8 Little Steps To Make The NX1 Perfect - A Firmware Review of Version 1.20

In my original review, I wrote about the difficult selection of the manual focus mode for movies and about the lack of a "focus once" function in capture and movie movie.

I already wrote a first update here, where I pointed out another bug that I found in the firmware regarding the AFL function.

With this second update, I want to (partially) revise some of the statements in my original post regarding movie mode.

DISCLAIMER: The statements below only reflect my personal experience and knowledge after using the camera for a few days. In particular, I may or may not have missed certain tricks or settings to circumvent some or all of the problems stated below.

Jan Behrens wrote:

1. Difficult selection of manual focus mode for movies

The autofocus setting does not have any impact on the autofocus mode while recording movies. If you switch the NX1 to manual mode and disable the autofocus, pressing the record button will (re-)enable the autofocus. That... well... let's say it's really annoying. The only workaround I could figure out for this problem is to switch to movie standby mode (you need to have a button customized for that) and then turn the manual focus explicitly on by using the touch screen or the AF ON button. Unfortunately, this setting won't be saved, which means you can't simply use the record button but you always need to first go to the movie standby mode, disable the autofocus, and then start your recording. I did not find any preset in the menu to avoid this necessity.

This issue is the most bugging one and has IMHO a serious impact on the usability of the NX1 for recording movies.

I have to revise this statement (partially). It seems to be correct that the movie mode (or movie standby mode) will always re-enable the autofocus. Nonetheless, it is not necessary to enter movie standby mode first to disable autofocus: an alternative is to just start recording, and then, while the recording is already in progress, easily disable the autofocus with your thumb (the AF ON button is well reachable while holding the camera). This doesn't, however, avoid the potential loss of a previously (manually) adjusted focus.

Since both the movie mode and the movie standby mode switch on autofocus, a previously manually adjusted focus may always be lost (unless I missed a trick to avoid this?).

In my original review, I wrote further:

Jan Behrens wrote:

2. No "focus once" option

Neither in movie mode nor when taking stills, it is possible to have a button that will simply focus once and then maintain the focus. You may only simulate this functionality by setting the AF ON button to "AF Start + Lock" but in that case you still have to press the button twice: once to undo the AFL and a second time to re-focus and reactivate the AFL. (I have discussed this issue previously.) Accordingly, you have to press the AF ON button twice in movie mode, once to turn on auto-focus, and then again to switch back to manual focussing in movie mode.

Likewise, it is not possible to focus once to a spot by touching the screen: if you choose one of the touch-autofocus options, then touching the screen will always move your focus point for all subsequent photos. To reset it, you either have to hit the center correctly or you have to press OK + DEL + OK (which is three buttons!) (or you need to turn the camera off and back on again).

I also have to revise this statement as using the touch screen allows you to auto-focus once in movie mode (but not in capture mode without moving the focus point for all subsequent photos). Touching the CAF symbol in movie mode to switch to single autofocus mode (or pressing the "Fn" button in movie mode to switch to single autofocus mode) will allow you to refocus once by subsequently touching the desired focus point on the screen. It is, however, not possible to perform manual adjustments with the focus ring of the lens without first explicitly turning on manual focus again (by touching the MF Off/On symbol on the touch screen or by pressing the AF ON button). Once the manual focus is turned on, the focus ring works, but focussing once to a single object by touching the touch screen won't work until turning on the single autofocus mode again.