tapping a subject to focus is much quicker way to focus than is any point or zone autofocus system. I believe the tilted LCD screen is quite common in DSLR today,  what i love when I first hands on of this Samsung NX1 is the 3-inch tilting FVGA Super AMOLED touchscreen. The tilted LCD screen combine with the touch screen focus really make my composition easier through out the shooting no matter in low or high angle, the touchscreen reacts very fast to user interactions. Its giving me totally new perspective of the shooting.

samsungnx1

samsungnx1

Low Angle Shooting

Low Angle Shooting

High Angle Shooting

High Angle Shooting

With Samsung NX1, once you have selected manual focus mode, by turning the manual focus ring automatically increases the magnification on the LCD display by 5x or 8x,  with the help of Focus peaking it highlights the areas that are in focus so you are able to quickly focus, its help a lot especially in the dark when you have a poor visibility. Samsung NX1 has come up something smart on this which is a big help in getting the focus spot on. It also works pretty well in macro shooting and I believe it will be even better if shooting with a macro lens.

Green Night

Green Night

Dragon fly with manual focus

Dragon fly with manual focus

Samsung NX1 build in Interval capture, this function really makes my life easier. Beside shooting star trail, you can use that to shoot time lapse, or hunt for meteor and lightning. it can gives you maximum up to 9999 shots but subject to memory card storage. The shooting can be stop or cancel by touching the LCD touch screen during the interval of each shooting.

Night Sky Photography

A random meteor fly by during the Perseid meteor shower

Night Sky Photography

Star Trail

Storm

Storm

The Samsung NX1 can shoot up to 15 fps max shooting speed, but thankfully this is configurable to 12, 10, or 8 fps. This is a good news for those sport or wildlife shooter. it makes sure you never miss an important moment. I currently don't have a long lens to test on those but I manage to test it on a fisherman with the 16-50 lens f/2-2.8.

15 fps Samsung NX1

15 fps Samsung NX1

The weight of this camera set is well over a kilo, not really the lightest in the mirrorless market but physically, the NX1 has all the qualities of a high-end enthusiast's camera, including a magnesium alloy body that feels solid and comfortable in the hands. Now it is my favorite camera where ever I go because of it light weight and powerful as a pro-camera and compact enough to travel around

Samsung NX1

Samsung NX1

Ross & Oatlands

Ross & Oatlands

Canola Field

Canola Field

Darling Harbour

Darling Harbour

Most of the time my low light shooting were done by a tripod, my favorite shooting time for landscape are during dawn or dusk, during that time it work pretty well with tripod and low ISO, the dynamic range is impressive, focusing wise pretty spot on, but in some circumstances I have to handheld it and shooting with high ISO.  I should say low light shooting for Samsung NX1 is acceptable, the AF can acquire autofocus of a still subject in low light quite well. Great image quality even in high ISO shooting.

Dusk in Hobart

Dusk in Hobart

Morning from Penang Hill

Morning from Penang Hill

The explorer

The explorer

Penguin watching

Penguin watching

Night sky photography is something I like the most as a hobby shooting, in order to get a good night photograph you need to consider a few factor like weather, moon phase, cloud, and also the camera and lens. The NX1 produces high resolution images with great low light performance and acceptable noise during long exposure. the lowest lens aperture can go down to f/2 which is a boost for night photographer.

My imagination

My imagination

milky way

milky way

Conclusion.

Samsung has created a camera that is technologically superior to equivalent DSLRs from the long-time market leaders. NX1 is one of the best mirrorless or DSLR cameras in the market.

I liked the NX1 for many things:  it takes really good picture with great image quality especially in low light, good dynamic range, beautiful clear and detail EVF and touch screen focus. I feel more comfortable with NX1 because it is much more lighter and more convenient to use for traveling or day in day out shooting. I would say this is a camera for photography experts, enthusiasts and semi professionals.

All photos, above, have been shot with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics. Co., Ltd.