Samsung Launches NX100 Digital Camera in Hong Kong
Samsung launched the NX100 mirrorless interchangeable lens digital camera in Hong Kong today, and HardwareZone was there to catch it. Find out what's new and who the surprise guests were at the event.
Samsung launched their brand new NX100 mirrorless interchangeable lens digital camera in Hong Kong today, and HardwareZone was there to catch it. Coming nine months after the NX10, Samsung's first mirrorless interchangeable lens digital camera was announced in January, the NX100 seems not so much a successor as a different range of camera all together; more compact with a few new tricks up the NX sleeve.
President of Samsung Digital Imaging Division Mr. Sang Jin Park was there personally to help launch the NX100.
Mr. Sang (center) with surprise guests Gaile Lai (left), famous Hong Kong supermodel and Tyrone Turner (right), National Geographic photographer, both users of the NX100.
While the NX10 came in at 123 x 87 x 39.8mm and 353g, the NX100 is a smaller 120 x 71 x 34.5mm and 282g. Even though it's slimmer and lighter, the NX100 still packs a large 14.6MP APS-C size CMOS sensor. It's a sensor similar in size with those found in entry-level DSLR cameras, and larger than the sensors found in Micro Four Thirds cameras, promising high image quality. While the NX10 maxed out at ISO3200 though, the NX100 steps up to ISO6400.
The NX100 is smaller and lighter than the NX10. It comes in white, black, brown and silver.
Both also shoot 720p HD video and come with a 3" AMOLED screen on the back. The NX100 however, removes the built-in flash and electronic viewfinder found on the NX10, losing some features but gaining some mobility.
Introducing i-Function & New Features
The NX100 introduces a new feature to the NX family, a pairing between lens and camera that Samsung calls the i-Function. As a button found on the new lenses announced today, i-Function lets you use the manual focus ring on the lens to control other settings on the camera, like aperture, shutter speed and ISO when turned on. Which setting it takes over depends on the mode the camera is in, like Aperture or Shutter Priority, but the i-Function ring works in tandem with the other controls found on the body; one dial wheel on top and one scroll wheel on the back.
The new i-Function button is marked iFn on the lens.
The i-Function lens ring works in tandem with the dial wheel on top and scroll wheel on the back to control the camera settings.
i-Function can only be used with the NX100 at the moment, while i-Function lenses can be mounted and used with the NX10, you can't use i-Function features with the NX10 just yet. Samsung is coming up with a firmware update to give the NX10 i-Function as well though, so NX10 owners sit tight.
The NX100 also has a Lens Priority mode designed to help beginners understand which lens can be best used with each shooting scene. Each lens is marked with icons which illustrate its main uses, and the Lens Priority mode provides scene options optimized for the specific lens being used, so a landscape lens will display landscape mode and a portrait lens will display portrait mode.
Another new feature is the Sound Picture mode, which lets you record audio when a photo is taken, so you can preserve the moment and even record your own spoken notes.
First Impressions of the NX100
What strikes me first about holding the NX100 is its compact size. The NX10 really set the bar as the first ever compact camera with an APS-C sized sensor, but the NX100 takes it even further with its slim body. It's even more amazing when you consider how impossible such a camera seemed just two years ago, when the Micro Four Thirds cameras were announced.
Samsung says the design of the NX100 is inspired by the simple shape of dew forming on a leaf, reflected on the shutter button and curved body.
Back then, it looked like the larger-than-compact but smaller-than-DSLR sensors were all we could expect from the new mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras, but the NX100 (and cameras like the Sony NEX) shows just how possible the impossible dream is today: a large DSLR-sized sensor in a compact body with lenses you can switch around according to the occasion. And it's even more exciting when you consider how the NX100 is going to push the bar even further for its competitors.
Giving the NX100 a quick go at the launch event, the i-Function feature will feel similar to anyone who's ever used a Canon S90 or S95, which have a control ring around the lens that also gives you control over shooting settings. It takes a while to get used to for anyone who has gotten used to handling a DSLR - for short moments you think you're manually focusing when you're really changing settings like aperture and shutter speed.
Still, it's an intriguing new feature that demands a closer review (watch for it!).
New NX Lenses & Accessories
The NX100 cameras with an array of available, announced and coming lenses and accessories.
New NX lenses announced include the compact zoom 20-50mm f/4-5.6 OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) lens (with the 1.54x crop of the NX series, that's an approx. 30-77mm 35mm equivalent lens) which will be available at launch. A 20mm f/2.8 (approx. 30mm) pancake lens will be launched shortly after.
Shown here are NX100 cameras with the flash (center) and GPS attachments (right).
Two additional lenses will be launched in the first half of 2011, a 60mm f/2.8 OIS (approx. 92mm) macro lens and a 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 OIS (approx. 27-308mm) telephoto. Three more lenses will be introduced by the second half of 2011, a 16mm f/2.8 (approx. 24mm), 85mm f/1.4 (approx. 130mm) and a 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 OIS (approx. 24-123mm) lens. In case you're wondering, we didn't forget to type in OIS for some of these lenses, they really don't come with any optical stabilization built-in.
More accessories will be launched, including an electronic viewfinder, flash, GPS tracker, and even Samsung NX camera bags.
A Samsung SEF42A flash attachment (left) with flexible flash head and Samsung NX camera bag (right).
NX100 Pricing & Availability
The Samsung NX100 is expected to be available in October, with its price to be confirmed (but expected to be slightly less than the NX10).
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