USER REPORT: The Samsung NX200 Camera Review by Vlad Dodan

64 Comments

1. Just a detail, the NX10 has a AMOLED screen. Nice review,btw.

2. I am perhaps a Samsung tragic. From shooting film in Minolta and then Olympus SLR’s, I first bought the NV 7 3 years back, then the NX 10 and recently the NX 100. I now have the 20mm, the 18-55 zoom and the 50-200 zoom.
   I find the auto white balance is usually very accurate, however if in doubt I bracket the white balance and the results are excellent.
   The main thing for me as I cannot compare with other competing systems is that

   1. each camera has worked faultlessly,

   2. a body with 3 lenses is very portable. I do a lot of walking and have never felt burdened by carrying this amount of equipment,

   3 there appears to be an ongoing evolution. Samsung has now released the NX 20 and it would appear to meet many of the requirements listed above (fold out screen, in built level etc.) Can I justify a 4th camera??. The evolution also applies to the lens development we have seen. I expect more primes to appear and the primes are much better than the zooms.

   If I were to move to another system I would need to be convinced that I am going to get significantly better results. While I am sure this is possible, I suspect that the cost to get there would be very steep.

   I enjoy everyone’s contributions and this site.

   Terry

3. Those are sure a pile of handsome nx lenses. Dont think many ppl would be ashamed to have them for any system.

4. Interesting review. I must say that although the reviewer comments on the quality of the images, the samples posted do appear to show a combination of over-sharpening, noise, and often rather noisy and “crunchy” shadows. Unfortunately the jpegs appear to have had their EXIF data removed, so it is impossible to tell what ISO the photos were taken with, and whether they are taken from the camera or post processed. I have seen other reviews of the NX200 that seems to indicate that it’s resolving ability and noise handling are on a par with the Sony NEX-7 (24Mp), so it is a very interesting camera with an interesting choice of lenses (stronger than the Sony NEX system, but not as mature as micro 4/3rds). However, the resolving power and noise control appear to be superior to the Olympus Pen cameras, and possibly some or all of the Panasonic G series. One to watch, I think.

   • Samsung nx I.Q at the iso’s up to 1600, are very good. M43 isnt better, plus m43 lenses cost a pile and most ppl gravitate towards buying expensive lenses from the 2 big boys, Canikon.M43 could be more viable if they didnt charge so much for such lenses, as most users see csc cameras as non pro or enthusiast. The strategy from Oly and Panny has been slightly wrong from the off set.To sell loads of gear it must be affordable and easy to use as well as being highly attractive.They fail pretty miserably at the affordable catagory, especially when an entry level dslr on sale can go for much as 550 with ovf and the ep3 is about 800 without evf. it’s hard for most ppl to fork out a grand or more for puny lenses that dont have the name Leica written on it. Fair or not fair, that’s a real concern for many..

5. Sorry, one more open question… Anybody knows who makes the Samsung lenses? Is it Schneider Optics?

   • Samsung has its own imaging department for the NX lenses–it’s all done in-house.

     • Tks! It is impressive that Samsung has made great efforts to have more of a complete lens line, compared to Sony. (especially in house) Heck, it has taken a while even for a company like Nikon to crank out DX lenses…

       I suspect one of these companies (among the Micro Four Thirds, NEX, NX and Nikon CX mirrorless cameras) are probably one generation a way from having the ideal Mirrorless Camera System.

       Some are missing lenses here and there. Others simply need one more iteration in terms of AF, sensor performance and ergonomics…

       So close, yet so far!

     • I think there is still Schneider involved somewhere. Or they have really good optics engineers. Quality of NX lens is very suprising.. (that positive kind of way). And they actually have some “look”, not just plain generic boring lens.

   • It doen by a company called Optron Tech

6. Vlad – Thank you for the review. Although you did touch upon it a little bit, I was wondering if you could elaborate a little more in regards to the “noise factor” on the NX200 sensor. A lot of people have mentioned that they are quite worried about Samsung cramming in so many pixels into an APS-C size sensor. Similarly, people have expressed concerns about the Sony NEX-7. So much so, that some have said the NEX-5N could be a better choice among the mirrorless cameras.

   Compared to a D700, is ISO 3200 usable on the NX200? Or is ISO 1600 really the ideal max sweet spot? I love the color on the D700 with its chubby pixels. It is tough to give up. I wasn’t sure how much the above samples were or were not post processed for noise.

   Secondly, how was the NX200 AF in terms of taking action shots (e.g. little kids and sports)…?

   The micro four thirds seem to be the most complete in terms of lens selection, but it is weak in the sensor area. The Sony NEX’s are great in the sensor area, but weak on lenses. Perhaps the NX200 could be the closest in covering both concerns?

