Samsung NX10 Camera test
go slightly beyond this point and will detect when the contrast begins to decrease. It then snaps back to the point of peak contrast, and the image will then be in focus. The contrast-detection AF in the NX10
works very well, and given a static object the lens locks on quickly. It struggles a little in low light, but thankfully there is a green AF assist beam that provides enough light for focus to be achieved. Although continuous focus is available,
most photographers would be better off leaving the NX10 in single AF mode. While the NX10 is clearly not designed to photograph fast-moving objects, the continuous focus can cope with people walking or moving at a moderate speed. Manual focusing is very good. Like the Panasonic and Olympus Micro Four Thirds
cameras, switching to manual focus and turning the camera’s focus ring magnifi es the image in the viewfi nder or on the rear screen. This makes it possible to focus with a high degree of precision, and I found that it is actually easier to focus manually using the EVF of the Samsung NX10 than it is using the optical viewfi nders of many DSLRs.
7/10
WHITE BALANCE AND COLOUR
The NX10’s colour reproduction was very good throughout the test. In its daylight and automatic white balance settings the white balance is relatively neutral, and the tungsten setting performs extremely well and produces a nice neutral tone.
Setting a custom white balance, by taking
a reading from a grey card, also results in completely neutral images, with each of the red, green and blue channels measuring exactly the same density. Adjusting the image colour settings via the
Picture Wizard menu is simple, and there is a wide range of preset options available. Of these settings I found the Vivid and Black & White options particularly effective. There are also three custom image style
banks available in the Picture Wizard menu, which allow you to store three of your own image settings – something I found particularly useful for achieving a washed-out colour effect when shooting video footage.
9/10
100%
FEATURES IN USE APS-C-SIZED SENSOR
SAMSUNG’S NX system is the fi rst interchangeable-lens, mirrorless, hybrid camera system that offers a real alternative to the Micro Four Thirds system of Panasonic and Olympus. The NX system uses the more common
APS-C sensor size, which is larger than the Four Thirds-size sensor currently found in rival cameras. In fact, the 14.6-millon-pixel sensor
of the NX10 is designed and manufactured
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by Samsung, having evolved out of the sensor originally used in the Samsung GX-20, Pentax K20D and Pentax K-7. When we originally tested these cameras
we were impressed with the amount of detail they were capable of resolving, and the NX10 continues this trend. The JPEG image (above ) was taken at ISO 100 and had the slightest touch of Unsharp Mask applied in Photoshop. It reveals an impressive amount of detail in the fi nal image.
3 April 2010 I
www.amateurphotographer.co.uk 47
APS-C 22.2x14.8mm
FOUR THIRDS
17.3x13mm
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