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January 14, 2010
[THE WAY OF THE FUTURE?]
![NX10_F2_B_Global[1]](http://www.dpexpert.com.au/WindowsLiveWriter/THEWAYOFTHEFUTURE_75D7/NX10_F2_B_Global%5B1%5D_2.jpg "NX10_F2_B_Global[1]")
Last week Samsung at last unveiled the long-awaited NX-10. The company has shoe-horned most of the internal workings of a digital single lens reflex into a compact(ish) body, going down the path pioneered by Panasonic in replacing the reflex viewfinder with an electronic affair.
We had a chance to handle a pre-production model before Christmas, but release of information was embargoed until last week. As the general concept and shape of the camera was already well known the point of the embargo was moot.
2009 will be remembered as the year in which the camera companies tried something new – better images from less bulk. First came Panasonic with their G1 and GH1 (the G1 with movie mode added) Micro Four Thirds pseudo-SLRs. These well made, slim twins were an immediate success, although we felt that the electronic viewfinders left something to be desired and were certainly no match for the traditional mirror and prism.
Later in the year Olympus launched the E-P1, the cute retro styled camera, again built around the Micro Four Thirds sensor the company shares with Panasonic and uses in its DSLRs. This time the only viewfinder is the LCD.
Panasonic followed with the GF1 which can be bought with an add-on EVF; not to be outdone Olympus followed with the E-P2 – essentially an E-P1 with an add-on EVF.
Then in November Ricoh launched their clever version of the compact interchangeable lens camera with the GXR. Ricoh’s solution to the fully competent camera in the compact body is to incorporate the lens and sensor into an interchangeable unit. This means they can offer either a full APS-C sized sensor, as used in most consumer DSLRs, or the smaller compact camera sensor, to be used in one body.
Samsung’s approach has been to create a compact pseudo-SLR, about the same size as Panasonic’s twins, but with the larger APS-C sensor. The advantage of this system is in potential image quality. The disadvantage, compared with the Micro Four Thirds cameras, is that the lenses must be larger.
This flurry of innovation and size reduction by the camera companies is spurred on by the belief that there is a potential customer in the shops looking for single lens reflex image quality in a compact body. This customer is deterred from buying a traditional DSLR by its bulk, its mass, its ostentation and its perceived complexity. The putative customer is moving up from a compact into something better, but not as grand and excessive as a Canon 1d MkIII.
The Samsung NX-10 could be the camera they are looking for. It can be set to auto-everything and left to its own devices, just like a compact, or the user can keep complete control. It is rugged and well made, so it is not light, and that is good – unless you want to carry it in a pocket. We are impressed by what we have seen. We will do a review of the camera soon.
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Posted by terry at January 14, 2010 07:22 AM
