Samsung NX Min smart camera: small but captures like a big one

Small, lightweight and sleek. And that’s not all there is to say about the Samsung NX Mini Smart Camera. Other details, hidden inside the body and lens, are not immediately obvious. You can almost certainly learn everything about them during the creative process of photography. But it will happen when… And the gist of it, all its unusual benefits every amateur should know in advance. Our expert has already walked through life with this miniature camera and is ready to focus your attention on the main advantages. Yes, the camera is small, but it shoots like a big one… And this is not all.

Design and style is ideal for women

• Thinnest body among mirrorless cameras

• Laconic design

• Leather trim

• Five color options

• Lightweight and rugged thanks to magnesium alloy.

The phrase “sophisticated design” in relation to the camera Samsung NX Mini is true in both the literal and figurative sense, since this model has the thinnest body of all mirrorless cameras. Thanks to the use of magnesium alloy, the body is sturdy and lightweight, which is certainly suitable for a handbag. Interchangeable lenses, by the way, are also made in a metal body.

On a walk or a trip, it’s comfortable to wear on your wrist on a slim, beautiful strap. It’s included in the kit and matches the color of the leather trim on the camera body.

Stylish camera design, leather trim – probably many have noticed that this has already become a kind of trademark of Samsung for some families of smartphones and tablets.

Despite the abundance of buttons on the back, the camera’s design is concise. No protruding parts on the body, which also makes the NX mini similar to mobile devices. But unlike them, this model has a much wider choice of color finishes: available in white, black, brown, pink and light green.

Stay “in the shadows” when shooting

• Small size makes it less conspicuous

• Compact cameras are perceived as amateur cameras, and do not react to the photographer as if he were a paparazzi

• The flip-down screen allows you to hold the camera low and not look at the subject being photographed.

When shooting genre scenes it is very important not to draw extra attention to yourself. That requirement is often more important than camera features such as continuous shooting speed, the lens used and other parameters that professional photographers usually operate with.

First, a photographer with a small camera is perceived by most people as an amateur. After all, they themselves shoot with similar “point-and-shoot” cameras or smartphones. Even if a photographer with a compact in his hand was noticed by a person who does not like to be in the frame or avoids publicity, it is unlikely to go to conflict, because she realizes that if an amateur and take something “extra” is unlikely such a photo will go beyond a personal photo album in a social network.

A movable screen that can be tilted or leveled to make photo-hunting even more inconspicuous. Because in this case, the camera will not be at face level, but lower – in the chest or stomach area. The photographer leans his head down and looks at the screen from above, making no secret of his desire to take pictures of anyone.

With the Samsung NX mini camera, you can control the shooting process by touching the touch screen. This way, not even pressing the shutter button will give you a spy photographer, because you can do without it.

Wide creative opportunities

• The camera has a full range of shooting modes

• Offers a lot of storytelling

• Offers a lot of effect filters

• Firmly captures close-ups.

The camera is ready to work with a photographer of any level of training, it has a variety of shooting modes. Their menus, designed with round on-screen buttons, are quickly accessed by a separate mechanical Mode button.

Auto is an intelligent mode, t.e. The camera is able to recognize the type of scene and automatically switch to it. It does this rather confidently: recognizing close objects, includes a macro mode when there is insufficient light in the room activates the flash having found the warm shades of evening light, includes a mode “sunset. It can also detect people’s faces including smiles and blinks and text documents.

The mode, named by developers Smart Auto usually it is denoted as Scene offers a fairly large list of scene modes 17 in total . It is therefore well prepared for a variety of typical situations. If a photographer knows exactly what he will shoot in the near future, the touch control will help him get to the desired program quickly enough: press the Mode button, then the Smart Auto button, then in the mosaic of scenes, press with your finger the icon of the appropriate scene and confirm your choice with the OK button.

It’s even quicker to get into one of the so-called creative modes P/A/S/M : after pressing the Mode button just press the screen button of the desired mode. By the way, the top level of the menu has a button labeled Wi-Fi, which opens a menu of eight wireless-related functions. But we’ll tell about them separately in paragraph 6 below.

The Image Wizard menu offers 10 ready-to-use applications and three custom settings for in-camera editing. Color shift, brightness, contrast and sharpness adjustments can be set for each.

For those who know how and likes to process pictures on a personal computer, the camera includes a distribution kit of professional software Adobe Lightroom 5.0.

Note the great thing about using the camera with the normal zoom lens: it focuses on objects close to you regardless of the zoom position when using the macro mode. Usually compact cameras only do well in the wide-angle zoom position, but pass if you at least double the focal length.

