Samsung NX200 Compact System Camera

Category: Cameras (Photo and Video)

Created on Monday, 19 March 2012 21:18

Written by Steve B.

The body of the NX200 is just as compact and light weight as the NX100's body - I'd say it's only marginally larger than some bigger compact cameras currently on the market. The NX100 had a plastic body, which felt rather cheap to the touch considering the price of it, so Samsung has upgraded the NX200 to a much more durable magnesium alloy body.

Starting at the front of the body you'll see the large lens mount with the release button off to the right side. There's also an AF assist lamp on the front but nothing else - nothing technical at least, there are a couple logos too.

Behind the lens mount is a large APS-C CMOS sensor - the same size you'll find in any decent quality DSLR camera. The large sensor size will also help the NX200 with it's low light sensitivity - an area your previous compact camera probably did very poorly in. The sensor itself is an outstanding 20.3 megapixels - meaning you can product images up to 5472 X 3648 pixels! Using high speed shooting with FastAF the NX200 will shoot up to 7 frames per second in that resolution.

I touched earlier on the improved low light sensitivity that the APS-C sensor will have over a smaller sensor design. The NX200 is capable of an ISO ranging from 100 up to 12800 (one of the highest I've ever seen on a sub-$1000 camera). One thing to keep in mind is that images do get noisier with higher ISO settings, so I'll be sure to check out Samsung's noise correction during testing.

Digital cameras have come a long way with HD video in the last couple of years. The first NX100 was capable of 720p HD video and the NX200 is now capable of full 1080p/30fps HD video with true stereo surround. You can flip the camera into manual mode for even further control of your video shooting. I was disappointed to see the absense of an external mic input though - the ability to connect my Rode video mic would really extend the video recording capabilities of the NX200 even further.