DISCLAIMER: The statements below only reflect my personal experience and knowledge after using the camera for a short while. In particular, I may or may not have missed certain tricks or settings to circumvent some or all of the problems stated below.
This is a follow-up to my
- original post reviewing firmware v1.20 of the Samsung NX1 camera,
- first update explaining the command wheel block during "AF Start + Lock" (and its interplay with the non-working AEL function in manual mode),
- second update where I revised some statements regarding movie mode, and my
- third update where I pointed out that the tracking AF in movie mode undisiredly changes the autofocus point in capture mode.
Unfortunately, none of my raised issues were fixed in firmware v1.21. This is, however, not a big surprise, given the short time between my bug reports and the release of firmware v1.21.
In particular, the following issues seem to remain still unresolved in firmware version 1.21:
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) [or to start recording in movie mode] 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 [or disable the autofocus after you have started recording, which still means you may lose your previously adjusted focus]. 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.
Firmware v1.21 allows using the AF button on the drive wheel, but this does not seem to fix the above stated issue: if I switch to movie standby mode, disable the autofocus with the AF-button on the drive wheel (pressing the AF-button and selecting manual focus), then switching back to capture mode and forth to movie mode will re-enable the autofocus.
Since finishing the recording seems to always terminate movie mode and switch back to capture mode, this was really annoying to me when taking videos with manual focussing.
2. No "focus once" option
[In capture mode, it is not possible (second update)] 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 [unless you use the touch screen, as explained in my second update].
Likewise, it is [in capture mode] 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).
Also with firmware v1.21, I wasn't able to setup the camera in such way that I have a "focus once" button where the focus won't be lost when pressing the shutter button. The only way to disable autofocus on shutter pressing seems to be the manual focus mode, in which case the AF ON button won't work anymore (but still blocks the command wheels, as explained in my first update, see below).
Jan Behrens wrote (first update):
[...] Moreover, I discovered yet another bug [...] that is related to the behavior of the "AF Start + Lock" option:
Second bug:
When configuring the AF ON buton as "AF Start + Lock", then pressing this button doesn't just start the autofocus and locks it, but it also locks the command wheels while the auto-focus-lock is on. The camera will still automatically adjust the ISO value (if set to auto-ISO) and the shutter speed and aperture (depending on the mode wheel), but it is not possible to manually adjust shutter speed, aperture, exposure value, or ISO value using the command wheels (or custom wheel) while the focus is locked. To change one of these settings, I have to repress the AF ON button to unlock the focus, make my adjustments, and then press the AF ON button again, which will then cause a refocussing before the focus is locked again.
I consider it a bug that the command wheels and the custom wheel are blocked during AFL. This bug only appears if I use the "AF Start + Lock" option to enable AFL. If I use the "AFL Hold" option to enable AFL, then the command wheels and the custom wheel work just fine.
But unfortunately (and as explained previously) it is not possible to configure the camera in such way that one button serves as "AFL Hold" and the other serves as "AEL Hold". Therefore, I cannot work around this problem if I want to configure one button as AEL (which is, on top of that, broken in manual mode, see issue 5 in my original post).
Interestingly, the blocking of the command wheels and custom wheel even happens in manual focus mode when pressing the button that is configured to "AF Start + Lock". (There will be no green AFL symbol, but the little arrow to open the display brightness menu disappears and the command wheels and the custom wheel are blocked until the button is pressed again.)
I can still reproduce this bug with firmware version 1.21. For firmware version 1.20, it has meanwhile been acknowledged by Samsung Germany that these issues (nonworking AEL in M-mode, blocking of command wheels on "AF Start + Lock") happen with their NX1 test device.
Jan Behrens wrote:
3. Difficulties to reset certain options (no "green button")
3.1 As already mentioned, re-centering the autofocus spot may be difficult. Likewise, it is annoying to reset several other options (see below).
Particularly annoying, because the autofocus spot will be changed for capture mode, when using focus tracking in movie mode (see my third update).
3.2 Resetting the exposure value (EV) requires you to press (and hold) the EV button and to tediously turn the command dial 2 (unless otherwise configured) until the EV is back at 0.0. (With the NX1 it was possible to press and hold the EV button and then press the green button, which doesn't exist on the NX1 anymore.) Not even using the DEL key (while holding the EV key) resets the exposure value at once.
I also didn't find a way (yet) to reset the EV more easily. It would be helpful if the AF ON button could serve this purpose, i.e. if pressing and holding the EV button and then pressing the AF ON button would reset the exposure value (EV). The AF ON button is located right under your thumb, so it would be perfect for that purpose. But that is just a feature request to make the handling easier.
