Samsung NX1 Hands On (plus Other Samsung Announcements)

Yesterday Samsung announced a new flagship camera – the NX1. Along with along with the camera Samsung also announced a new pro lens as well as another pro lens which is currently under development.

The video above by the guys from Samsung U.S. looks all the main features of the camera which are pretty impressive.

The new NX1 with the recently announced 50-150mm f/2.8 lens

Here is a list of some of the main features:

Sensor: 28.2MP BSI APS-C CMOS.
Processor: new quad core DRIMe V.
Sensitivity: 100-25,600 ISO with expansion up to 51,200 ISO.
Focus system: hybrid 205 phase detection AF points (153 cross type points with 90% coverage).
Video: 4K video recording at 30/24 fps (UHD video recording at 30 fps and pro level DCI 4K @24 fps with the new 265 codec + zebras, focus peeking and more).
LCD: Super AMOLED 3.0″ 1036k dots tilt touchscreen.
Viewfinder: 2.3 million dot OLED EVF.
Shutter: 30-1/8000 sec.
Continuous shooting speed: 15 fps Burst with AF (buffer: around 70 JPEGs and 20 RAW).
Connectivity: WIFI-802.11ac/BT and USB 3.0.
Headphone and mic connections.
External grip option.
Dust and moisture sealing.
Weight: 550 grams.
Price: $1500 body only

An official Samsung NX1 video from Madagascar

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_LzX6S0Pac[/youtube]

Samsung went much further than ever before with the NX1. In some respects this camera is more advanced than any other camera currently on the market and even more advanced than the EOS 7D MKII announced yesterday by Canon. The sensor of the NX1 is completely new (made by Samsung) and has the highest resolution of any APS-C sensor on the market with a completely new design which includes BSI technology (for the first time on such a large sensor) BSI moves the electronics of the sensor to the back side – allowing for more light to hit the sensitivity light gathering photodiodes of the sensor.

The focusing system of the NX1 is at least on paper the most advanced on the market. With a total of over 200 points and a 90% sensor coverage there is nothing that comes even close to it (not even the 7D MKII impressive new focusing system). The interesting part is that out of these 205 point over 150 are crossed (sensitive on both excess) and the general sensitivity of the AF is said to go down to -4EV which is a first in the industry as far as we can remember. The NX1 also has some very powerful AF assist light capable of illuminating up to 15 meter (again something that no other camera on the market has).

The first mirrorless camera with a top info screen

The shooting speed of the NX1 is another area where it is way ahead of the competition – even the fastest pro cameras such as the D4S and 1D-X shoot only around 11 fps (although they do have larger buffers than the NX1). On the plus side the NX1 support the new UHS-II format which will allow you to clean the buffer much faster (see our review of the first UHS-II card from Sandisk here on LensVid).

An AMOLED touch tilt screen

Video is the final point where Samsung invested heavily in – the camera can record into h.265 codac – this is good as this codac can save lots of storage space but it is very new and users will need to wait for support from software to come along. The camera itself let you shoot in both UHD format at 30 fps and the more pro oriented 4K format- DCI 4K @24 fps it also support zebras, focus peeking and the ability to play with exposure and ISO in video, record sound using an external mic and monitor using headphones among other things. Our friends at EOSHD recently published an interesting article and an interview covering some of the video aspects of the NX1 which we highly recommend you read if you are interested in this topic.

Some of the video features of the NX1

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8neVMfr6b5c[/youtube]

All in all the NX1 is (again on paper) the most advanced camera on the market (surly up until $1500 but even well above this price range). Does this translates into real world performance – that is a whole other question – one we shall be looking into later this year with our review of the camera.

The new 50-150mm f/2.8 S premium zoom-telephoto lens

Samsung also introduced a new line of pro lenses which are as essential as the camera itself for the target audience of the camera (advanced photographers and would be pros). The two – very interesting lenses announced – are a 50-150mm f/2.8 lens (something that Sigma used to have on its line until it was strangely discontinued lately) and a very unique 16-50mm f/2-f/2.8 lens. The company also announced it is working on a long telephoto lens – 300mm f/2.8. These are promising signs that Samsung is taking the advanced photography business seriously – but they will need to come up with many more pro lenses to really compete with the “big boys”.

The new 50-150mm f/2.8 lens from the pro S line

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSKSdtbbpb4[/youtube]

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Iddo Genuth

Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.