Ironically, the first “mirrorless” on Android does not belong to Samsung, the South Korean giant, but it was able to bring this concept to perfection and produce really intriguing device. It’s about the Samsung Galaxy NX is running a full-fledged operating system Android 4.2. Became the heart of the camera quad-core processor, which is paired with 2GB of RAM will provide unrivaled power and the module with a 20-megapixel sensor and a new handler DRIMe IV will allow you to take pictures of professional quality. Wherever you are, with the Galaxy NX will always be able to share just finished shooting pictures with support for 3G/4G LTE networks, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
Design
When a picture of the new child of Samsung has just appeared on the network that I fear – do they still released NX30? In this model, definitely there are features of the former flagship of the NX20 – a large body uhvatistaya handle with soft-touch coating and built-in flash. But unfortunately, or fortunately, it was a new Galaxy NX.
Unlike its predecessor, NX300, Galaxy NX very comfortable in the hand, even with the biggest lenses, and looks quite harmoniously with them. Extensive area around the mount is busy only lens lock button and AF assist lamp, so there’s room for the toes, and optics.
The top panel housed the shutter, power button, videos, and flash control, and mechanical reel scrolling. To connect an external flash hot shoe is provided.
Culminating piece Samsung Galaxy NX has 4.77-inch touch screen with a resolution of 1280×720. It is very convenient to control the scene, as all the details of the future picture can be seen even before pressing the shutter release. In addition to this model, such a huge display boasts only Galaxy Camera.
In terms of quality, in the street picture lacks brightness, and viewing angles are too small, but inside everything is fine.
In sunny weather, more comfortable to use the electronic viewfinder. Especially because he is not pleased with the smaller size is comparable to the SLR camera viewfinders. Next to the eye cup is a small grooved drum for correction diopters. Viewfinder sensor is very sensitive. If you raise your hand to your viewfinder closer than a couple of inches, the LCD screen automatically turns off.
The camera is equipped with a standard 3.5-mm jack for headphones. So in between recording, you can enjoy your favorite music. But to control the sound when recording through headphones current software, unfortunately, does not allow. Another two interfaces are hidden under a plastic cover: micro-HDMI and micro-USB. There is also a built-in speaker with quite good sound.
Tripod thread and battery compartment are traditionally on the bottom. The unit is powered by a huge battery capacity of 4360 mAh. However, appetite and Android-based device rather big. On a single charge the camera lasted about 3 days. During this time, managed to make about 200 pictures, shoot video for about 10 minutes, a couple of times to find his way with GPS, with half an hour to sit on the internet and even play a little. If you charge the camera immediately before shooting, the battery last for about 440 shots or 190 minutes video recording, which is very good for a mirrorless camera.
Located next to the battery slot for cards microSD (with support for SDXC) and MicroSIM.
Menu
In the shooting menu can be accessed immediately after resume from standby mode via the icon “Camera” or by simply pressing the shutter release. The camera is running an operating system Android 4.2 and has a familiar interface, which we observed in the Galaxy
Camera and Galaxy S4 Zoom.
On the right side of the screen there are two virtual digging photos and video recordings between shooting mode dial. The first and easiest mode – automatically. Selecting it will only need to clean the lens and press the shutter release.
For planned subjects must choose the most appropriate scene program “Smart”. Among the programs, there are a large number of brand-name “chips”, “Dynamics”, “Eraser”, “Animation” and many more.
Not without manual control in which the user can change the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO sensitivity with the virtual ring of the lens. These settings can be set by simply clicking on the respective indicator.
The convenience of this control has caused the greatest controversy. If the problem is approached from the point of view of a professional, you really monitor settings without taking your hands off the camera and the eye from the viewfinder is not possible, and that means that the photographer will not be able to respond quickly to change the story. But the inexperienced user to control such a powerful camera will be no more difficult than a smartphone – everything is intuitive and simple.
Also, do not forget that the Galaxy NX – this is the camera for Android, for which there is a set of alternative interfaces. For example, Camera FV-5 Lite with the usual compact camera style of performance.
