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Samsung NX30 review: Sturdy, speedy, lightweight

SINGAPORE — Photographers who want to graduate from point-and-shoot cameras should take a look at Samsung’s NX30, from the company’s award-winning NX series.

SINGAPORE — Photographers who want to graduate from point-and-shoot cameras should take a look at Samsung’s NX30, from the company’s award-winning NX series.

Made of a composite body with a rubberised grip, the NX30 is sturdy but weighs only 375g without its battery and a lens. Despite its small size, the NX30 has the power of some DSLRs.

While some DSLRs have touchscreen displays that can flip from side to side, the NX30 impresses with its 270-degree swivelling screen that can rotate upwards and downwards. This is a huge upside for “selfie” lovers as it makes it easy for them to snap photos of themselves.

Samsung has melded convenience and simplicity by getting rid of a lot of the dials you see on some powerful cameras. Simply click the innocuous button near the lens and a futuristic-looking virtual gear will appear on the 3-inch Super AMOLED display monitor. Adjustments to aperture, shutter speed, ISO and white balance are only a swipe away.

With a 20.3-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, the NX30 captures high quality images with rich and punchy colours. You can expect true-to-life pictures, and its auto white balance is accurate in most lighting conditions.

An added bonus is that the camera groups photos taken in nine frames-per-second continuous shooting mode — a seemingly pointless function until I realised how much easier my life was when I no longer had to abuse the navigation buttons while scrolling through the countless shots I took.

With a shutter speed of up to 1/8000, the NX30 is capable of freezing the motion of a fast-moving object. Not that I usually need it, but you might find it useful if you are a Formula 1 fanatic shooting race cars zooming by.

However, while the camera boasts an ISO of up to 25,600, you will start to notice noise as low as at ISO 3,200. In low-light settings, it is unable to capture good shots without sacrificing image quality.

The NX30 comes with Wi-Fi and NFC capabilities for easy photo-sharing, although you would need Samsung’s MobileLink app or you would be stuck with sending photos one at a time. For users keen on editing their photos like a professional, Samsung has provided a free copy of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.

The NX30 impressed me with its performance despite its compact size. Colours are vibrant without being over-saturated, although its capabilities in low-light conditions are its main weakness — aspiring photographers interested in shooting at night may want to test it first to see if it meets their needs. Nonetheless, the camera deserves the same accolades won by the rest of the NX series.

The Samsung NX30 is priced at S$1,369.

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