Samsung NX mini Unboxing
There is always some skepticism when a name of a camera is prefixed with ‘mini’. We have seen in the past that many manufacturers failed to deliver a great camera in a small package. The Samsung NX mini is targeted towards young amateur photographers who focus on style and selfies above all.
Well, this camera is not yet launched in India, but it is going to be coming soon with an exclusive partnership with Amazon.in priced at less than Rs. 30,000. NX mini is undoubtedly the slimmest interchangeable-lens camera available in the market. It does have a flip-up touchscreen and a cool selfie mode that lets you click a selfie by just blinking. You also get Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for free inside the box; which is a great software for aspiring photographers.
The biggest selling point here is its super-slim, lightweight body that you can slip into a handbag, or even a pocket. Without the lens attached, the NX mini is no larger than many compact point-and-shoots, but when you stick on the 9-27mm (24.3mm, 35mm equivalent) f/3.5 kit lens, it becomes little thick to carry around. There’s a 1-inch, 20.5-megapixel CMOS sensor that is identical in size to what you’ll get with very high-end compacts. However, quite smaller than the APS-C sensor manufacturers included with mirrorless cameras like the Alpha 6000 or the NX30.
The camera comes with a 16 GB micro-SD card and 2330mAh battery, which means that the camera will last for good 300 shots approximately. The camera is NFC-enabled and can be easily connected with NFC-enabled smartphones. The 20.5 MP BSI sensor, the company claims, is made by them. We’re uncertain about the authenticity of that statement, since these kind of sensors are made by Sony only. The lens included in the box is a 9mm (24.3mm, 35mm equivalent) f/3.5 kit lens and is fairly good for this price range.
On the top of the camera, you have a microphone pinhole, and hot-shoe sort of mount for Samsung external flash that comes with the package, Wi-Fi button, power on/off button and the shutter button. All of these buttons are seem to be made of metal and brushed aluminium, which makes it a high-quality premium looking device.
The camera supports a set of lenses that are called NX-mini lens and are completely different from regular NX lenses. You can use other lenses from Samsung if you have $150 adapter, which is a third party adapter. However, we heard that Samsung is also working on an in-house adapter.
Once you turn on the camera, you have to further twist the lens to unlock it. The shutter release is nearly full-size, and once you launch the menu, you can adjust many settings simply by tapping the 3-inch, 480 x 320 touchscreen, which also flips up 180 degrees for self-portraits, or at any angle in between for shots below eye-level, or overhead if you flip the camera upside-down.
As for the UI, there’s nothing out of the ordinary here. You can control just about everything using the touchscreen, though you can also use the four-way controller on the side to navigate. The menu interface includes all the general options and isnothing new. You get Auto share, ISO setting, image quality, etc. You also get a picture wizard which changes the setting according to the scene.
Its Wi-Fi mode lets you access a variety of wireless sharing options. MobileLink can be used to send photos from the camera to a smartphone or tablet, or Remote Viewfinder, which miraculously lets you access all of the NX mini’s shooting modes, including manual, from another device.
The Samsung NX mini gives access to Samsung Home Monitor, which requires its smartphone app and lets you use the camera to keep an eye on a child, for example, assuming your camera and phone are connected to the same WiFi network.
The camera fairly fast to focus and click the picture. The capacitative touchscreen allows you zoom in and out extremely easily. Apart from the fact that you don’t have a full manual control during video shooting mode, and its inability to use different lenses, the camera itself is very powerful. The look and the feel is also quite amazing.
The price is expected to be around Rs. 27,000 for 9-27mm lens package and Rs. 24,000 for 9mm lens package when launched exclusively on Amazon.in. This is not an official price but if the pricing remains the same, this device will a perfect starter camera for amateurs or a secondary camera for people who use DSLRs on the daily basis.