3.3 Likewise, I didn't find a way to reset the "program shift" in program mode. Since the LCD doesn't indicate a program shift (green underlining on the display and in the EVF), it is nearly impossible to reset the program shift using the LCD. Instead, you will have to look at the display or into the EVF and turn the wheel (in the right direction) until the green underlining disappears (where you won't know for sure when that happens). It is even more tedious than resetting the EV.
I also still don't know a way to reset the program shift easily. I'm unsure whether this can be fixed with a firmware update at all, since there is no green button on the NX1. If it was possible to disable the program shift completly (see below), then this problem would be less of an issue to me.
4. Program shift can't be disabled and always occupies at least one command wheel
Since a reset of the program shift is difficult, I tried to disable the program shift completely by customizing the command wheels 1 and 2 in the menu when I discovered that this is not possible. The only available options are:
- command wheel 1 "Program Shift" and command wheel 2 "Program Shift",
- command wheel 1 "Program Shift" and command wheel 2 "EV",
- command wheel 1 "Program Shift" and command wheel 2 "ISO",
- command wheel 1 "EV" and command wheel 2 "Program Shift",
- command wheel 1 "ISO" and command wheel 2 "Program Shift".
The options
- command wheel 1 "EV" and command wheel 2 "ISO", and
- command wheel 1 "ISO" and command wheel 2 "EV"
do not exist.
One dial will always be occupied with the program shift (which I most often don't want to use at all, and which is, as explained above, difficult to reset when accidentally enabled).
Same problem with firmware v1.21.
5. Auto-exposure-lock unavailable in manual mode (with auto-ISO)
A nice feature of the NX1 (compared to the NX10 which I previously used) is that it is possible to switch the camera to manual mode to select a fixed shutter speed and a fixed aperture while letting the camera determine the right ISO value for a preselected exposure value (EV). Unfortunately, it is not possible to use the auto-exposure-lock under these operating conditions. I don't understand why? This limitation just doesn't make any sense to me.
This problem has meanwhile been confirmed by Samsung Germany for firmware version 1.20 in an email response to me. Version 1.21 doesn't seem to fix the problem yet.
6. Manually activating the MF assistant isn't possible (without third-party lenses)
I love the manual-focus assistant which magnifies the image temporarily while you turn the focus wheel. The NX1 allows you (in contrast to the NX10) to choose whether you want a 5x or 8x magnification for the MF assistant. When using third-party (manual focus) lenses, it is also possible to enter the MF assistant by pressing the OK button (regardless of whether you want to focus or use the magnification for other purposes). It would be nice to also use this feature with Samsung lenses. Customizing the buttons of the NX1, I happily found the option "MF Assist", believing that this option would allow me to enter MF Assist mode also with Samsung lenses. Unfortunately, this option turned out to just allow me to setup the magnification during manual focussing and not to enable the MF Assist mode manually (without turning the focus ring, like possible with non-Samsung lenses).
With firmware version 1.21, configuring a button as "MF Assist" still allows you to change the MF Assist settings, but not to enter MF Assist mode manually.
7. Irritating changes of display brightness
The NX1 allows you to automatically adjust the display brightness. Since it doesn't seem to have a brightness sensor (except the image sensor behind the lens), it appears to measure the brightness according to the objects in front of the lens. Pointing the camera to a brighter scene will turn the display (including the on-screen-display) brighter, while turning the camera to a darker scene (or covering the lens) will turn the display darker. This alone wouldn't be so irritating if the change of display brightness didn't happen suddenly and even during movie mode: it may happen that the display instantly turns bright or darker during recording, which kind of looks like something is very wrong with the recording. Sadly, I found this brightness adaption so annoying that I had to turn it off completely.
Still happened with firmware version 1.21: the adaption of display brightness happens suddenly, not continuously.
8. Issues with the touch display
Last but not least, I'd like to mention an issue with the touch display: scrolling through menus and other options feels awkward. When you drag a list of options it sometimes happens that the list will scroll with an incredible fast speed to the end. The only way to avoid this for me was to train yourself to not lose contact with the touch screen until I stop my finger's movement. This, however, makes scrolling through menus tediously slow. And even being as careful as that, it sometimes still happened to me that the menu would just suddenly scroll very fast. I can live with it, but there is certainly potential for improvement.
I meanwhile got better used to the sensitivity of the touch screen. However, it still happens that I try to scroll slowly, but when losing contact with the touch screen, the scrolling accelerates unintendedly. I personally find this a bit annoying, but I can live with it.
Summary
None of the raised issues were fixed in firmware v1.21. I do not blame Samsung for this, because there wasn't much time between my bug reports and the firmware release. However, I hope that at least the issues with the blocked command wheels (see "Second bug" above) and the issue with the non-working auto-exposure-lock in manual mode (see "5. Auto-exposure lock unavailable" above) will be addressed in the next firmware update.
Nonetheless, the Samsung NX1 is a great camera, even with the current firmware. Thumbs up!
