Samsung NX11 review at a glance:
- 14.6-million-pixel APS-C CMOS sensor
- 3in, 614,000-dot AMOLED screen
- ISO 3200
- 921,000-dot EVF
- i-Function lens compatibility
- Panoramic mode
- Street price around £470 with 18-55mm kit lens
Samsung NX11 review – Introduction
When we named the Samsung NX10 as our Advanced Compact System Camera of the Year in our 2011 AP Awards, we did so because it strikes the ideal balance between good image quality from its 14.1-million-pixel, APS-C-format sensor, and the build and handling that one would expect of a DSLR.
The launch of the even more compact NX100 saw the introduction of a faster AF system to the NX range, as well as the new i-Function lenses. These new optics have a button on the side that allows certain exposure and shooting settings to be controlled via the lens, making adjustments quick and easy to apply.
Back in January, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Samsung announced that the NX10 was to be updated, and the new model would be called the NX11. The new camera would be based around the NX10, but the upgrades would include many of the features of the NX100.
Features
As it is based on the NX10, the NX11 shares the same 14.6-million-pixel, APS-C-format CMOS sensor. And despite early reports that the NX11 would match the maximum ISO 6400 sensitivity of the NX100, in fact it retains the maximum ISO 3200 setting of the NX10. This is a little surprising given that the NX100 also shares the same sensor, yet still offers an extended setting.
There are only a few new features offered by the NX11, with the main one being the use of the new i-Function lenses. However, this feature is actually available as a firmware upgrade for the NX10 anyway. The NX11 also has a new lens priority mode, which has a dedicated space on the mode dial on the top of the camera. This works with the i-Function feature to allow you to select a scene mode. It then alters the exposure and image style settings based on the particular lens.
Like the two other cameras in the NX range, the NX11 has the ability to save both raw and JPEG images, with raw files saved in Samsung’s SRW format. At maximum resolution, the images created are 3056×4592 pixels in size. As well as the standard 3:2 ratio images, a 16:9 ratio is also available, as well as a 1:1 square format that is new to the NX11.
Panorama mode is another new feature. Accessed via the mode dial, the new picture format allows panoramic images to be created by moving the camera in a sweeping motion, either horizontally or vertically. It works in much the same way as the sweep panorama mode in Sony models.
The new square shooting format is fun to use as it alters the way you construct an image and frame your subject
Curiously, it is possible to record a short 11sec audio clip with a still image. The audio is saved in the WAV file format, with the same file name as the image. While this may be of limited appeal, it does have its uses. For example, if you plan to make a slide show of your images, it might be nice to record some ambient sound from the location to play over them. It is also useful for recording details of where and how an image was taken.
A last point is that Samsung has now upgraded the autofocus, but more about this later.
Build and handling
There are only two slight differences between the bodies of the NX10 and NX11. The first of these, which has already been discussed, is that the mode dial now has three extra modes on it. The other is a sight redesign of the handgrip on the NX11, which is now deeper and more contoured than that of the NX10 and makes it more comfortable to hold.
One of the things I most enjoyed about the NX10 when I first tested it (AP 3 April 2010) was that it felt like using a miniature DSLR – albeit one that has shrunk in the wash. Any DSLR user should find it great to use and very intuitive – more so, in fact, than most other compact system cameras (CSCs). With no discernible differences in body shape or button placement, the NX11 handles just as well.
Of course, the major new feature is the i-Function capability, which adds an entirely new dimension to the camera’s handling. The i-Fn button on the side of the new NX-series lenses can be easily pressed while holding the lens as you normally would, and the focus ring can be used to adjust the setting. Each press of the button switches to a new adjustment, such as white balance, metering, ISO or exposure compensation, and the focus ring then makes the adjustment.
Breaking the habit of pulling the camera away and then establishing which button to press is difficult, but once you begin to use the i-Fn button on the lens the act becomes instinctive and allows you to make adjustments quickly. It would be interesting to see how many other features could be integrated into the i-Function feature. Perhaps it could even be used to edit picture styles, with a turn of the focus ring increasing or decreasing contrast or colour saturation.
White balance and colour
Left in its AWB mode, the Samsung NX11 performs well in natural light. Under tungsten lighting it does little, if anything, to reduce the tungsten cast. However, switching to the tungsten white balance setting produces completely neutral results.
The picture wizard mode allows you to select from one of ten different picture styles. Each of these can be edited, and there are also three custom picture styles for saving your own preferences. Of the default styles, the forest setting stands out as being unique to the NX11. It adds a green hue to images, which works very well in woodland scenes captured under a woodland canopy. Used as a more general setting to photograph trees, it renders the rest of the scene too green.
Colours are bright and punchy when using the standard and vivid modes
Both the default standard and vivid modes produce nice punchy images without looking overly saturated. On a bright sunny day with blue skies, colours and contrast look excellent, meaning images can be sent straight to print. Like many other cameras, where there is a big difference between the brightness of the sky and foreground, the NX11 tends to brighten the image and overexpose the sky, which can cause a slight cyan cast. It is worth shooting raw images in these situations and underexposing slightly, so that the image can be edited in raw-conversion software.
