Review Date: June 17, 2013
Category: Beginner to Serious Amateur
Photoxels Gold Award – Interchangeable Lens Camera
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Samsung NX300 Review is based on a production model. All sample images are unretouched, except where specified.
The Samsung NX300 is a mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera that is powerful, intuitive and captures great images. Use it in Smart AUTO mode for effortlessly photography or swithc to any one of the PASM modes for complete control over all the pro features.
The Samsung NX300 is a well-built camera. Some will call its look retro. To me, it looks more like futuristic, organic and beautiful. It is one of those rare cameras that just works right, with all the controls in the right places and working as you’d expect them to. The only exception to that is probably the iFn feature that turns the manual focus ring into any much whatever you’d like it to be. I’d prefer it to be a dedicated aperture ring, but other photographers rave about the customization it provides. Whichever you prefer, I have found the NX300 to be one of the most intuitive camera to use and with one of the most pleasant display info screen ever.
The screen display is a 3.3-inch tiltable AMOLED with 768k-dot resolution. It is clear and detailed enough that Manual Focus is possible with the enlarged image, now augmented with Focus Peaking. You can display various grid lines and a live histogram. Note that there is no built-in viewfinder, and there is no external viewfinder available to purchase either.
The Samsung NX300 has both fast and precise AF. RAW and a whole range of semi-auto and full manual shooting modes are available for the advanced photographer. Advanced photographers will be happy to know that, unlike on many cameras, the full range of shutter speeds is available in all of the PASM shooting modes. The NX300 shoots Full HD 1080p movie with stereo sound.
The NX300 does not have a built-in flash but a small external flash unit which you can attach onto the hot shoe comes standard.
Samsung is quietly making a name for itself with digital cameras for the serious users and the NX300 is more than a match for existing compact mirrorless DSLRs, with excellent image quality and very good low noise capability.
The Samsung NX300 is intuitive, delivers great results and easily meets the challenges a serious photographer might throw its way. It’s that rare compact mirrorless DSLR that you pick up and enjoy using right away. Read the whole review to discover all its strengths and weaknesses. Highly recommended.
Next: Samsung NX300 Image Quality
