Samsung NX2000 is coming up in the stores in the Philippines by the end of August. It is the successor of NX1000 which are still out in the market. With only slight upgrade in features like a bigger LCD touch screen of 3.7 inches in NX2000, same kit lens, same 20.3 MP APS-C sensor, same 1080P video capture capability, 8fps, same shutter speed of 1/4000s. ISO of NX2000 is now maxed out to 25,600 vs NX1000 which has only 12,800. Same external cute flash bundle. NX2000 comes with free Adobe LightRoom 4 and 15G micro SD and a couple of thousand pesos expensive compared to NX1000.
Samsung NX2000 Design and Build
The NX2000 is housed on plastic casing including the lenses that comes with it. The buttons are more simple less complicated to operate, however the power switch can be always be mistaken as the zoom button. It took me a little while to make myself to be familiar with it, I always end up turning off the camera instead of doing a zoom in or out. On top you’ll fine the shutter button, WiFi direct link, a multi-purpose wheel that acts as alternative when you don’t like to use the touchscreen feature of the camera. The NX 2000 comes with a standard hot shoe which can use other third party external flash or remote trigger for the strobists. Beside the 3.7-inch touch screen is the Video record button, plus two more – Home button, and Playback button. On the right side is your micro USB and micro HDMI output. The micro USB can be used to transfer files from the camera to your PC and use the same to charge the camera.
The NX2000 comes with an external cute little flash, a free 4G microSD card, camera strap, micro-USB cable that you can use to charge and transfer photos to your PC, the NX 20-50mm II F3.5-5.6mm kit lens with iFunction feature, and a rechargeable Li-Ion 1130mAh battery model Samsung BP1130.
Performance & Sample Photos
High quality sensor takes really nice pictures specially when you get the hang of it. I tried several presets but I wasn’t comfortable and convinced with the results until I selected Manual functionality. I guess I’m used to my DSLR settings, I always want it in Manual shooting mode so that I am the one in control over the camera not the other way around. The presets are there for quick access only, in case you don’t like to adjust settings to your own taste.
Pictures paints a thousand words they say, so here are some of the sample photos taken by the NX2000. Outdoors photos are always awesome because there is enough light to assist the camera. But shooting indoors is always a challenge.
You can click the photos above to check the original size in Flickr, you’ll also see the EXIF details there. Here are some indoor shoots with the external cute little flash that comes with the NX2000.
And here’s a couple of photos I took using a strobe, with flash trigger attached to the hot shoe and two lighting setup.
Sample Macro Shot
There are numbers of features which are mere marketing pitch on this camera, like wireless transfer, NFC, WiFi direct. Nice features really but in the end you use the camera to take real good photos, and you realize later you don’t use or need those features. But its good that it has these features specially the connectivity features, don’t get me wrong on this. I specially liked the Remote Viewfinder which allows an Android smartphone to take photos via the NX2000 remotely, this can be done by downloading the Samsung Smart Camera App from Google Play. The Auto-Share feature which lets you upload your photos to your favorite social networking sites like Facebook, SkyDrive cloud storage, YouTube or email is also cool. The only limitation as of this time specially for Facebook upload feature is, you cannot put description or annotations to your photos and it is uploaded to an automatically created album called Samsung Smart Camera, just like the Samsung DV300 which we reviewed May last year.
The “i” Function in the lens helped a lot in adjusting settings like shutter speed, ISO, White Balance, Apperture, this works well in the Expert mode of the camera.
Verdict & Pricing in the Philippines
The Samsung NX2000 will make a perfect buddy for travelling people because of its portability and connectivity features. It is easy to use, you can start shooting in less than five minutes of familiarization with it. Battery life will get you a whole day of shooting with an average of 300 photos, just perfect to recharge it for the next day shoot. But its a whole different story if you start shooting videos.
What we liked –
- Image quality is par with DSLR specially on manual setting
- Auto-focus is fast
- One-hand operation
- Wireless connecitivity
- Macro shot is awesome!
What we did not like –
- Not for “selfies” users
- Limited available lens
Samsung NX2000 Smart Camera specs:
- 20.3MP APS-C CMOS sensor
- 3.7-inch TFT-LCD WVGA (800×400) touchscreen display, 1.152k dots
- ISO 100 – 25,600
- Contrast-detection AF
- 1080p video recording at 30fps
- NFC, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, HMDI out
- microSD card slot
- 1,130mAh battery
- 119 x 64.5 x 35.7 mm
- 228g
The NX 2000 will be available in stores in the Philippines by the end of August, and it will be priced at P29,990. Choice of pink, black and white are available.
