Snapshots with the Samsung NX30
June 2, 2014
I was loaned a review unit of Samsung’s NX30 camera for a short while, and it surprised me. I won’t call this a review, since I only have it for a short while, but more of a summary, with some photos from the camera.
The pros:
- Bigger than my usual Micro Four-Thirds system, but really light, and handles well in hand.
- Fully articulating rear LCD makes it easy to get shots from an awkward angle.
- Dials and buttons for commonly-accessed functions, such as metering, Wi-Fi file transfer (all cameras should have this as a default feature by now), drive mode, simple mode dial, so I don’t have to go into the menu all the time.
- Much improved EVF; as a fan of good electronic viewfinders, I cannot stress how important this is!
- The eyepiece/EVF can be extended and tilted upwards, which is a good idea.
- Easy to manipulate RAW files, resulting in good colour or monochrome conversions.
And of course, since there are no perfect cameras, here are the cons:
- The kit lens feels like a kit lens. The results are ok, but I didn’t enjoy using it.*
- The way the extending EVF is made doesn’t feel as strong as it should.
- The AF can be frustrating at times, perhaps because it’s the kit lens, but I’m really not sure.
That said though, it is an enjoyable camera to use. Just to be sure, I handed it off to my wife for a few hours, and she thoroughly enjoyed it. This is a potential hit for Samsung, if they can overcome the ingrained biases of the camera-buying/-toting crowd.
While I’m at it, here are some snapshots of my son taken with the NX30.
At the risk of sounding like Joe McNally, more to come…
* Mainly because I’m a young dinosaur who loves his prime lenses.