7. Really I found the NX200 to be perfection in a large sensor APS-C with three great pancakes. Good focus, fast, light and portable, good looking, great screen. I don’t miss EVF but it will come. Skin tones are my problem, I got spoiled with Olympus and Leica. But with Lightroom work, skin tones could be perfect. With the samsung included software if you choose “Memory Color 1” skin tones look better. I need a good PP person to help me out here. As they are jpegs and simply treated raws are too pale. Samsung could take over the world if they cleared this little problem. They are 2 years ahead of Sony in pancake development! jpegs are being criticized at hi ISO but Raws are respected. So close Samsung. So close. And really Samsung you can make 200 TV models where is the 2 meg EVF???

8. Why would you look at these images and assess the sharpness/detail and/or colors? I’m not suggesting you’re wrong. I’m simply saying that given all the work that goes into writing something like this, that one would take web JPEGs to be representative…. Doesn’t seem right.

   You have Photozone, dpreview and DXOMark for all the numbers.
   http://www.photozone.de/samsungnx/696_samsungnx30f2

9. I had another look at the images posted here and I am sad to say, to me they look
   horrible. There is no fine detail, pasty looking faces, gruesome colours and some
   are badly exposed. Not exactly flattering material to push any camera into the
   public limelight. But maybe it’s just me. I certainly would not buy this cam judging
   by those images.

10. Good review, thanks. I now have the NX200 and will be dealing with a lack of viewfinder by use of monopod and/or tripod. 2 test shots using AEB really showed the camera’s potential for HDR shooters…and it is very good indeed. This feature is superior to the decent in-camera HDR feature employed by the Nex 5n that I recently owned.

11. Does it take M mount? No? What a design fiasco for a mirrorless system.

    No thanks.

    • it’s made for NX lenses, if you use your common sense.

    • Does the Leica take the Samsung nx mount? LOL. Samsung and the other camera makers in the business to make Leica money. If it fits a Leica lens with an adapter, then it does, if it doesn’t, then it doesn’t. Why would you buy and AF camera to use manual focus lenses? There’s the Leica m9 to do such a thing..and if you can afford Leica lenses, then I’m sure you can pony up money for a Leica body. Maybe you should write Leica and ask them why you can’t use Samsung AF lenses on their M bodies. LOL

12. Nice review, Vlad! Samsung lent me an NX11 with 30/2 and 16/2.4 combo – I tried 20/2.8 as well. So far I’m impressed, esp with the pancakes. I have NEX-5 with M lenses adapted since Sony lenses are not that interesting. Looks like I will get myself an NX200 or NX20. I highly recommend NX system for lightweight setup, esp for travel.

    • I got myself a Fuji X10 for now because I don`t want to lug lenses around for street, but for the more pretentious shooter my set-up would be NX200 + 16mm + 30mm (or 35/1.4 t.b.a) + 135mm/2 (t.b.a)

13. I`ve added some more samples and a full-rez archive…

    http://vladdodan.ro/blog/samsung-nx200-samples/

14. The new 3″AMOLED screen is quite nice […] but overall it is a big step forward from the old LCD on NX11 / NX100

    The NX200 has exactly the same 3″, 614k dot, AMOLED rear screen as the NX10, NX11 and NX100. The only camera that had a 230k dot LCD instead of AMOLED screen was the NX5.

15. I am interested in buying a mirror-less camera stepping up from point and shoot. I am confused; should I buy the Sony Nex5n, the Samsung NX 200, or wait till the Panasonic GX 1 comes out in a couple of weeks. I am strictly an amateur and chose these models because of picture quality, and all of the reviews are not out yet while the stores have specials on all.
    Any advice from an expert?

16. Very nice review and an interesting camera with some potential. For fans of the 40-50mm fov, the NX200 with the 30mm f2.0 could make for a very interesting street shooter.

17. Samsung could hve easily been the king of the Sony NEX 5N Sony NEX 7 Fuji X100 Leica X1 class of full size sensors. The Raws have good ISO sensitivity.

    Sony has 1 pancake and it is rated horribly. Fuji X100 has 1 fixed lens and sticky blade problems. Samsung has 3 pancakes that are excellent.

    Problems: Raws are 50 megs. Only one in the world so large. Skin tones too pale. No EVF to connect to camera.

    • There`s no workaround the .RAW file size in the whole industry. The Nikon D3x 14bit uncompressed raw averages around 50Mb, due to 24Mp sensor. Nikon D800 14bit uncompressed RAW will average a wooping 80Mb. (36Mpixels sensor)

      Even 60Mb/s memory cards will have a tough time keeping up with that. 🙂

    • Sorry, I don’t see this camera being king among those you mentioned.

