Every year, Samsung excites teeming customers with something innovative at the upper end of its ‘mirrorless’ camera line-up. Last year it was the almost pocket-sized NX300, a high-performance smart camera featuring wireless sharing connectivity and compatibility with a broad range of smartphones and tablets.
This year, the company has once again raised the bar for compact system cameras all over the world by introducing its more traditional and professionally-inspired NX30, with a re-invented sensor and super-bright, fold-out, three-in-one AMOLED touchscreen.
The Samsung NX30 marks a significant upgrade for the premium line-up of Samsung’s camera range, and is the company’s most enthusiast–oriented camera till date.
The 20.3 megapixel sensor device boasts many of the elements desired by professional photographers while being housed in an ultra-compact body.
Featuring the same Image Sensor and Hybrid Autofocus system as the Samsung NX300, the NX30 offers impressive innovation with its DSLR (digital single-lens reflex)-style body, top of the range display and a wealth of advanced connectivity features, many of which are exclusive to it. The recommended retail price is N118, 000. Lets look at the device in detail.
Features
Samsung has brought its expertise in consumer electronics to bear in its delivery of the NX30. The device features a high-resolution, 3-inch super AMOLED swivel and touch LCD display and a unique Tiltable Electronic Viewfinder, which is optimised to provide users with flexible capture angles that are great for selfies and shooting from awkward positions. The viewfinder has a fast refresh rate, vast display of colours and great contrast, similar to that of the camera’s LCD. Exceptional video clarity is guaranteed with the NX30’s 1920 x 1080 maximum resolution; lower resolution videos can be made in a variety of frame rates and sizes, including videos that are optimised for web viewing. Users are guaranteed videos and images bearing colours that are true to their original source with each NX30 experience.
In addition to Full HD Video Stereo Recording, the NX30 supports a standard 3.5mm microphone input for high quality audio capture while shooting movies. The Audio Level Meter appears on the display so users can continuously monitor the input level status while recording. The input level can be manually adjusted to ensure optimal audio quality. Moreover the NX30 is also perfect for advanced video enthusiasts because of its HDMI live streaming with Full HD 30p output that makes it easy to connect with a large screen, recorder, and other HDMI devices.
The NX30 camera has a shutter speed of 1/8000s, the fastest in its class, and lets users shoot continuously at an ultra-fast rate of 9 frames per second. Its unique “Hybrid Autofocus” feature gives users the ability to capture fast-moving scenes from either stationary or mobile viewpoints. Through Samsung’s innovative i-Function system, advanced camera settings such as shutter speed and aperture can be accessed with the touch of one button. For more experienced photographers, i-Function Plus lets users reprogram existing buttons with their preferred and frequently used settings.
The NX30 boasts a new powerful external flash that makes it easier for users to capture perfect shots, allowing light to travel further and wider. The high-speed flash sync mode allows for flash with shutter speeds faster than 1/200th of a second, ideal for brightly lit scenes with selective depth of field. Additionally this new flash supports wireless strobe sync, bringing an added dimension to images with light that looks natural.
A value-add to the camera is the inclusion of the full version of Adobe’s well-regarded editing software, Lightroom 5, which costs about N26,000 direct from Adobe. The NX30 also has a neat Picture Wizard menu containing nine presets and three custom settings to set image styles such as Retro, Landscape and Vivid. These can be adjusted for colour, saturation, sharpness and contrast. A free camera strap as well as an 18-55mm Samsung camera lens is included with every purchase in Nigeria.
Connectivity
Building on the success of Samsung’s market leading Smart Camera technology, the NX30’s Near Field Communication (NFC) and Wi-Fi capabilities offer the next-generation of connectivity, making it easier than ever to take advantage of a host of intuitive sharing features. The device features a unique ‘Tag & Go’ function that lets users share videos and photographs instantly when paired with NFC-enabled smartphones and tablets. With the camera’s ‘Photo Beam’ feature, users can easily transfer images and videos from the NX30 to compatible smartphones and tablets without the hassle of additional configuration.
MobileLink lets users select multiple images to send to four different smart devices at the same time without the need to take repetitive shots on each individual device.
AutoShare automatically sends every photo taken instantly to smartphone or tablet devices and the Remote Viewfinder Pro function enables control of the NX30 from a smartphone, allowing the user to capture shots remotely yet still have full visibility of the scene.
The NX30 integrates popular web storage service Dropbox, and is the first camera to offer direct-to-Dropbox uploading. Additionally, users of the NX30 in selected areas can upload directly to Flickr, the full resolution photo-sharing site – another first in a camera-specific device. Using the advanced connected features of the NX30, images can be uploaded automatically so photographers will not need to be concerned with maxing out their memory cards.
Design
Intuitive design is a central feature of the NX30. The device is slightly larger than its precursor, the NX20. The camera’s front grip is a bit bigger, reminiscent of the original Galaxy NX. The buttons have been rearranged in such a way as to enable users change controls such as metering and white balance, from the function menu. The result of these modifications is a camera that is well balanced and very easy to use.
Two dedicated Custom Modes are available on the mode dial, allowing users to retrieve their preferred camera settings very quickly while ten additional custom sets can be stored on the camera. A separate drive dial also provides instant access to a selection of popular modes, including continuous shooting, bracketing and self-timer, making it fast and simple to select the ideal settings for photography and video recording.
Bottom-line
Since its launch in 2010, the Samsung NX System has become synonymous with innovation and design, making it the best digital imaging technology available to everyone without compromising on style. The NX30 builds even further on this illustrious heritage. Not only does it deliver incredible speed and accuracy through advanced video and photographic features, it is truly built around the user, with upgraded Smart Camera functionality – making shooting and sharing both easy and seamless. The NX30 camera has been engineered to offer superior image capturing while maximizing simplicity and ensuring that users are just one click away from seamless connectivity – definitely a must-have for camera enthusiasts!
Ben Uzor Jr