Shooting is comparable to a DSLR

• Highly detailed

• True color reproduction

• Good halftone reproduction

Samsung NX mini camera is equipped with a fairly large sensor form factor of 1 inch, made by BSI CMOS technology, which has an effective resolution of 20.5 megapixels. It allows you to create photos with high detail and the correct transfer of halftones. In terms of quality, especially in low-light conditions, they far surpass the results that can be obtained with the most advanced “compact” and approach the level of cameras with larger sensors – entry-level DSLRs and mirror-less cameras.

Samsung NX mini demonstrates the accurate color reproduction and saturated colors, including the confident coping with the reproduction of traditionally difficult for the sensor shades of red.

In the case of high-contrast scenes, which are “overpowering” and professional DSLR cameras, the NX mini will help expand the dynamic range and HDR. If the photographer knows how to process RAW files, he or she can save them in the proprietary “raw” SRW format and recover a lot of information in lights and shadows when processing in a RAW converter.

Convenient and clear controls

• Touch control when shooting, adjusting, viewing and editing

• Flip-down screen

• Text and graphic prompts

• Tamper-proof

Samsung NX mini camera is equipped with a touch screen, so any owner of a smartphone and such people are now the majority will be very comfortable to work with and. Use your finger on the screen to navigate the Setup Menu, select a focus point, and even take a picture. Use the familiar smartphone gestures to flip through pictures, zoom in on the preview in-camera cropping .

Note that when shooting with gloves on in the cold, you can not use the touch control, but all actions can be performed in the traditional way – with the physical buttons.

The screen rotates 180 degrees, so you can zoom in and out as you like.e. it “looks” in the same direction as the lens. As we understand it, this position is the most convenient for taking self-portraits and paired portraits. And of course, the flip-down screen lets you take pictures at different heights for more unusual perspectives.

Mastering the many functions of the camera noticeably simplifies the pop-up tips: just hold on a few menu items, over it appears explanatory text phrase. Naturally, all tooltips and captions are also available in American, with Samsung traditionally Russifying its devices to a high standard. The scene menu is equipped with self-explanatory thumbnails and names of typical scenes, as well as tooltips.

Ergonomics are well thought out for carrying in your pocket or bag. All top buttons and movie-record button are recessed, no accidental pressing. The other buttons on the back are small, don’t protrude much, and are smoothed out. It also protects the camera from unwanted actions.

Extensive wireless functionality

• NFC for quick connection with smartphones

• Connects to mobile devices via Wi-Fi

• Remote operation

• Easy distribution of images over the Internet

• Remote storage

The Samsung NX mini offers an impressive number of additional functions thanks to its wireless connectivity.

For example, an NFC module with Samsung Photo Beam function allows the camera to quickly connect with a smartphone or tablet brought to it and automatically transfer photos saved in the camera to them.

The Wi-Fi module provides several functions at the same time. Thus, it is possible to exchange data with mobile devices which do not have the NFC module, via Wi-Fi – it suffices to install the free application Samsung Smart Camera. The same app with the camera’s built-in Remote Viewfinder function turns your mobile device into a handy remote control. In addition, the camera has a separate hardware DirectLink button for quick activation of this function.

The mobile application and a connection to the local Wi-Fi network, will make it possible to make an auto-copy of all files from the camera to a personal computer AutoShare function , send pictures to several friends at once Group Share function , send selected photos by e-mail, post pictures to popular social networks, media resources and cloud storage “Vkontakte”, “classmates”, Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, YouTube, Dropbox .

If the Samsung Home Monitor application is installed on the mobile computer, the camera built-in Baby Monitor function allows you to remotely monitor the sleeping baby and not miss his wake-up.

Through a Wi-Fi connection, the NX mini can also show photos and videos on DLNA devices connected to the same local network. And the last of the built in features – Samsung Link – gives photographers who have officially registered their camera the ability to save pictures to online storage located at the web address link.samsung.com.

Efficiency and ease of charging

• One battery charge is enough for 650 photos or 190 minutes of video

• The camera can be charged in the same way as mobile devices

• The camera can be recharged on the go with an external battery

The Samsung NX mini camera has not only record-low size and weight, but also a modest “appetite”. Its 3.8V, 2,330mAh rechargeable battery pack captures up to 650 photos, about double that of most larger mirrorless and DSLR cameras. For many photographers, this means. that they have enough battery power for a whole day of shooting.

But even if it’s not enough, you can still charge it up more easily than with most other cameras. The fact that to charge this camera uses a standard microUSB connector – just like in many smartphones. The camera also requires a low recharge current of only 550 mA. Firstly, it allows you to use the same cable and charger as for your smartphone, and secondly, you can recharge your camera on the go, without power outlets – from a compact external battery, which the market offers a lot now. On a long journey, a small solar panel is enough to recharge your battery.