A perfect prosumer camera for photographers looking to switch from their compacts to a more sophisticated camera
Samsung is well-known for its smartphones and tablets, but the Korean company is also a producer of digital and
DSLR cameras. But, it has yet to make its presence felt in this particular market.
Its NX series however has been more successful than others owing to affordable prices and easy-to-use features.
After launching NX20 in 2012, Samsung released the NX30 in February this year. Bigger than its predecessor and boasting more powerful lenses, this mirror-less camera looks more like a DSLR. It also weighs slightly more (only 375g without the lens) but still, its ergonomic shape makes it much handier compared to other DSLR cameras.
Because the image quality is in the same league as other new generation cameras of the same range, NX30 has to be evaluated upon its functions and options.
The camera menu is simple and important settings such as Exposure Value (EV) or aperture are laid out logically.
As with many of the new DSLR and mirror-less cameras, the NX30 has a touch screen which makes the navigation and fixing settings a lot quicker. The flip-out screen makes it perfect for shooting videos in different angles. Surprisingly, the viewfinder is also extendable, but this is not much of a use.
Even with its high ISO (up to 25,600), the newborn of the NX series is average in low light. It shows just a bit of noise though. NX30 has a rapid frame rate of 9 fps which is ideal for shooting sports. The most notable feature of the NX30 is its auto exposure lock (AEL) that captures the background of landscapes or silhouette in their actual colour.
The Wi-Fi connection in the camera makes it easy to share the pictures on a computer. They can even be sent via email (limited to seven pictures per sending). The Micro HDMI port of NX30 enables streaming of full HD videos on large-screen monitors.
The weak point of the camera is its battery life. NX30 hardly resists three hundred shots when the battery is fully charged. Also, Samsung has developed its own format of RAW which is the SRW extension. It was a real struggle looking for a software that could convert SRW pictures to JPEG – even the Samsung RAW Converter 4 did not work.
NX30 is priced at Rs 109,990.
Yantrick’s Verdict: NX30 is a good prosumer camera and will interest photographers looking to let go of their compacts for a more sophisticated camera.