Review: Samsung NX200 Digital Camera

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

In a perfect world, Samsung's NX line of interchangeable cameras would be the second or third most popular camera system behind the likes of Panasonic, Olympus or Sony.

In a perfect world, the camera and the lenses would be slightly cheaper and easier to find, have the backing of a photographer community and be the talk of the town. The NX200 is the latest addition to the family and offers a slimmed down body with more generous features. We take the 20 megapixel, APS-C CMOS powered camera for a go around.

in terms of features, image quality and versatility, Samsung NX line can go toe-to-toe with most of the competition and in this range of compact ILC's but its higher price and relative newness to the camera market has kept consumers going for cheaper, more recognizable and more developed systems.

It is the closest contender to Sony's NEX line of mirrorless cameras and the NX200 is the closest APS-C CMOS sensor camera to the flagship NEX 7 which rocks a mind boggling 24 megapixel sensor and various prosumer features (although it costs $1200 for just the body).

The NX200, it costs around $800 with 18-55mm II OIS f/3.5-5.6 iFn standard-zoom lens, it has in body image stabilization, a growing system of 10 lenses including a 85mm f/1.4 prime, flashes, a GPS unit and of course an improved image sensor which is the same size as some DSLRs.

In terms of styling, the NX200 is far more serious looking than its predecessor and trades the ambiguous swoopy curves for more polished and professional machined look. I think it takes a lot of inspiration from Sony's NEX line of similarly slim bodied APS-C CMOS sensor cameras with similar DLSR-sized sensors and the inevitable larger lenses.

The weight and overall feel is good. This is the sort of camera that fits nicely in the hand, the improved and more pronounced grip allows for improved handling even with the oversized lenses, something we will need to get used to as bodies continue to shrink while image sensors and lenses increase in size.

Samsung's controls are pretty straightforward and most of the settings can be accessed via manual controls as well as through the on screen menu, although the menu still retains some of the very consumer oriented features and feel of Samsung's more basic point and shoot models.

That Magic Frame feature (where one can superimpose photos on fake looking newspapers or billboards) is something few users will play with more than once, this needs to go away. The 3D shooting feature is even less useful, but it wouldn't be a Samsung camera without a few chintzy built-in apps.

Thankfully there are some really useful and compelling settings such as a convenient sweep panorama feature that can go horizontally and vertically and stitch photos in camera.

The Smart Filter settings are good enough to keep things exciting and can render some surprisingly cool results and add more artistry to photos.

Most photographers, however, will be best served by sticking to the basics and shooting through Aperture Priority, Shutter priority, Manual or Program mode. I felt the need to dial down the brightness and saturation, then realized i should have taken the brightness of the AMOLED screen into consideration.

One thing Samsung does exceedingly well are its LCD panels. The 3.0" AMOLED display is no exception. Saturation and contrast out of the box is spot on and you can reduce the brightness to a minimum and still make out what is going on.

There isn't a touch element to the NX200, surprising for something in this this price range but I'm okay with that since, I generally dislike interacting on a touchscreen with camera and avoid it when possible. I have enough trouble trying not to muck up my camera screens in day to day use without having to deal with fingerprints.

Overall, the NX200 was a good all around camera,it acquits itself well in normal street photography, product shots, macro work and portraits. It has an improved 7 frame per second shot speed ideal for action and sports photography which puts in in league with some of the larger consumer DSLRs. Below are some sample shots from the NX200 around town and in a dimly lit Japanese Restaurant.

We found,however, that the autofocus speed of the NX200 was a bit slower than desired. Certainly it was slower than the Olympus GF2 and even the Sony NEX 3, this may be a thing to get used to as it appears to 'hunt' for the focus points a bit longer than we would have liked.

With an improved design, better image processor, more robust features and a maturing system of lenses, the Samsung NX200 is a delightful and promising camera that can compete with many of the ILC's in the market today. Pricing could be better for the kit combo but the NX200 is still a compelling camera that should satisfy photographers looking for something different, capable and compact.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5