Sunscreen

I haven’t used the NX1 much for personal use. Now that it’s been liberated from work I’ve been testing it out on one of my passions, shooting the northern lights and a few days ago tried the light trails mode.  
Whatever voodoo Samsung put in this camera makes it shoot perfect northern light photos with this setting, without having to do anything but point the camera in the right direction.
However I cannot find a way to make the intervolameter in the ‘s’ mode work at all. Do any of you know if there is a menu I’m missing or if there is a work around? 
Since the NX1 will automatically make a 4K  video in camera I’d love to set it up every night for the next month while the aurora activity is high and hopefully capture the lights without really having to think about it.
i can’t recommend using the light trails mode enough for the northern lights (or southern lights coming up in a few months). Every and I mean every shot is perfectly exposed and the colors are incredible.

In full auto mode you have to use the default Samsung settings.  You can use "P" / Program mode and use the custom color profiles and still have the camera auto set the shutter speed, F stop and ISO.
 

It depends on the camera and camera settings (and what look you like) but imo diffusion filters are a key missing ingredient toward a more "organic" look, if that's what you're after. They add an extra layer beyond even using vintage lenses, and imo it's worth combining the two if you want a "cinematic" look rather than a technical one.
I think @Zach Goodwin2 proselytized extensively about them, and while I think he was using stronger grades perhaps than I settled on (don't really remember), I agree they have great value.
That said, most on this forum seem inclined toward sharpening video and generally going for a sharper image than I prefer personally. So it is a matter of taste. I like the Alexa, which is quite soft, and I really like the look of 16mm and late-90s films shot by Richardson and Kaminski, which make heavy use of promist, classic soft, and nets. I think JFK is a beautiful movie.
(And the Alexa is a weird camera. I'm convinced it has an optical diffusion filter in front of the OLPF similar to Tiffen digital diffusion but that the pipeline also applies a slight wide-radius unsharp mask. Which isn't crazy. Film's modulation transfer function curve can exceed 100% mtf and then it drops off to extinction more slowly than digital; so this approach could emulate that. And give the "3d" look people talk about while still making skin smooth. But this is conjecture.)
The issue with black promist (also with classic softs and Hollywood black magic) is that you can see "speckles" in the bokeh, which may or may not be desirable, and at very deep stops sometimes the black dots that mitigate the promist's natural halation come into focus. (Also you need a matte box if you want to use a 4x4 filter, so screw on filters might make more sense depending on if you want to keep your rig small... but 1/4 BPM has a good look. Surprisingly strong, though.)
I find these tests interesting:
 
 
Particularly the latter. It's amazing how close the C300 with 1/4 to 1/2 digital diffusion looks to the Alexa. Imo it's a big improvement, however subtle.
 

I reply to my own reply. . . two steps above.
I did find physical contrast filter for cameras, from a company which give no details (explications!) and show only 100% transparent (?), but in specifications were details as for an ND filter with up to x5.
All other contrast filters were in software.
It is true that an ND filter in certain conditions will increase contrast, but only in certain conditions and not generally!
Some other layers as UV / IR / bit yellow / bit red / CPL could hepl.
So, I presume is not a filter to use very often  and probable usefull only when a lot of light available.
Anyway, I will remember this trick, but most probable will use software to cheat the nature and have more vivid images!

One of the biggest annoyances about the NX1 for me is that the HDMI output and USB recharging barely work together. If anyone else has overcome this issue, please let me know.
Essentially, if there is a USB cable attached to the NX1, but the cable is not attached to a powerbank when the camera is powered on, the HDMI output will not work at all.
My ideal setup is to power the camera from a TalentCell powerbank, which also powers my monitor (fantastic solution, btw, it runs all day and can even be tethered to an AC outlet). To that end, I 3D printed a clamp that holds both an HDMI and USB adapter. It's sturdy and great for cable management.

However, if I power on the camera without attaching the USB cable to the power bank first, the HDMI out will not output any signal at all. For example, if I power on the camera as it is seen above, with right angle adapters in place that go nowhere, then there will be no way to get an HDMI signal out of the camera--- I would have to power off, attach the USB cable to my powerbank, and then power the camera back on.
Pretty much any other combination works perfectly: if the camera is powered on without the right angle adapters in place, no issues. I can even disconnect the USB cable after powering on the camera, and HDMI will continue to work. It really just seems to be an issue of whether there is a USB cable -to-nowhere at the moment that the NX1 is switched on.
Has anyone else encountered this, or even better, overcome this?

I have lately been experimenting with video capture settings on the NX1 and I have been exploring a method of increasing dynamic range which I don't think has yet been touched upon.
It's really no big deal and I am not making any great claims but it may be of interest to some so I produced a quick video How-To.
Take is as fun, I have done very little real-world testing and it may be of little use, but over to you.
 

Yeah I'm excited to try this! After that debacle of bullshit fake-raw rumor thread, I'm glad there is at least something new to play with on these cameras. Nice work people!