Samsung to discontinue its camera sector and focus on appliances and smartphones

Heh, you and I are in the same place. Whether or not it makes sense depends mostly on what you expect from the system. The NX cameras tend to offer excellent performance/price. Service in Qatar is sketchy, as long as you're under warranty they will fix/replace things if there is a problem, but KEEP YOUR RECEIPT. They require it here despite that the warranty technically shouldn't need it. They have also lied to me about my lenses (see my teardown and reconstruction of the 50-200, no messing with the optical column was needed). Out of warranty they'll just tell you it's cheaper to buy a new one than to fix it and will refuse to fix it even if you're willing to pay double the cost of a new lens. Canon here is better for service at Salam plaza, but Canon gives you much less product for the money and can have their own issues. I tried for several months to have them order me a different focusing screen for my 5D, but two or three times they were sent the wrong part (screen for 5DII). I gave up and got two of them easily off of eBay in their original packaging when I was in the US for the holidays. Nikon service here will be similar to Canon, they're also run by Salam Plaza. Fuji and Samsung here are owned by Techno Blue and Sony by 51 East. These are all exclusive contracts, so all the products of each of these comes to Qatar only through that company. No matter where you see them for sale here they are coming through these companies. If you buy a Canon lens at Carrefour, Salam Plaza gets a cut and for service you need to go to Salam Plaza's location in The Gate mall. The Techno Blue service center is located east of the souq in a very crowded area. All of that said, Samsung makes great cameras for excellent prices. If what is available here is enough for you, then the only thing to worry about is the service. They carry very few Samsung lenses here, almost all of mine are from the US (and needed to be ordered even there) and the ones they do have here are overpriced. Instead of the NX300, the NX500 doesn't cost a ton more. Virgin in Landmark had a deal not two long ago with the NX500, 16-50 PZ and 16 mm prime, I'm not sure if that's still going on though. In general for any camera here, be careful of the sand and of the heat and humidity in the summer, and of sea spray if you're near the water.