Review Date: August 11, 2014
Category: Beginner to Serious Amateur
Photoxels Gold Award – Interchangeable Lens Camera
USER’S EXPERIENCE
Tuesday, July 29, 2014 – Here’s what I receive in the box:
- Samsung NX30
- No memory card
- Li-ion Battery BP1410 7.6V 14100mAh
- Travel Adapter (works in conjunction with the USB cable)
- USB Cable
- Shoulder Strap
- Body Cap
- Documentation: Quick Start Guide, Quick Reference Guide
- Software CDs: i-Launcher, PC Auto Backup, User Manual; Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5
- Samsung 1:3.5-5.6 18-55mm III OIS i-Function kit lens (Filter diameter: 58mm)
Serious. The Samsung NX30 improves on the NX20 with a mirrorless DSLR that will appeal to serious enthusiasts. It is designed with great attention to detail for the photographer. From the moment I pick it up, it fits comfortably in my right hand. In use, it is intuitve and I did not have to consult the User Manual to start using it right away.
The NX30 has quite a number of innovative features, including a titltable EVF and the iFn on the lens.
A number of the improvement suggestions we put forward for the NX20 are now incorporated into the NX30:
- A Touch Screen display. Touch focus point and touch and shoot capabilities are so convenient.
- Sensor cleaning option is now available at shutdown,
- An Intervalometer is available.
- The display of “help” text when selecting a shooting mode is now an option in the Menu. It was always ON on the NX20 and very annoying.
If you are upgrading from the NX20, note the following changes:
- The menu has changed, with only 4 main tabs and so you now have to scroll to find an option.
- The Lens Priority mode has also changed functionality: on the NX20, it allowed you to select a Scene mode using the lens focus ring; now, it is about changing depth-of-field, contrast and digital zoom.
Without the need to house a mirror, the NX30 features a large and bright high resolution electronic viewfinder that is now tiltable. An eye sensor automatically switches the display from the AMOLED screen to the EVF when you bring the camera to your eye.
The detailed User’s Manual is on the CD, is well illustrated and quite comprehensible. Though you don’t need to consult it to use the NX30 right away, take the time to read it from cover to cover and you’ll quickly discover all the many features of the NX30.
No more Intelli-studio software. Instead, you get Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5. At first, when I try to Import, it gives an error: “Could not find namespace: AgCreativeCloudUtils”. I go to Help – Check for Updates… – and proceed to download and install LR5.6. I had to Force Quit LR5 first before I could run LR5.6.
What I like about the NX30:
- Very good to excellent image quality from ISO 100 to ISO 800, even ISO 1600.
- Complete shutter speed range available in all PASM modes.
- Lightweight, very comfortable handling
- Fast and precise AF in both good and low lighting.
- High resolution, fully articulating AMOLED touch screen.
- High resolution tiltable EVF.
- Best screen info display.
- Continues to be probably the most intuitive mirrorless DSLR camera I’ve used.
No review is complete without a couple of improvement suggestions:
- Make the Exposure Compensation button easier to find by touch alone.
- Better still, instead of the Drive dial, substitute it with an Exposure Compensation dial.
- Have the Lens Priority mode do something much more useful or remove it altogether or replace it with some other shooting mode: e.g., ISO Priority (though I am fully aware you can already do so by manually selecting an ISO in P mode)?
- Still waiting for a simple easy Double/Multiple Exposures setting.
- Definitely issue a firmware fix for the strange numbering and navigation in Playback.
As you can see, there’re not many improvement suggestions and they are not deal breakers.
Samsung has built not just a serious enthusiast camera, but every new lens and accessory it adds to the NX system makes the latter a better camera system that will appeal to many different types of photographers.
As Samsung continues to add quality lenses and accessories to its mirrorless system, photographers can take confidence that their investment in its cameras, lenses and accessories will last.
The Samsung NX30 has matured to the point it is now a great mirrorless DSLR for those starting into DSLR photography as well as for the more advanced photographers. You will like its superb design and intuitive handling, plus it takes great pictures, day or night, and is choke-full with every feature you may want in a serious enthusiast DSLR. Highly Recommended.
Next: Samsung NX30 QuickFact Sheet / Buy
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