Samsung NX100 Debuts New Lens-Based Interface-And We've Got One!

Just a few months after its first NX digital camera, which had a distinctly SLR-like form factor with a viewfinder and solid handle, Samsung has unveiled the second member of the family, the NX100, which looks more like a compact camera.  It has a very stripped-back design, which is not to everybody's taste ...

The new NX100 has the same technical base as the NX10, which arrived at the start of this year.  That includes a 14 Megapixel sensor, of course, and an NX lens mount, but also a great 3'' AMOLED screen.  The video is still 720p HD, using the H.264 codec and mono sound.

However, the newcomer is much smaller, thanks to the disappearance of the viewfinder and the handle.  It now measures 12 x 7 x  3.5 cm, more or less exactly the same dimensions as a Panasonic GF1.  An electronic viewfinder will be available as an optional extra.

When you pick it up, it feels pretty bulky, thanks mostly to a rather odd design.  Some people will probably find it attractive, but it doesn't make for particularly easy handling.  The sweeping curve which rises to meet the shutter release is too high for your middle and ring fingers to grip it properly, so you have to adopt a traditional two-handed grip. 

The layout of the controls has been updated since the NX10 and EX1: the scroll wheel could have come straight from the former, but the mode dial at the back reminds us more of the latter.  Samsung has chosen a brand new way of positioning the buttons, with the Fn button now at the top right (it was on the top left on the NX10 and the bottom right on the EX1 ...) while anybody who is used to using the NX10 will immediately notice the switching round of the Disp and Menu keys, along with the exposure correction and lock.  It's a real shame, as committed amateurs can be demanding about this sort of thing and like to know they can be familiar with their equipment.

iFn

Samsung showed off two new lenses alongside the NX100: a 20-50 mm f/3.5-5.6, which covers the same as a 35-70 mm 24 x 36 mm lens, and an ultra-flat 20 mm f/2.8 (equivalent to a 30 mm).  Both new lenses have one new feature in common: a small button labelled iFn.

It represents an exciting new innovation: you can now use your left hand to control certain settings.  In intelligent automatic mode, for instance, you can scroll through scene modes, while in one of the PSAM modes you can adjust exposure settings, white balance or ISO sensitivity.  You use the manual focus ring to choose the options on the fly.

When we tried it out, this new addition won over most of the journalists at the press conference.  It's a quick, intuitive way of setting up your camera, and also gives your left hand something to do, especially when you're using a fixed lens, something that's very common on today's smaller cameras with interchangeable lenses.  It consequently takes the load off your right hand, which will you usually have a scroll wheel, a mode dial and a whole host of buttons to take care of.

The NX100 will go on sale with the 20-50 mm supplied as standard, for a similar price to the Sony NEX-5 and a 16 mm pancake lens or the Sony NEX-3 with a 18-55 zoom lens.  More annoyingly, it's a lot more expensive than the Olympus E-PL1 and a 14-42 mm lens, which also has a built-in flash and mechanical stabilisation.

We've got one!

We got hold of an NX-100 yesterday afternoon with the standard 20-50 mm lens.  It's very small when turned off but proved to be excellent when we started to use it.  Although it misses some detail in the corners at the shortest focal lengths, it's very even in tele-photo mode.


That makes us miss stabilisation even more, a very strange thing for Samsung to have left out.  There's no use hoping a flash will save the day either, because the NX100 doesn't have one.  We don't expect to be able to crank up the sensitivity either: athough Samsung is making progress in this field, it's still trailing behind Sony ...

Our full review will be online in the next few weeks, but you can already find the Samsung NX100 in our Camera Face-Off and start comparing it to other cameras.

> Product Face-Off: Samsung NX100 vs Panasonic GF1

> Digital Cameras: SLRs, Micro 4/3 and Interchangeable Lens Reviews

> Buyer's Guides: Our Pick of The Best Products