Samsung Samsung NX series questions

Ray Sachs

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Not too far from Philly
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you should be able to figure it out...
I've been pretty lame about paying adequate attention to the NX lineup, but a few recent posts have caught my attention. My main cameras are the RX1 and Nikon A, which I use most of the time for the wide-ish focal length(s) I mostly like to shoot. Not looking to replace either, BUT... I also have a combination of m43 (OMD) for longer lenses and Fuji (XE1) for wide angle. I've been waiting a good long time for the Fuji 10-24 UWA to come along and have thought that if Fuji had something that compared to the Olympus 75mm f1.8, I might bail out of m43 altogether and go with Fuji for my long and wide setup. For how little I use these longer and wider lengths, it seems sort of crazy to have two separate systems. But I see that the NX system has a 12-24, a nice 24mm equivalent pancake, and a wonderful 85 f1.4. The 85 isn't quite as long as the Oly 75, but its a great focal length for the same kind of shooting, maybe actually a bit better length. And they've got a 55-200 that would be enough telephoto for the rare occasion I want to go pretty long. So, a few questions about the bodies:

I'm primarily interested in either the NX20 or the NX300 - probably the NX20 for the EVF. So:

1. Are the controls and menus pretty much the same between the two? If not, what are the key differences?

2. Do either have any sort of distance scale when in manual focus, or basically just focus peaking for critical focus?

3. Does the NX20 have the same basic approach that Nic just recently raised about the auto-ISO logic on the NX300?

4. I assume ALL of the same lenses are fully compatible with both?

5. Is there anything like dual control wheels on these things? I realize that the focus ring on most or all of the lenses (is it all?) can be used as a control ring for other functions when in AF, and I guess each of the camera bodies has one small control dial? Is this right? How do you who have the system find this in use?

6. Given Samsung's relatively low profile in the mirrorless world, is there much confidence that they'll continue to develop and grow this system? These cameras and, particularly, the lenses seem to have a lot to offer. But the Galaxy NX doesn't look like anything I'd be even remotely interested in and I don't want to convert to a system that's either dying or going in a wildly different direction, even if it meets my needs at the moment...

7 - Oh, and do they have the same sensor? I was assuming so since they're both basically 20mp, but I just got the impression from something I read that maybe the NX300 is a newer sensor?? If they're not the same, how much better is the NX300 and in what ways?

Thanks for any input...

-Ray
 
I can only answer some of these

1. The NX300 uses a new user interface that is fully touchscreen compatible. Unlike the implementation of the Olympus touchscreen (which is reserved almost exclusively for the shooting interface of focus and shutter release), with the Samsung you can choose to use it throughout including the menus and playback which supports standard swipe and pinch-to-zoom gestures.

2. When you switch to manual focus a slider is displayed with a mountain at one end and a portrait/bust at the other but with no numerical distance values in between. It is useful simply to confirm when you have reached the near and far focus limits. The focus peaking allows you to choose three different sensitivities and three different colours.

4. There is a 45mm f1.8 lens which has a switchable 3D imaging mode. I don't know if this particular feature works on all bodies.

5. This is a problem IMHO. The Olympus E-M5 and E-P5 have perfect dual control setups in terms of placement and function. You can even swap their functions around or change their direction, and the E-P5 now adds a control lever to temporarily switch their function to ISO and WB. The NX300 has a single dial on the top deck of the camera which is okay but not the best placed control around. To adjust exposure compensation you need to hold down a button and turn the dial at the same time, and you can't do this after you have half pressed the shutter.

6. Don't know about this one. Samsung is fighting against the notion that only camera companies make good cameras, and only Japanese electronics companies make good electronics. I don't feel that the system as it is now is sufficiently fleshed out to the point where I would jump in exclusively. At the moment the idea of adding the 12-24mm UWA to the two 20mm and 30mm pancakes that I already have sounds just right to me, with Micro 4/3 remaining as my "full" system. As much as the NX300 is faster and more efficient than the NX200, like other APS-C mirrorless systems it just doesn't do things quite as effortlessly and efficiently as the cameras from the two Micro 4/3 manufacturers do.

