Earlier this week Samsung showed me their new NX3000 consumer-level camera via video call. You might not know it, but Samsung is flying up the sales charts in the mirrorless interchangeable lens compact camera market. They're number two behind Sony, mostly because their aimed specifically at the very wide consumer market with well-priced items. The new NX3000 is no different at $529 and will fit into the current line between the NX300 and the NX Mini.
The form is very similar to the big brother NX300, but is sans the touchscreen and also drops the phase detection on the sensor, making it a lot more affordable for Samsung to produce and therefore for consumers to buy. Without phase detection in the sensor however, that snappy-fast autofocus that I've seen on Samsung cameras as of late will suffer- especially in low light. That said, this camera is really not aimed at people who might notice, going for the shallow end of the pool instead of the pro-level deep water.
The camera does have a 20.3MP APS-C CMOS sensor, 1/4000 shutter speed and 5fps continuous shooting which should be quite good enough for the market looking at picking this up.
Here is a cute feature (and one of those features Samsung makes that you have to kind of both congratulate because it's inventive and simultaneously question due to limited practical use cases):
"With a focus on selfies, the Samsung NX3000 features a convenient 3.0-inch Flip-up Display with Wink Shot. By simply opening the screen, framing a face in the display and winking, users can turn on the device and capture the perfect selfie in one hassle-free motion."
I mean, ok. But hitting the shutter button was never really hard. Cute, inventive, but like the hover-ability on the Galaxy phones, is it entirely useful? Maybe to some. I'm not convinced (but then again I'm not the target market).
Samsung NX3000 Specifications
| Image Sensor | 20.3 effective megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor |
| Display | 75.2 mm (3.0-inch) Flip-up Display
HVGA (320x480) |
| View finder | N/A |
| ISO | Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800, 25600 |
| Image | JPEG (3:2)：20.0M (5472x3648), 10.1M (3888x2592), 5.9M (2976x1984), 2.0M (1728x1152), 5.0M (2736x1824): Burst mode only
JPEG (16:9)：16.9M (5472x3080), 7.8M (3712x2088), 4.9M (2944x1656), 2.1M (1920x1080) JPEG (1:1)：13.3M (3648x3648), 7.0M (2640x2640), 4.0M (2000x2000), 1.1M (1024x1024) RAW : 20.0M (5472x3648) RAW: SRW (ver 3.0.0) |
| Video | MP4 (Video: MPEG4, AVC/H.264, Audio: AAC)
1920x1080, 1920x810, 1280x720 , 640x480, 320x240(for Sharing) |
| Video Output | NTS, PAL, HDMI 1.4a |
| Value-added Features | Tag & Go (NFC/Wi-Fi): Photo Beam, AutoShare, Remote View Finder Pro,
Mobile Link |
| SMART Mode : Beauty Face, Best Face, Landscape, Macro, Action Freeze, Rich Tone, Waterfall, Silhouette, Sunset, Night, Firework, Light Trace, Continuous Shot, Kids, Food, Party/Indoor | |
| Wi-Fi Connectivity | IEEE 802.11b/g/n support (SMART Camera 3.0)
* Note - The availability of each service may differ by country. |
| NFC | Advanced Passive NFC(Wired NFC) |
| Bundled PC software | iLauncher, Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 5 |
| Storage | Micro SD,Micro SDHC,Micro SDXC, UHS-1 Micro SD |
| Battery | B740AE/B740AC/B740AU/B740AK
* Note - The battery specifications or model may differ by country 2330mAh |
| Dimension (WxHxD) | 117.4x65.9x39.0(26.8) mm |
| Weight | 230 g (without battery) |
One of two options puts the camera bundled with Samsung's 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 power zoom lens, which consumers will likely find quite appealing.
SAMSUNG 16-50mm F/3.5-5.6 Power Zoom ED OIS Specifications
| Focal Length | 16 - 50mm |
| Elements in Groups | 9 elements in 8 groups (4 Aspherical lens, 1 Extra-low Dispersion lens) |
| Angle of View | 82.6°- 31.4° |
| Aperture | F3.5-5.6 |
| Optical Image Stabilizer | Yes |
| Minimum
Focus Distance |
0.24m(Wide), 0.28m(Tele) |
| Maximum Magnification | Approx.0.24X |
| Value-added Feature | UPSM (Focus), DC (Zoom) |
| Lens Hood | N/A |
| Filter Size | 43mm |
| Mount Type | NX Mount |
| Dimension (DxL) | 64.8 x 31mm |
| Weight | 111g |
Samsung's NX3000 is shipping June 1 for $529 with 16-50mm OIS Power Zoom + SEF-8 Flash and $479 with 20-50mm + SEF-8 Flash. Why should this matter to you Fstoppers readers? Because Samsung has the right business strategy. They're getting a lot of consumers early, opening them up to the brand and making them Samsung shooters for life. It is only a matter of time before Samsung will have to support some of their longer-term users with a camera that a more seasoned photographer would want. Let me tell you, a full frame Samsung to compete with the Sony a7 series would be amazing. I am still a firm believer that Samsung is doing some of the best work when it comes to mirrorless autofocus speed and accuracy.
Not I would call that "retro". Looks like a typical modern mirrorless to me.
Maybe it should be "Retro-inspired." Lot more leeway on that.
And I was also disappointed to hear about the lack of phase detect. But they had to drop something to get the cost down to where they wanted it.
They’re getting a lot of consumers early, opening them up to the brand and making them Samsung shooters for life. http://num.to/2144-5984-4524