Using NX1000 with legacy lens

Walt_A wrote:

Hi, I currently use a Panasonic GF2 with an adapter and my pentax FA100 macro lens as a quick access macro solution while walking around with my Pentax DSLR which has a 300 F4.5 mounted. The panasonic is nice and light and small enough to fit in the bag with the lens connected and the larger DSLR beside it. I was looking at upgrading to a Panasonic GX1 but the NX1000 seems to be a good option being lighter and as small as the gf2. My issue is that I do not use af lenses at all, that's what my dslr is for, and I use the magnified view on the lcd for exact manual focus, this is good on the gf2 (and on my recent DSLR's), but when I was looking at the NX10 a few years ago the problem was that the manual focus solution was not very good, low magnification, low resolution on screen magnification. Are there any legacy lens users out there that want to comment on how good/bad the NX1000 is at manual focus with legacy lenses? (I'm not that interested in those who use manual af with samsung NX lenses as I expect this works differently i.e. auto magnification etc).

I will try to answer most of this and hopefully others will fill in the gaps.  Firstly, the only difference between MF with legacy lenses and with native NX lenses is that with adapted lenses you have to press the ok button to initiate focus assist whereas with native lenses it kicks in automatically as soon as you start turning the focus ring.  The focus assist options and operation are otherwise identical.

The NX10 only had an option of 2x magnification for manual focus assist.  The NX11 and NX100 added an alternative option of a focus assist bar.  It is like a bar graph that gets higher the closer you get to perfect focus.

Later models introduced higher magnification.  With the NX1000 and NX1100, you have the choice of 5x or 8x magnification or the focus assist bar.  Personally I think they should have also retained 2x magnification.  However I am not the best person to answer this because I prefer not to use magnification.  Despite having poor eyesight, I have no trouble manual focusing my Takumars at normal screen resolution.  Perhaps that comes from years of practice with manual focus Pentax film cameras.

The NX1000 and NX1100 have screen resolutions of 921,000 dots compared to 460,000 for the GF2.  Even the NX10 had a screen resolution of 614,000 pixels and, since it was an amoled pentile RGB array, that was equivalent to 921K dots.   Its evf was again 921K dots but seemed worse because of its poor contrast.  For faster refresh, the NX10 used a lower resolution in shooting mode than in review mode which explains why the screen was less impressive than the specs. indicate.

At any rate, I think you can expect to see a substantial improvement with the NX1000 compared to the GF2.

Can the NX1000 be used in aperture mode and auto/manual ISO with these old lenses (and if so what shutter speed is set if I use the supplied flash?) or does one have to use manual exposure?

You can use either M (manual) or A (aperture priority) modes with adapted lenses and can certainly use auto or manual iso in A mode.  I've never used flash with legacy lenses so I can't answer the rest of the question but even with native lenses the shutter speed with flash is not necessarily the max sync speed of 1/180th.  I don't know what algorithm the camera uses to choose the shutter speed when flash is used other than that it is related to aperture and iso and of course the lighting conditions.

If manual exposure does the screen auto brighten if using the flash, i.e. my GF2 can be set to manual and underexposure with the flash providing the lighting but the screen brightens up so I can see it even though it would be underexposed without the flash. (My dslr doesn't do this in manual mode even with flash on it will not brighten up the live view, and is very very annoying becoming unusable in some situations).

For NX, that is called framing mode.  It wasn't available on the NX10 but all subsequent models have it.   You just need to enable framing mode in the menu.  It is off by default.

Coldamus gave good answers.  Actually, Panasonics are one of the best for auto or manual focus because you can bring that focus box or point down to a specific area.  Only Samsung, of cameras I've tried, also has a pretty small minimum focus box size. Also, once you focus, just tap the shutter lightly and you go back to 1:1 mode for composition.

Other that that, the image quality and per pixel resolution on the Samsungs are excellent.  The NX1000 is one of the bets values in photography today; add a simple $10 Delkin hood for outdoors viewing and you should do well.

Coldamus wrote:

..... The NX11 and NX100 added an alternative option of a focus assist bar. It is like a bar graph that gets higher the closer you get to perfect focus.

Sounds interesting, does it work well or a bit hit and miss. My pentax has focus peaking but to be honest it is a good aid but not as exact as I thought it would be.

Later models introduced higher magnification. With the NX1000 and NX1100, you have the choice of 5x or 8x magnification or the focus assist bar. Personally I think they should have also retained 2x magnification. However I am not the best person to answer this because I prefer not to use magnification. Despite having poor eyesight, I have no trouble manual focusing my Takumars at normal screen resolution. Perhaps that comes from years of practice with manual focus Pentax film cameras.

I spent many years doing manual focus before af arrived and I still struggle so any aids are much appreciated by me...

The NX1000 and NX1100 have screen resolutions of 921,000 dots compared to 460,000 for the GF2. Even the NX10 had a screen resolution of 614,000 pixels and, since it was an amoled pentile RGB array, that was equivalent to 921K dots. Its evf was again 921K dots but seemed worse because of its poor contrast. For faster refresh, the NX10 used a lower resolution in shooting mode than in review mode which explains why the screen was less impressive than the specs. indicate.

At any rate, I think you can expect to see a substantial improvement with the NX1000 compared to the GF2.