      Maybe colors can be tweeked, but here they are just awful. Also generally rendering is substandard IMHO.

      PS. Vlad thanks for your review and your pictures which would otherwise have been compelling, but not with this camera.

      • Well I had a NX200 for a short bit the pictures were much better than Sony NEX. The Fuji X100 and Leica X1 have good skin tones.

18. This is a great review, thank you Vlad.

19. Thanks for the review. This little cam looks classy and I don’t doubt the built
    quality, but the ‘pedestrian’ image quality, no ‘RAW’ bursts, no viewfinder and below
    par monitor puts it off my list of choice for a high quality travel cam. There are better
    small interchangeable lens cameras around without the insane file sizes.
    I think there is potential in that system though.

20. The battery life seems like a deal breaker to me. I think I can live w/o a evf but prefer one. The lense selection looks really good. For those who have an X100, is it worth the upgrade and is your battery life better?

    In the end, I’m still waiting to jump into my mirrorless system – holding out on Fuji rumors for a new system based on their X series. Here’s hoping at least. Looking forward to more reviews and more cameras in this class.

    • My NEX-5 also gives a similar battery life with its own lenses. When I switch to legacy lenses, however, I get about 2000 shots per battery. Autofocus makes all the difference.

21. Skin tones from my NX200 come out pale. Too white a face. I don’t see pink healthy skin tones, more like pale and slightly yellow faces. Olympus E-P3 E-PL3, Leica X1 , Fuji X100 have healthy skin tones. Tried to play around and in the Samsung Raw there is a filter called Old times (something like that) that gave warmer skin tones. Raw at 50megs took time. But it was not as bad as I thought. High ISO jpegs got into trouble with the NX200. Raws were able to keep up with the Sony NEX, but the NEX skin tones are truly awful orange and yellow.

    So to date only the Fuji X100, Leica X1 have good skin tones.

    If I were a doctor I’d be treating every one of the portraits in your review for anemia. Focus was good.

    • “For those who have an X100, is it worth the upgrade” – nope, it’s not, not at all.

      • wrong comment i replied to, sorry

    • It’s called the “white balance” setting. Try using it once in a while and you wont get orange yellow skin tones. LOL

    • Yellow orange skin tones? …It’s called | adjusting the white balance” dude.

22. I’ve always viewed Samsung and cheap and not really even worth looking at. I bought a TL500 mainly because it was a super deal compared to LX5, DLux. I think it probably is a step below those but it sure is nicer than I thought it would be. I love the swivel screen and pics are pretty nice. Seems the Samsung stuff is getting better so more competition is welcome.

23. “Good Artists Borrow, Great Artists Steal”

    😉

24. It looks great. I am just disgusted with Samsung’s brazen rip-offs. That’s why they are being sued by everyone with a lawyer. No originality.

    A camera that looks just like the NEX called the NX?
    A camera that looks just like the X1 called the X100?

    Fuji and Samsung make great stuff, and Fuji was a original with that brilliant viewfinder, but you can’t help but feel bad for whichever guy at Leica and Sony went through years and hundreds of thousands of dollars of college design training, created models and had tons of creative insights, just to be ripped off completely by some other company with no original thought.

    Products like this make me want to spend more money with companies like Apple and Leica. More power to them. Some people contribute to this world to everyone’s benefit, others just steal to the detriment of all.

    • Keep in mind the NX cameras were announced and came out before Sony NEX cameras so your criticisim is back to front in this case, as for the styling of the NX200 have a look at the many years old design of the Samsung NV11 and you will see that there has been essentially no ripping off by Samsung relating to the design or branding of this camera

      • NX200 design is actually based on NV-7 OPS (which is 5 years old compact camera from them). They didnt steal anything.

    • I didn’t know that Sony invented the camera.

25. Vlad, thanks so much for your interesting and helpful review.

    I own and use the NX10 since early 2010 and must say that it is a very capable camera and, in my humble opinion, totally underrated in almost all aspects.
    (On a side note: I was a little disappointed that Steve never reviewed this camera.)

    The NX10 was the first model and already has a gorgeous AMOLED display, so I guess Samsung had to reduce cost when they used a LED display for the NX5 (and 11?).

    If I had to pick one lens only, it would be the 30/2.0 pancake, which really is amazing. Small and tack sharp and very versatile (it equals a 45mm lens on full frame).

    Now even though your review with the high-res pictures was very impressive, I will (most likely) not buy the NX200…. because I am waiting for the NX20 to be released some time next year with very similar (or even better) specs than the NX200. I do use the EVF of the NX10 regularly, so this is an important feature for me and I expect Samsung to deliver something much better than with the previous model.

