Performance
Sample photos and product images is
available in the Equipment Database, where you can add your own assessment,
photos and comments about the product.
Sample
photos
Drive
| 1/250 sec | f/6.3 | 18.0 mm | ISO 100
Thoresby
Hall | 1/250 sec | f/6.3 | 22.0 mm | ISO 100
Daffodil
| 1/250 sec | f/6.3 | 55.0 mm | ISO 100
Flash
Portrait | 1/60 sec | f/5.0 | 40.0 mm | ISO 400
The flash performs well and there is not
sign of red-eye effect. Skin tones are also very decent and close to reality. The
colors are very beautiful with colorful shots, and there are many valuable
details in pictures that are capture outdoors.
Lens
performance
Wide
| 1/320 sec | f/6.3 | 18.0 mm | ISO 100
Zoom
| 1/320 sec | f/7.1 | 55.0 mm | ISO 100
Trees
| 1/160 sec | f/4.5 | 18.0 mm | ISO 100
Macro
| 1/30 sec | f/5.6 | 55.0 mm | ISO 200
The lens has quite strong barrel distortion
at the wide end, which is taken care of with the lens based distortion
correction switched on. Purple fringing was not a problem. Detail is good
throughout the zoom range, with good levels of detail even into the corners,
and the camera delivers good dynamic range with reliable exposure. Macro
performance is pretty good for a kit lens, although a dedicated macro lens will
give better results.
At the wide angle, the camera lens shows
quite strong barrel distortions. This can be processed well by switching on the
lens based distortion correction. Purple fringing is no longer a problem. The
details are fine at different zoom levels, with many perfect detail levels even
at the corners, and the camera shows a good dynamic range and reliable
exposure. With the kit lens, the macro performance is very good, although
better results would be found in the dedicated macro lens.
ISO
performance
Sample
photos with different ISO level
The ISO range starts at ISO100 and ends at
up to ISO25600, a real enhancement compared to the previous model. The ISO
performance is also improved dramatically in the comparison with the old model
with usable result reaches ISO3200. The noise performance is good although
there is a slight fall in terms of detail level at ISO6400. More usable shots
are produced at ISO2800 if we resize the images and again, it is better to keep
away from the ISO25600 setting.
White
balance
Under
incandescent light
Under
fluorescent light
The auto white balance does a good job
under the tungsten light and the tungsten preset also makes the images’ color
look warmer. The AWB also brings a warm feeling to pictures.
Panoramic
mode
Panoramic
| 1/1600 sec | f/4.0 | 18.0 mm | ISO 200
Simply pressing the shutter release button
and holding it while sweeping the camera around, the built-in panoramic mode
will capture a panoramic photo automatically. You can also take both horizontal
and vertical panoramic photos.
Digital
filters
Picture
Wizard offers you some preset color modes
The Picture Wizard brings you a number of
preset color modes as well as the Custom 1/2/3 in which you can modify the
color hue, saturation, sharpness and contrast. The dynamic range can be
expanded by using the Smart Range+ option or the HDR option. An alternative
ethod to apply the effect are the Smart filter, however they are just work when
shooting JPEG images.
Videos are recorded at usual Full HD 1080p,
at 50p, but this camera also gives 1920 x 810 at 24p for “cinematic” shooting. There
is also fade in/ fade out option and the wind-eliminating option simply is
switching off the audio recording.
Samsung NX300 costs $900 with the 20-50 mm
compact kit lens and Adobe Lightroom 4 on CD. There is no stabilization feature
in the 20-50mm kit lens, so we would like to recommend the 18-55mm OIS kit
lens, which has the same price level, from Currys, unless you especially enjoy
the most compact system, and for that you should better be pleased with the
available pancake lenses.
Conclusion
Samsung NX300 is a new fresh welcome of the
Samsung NX series, with the amazing 3.31 touchscreen (the largest among mirror less
cameras) and a great deal of impressive Wifi features. The image quality leaves
good impression and performs better than the old model, NX210, thanks to the
improved noise performance and great level of details.
Samsung NX300’s introduction price is roughly
$151 more than that of the competition, although this can be explained by the
addition of Adobe Lightroom 4 in the box. However, if you have already owned a
photo editing software or you are not fond of using the Lightroom, this can be
an unappealing choice for you. The number of lenses of the Samsung NX series
from Samsung and Samyang is increasing, although other compact systems also
provide many different choices. Moreover, there are some problems with the
navigating sensor built in the camera setting portrait photos upside-down when
they are viewed on the computer. However, we still hop that a firmware update
will have the right solution for this issue.
If you have already had a Samsung NX lens,
NX300 would be a big upgrade from its previous model, especially when you own
one of the non-wifi models. If a new large mirrorless camera is what you are
looking for, then the Samsung NX300 with its 18-55mm OIS lens would be a
potential selection, but still we do not recommend the 20-50mm lens because its
shorter focal range seems to be somehow limited and its price is similar to the
18-55m kit’s price.
Advantage
·
Wonderful image quality
·
3.31inch touchscreen
·
Improved noise performance
·
Front and rear grips are enhanced
·
Adobe Lightroom 4 accompanied in CD
·
Good AWB performance
·
Strong Wi-Fi
Disadvantages
·
RAW is not available with some shooting modes
·
The 20-50mm lens does not include OIS
·
Using Wi-Fi drains the battery
·
The navigating sensor gives upside-down photos
which is captured in portrait mode when viewing them on computer
Evaluating
·
Features: 5/5
·
Handling: 4.5/5
·
Performance: 4.5/5
·
Price: 4/5
·
Overall: 4.5/5
Specifications
|
Image sensor
·
CCD pixels: 20.3Mp
·
Pixels (W): 5472
·
Pixels (H): 3648
·
Sensor type: CMOS
·
Sensor size: APS-C
·
Sensor size (W): 23.5mm
·
Sensor size (H): 15.7mm
·
Aspect ratio: 3:2 16:9 1:1
LCD Monitor
·
LCD monitor: 3.31in
·
Screen resolution: 768,000 dots
·
Touchscreen: yes
Focusing
·
Focusing modes: face detection, multi,
autofocus, manual, spot
Exposure control
·
Shutter speed shortest: 1/6000sec
·
Shutter speed longest: 30sec
·
Exp modes: Program, Aperture – priority,
Shutter – priority, manual, Scene modes
·
Metering: Centre-weighted – Average, Multi
pattern, Spot, TTL
·
ISO sensitivity: 100 – 25600
·
White balance: Auto, Manual,
Outdoors/Daylight, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Flash, Bracket
·
Exposure Comp: +/-3
Shooting option
·
Continuous shooting: 8.6fps
Video
·
Movie mode: yes
·
Video resolution: 1920 x 1080, 1280 x 720
720p, 640x480 VGA, 320x240 QVGA
·
Video FPS: 60, 30
·
Stereo sound: yes
·
Optical zoom with video: yes
Other features
·
Image stabilization: no
Interface
·
HDMI: yes
·
USB: USB 2
Storage
·
Card type: SD, SDHC, SDXC
·
File Type: RAW, JPG, RAW+JPG
Power source
·
Battery type: Rechargeable battery: BP1130
·
CIPA rating: 320
Box content
·
Box content: Intelly-studio 3.0, Samsung RAW
converter4, Adobe reader, Camera, 18-55mm OIS lens, hood, lens cap, Battery,
Charger, Neck Strap, CD, Quick Manual, USB Cable
Dimensions and weight:
·
Dimension: 122x63.7x40.7mm
·
Weight: 280g
|
