Is Samsung shutting down their camera business?

[sandro 93]

Now that I think about it I also actually never saw the GH series in stores as well. they've always been oline though... thing is the NX1 is also disappearing online

Still no official statement of the latest development from them.

[tugela 1]

Now that I think about it I also actually never saw the GH series in stores as well. they've always been oline though... thing is the NX1 is also disappearing online

Still no official statement of the latest development from them.

Yes, but Panasonic run their own on line store in Canada, so there is no problem getting their gear. You just need to go to their website and order it. The situation with Samsung was quite different. They were no help at all in actually finding a camera, you had to go and search for a vendor that could get one yourself. Samsung Canada, even though they had the camera prominently on their web page, appeared to be unaware that the camera even existed when you tried to enquire. The information they had online about retailers was just flat out wrong. One of the "vendors" they listed was a high end sound store that just happened to be right next door to me. They sell audio equipment, not cameras. That is just a crazy-assed way of marketing your products. I don't see how they could have had any expectation of success with an approach like that. Did they think it was just going to happen without them doing anything other than to say "Hey! We got this cool camera now! You should buy one! And to help you find it we will direct you to a washing machine vendor!" Lol. Just too ridiculous.

[Mattias Burling 2,997]

And that was what was being doscussed.

Eitherway, we have all brands in most stores. No neef to order stuff like Panasonic online. Only brand missing is Samsung. They used to be in all big stores like Media Markt. Only the specilized that has them left. 

[rrjj 1]

Samsung now has an on-line NX sale in the US:

http://www.samsung.com/us/shop/black-friday/digital-cameras

[sandro 93]

Samsung now has an on-line NX sale in the US:

http://www.samsung.com/us/shop/black-friday/digital-cameras

Well there you go. Do we need more proof?

[Jimmy 905]

Oh dear... Their washing machines must be being discontinued too.... dark days indeed

[kidzrevil 8]

Oh dear... Their washing machines must be being discontinued too.... dark days indeed

LMFAO

[Marco Tecno 506]

I'm still trying to figure out who really needs a ff camera and why, compared to apsc. I was shooting at a party with nx1 and pics were as good or even better/cleaner than those coming from a 6dd, especially when downsized to 20mp. Video was, of course, very good vs poor.

[Mattias Burling 2,997]

I'm still trying to figure out who really needs a ff camera and why, compared to apsc. I was shooting at a party with nx1 and pics were as good or even better/cleaner than those coming from a 6dd, especially when downsized to 20mp. Video was, of course, very good vs poor.

Same reason for having small picture aka Fullframe as having APS-C, m4/3, 1" or medium format. It depends on what you use it for and your personal taste.

 

[IronFilm 3,517]

Very weird, Amazon is selling the NX1 for a hundred dollars cheaper *with* the 16-50mm lens than the price of only the body by itself!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V5UDU60/
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Wireless-Mirrorless-Digital-Camera/dp/B00NFDZRRA/

 

i really really really think you should do another review if you have the time. Maybe wait for the new Adobe update supposedly coming in the fall. This would generate a better impression of the quality of the camera since the update

Yes! This! It would help improve uptake of the NX system. I often link people to Andrew's older posts about the NX1, but it is so much better now in late 2015 than back when it was first released and reviewed. And it can be tricky to easily get that across to people when talking to them on other forums (such as the popular Frugal Filmmakers forum on Facebook). 

[DBounce 1,272]

Very weird, Amazon is selling the NX1 for a hundred dollars cheaper *with* the 16-50mm lens than the price of only the body by itself!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V5UDU60/
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Wireless-Mirrorless-Digital-Camera/dp/B00NFDZRRA/

 

Yes! This! It would help improve uptake of the NX system. I often link people to Andrew's older posts about the NX1, but it is so much better now in late 2015 than back when it was first released and reviewed. And it can be tricky to easily get that across to people when talking to them on other forums (such as the popular Frugal Filmmakers forum on Facebook). 

I agree you need to help samsung sell their cameras. It's your duty... NOT!

[kidzrevil 8]

I agree you need to help samsung sell their cameras. It's your duty... NOT!

damn bro your pretty militant about this. Would swear Samsung personally offended you LOL

[Damphousse 0]

LMFAO

Lol.  Yeah $100 off their usual perpetual sale price isn't exactly an epic Black Friday deal... let alone an indication an entire business unit is shutting down.

C'mon Samsung if you are shutting it down give us some deals!

[woozie 2]

So it's going to be $1100 next week until after Christmas? I'm guess some retailers might even beat that. This could be the start of the run down.

[Don Kotlos 912]

I'm still trying to figure out who really needs a ff camera and why, compared to apsc. I was shooting at a party with nx1 and pics were as good or even better/cleaner than those coming from a 6dd, especially when downsized to 20mp. Video was, of course, very good vs poor.

For me its not so much about the quality/noise differences which are quite small nowadays. 

The biggest effect of sensor size is the focal length that you use versus field of view that you get and the look of each focal length. Take this example: If you shoot portraits different focal lengths give you different transformation and most people reside around the 85mm focal length for a 36mm-wide sensor. Using the same focal length on a larger sensor will give you the same transformation but a larger field of view. Now I like the ~40 degrees Field of View which you can get with either a 50mm lens on a FF sensor or a 25mm on a m4/3 sensor, but the difference being that when shooting portraits the 25mm lens gives you unpleasant transformations on the faces, so I generally would prefer the 50mm on FF.  