Metering
Although centreweighted and spot metering options are available for more complex scenes, it is testament to the evaluative metering of the NX11 that during my time testing the camera I only needed to adjust the exposure compensation for a handful of images, most of which were of the same scene and included a lot of shadow detail.
The camera tried to brighten the image to show some of this detail, but at the expense of the rich blue sky.
However, by setting the compensation to -1EV, I succeeded in producing the image I wanted. In fact, there were few images that needed major adjustment when editing post-capture.
Autofocus
To bring the camera into line with the NX100, the NX11 features an improved AF system. In practice, I found that although the NX11 was slightly faster than the NX10, it makes very little difference to the performance of the camera. This is not really an issue, however, as the NX11 is not designed for taking fast-moving action shots. Continuous AF is reasonably fast for a contrast-detection AF system, and while it may be fast enough to photograph children playing, it is not designed for sports photography so these fast-moving images are more hit and miss and will require careful timing.
There are three different sizes of AF point that can be selected, with 195 selectable points available when it is set to its smallest size. There are no AF points in the areas to the left and right edges of the frame. Although occasionally annoying, it isn’t a significant issue as your subject will, for the most part, be in the centre of the frame.
Like most compact system cameras, the NX11 features an automatic magnification mode when manual focus is in use. When the focusing ring on the lens is turned, the live view or rear screen automatically shows a magnified view that allows for very precise focusing. If the focusing ring isn’t turned for a second or two, the screen or viewfinder returns to the full view for framing. It is a great feature that allows for precise manual focusing.
Noise, resolution and sensitivity
The NX11 can capture fine detail, but the JPEG noise reduction is sometimes a little heavy handed
At low-sensitivity settings, the Samsung NX11 can resolve a lot of detail, with noise not really visible until ISO 800. Even at higher sensitivities it is well controlled, although the noise reduction has an impact when viewing images at 100%. Viewed at this level, it becomes clear that the noise reduction causes a loss of detail, with images suffering a slight loss of surface texture.
On the whole, JPEG images are good, but far more detail can be recovered when editing raw files. The decision not to push the sensitivity to ISO 6400 or above seems to be a sensible one, as it would no doubt have affected image quality. Users would be better shooting slightly underexposed raw images at ISO 3200 and then adjusting them in raw-conversion software to fine-tune the noise reduction and sharpening.
Resolution charts: These images show 72ppi (100% on a computer screen) sections of images of a resolution chart, captured using a Samsung 18-55mm kit lens. We show the section of the resolution chart where the camera starts to fail to reproduce the lines separately. The higher the number visible in these images, the better the camera’s detail resolution is at the specified sensitivity setting.
Dynamic range
The dynamic range of the NX11 is average, with highlights occasionally becoming burnt out in high-contrast scenes
With the same sensors and processors, the NX11 has exactly the same dynamic range as the NX10, with DxO Mark (www.dxomark.com) measuring it at almost 11EV. This is an acceptable range without being outstanding, and as a comparison the 14.2-million-pixel sensor of the Sony NEX-5 has a range of 12.2EV, while the Nikon D3100 has a range of 11.3EV.
In most images the dynamic range is acceptable, although in some high-contrast landscapes the camera produces clipped highlights in the sky a little sooner than I would have liked.
Viewfinder, LCD, Live View and Video
Although the NX10’s electronic viewfinder (EVF) was impressive when we first saw it, its 921,000 dots aren’t so impressive now when compared to the 1.44-million-dot EVF found on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2.
The NX11 uses the same EVF as the NX10 and, while it is still good, it has been a little outshone by the aforementioned GH2 and the 1.15-million-dot EVF of the Sony Alpha 55. I imagine that the next NX-series camera will feature a new EVF that will match or better the resolutions of these two rival cameras.
The 3in AMOLED screen of the NX10 remains, although again the 614,000-dot screen looks a little dated compared to some of the high-resolution screens we are used to seeing now. In its favour, though, it is bright with a good level of colour and contrast, and the graphic design of the menu systems is pleasing to the eye.
Video capture also remains unchanged at 1280×720 pixels in resolution, captured in H.264 compression with mono sound.
Our Verdict
Built like a miniature DSLR, the Samsung NX11 compact system camera (CSC) feels and handles like a ‘proper’ camera, and as such it will appeal to enthusiast photographers and those not quite ready to make the jump from a compact to a DSLR.
The image quality is good, with the camera capable of resolving a lot of detail, although when shooting JPEG files the noise reduction can be a little strong as the sensitivity settings increase.
However, the camera really is just the NX10 with a couple of tweaks. I really like the NX11, for the same reasons I like the NX10, but it isn’t a significant upgrade and competition in the CSC market is really hotting up.
In reality, the NX11 is just an upgrade to integrate the i-Function and slightly improved AF. As such, NX10 users have no reason to upgrade. However, if you don’t already have a compact system camera, then the NX11 is a great choice. The outgoing NX10 can now be bought body-only for as little as £200, so those looking for a good CSC might want to snap up the NX10 rather than pay slightly more for the few new features of the NX11.