Sensor
Responsible for shooting 20.3-megapixel sensor and a processor DRIMe IV, borrowed from the flagship NX300. Such a great bunch proved in the previous chamber and did not let down now. Pictures of the size of 5472×3648 have excellent detail, deep color reproduction and wide dynamic range.
Thanks to the new managed not only to increase the maximum sensitivity, but also significantly reduce the noise level. A small grain size does not interfere with shooting in RAW to ISO 800-1600, and in JPEG, even at ISO 6400 you can receive pictures quite acceptable quality.
If you add a camera aperture optics will open opportunities for low-light shooting, although in the basic Galaxy NX cope with this task much better than compacts and even some bezzekralnye competitors. So, now surely no one will doubt the quality of your pictures on Facebook.
Lens
The supplied standard zoom lens 18-55 mm is suitable for most scenes. The minimum focal length provides a wide viewing angle for landscapes and architecture, and maximum choice for portraits.
Samsung NX system offers a choice of optics, which can significantly enhance the capabilities of the camera. For example, a “telephoto” 50-200 mm ED OIS can be removed distant objects close-up, with 60 mm Macro ED OIS SSA to make an awesome close-up, but with 85 mm ED SSA identify objects beautiful bokeh.
High-speed shooting
High-speed recording (up to 8.6 frames / sec) will certainly appeal to fans of stories and a variety of dynamic scenes. However, the claimed speed is limited to 5 shots in RAW format and about 16 as JPEG. Not the highest, but a very good result for a mirrorless camera.
The maximum video resolution of 1920×1080 pixels, and the recording speed of 30 frames / sec. Although the copy is less than half the NX300, Galaxy NX showed very smooth image with good detail.
With such a large screen and manual settings, this camera has a very good potential, even for commercial photography.
The hardware
The basis was the Samsung Galaxy NX brand quad-core processor with a clock speed of 1.6 GHz and a graphics accelerator Mali-400 MP. The amount of RAM as much as 2 GB, which is still a rarity, even for smartphones. Built-in storage – 16 GB, but part of it is occupied by system files and pre-installed applications.
In general, the performance of Galaxy NX only slightly inferior to the flagship smartphone of the year. Let this sounds very strange, but the camera Galaxy NX «pull” even the most advanced 3D-games.
Software
The basic set of programs is not much different from the established to the Samsung smartphone running Android 4.2.
There are also unique editor Paper Artist. It allows for a lot of different digital effects, and each has two layers – the upper (visible initially) and the bottom (seen in places touches). This application dramatically transform any of your pictures, even if he was not very successful.
The more traditional “Editor” has the crop, retouching, color correction and an original set of effects – in short, everything you need for basic image processing.
Also in the Play Store has a huge number of other applications to create different effects, or a deeper correction of images. For example, Photo Studio combines both.
Networking opportunities
The camera can operate in 3G/4G LTE networks, has dual-band Wi-Fi adapter and Bluetooth 4.0. With the Samsung Link service or any other social networking applications you can share your photos with friends and family directly from the scene. And, no matter where you are – in the city or somewhere in nature. Just as easily, without wires and cards, the files are copied to the PC.
The GPS system will attach to the picture coordinates of where it was made, or to find a path to the nearby attractions.
Findings
Given that all the electronics Galaxy NX, directly responsible for the shooting, taken from the recently released flagship NX300, the quality of photos is not to find fault. In fact, the possibilities are only limited by this camera mounted on her optics.
The only thing that makes you think – is the price of the device exceeding the value of high-end system and NX300 cameras from other manufacturers several times. With that, the interface is clearly not designed for professionals who are ready to shell out for a technique that amount, and ordinary users.
But in this case we are paying not only for the obvious advantages in the form of high-quality images and high performance, but also for the effects of the gadget has on others. People with great interest looked at the “SLR” with a huge screen on which you can also watch a movie or play a game. So with the Samsung Galaxy NX you just notice!
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