    One reader asked about the option to use Leica M lenses on the NX system… well, much to my regret, this is not possible as the NX mount has too large a distance to the sensor, the M lenses would need to be closer.
    But there are adaptors for legacy Leica R lenses.
    Unfortunately, Samsung does not have an adequate focusing aid (like Sony or Ricoh) for manual lenses to make this an enjoyable experience.

    Again, thanks for the review and Steve, thanks for posting it.

    • NX20 will (probably) have the same specs sensor and processor wise. Maybe a slightly tweaked firmware.

      The Samsung NX is pitching their lenses to the customers, and we probably won`t see other types of lens adapters, besides the Pentax K Mount. And I don`t blame them, if they keep on releasing good lenses (like the 16, or 30mm f/2 or the 60mm f/2.8), it will be the better choice in detriment to Manual Focus lenses, even if they are Leica 21/1.4 or 50/0.95. 🙂

      • Agreed that Samsung seems to have really nailed their lens lineup so far. That being said, they could have still designed their mount to have a few more millimeters, so that they’d open their system up to more manual lens users. I’m not sure that Sony intended it or not, but they’ve had a quite a bit of success from manual lens users, and they even promote it, now.

        • Is Samsung actually manufacturing their lenses for the NX or are they buying them from another manufacture, and if so, do you know who? I am a long time Leica, Canon and Nikon believer and am concerned about the quality of these lenses.

    • Yes Christian. It´s very hard to understand why Samsung made it impossible to use M mount adapter just like NEXes. Few milimitters difference would make thousands of screw and m mount lens owners very happy. After all Schneider made famous Super angulons for Leica.

      • i rather have cheaper, smaller, pancake, high quality lens then having the option of mounting m-lens

        • There’s no reason we couldn’t have had both.

          • Maybe there is… Sony does not.

      • Or unhappy because closer distance from glass to the sensor means problems with sharpness and vigneting.
        IMO Sony did constructon mistake – look for quality 16/2,8…..

        It is not so simple as you think…

    • Not sure if it’s common knowledge, but hit OK when focusing with a manual lens and voila! Focus zoom.
      TIP: NX100 can be had for less money than a point and shoot (even with an EVF). Great second camera and will last until the NX300, at which point Samsung will have got it almost 100% right (especially that processing lag). Sony, Panasonic and other mirrorless makers should be very worried.

      ps. the 20-50mm is just about the best kit lens out there – brilliant for street – shame it’s a bit slow, but hey, it’s a zoom.

26. Cool looking camera and great lens line up. It’s a shame that Samsung removed the smart accessory part from the NX100, because an EVF would be necessary for me with this new model.

    • Forgot to add, some kind of tilt screen would have maybe been enough, but no tilt screen or EVF makes it a no go for many of us.

      • After testing it side by side with a Nex 5N, I do admit a tilt screen would have been welcomed…

        • Yeah, it was a strange choice by Samsung. I don’t know many enthusiasts who hold their mirrorless camera out in front of their face. It’s usually either at a lower angle with the tilt LCD or up to the eye with an EVF.

          p.s. thanks for the review!

          • Count me in as one of the mirrorless users who hold the cam out in front of my face sometimes 😉
            I wouldn’t discount the NX200 for that reason alone… this looks like an interesting camera!

          • I currently shoot with a Canon G10 after selling off my film SLR’s. I have gotten used to shooting with the camera in front of me using the screen exclusively for composing and now can’t stand a viewfinder!!

27. Does Samsung have any plan to introduce a camera with a built-in viewfinder, or do we forever have to pay extra to get one?

    • Samsung NX5, 10 and 11 have very nice oled viewfinder so they will probably intrduce nx20 or whatever might be the name with a built-in viewfinder in the near future.

      Thanks for the review Vlad, looks like a nice camera, I’m leaning towards nex 5N only because of more mature video mode but in terms of IQ samsung seems at least equal

    • There’s no EVF for NX200

      • …and therefore I cannot take the system seriously. Please.
        It has a lot going for it…but with no optional viewfinder it is useless in my world.
        Good review, though….and Steve loves to get the tech out in front of us…so the awareness is good to have!

28. First of all thank you for this fine review,
    second, i have to agree that NX line is vey mature – personally its better then anything out there because my fav focal lenths are the 16,30mm which are small high quality but cheap lens in the format,
    Third – i assume you have access to NEX-5 with leica lens, ~90% of this forum readers would LOVE to hear your comparison to the NEX (as it uses same sensor size)

    P.S
    the first model that came out was NX10, then NX5 came out only after (or with) the NX100

    Thanx!

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