Samsung 20.3 Megapixels NX200 Mirrorless Review by CNET US With Rating 7.6/10

On September 1 2011, Samsung announced the launch of the NX200 compact system camera. The NX200 features a 20.3 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, 7fps high-speed continuous shooting with 100ms Advanced Auto Focus (or 30fps at 5 Megapixels resolution), ISO 100-12,800, Full HD 1080p (H.264) movie recording, and a 3.0-inch AMOLED display with VGA resolution. 

The NX200 supports the Samsung's nine different i-Function 2.0 lenses, which enable toggling between shutter speed, aperture, exposure value (EV), white balance (WB), and ISO through the button and ring on the lens. With the upgraded i-Function 2.0 on the NX200, users can also control six different Smart Filters and the intelli-Zoom function from the lens while in Lens Priority Mode. New lenses for the i-Function system include 18-200mm, 16mm, 60mm and 85mm focal lengths. Both the 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 ED OIS zoom and 60mm F2.8 Macro ED OIS SSA prime are optically stabilized. The NX200 is currently selling at around $699. Here's the summary of review by CNET US, giving the camera a rating of 7.6 out of 10:

"I've felt guilty about not getting to this camera sooner given how much I liked the photos from the preproduction unit I'd tested. It really does produce excellent photos, given its price tag of less than $1,000. Combined with its relatively clean images off the sensor, its noise profile is quite good. The eagle-eyed will still see artifacts -- especially in dark stretches of high-ISO-sensitivity photos, like this and on edges. But overall I was really impressed with the quality of the noise reduction and JPEG compression, as high as ISO 1600 on some photos. Color accuracy looks quite good, the metering and exposure are generally both consistent and appropriate, and the sensor handles bright, saturated colors well (though the JPEG algorithms don't always), as long as you're willing to put in some work recovering highlights from a raw file. Blown-out light colors don't fare quite as well, however; there's no detail there. With the right lens, the camera delivers sharp images, too. I shot with several -- the 18-55mm kit f3.5-5.6 OIS lens plus a couple of primes -- and they're all pretty good. The kit lens is typical; it's just good enough to match competitors but leaves you craving something better. The 85mm f1.4 and 60mm f2.8 OIS primes produce lovely images, and are sharp, bright, and comfortable to use. Samsung has redesigned its i-Function lenses from the previous generation, and the newer kit lens, while slow as all the other kit lenses, operates much more smoothly and feels better-constructed than its predecessor's 20-50mm model. It's not nearly as compact, though, which puts it at a slight disadvantage compared with, say, Panasonic's Lumix X Series collapsible lens. And the other two lenses are huge compared with the body. In fact, the barrel of the 85mm lens is so wide that Samsung's hot-shoe-based GPS unit can't clear it; the bundled flash has a longer neck, though.

 

Video in good light is very consumer-friendly; bright, saturated, and sharp. There's a little bit of moiré, aliasing, and rolling shutter, but it's fine for personal videos. It doesn't fare as well at night, though. There's just no tonal range to speak of. With excellent photo quality, a nice shooting design and interface, and solid performance, the Samsung NX200 makes a nice package. But it also means buying into a lone-wolf lens system without much third-party support, and because the image stabilization is in the lens rather than the sensor, you're subject to Samsung's whims for OIS-capable lenses. (In contrast, all the other manufacturers have either some third-party lens makers or use sensor-shift stabilization.) That, combined with a ho-hum feature set, makes the NX200's price seem overly high."

NX200 review, Sotirios KARPOUZIS - Feb 17 2013
This camera delivers excellent quality photos overall. At a price below USD 400 it is a value for money item....

In terms of HD Video, this rocks!, J. Kim "music enthusiast" - Jul 17 2012
I went to a conference, blown away by the White Balance. OMG! Who has a menu wheel to flip through the color lamps to get the perfect white balance temperature for the lighting in doors, in a theatre, and get so many minutes of compressed HD 720p and 1080p 30fps files on a SD card?!! Who has that?!!! It's great for video, compatible with all softwares at Mp4 for editing, which is...

Love it, Linda Howell - Jul 14 2012
I love this camera. The size is great. Not to big, but for a compact camera it takes great photos. Can't wait to get out and take photos after photos.The options are so easy to acess....

Great Camera!, Carlos Isaac - Jun 22 2012
Amazing product. Clear pictures with the kit lens, very low noise till ISO 3200 and THE BEST user interface I've ever used on this size of camera. For $600 it's hard to find anything better.I shoot RAW and really don't have any problems with the camera writing speed....