Detailed review of the NX500

Hi all. I wrote a detailed (10,648 words ) review of the NX500 and wanted to share it:


Comments, suggestions, criticisms are welcome!

Best regards,

Mic

It's a very detailed and good review. I like it a lot. It makes me leaning towards the camera.

A couple of questions: How much did you miss an EVF, especially in bright light when the sun shines on the display?

How do you stabilize the camera while shooting without the ability to brace it against your face (if you had an EVF). I'd assume that without an EVF the camera is more prone to shake.

How much was the 4k video crop factor an issue? Any tips to work around? I really think it's quite severe and makes wide angles and normal angles almost useless. I'd love to shoot 4k and not 1080p (why wouldn't I if I have the option for 4k?) but the crop seems like a mayor hindrance to me.

Speaking of 1080p: How is the video quality in terms of details, sharpness, compression artefacts in 30/60fps. I've read that the quality is quite poor because the bitrate is much too low, even for HEVC and it gets mushy and full of artifacts with little movement already or lots of detail in the frame?

P.S.: I don't think that Samsung can technically take back the 4k crop because of lack of processing power and heat issues, despite, I strongly believe it's a marketing decision to protect the NX1.

Edit: There should be a 120fps@720p mode but you didn't mention it. Did you test it?


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Hi Michael. Thanks for the feedback!

Re EVF: On sunny days in Southern California, it was hard to see the LCD without an EVF. Mostly I could just see the silhouette. That's enough for me to frame/compose. After composing, I just watch the subjects with my eyes to get the right expression.

Regarding stability without the EVF, I don't notice any problems with being unstable. I usually take fast enough shutter speeds to freeze my subjects (usually at least 1/125 for my kids even if they're just standing). It also helps that kit lens has OIS. As for the other lenses, most are pretty light so I think maybe that's another factor. But I'll look for some shots at slower shutter speeds and post them here.

Re the 4k, it makes the 4k nearly unusable (unless you only use it at telephoto). I use the 4k not so much as 4k video but as a way to capture fast motion, then to extract stills.

Re 1080p, I haven't inspected it closely (I'm not a video guy). I will capture a frame and post it.

Re 720p/120fps I think that's only for the NX1. The NX500 maxes out at 60fps.

Best regards,

Mic

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Hey, thanks for that, I would never have the energy to do that ... though I have now about 1100 RAWs from the NX500 to go through.

Regards

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Installed the LR6 upgrade yesterday, yay, my E-PL7 and NX500 supported! No I have no excuse not to work through the images ;-)

Cheers

Thanks for that very thorough review!

Does electronic first shutter suffer from rolling shutter effect with moving subjects?

Thanks!

Hi Michael. Thanks for your feedback!

Re rolling shutter, thanks for asking:

In 4k or UHD mode, there is noticeable rolling shutter. In 1080p or 720p the rolling shutter is not noticeable. I'll add this to the review. Thanks again!

Best regards,

Mic

Excellent work, thank you for taking the time.
/D

Awesome review!

Thanks! I appreciate the feedback. Hopefully, word will get around about this excellent camera and bring much-needed recognition to the NX system.

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Hi Michael. I found a couple of samples at slow shutter speeds (without stabilization). Sorry for the delay in posting these samples.




20 2.8 @ f/2.8, 1/30, ISO 100

1:1 cropped:




1:1 crop

Here is another one:




20 2.8 @ f/2.8, 1/30, ISO 160




1:1 crop

In both of these cases, I wasn't braced against anything like a wall or furniture. I think there is a slight loss of sharpness from camera shake in these shots but I don't know if having an EVF would have made a difference for me in these cases. And of course YMMV

Best regards,

Mic

--
www.BetterFamilyPhotos.com
TTL Flash Tutorial and over 400+ other articles for taking better candid and family photos.

Thanks for posting these. It's difficult to compare, one would need the same camera and the same scene and settings and then have pictures taken with the LCD and then with the EVF, unfortunately, there is no EVF to compare and to possibly see if it would have been better by using it.

When you took the pictures, were your arms outstreched in front of you or close to your body, maybe pushed against your sides or in the shape of a makeshift tripod? Did you hold your breath while pushing the shutter (as this may help with shakes)?

Hi Michael. Usually, when shooting at slow shutter speeds without external bracing, my elbows are tucked and kind of braced against my body. I also usually squeeze and hold the shutter for a couple of shots (as opposed to letting go of the shutter immediately).

I guess what I can do to compare is to shoot with the NX500, and the a6000 using EVF, in both cases without stabilization.

Best regards,

Mic

Isn't this a capability of the person shooting and not the equipment?

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Thank you. I just switched over to NX (from M43) and this review/overview is very useful for getting my bearings.

Thanks 3XO! I used to have MFT as well (EM5 and EP5). The things I like in the NX500 over my MFT cameras are: image quality, autofocus for moving subjects and the utilization of the touchscreen. I miss the EM5's IBIS, lens selection (especially telephoto). And of course, nearly everything out there has faster af in low light.

I understand you had the GX7. How does the NX500's AF performance compare to the GX7's?

Best regards,
Mic

Over the past two years I've only had two M43 lenses -- the Panasonic 20/1.7 and the Olympus 12-40/2.8.

I've only had the NX500 for about a week (actually I had to go through two -- first one had a Playback button that wouldn't respond 30% of the time), but I would initially rank the Samsung 16-50PZ as roughly equal to the Olympus 12-40 in AF speed. If I had to choose, I would say the Olympus on the GX7 is a bit faster. CDAF is surprisingly competent on that 4-year-old camera!

The Panasonic 20mm is an absolute dog to focus but I'm surprised that the Samsung 30mm really fares no better, especially in dim light where they both keep hunting. The Samsung 85mm is just a little faster, and the Samsung 60mm is just a little faster still even with the focus limiter engaged.

I would say the gap between the O12-40/S16-50PZ and the S60 is fairly large, even though the latter is the second-fastest-focusing lens I have right now.

I probably still need to optimize my settings on the NX, so I'll be going through your review once more to make sense of the options.