Good to hear especially as I find the GF2 works well.

You can use either M (manual) or A (aperture priority) modes with adapted lenses and can certainly use auto or manual iso in A mode. I've never used flash with legacy lenses so I can't answer the rest of the question but even with native lenses the shutter speed with flash is not necessarily the max sync speed of 1/180th. I don't know what algorithm the camera uses to choose the shutter speed when flash is used other than that it is related to aperture and iso and of course the lighting conditions.

Both my GF2 and my K30 pentax muck around with the flash sync speed unlike my Samsung GX10 and Canon 30D which allow me to use program modes with full speed flash sync (if I want). The GF2 drops to 1/60 and K30 depends on focal length entered and even thinks 1/125 is ok for 300mm lenses...., so it wouldn't be unusual for samsung to also drop away from the max sync speed.

For NX, that is called framing mode. It wasn't available on the NX10 but all subsequent models have it. You just need to enable framing mode in the menu. It is off by default.

Ah that sounds perfect.

Thanks a lot for your detailed answer it does look like the NX1000 is a very good fit for my needs so far, obviously full flash sync speed in A mode would be even better, I'll see if anyone adds to this.

konqueror10D wrote:

With NX1000 you can set M mode and ISO Auto, then you set f in the lens and S with the cam, then ISO is set automatic to get a neutral exposure. In this mode I think you can't take + or - EV.

OK, I could see that this could be very helpful, kinda like TAV mode on my pentax except without +/-ev.

Using screen for focus is easy for macro, and 5x amplifiying cause movement if you use 90 mm macro lens. I usually take macro pictures with NX100 and NX1000, and 28 or 50 mm inverted, and 28, 50 or 90 mm with extension tubes. Always using flash.

Yeah, my GF2 image can wave around when magnified so support is needed such as a stick or bracing in some way so that won't be a problem. I also use 28mm and 50mm reversed or with extension tubes but on the GF2 with the tubes I get reflection back onto the sensor which looks like a large spot area which is lighter (doesn't do this on my pentax so maybe I won't get the problem with the NX1000, who knows...)

Also I use Youngnuo CTR-301P triggers and old Pentax FTZ-500 flash, the max speed sync varies between 1/80 (with NX100 and triggers) or 1/125 (flash on hot shoe), I think other NX100 I had could be able to shoot at 1/160 with triggers. The NX1000 I don't remember the max speed sync. I will try and write.

Thanks for this and I see you say the flash syncs at 1/160's for a mounted flash, do you think the supplied small flash would act the same?

Your testing is much appreciated by me, thanks again for your input.

Gesture wrote:

Coldamus gave good answers. Actually, Panasonics are one of the best for auto or manual focus because you can bring that focus box or point down to a specific area. Only Samsung, of cameras I've tried, also has a pretty small minimum focus box size. Also, once you focus, just tap the shutter lightly and you go back to 1:1 mode for composition.

Thanks

Other that that, the image quality and per pixel resolution on the Samsungs are excellent. The NX1000 is one of the bets values in photography today; add a simple $10 Delkin hood for outdoors viewing and you should do well.

It certainly does look good value and is on par with the price of the panasonic GX1. Very enticing....

konqueror10D wrote:

I have tested now a Sigma EF-500 DG Super flash for Pentax and it syncs at 1/160 without problem, and 1/125 mounted on Apputure Trigmaster flash trigger.

Can I read into this that pentax flashes will mount and work with the NX1000? I use a old pentax Af200T with my pentax DSLR's but have never had the courage to try it on my GF2 just in case....

Walt_A wrote:

Coldamus wrote:

..... The NX11 and NX100 added an alternative option of a focus assist bar. It is like a bar graph that gets higher the closer you get to perfect focus.

Sounds interesting, does it work well or a bit hit and miss. My pentax has focus peaking but to be honest it is a good aid but not as exact as I thought it would be.

It is certainly not a complete solution but a worthwhile aid.   When you go past the point of peak focus, the tip of the bar turns red.  The height of the red tip then signifies how far you've gone beyond the peak, so you back up a bit and try to achieve the highest bar possible with the smallest red tip.  It refreshes itself at intervals.  Some people find it confusing but to me it is usefull confirmation that what I think is proper focus really is close.

Walt_A wrote:

konqueror10D wrote:

I have tested now a Sigma EF-500 DG Super flash for Pentax and it syncs at 1/160 without problem, and 1/125 mounted on Apputure Trigmaster flash trigger.

Can I read into this that pentax flashes will mount and work with the NX1000? I use a old pentax Af200T with my pentax DSLR's but have never had the courage to try it on my GF2 just in case....

The hotshoe size is standard so most flashes will fit.  The pin layout is not standard though.  There are a couple of extra pins compared to Pentax but modern Pentax flashes can be used and will fire with both flash and camera in manual mode.  Their ttl functions won't work.

Samsung flash trigger voltage is about 5.5 volts.  From what I've read, the Pentax Af200T has a trigger voltage of 7.8 volts.   The iso standard is that up to 24 volts should be permissible but who knows whether Samsung complied with that?   I'm guessing it would probably be ok but wouldn't suggest you try it unless someone else has done so and confirms it is safe.

Thank you for this clarification and your previous response, this has all been very helpful.