7. Essentially yes, but the NX300 added on-sensor PDAF (whose usefulness I have yet to determine. The AF just feels like a standard, not quite as fast as Micro 4/3 CDAF system). If you go to DxOMark the two sensors do differ slightly but not significantly. Incidentally, until I shoot with it more my jury is still out on the NX300 sensor. Both it and the NX20 were given an upgrade from the first generation 20mp sensor in the NX200 in terms of baseline numbers, particularly noise, but now I'm concerned that it's got that "plasticky" look to the files that I don't love about the Sony 16MP APS-C sensor. I need to shoot with it more and get a handle on processing the files to see if this is going to be a problem, or indeed even is a problem.

Samsung NX 300 vs Samsung NX 20 vs Samsung NX 200
 
Thanks much for the detailed thoughts Nic. If I'm gonna have more than one system I'll likely just stay put with m43 and Fuji. And see how things shake out for awhile. Samsung may come out with a more fully realized body or Fuji may add a short telephoto or...... It would nice to consolidate down to one system, particularly since I use the system gear so little relative to my two fixed lens cameras. But it's far from critical... The Samsung lenses do look pretty nice though.

-Ray
 
Pavel (Stratokaster) will be able to tell you more about the larger NX20 body and what it does differently. I'm happy to keep the system simple and compact for now with the NX300, especially since it has the touchscreen interface which I tend to use a lot these days. I wanted to have an alternative to Micro 4/3 just for something a bit different, and after buying, trying, and selling a Sony NEX, and deciding not to get the Fuji X-E1, I ended up finding a deal on a used NX200 and the rest, as they say, is history.
 
If you're interested in trying the NX system, I'd recommend getting NX300. EVF aside, it's a much better camera than NX20 in almost every respect: better operational speed, better AF, the camera doesn't lock up while writing images to the memory card etc.

The new JPEG engine used in NX300 is especially impressive. Samsung basically went overnight from having the worst JPEG engine in the industry (NX200/NX20) to having one of the best JPEG engines in the industry (NX300).
 
Thanks Pavel. The NX300 looks nice but for the lack of any type of viewfinder option (I guess you could put a dumb OVF in the hot-shoe, but I've never gotten a lot of use out of those. I'm not really looking to do anything, but if they come out with a body more like the NX20 that's as up to date functional as the NX300, the system seems to be worth a serious look.

-Ray
 
One thing that I note about the NX300 (and the NX200 for that matter) is that the rear screen is just not as legible in bright sunlight as the OLED screens on the current Olympus Micro 4/3 cameras. This is something of a shame when you consider that from their recent line of Galaxy smartphones and tablets (and notebooks, ultrabooks, etc) that Samsung know exactly how to make awesome screens. If an NX30 does materialise, it will need to be a defining camera to really show that Samsung wants to be a serious player. Everything seems to be there to make it so, they just need to...make it so :)
 
My understanding is the 45mm with 3d capability is only usable on the NX300. I have one coming with the 12-24mm and a NX300 also. The 85mm is a really nice and heavy lens but can be used with one hand if really needed on the NX20. I actually have 2 copies of the 85mm right now (one on the block) and build quality is excellent. I'm really looking forward to trying out the 12-24mm.
 
My understanding is the 45mm with 3d capability is only usable on the NX300.

Let me be more specific. The lens works for the 3D stills and video only on the NX300 (not sure about the newer NX Android). It will work like the cheaper, "regular" 45mm on all NX bodies. Apparently, both versions of the lens are optically identical.
 
7. Essentially yes, but the NX300 added on-sensor PDAF (whose usefulness I have yet to determine. The AF just feels like a standard, not quite as fast as Micro 4/3 CDAF system). If you go to DxOMark the two sensors do differ slightly but not significantly. Incidentally, until I shoot with it more my jury is still out on the NX300 sensor. Both it and the NX20 were given an upgrade from the first generation 20mp sensor in the NX200 in terms of baseline numbers, particularly noise, but now I'm concerned that it's got that "plasticky" look to the files that I don't love about the Sony 16MP APS-C sensor. I need to shoot with it more and get a handle on processing the files to see if this is going to be a problem, or indeed even is a problem.

Samsung NX 300 vs Samsung NX 20 vs Samsung NX 200

Got this one well and truly sorted out now. Turns out that the changes to the sensor output between the NX200 and NX300 were significant enough that I went back and created a new Lightroom preset for the NX300 as opposed to applying the one I had for the NX200. Less noise reduction, less sharpening, less clarity, different level of vibrance. On the whole it was a decent upgrade to an already very decent sensor.
 
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