NX300, NX30 & NX2000, video quality issue (sample included)
Dec 20, 2014
Hi
Firstly I wish to say that I very much like the stills quality of the NX300 and other NX's. mostly all of the features of the camera. I own a couple of NX1000's which I also like very much.
I first purchased the NX1000's and I became impressed with the video quality especially in manual mode. On the basis of the video quality I then purchased a couple of NX300's (I like to have wide angle and long lenses fitted so I don't have to keep swapping and at the same time always have a spare body) with a plan to sell the NX1000's.
Unfortunately I noticed a problem with video from the NX300's that does not match up to the quality I get from the NX1000 so for now I am keeping the NX1000's for video and using the NX300 for stills.
I have found a few sparse comments around the net about this same issue one here on this forum:
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/53450988
The first aim of this post is to see if other users have recognised the same issue or perhaps users can look back and see if they may have missed it in past footage. The issue is easy to recreate and is best tried by mounting the camera on a tripod and shooting a mix of details and some flat surfaces.
The second aim is to create awareness of the issue so that Samsung themsleves can possibly explain the phenomenon, assuming that they monitor dpreview, which of course they would be silly not to!
Here is my test video uploaded to YouTube, but please note that YouTube's own compression has altered the effect slightly so it is not so prominent in wide shots as it is the original footage but I think you will still clearly see the effect which can only be descibed as pulsing possibly caused by changes in compression?:
http://youtu.be/wpjXEA6O6JM
I have read many glowing reviews about the NX300 and nobody has ever mentioned this issue as far as I know, but however most of the test footage I have seen involves the camera being moved around (a lot in some cases) so it is difficult to tell if a problem exists. I wish that testers would take some footage on tripod to check for artefacts in compression during a still scene.
Please add your comments remembering that I very much like my Samsung cameras and this is not a bash but a cry for help if you like.
Cheers for now, Paul.