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Samsung NV11 - opinions from users + sample pics?

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juuni

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I'm having a hard time to find in depth reviews of this camera.

I'm considering it since I read relatively good user reviews.

It seems to have extremely good build quality and full manual control. The latter is a must for me.

What I'd appreciate:
  • Any Samsung NV11 owner here who would share the pro/cons of the camera? I'm interested in people who own a DSLR and can comment on noise, color, JPEG artifacts, etc.
  • Best: anyone who could post some pics (full res if possible, or some details/crops at 100%) so I could see by myself?
Thanks for the help. I own a 5D but need a carry everywhere cam I'd be very happy to play with.

The NV11 doesn't seem to have a RAW mode but that'll be ok if there's an easy WB control and the JPEG fine mode (or whatever the best mode is called) isn't uber compressed.

Thanks for the help!

PS: If you can recommend a camera that would fit in the same category (pic quality, same price range, maybe up to $400-450, FULL MANUAL AVAILABLE, not bigger than the NV11), please do.
 
The Canon A570IS has full manual control and is not very big and gets great reviews. It can be bought online for around 200.00.
juuni said:
I'm having a hard time to find in depth reviews of this camera.

I'm considering it since I read relatively good user reviews.

It seems to have extremely good build quality and full manual
control. The latter is a must for me.

What I'd appreciate:
  • Any Samsung NV11 owner here who would share the pro/cons of the
camera? I'm interested in people who own a DSLR and can comment on
noise, color, JPEG artifacts, etc.
  • Best: anyone who could post some pics (full res if possible, or
some details/crops at 100%) so I could see by myself?

Thanks for the help. I own a 5D but need a carry everywhere cam I'd
be very happy to play with.

The NV11 doesn't seem to have a RAW mode but that'll be ok if there's
an easy WB control and the JPEG fine mode (or whatever the best mode
is called) isn't uber compressed.

Thanks for the help!

PS: If you can recommend a camera that would fit in the same category
(pic quality, same price range, maybe up to $400-450, FULL MANUAL
AVAILABLE, not bigger than the NV11), please do.
Click to expand...
 
From what I can gather, the NV11 is just the NV10 with the 5X Schneider lens from the L85 - that lens is excellent

--
Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

 
My only concern after doing some more reading of user reviews here and there is the noise.

I get conflicting information:
  • great clean pictures at low ISO
  • very noisy pics even at low ISO
Not sure if some users call noise what is not noise.

I'd love to hear from NV11 owners. And links to pics taken with NV11. I looked on flickr, found a few, but no high-res and don't know how much post processing applied to the pics. I'd like to see a pic taken with the least amount of camera processing + no post camera processing.

Hoping to get some more input from the dpreview community!

juuni
 
Juuni,

I went through the same process as you regarding getting a small pocketable camera. I have used the Canon 10D and then the 30D for years now. I have two grown children who I bought the Canon A630 and and S3IS cameras for. I have played with these cameras as well as cameras that friends had...Nikon Coolpix, the Olympus Camedia. I am a stickler for quality, so that when it came time to buy a small camera for myself, I looked at the Leicas, the Panasonic Lumux, the Sony, etc. and nothing really blew me away. But I realized that due to the weight and bulk and expensive of the 30D, I was leaving it home most of the time. What good is a camera if you don't use it.

So, as others have done, I readjusted my thinking and it basically comes down to features, sensor size, and lens. The NV11 has a small sensor but not as small as the ones with 1:2.5. The lens is a German lens which is pretty respectable. The camera has a small lag time, but certainly not as noticible as some of the smaller cameras a few years ago, and as you well know, for $275 dollars you can't even put a decent lens on your 5D for almost 3X that amount.

So, considering the sensor issue, anything you get along the lines of a small camera is going to be a compromise. With the NV11, I don't think I'm compromising that much. At all ISO's there will be more noise than with a large sensor camera. The noise in bright sunshine, at dusk is very acceptable. Noise at 1600 with the aperature wide open is noticible when you zoom to 100%. However, the photos that I've taken are very enjoyable and acceptable to me. The camera is fun to use. It doesn't bother me that it has no optical viewfinder. I've used the NV11 on the beach and can still easily view the LCD screen which is quite large. I've taken photos at dusk of with ISO 800 without flash and the photo is noise is acceptable. It won't blow up to poster size.

So, in life there are compromises. It's fun, it's relatively cheap, but it seems to have a good build quality. You can fiddle with all the parameters you can think of. It's lens is sharp. It's battery has given me acceptable life. I can stick it in my pocket if my pants are baggy or wear it on a holster on my belt. I like it. Is my Canon 30D jealous. Not really, because it sat at home alone a lot of the time when I wasn't ready to schlepp it around.

Is the NV11 perfect, nope, but in a couple of years, we'll all be shooting with CMOS chips anyway and this thing will be obsolete, like the 30D. Hope this helps.

Warren
 
Thanks Warren for the feedback.

Yes indeed, it's about compromise. I do want a camera that i can carry around most of the time AND, VERY IMPORTANT, that makes me want to shoot. The NV10/11 is the only one I had in hands so far that makes me want to shoot. I get zero 'envy' to shoot with most compact digicams. Just the feel, and the way the controls are usually setup (deep down in menus). (NOTE: I don't pretend I looked at everything out there, I surely didn't).

What I can say from your feedback is that you're very pleased with the NV11 experience and fun factor and you actually get to shoot with it, enjoy it, and enjoy the results. That's a big part of what I'm looking for.

I've been missing too many shooting opportunities walking around when I travel. More than 1/2 of the time, I just like to walk 'light' and not carry the 5D, but then I see something interesting and well.... you know how it feels.

I found this link above which has a bunch of 100 ISO full res shots, which is what I was looking for. I'll see if the results are accetable for what I want to do with it.

NOTE: You can get some amazing lenses for the 5D for less than $300, some examples:

A) The Canon 50mm 1.8: that's $80 and that's a killer lens. I used to shoot 75% of the time with that lens on my 10D and 20D. My only complaint if that the focusing is super slow, but again, that's an $80 lens! So you just deal with it.
B) The canon 50mm 1.4: that's $300 or less, a winner.
C) The canon 85mm 1.8: that's about $300 as well, and it's darn good.

There's no L in that price category, that's true, but the lenses above will get you very very far. (Note: I also have L lenses.)

juuni
 
The NV10's lens is just small enough where it lines up with the hand grip. So its very easy to slip into a pocket.

The NV11's lens juts out further, so its not as easy to pocket. Other than the lens, I think both cameras are identical. For a camera thats should be easy to carry anywhere, I think I would prefer the NV10 over the NV11 because of the slimmer lens.

Joo

--
  • Maybe one day I'll take a decent picture. In the meantime, I'll blame the equipment. :)
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The NV10 missed a Histogram, I believe. What about the NV11? Not that i care, but some really do.
 
I checked the NV10 today in a store. But just had a chance to see the body, no battery/power, so couldn't power it on. I love how small this thing is, and very nice quality body feel.

I'll try to have a look at the NV11 tomorrow (but not sure if i'll be able to shoot with it either).
 
I'm wondering.... how does the NV10/11 noise level get affected if you set the camera to 7MP? I'm sure it's not as clean as a 7MP sensor, but is the noise level less than w/ 11MP?

Just a thought...
 
Junni,

I think that you've done a great job researching this camera, but I think that you're underestimating one essential point. This camera is jet black as opposed to the silver of 99% of most of the small point and shoot cameras out there. Just that fact alone should drive you.

Good luck with your choice.

Warren
 
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