Samsung Woos Action Photogs With a Blazing-Fast Mirrorless Camera

Samung

There are “camera companies,” and there are “consumer-electronics companies.” Samsung is generally considered the latter, even though it’s made some very good interchangeable-lens cameras over the past few years. It’s just that the company makes so many other things, too.

Therein lies a challenge. For serious photographers, it helps to be thought of as a “camera company.” That’s not just for superficial reasons, as the range of lenses and accessories tends to be much more robust for the Canons and Nikons of the world. There’s also a sense that you know exactly what you’re getting if a company is focused on cameras and cameras only.

What you appear to be getting with Samsung’s new NX1 is perhaps the most powerful midrange DSLR-style camera on the market. This is a mirrorless camera, although it has a body style that looks more like a DSLR. At its core is an absurdly high-resolution 28.2-megapixel APS-C sensor, along with an image processor that will be able to pull off some incredible feats.

Among them: The ability to shoot 15fps at full resolution with continuous autofocus enabled. That autofocus system also appears to be the brawniest in history, too, with 205 phase-detection sensors and 209 contrast-detection points. Not only will it be fast, it’ll fill the entire span of the sensor with focus zones.

Like a few other recent cameras, this one also shoots 4K video. True 4K, too: There’s a 4,096 x 2,160 capture mode at 24fps that records MP4 video using the H.265 codec. There’s also an Ultra HD (3,840 x 2,160) capture mode that records at 30fps, as well as your now-standard 1080p recording at 60, 30, and 24fps.

To frame everything up, there’s both an adjustable 3-inch OLED touchscreen and an eye-level OLED peephole. All the other specs generally match what’s out there from the “camera companies” in its price range: ISO settings that expand up to 51,200, full manual controls and RAW shooting, built-in Wi-Fi and NFC, and shutter speeds that crank up to 1/8000 of a second.

Starting in October, the flagship NX1 will be available in a body-only version for $1,500. An extended kit package with a 16-50mm/F2-F2.8 lens, an extra battery, and a battery grip will retail for $2,800. Sold separately, there’s also a new telephoto zoom lens that should pair well with the NX1’s fast-shooting ways for sports and wildlife photographers. That 50-150mm/F2.8 constant-aperture zoom lens will sell for $1,600, and the NX system has a focal length multiplier of 1.5X.