Samsung NX200 supersizes your snaps
Samsung's latest snapper has the body of a compact and the lens-swapping abilities of an SLR. But can it live up to its maker's boasts?
The NX200 is the follow up to the NX100, and is Samsung's third compact-sized camera with interchangeable lenses. It's aiming to compete with the Micro Four Thirds gang and its ilk, such as the Olympus Pen Lite E-PL3, Panasonic's DMC-GF3 and Sony's NEX-7, so you'd be right in thinking it's got its work cut out.
The big selling point is the 20.3-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor. Samsung notes that's "more than any product offered in the market". Well, maybe it should take a look at the Sony NEX-7, announced last week, as that packs in a whopping 24.3-megapixels. Though 20.3 is still a vast great number, giving you prints far bigger than you're likely to need. Unless you're aiming to make a bedspread out of them.
Like the NX100, it features the i-Function lens, which moves some of the controls to the lens barrel. Want to adjust the aperture or shutter speed while shooting? Just press a button and twist a ring on the barrel, no need to interrupt what you're doing to go through on-screen menus. It's a neat feature, giving it more of a pro feel, though the inclusion of a viewfinder would help. As it is you have to frame your shots on the screen, which we think would feel unnatural on a camera like this.
Samsung has simplified the menu with its Hot Key option though, which brings key options to the top of the menu, so you don't need to root around in the depths. Though the screen doesn't flip out or angle - while we're not demanding MV800-style flipping skills, it would be nice considering the lack of viewfinder.
There's no price or release date yet, we'll bring you more when we get it. But think of it as the straight man to the MV800's clowning.