Samsung NX300 review – Dynamic range
The NX300 has a dynamic range approaching 13EV, which is impressive for a mid-priced CSC. In standard shooting mode there is a wide range of tones. There is plenty of tonal detail in scenes where there is a high level of contrast, such as in bright skies and in midtone areas such as trees in a landscape.
There is now a Dynamic Range option in the camera’s main menu where previously it was called Smart Range. In raw capture, the Smart Range+ option within Dynamic Range can be selected to give tonal detail a boost – as seen in the brightening of shadow areas and the darkening of top highlights. Smart Range+ is an auto setting, as there are no levels of strength from which to choose, but fortunately it does a good job, giving a subtle lift to tones.
Also in the Dynamic Range menu is the HDR shooting mode. Again, this is auto only, with no manual control over its strength. HDR is new to the NX300. It is available in JPEG capture only, and on the whole the effect is not to my liking. Tonal detail is flat where the shadow and highlight areas are boosted too much, while the colour saturation is not enhanced enough. Consequently, having used the Dynamic Range modes a little, I opted to switch them off. Perhaps Samsung could include manual control over the strength of these modes in its next model.