So as Mattias said it all depends on what you use it for and your personal taste. 

[DBounce 1,272]

damn bro your pretty militant about this. Would swear Samsung personally offended you LOL

I just believe this site should stay non-bias. Samsung is a big company.  They can stand on their own. 

[Andrew Reid 8,597]

Yes! This! It would help improve uptake of the NX system. I often link people to Andrew's older posts about the NX1, but it is so much better now in late 2015 than back when it was first released and reviewed. And it can be tricky to easily get that across to people when talking to them on other forums (such as the popular Frugal Filmmakers forum on Facebook). 

Yeah I am going to update the review, I am using V1.40 firmware and a lot has improved.

Namely...

0-255 files of original firmware were clipped in Premiere. You can fix this in post by remapping to 16-235 in the Fast Color Corrector but now you can do this in-camera. Result is more highlight details and blacks that don't crush as much. Better dynamic range and smoother roll off.

AF is now rather spectacular, at least with the 16-50mm F2-2.8. You can pull off some lovely focus racks with it when recording. For stills it is mega fast and much more reliable than at launch.

The black gamma control really helps bring out the shadows as does gammaDR.

The 16-50mm F2-2.8 is a mega piece of glass... absolute stunner of an all-rounder. OIS works wonderfully on it and great built quality. Had I got this lens from the start, original review would have raved about it. Best APS-C lens on the market.

Stabilisation has been improved via the firmware updates. The digital stabilisation combined with OIS on the lens is NUTS... we're talking Olympus E-M1 beating. No distortion like the IBIS has on wide angle movement. Also seems to greatly reduce rolling shutter. The drawback? Crops the sensor. But it's amazing for walking around.

The 4K image still holds up very well vs the cream of the crop in 2015. Only real weakness is it can't do great high ISO results past 1600.

I prefer the handling to just about anything else out there. Love the button placement, feel of the grip, the build quality. Beats GH4 and A7R II for me in that respect.

[MarcTGFG 19]

Mates, I have fallen in love. With a camera! She calls herself Samsung NX1 and was so beautifully presented on that Saturn store shelf today in Cologne. She feels like the real deal, feels sooo good in my hands, tactility that tickles my fancy. ;-)

Seriously: First time I had the NX1 in my hands and it feels perfect! Top notch build quality, amazingly small 16-50mm Powerzoom. Super fast autofocus in movie mode,  beautiful and clear menus. Perfect location for both thumb wheels and all other knobs.

If I had had the money today I would have taken this body/lens combo with me!

The salesperson said, he also heard/read the rumor (I failed to ask him whether he heard it from eoshd.com, making this a perfect echo chamber) but NOT from any official source. He said he heard that Samsung is sacking the poeple in its European camera division. But again: unsourced and unofficial with many interpretations possible!

I'm seriously entertaining the idea of buying this thing. And as a journalist I totally do my research beforehand:

- Googling a bit found a very reasonable choice of AF lenses and third-party lenes, combined with adaptability for other mount lenses I already own. I would probably also buy the 50-200 F3.5-5.6 lens for $350. Maybe the 45mm F1.8 for $250.

- H.265 usability and workflow issues will be gone in a couple of months, with Premiere and others naturally making the transition to newer codecs

- H.265 offers incredibly compact file sizes without compromising quality (=FAR less storage needed=money saved)

- Windows, iOS and Android apps for remotely controlling the camera, including focus and zooming (on PZ lens only), which is not only cool, but also practically allowing for a different person to focus pull! It also allows to transfer files. Connection through WLAN and Bluetooth possible.

- Nice out of the box colors, very similar to Canon (=less grading work=time saved)

- UI and features extendable through Tizen OS apps.

- Gamma-Log for more DR

- Best continuous autofocus for video right now with user selectable trigger and focus speeds (=more usable shots=shorter on-location time)

- As we all know the NX1 has the most detailed moire less 4K image right now, with very low noise and silky smooth blacks in good lighting

- It can be used without reservations till ISO 1600 with usable 3200. And then, there will be light you can actually use ;-)

- The EVF and tiltable displays are top notch

- Many helpful things for videographers (magnification, peaking, black level, live audio metering/setting, crop marks)

- 4-2-2 HDMI out for 4K for more codec options

- Pretty good 96fps Full HD 

- Real Cinema 4K, not just UHD

- Still pretty small and light at 550g, perfect for Gimbal work. I plan to buy a Beholder MS1 for $500, which can take up to 850g load, and has a joystick for mororized tilt and pan (!). The NX1 with the 16-50mm powerzoom will fit nicely, maybe even with a Rode stereo mic attached. It also has a 1/4" tripod mount underneath, to attach it to a tripod or monopod for extended shots.


What I want to express: If you don't need to use it for lots of ultra-low-light work this is the camera to use in my humble opinion and no business decision by Samsung will change this or the quality of the results this camera provides.

P.S. After walking around I also fell in love with the Samsung Gear S2 classic. Anyone know whether the watch can somehow also trigger/control the NX1? 





 

[MarcTGFG 19]

Just chatted with Vinil Kumar, sales person at Samsung US online store. He said:

"Don't believe the rumors! Samsung ist not closing down its complete camera division. Samsung will provide further support for NX1 buyers."

[sandro 93]

You're right Andrew if this camera had a better low light capability or better ISO performance it would just beat them all... I wonder what you can do with Neat Video at high ISO, would the 4K resolution help or make things worse? I remember the first I went over 1600 I got awful banding too, it's not just noise.