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

After some consideration time, I finally decided to buy an NX1 camera. First of all, I have to say that I'm overall happy with the general handling as well as the picture quality of the camera. One reason for choosing the NX1 instead of waiting for the NX500 is because I like to take pictures in manual mode and I would miss all the dials and buttons with the latter model. However, "manual operation" is one of the issues where the current NX1 firmware V1.20 has (unfortunately) several flaws, which I'm going to point out in this review. I do believe these flaws are easy to fix, and I would hope for Samsung to notice these flaws and provide fixes in their upcoming firmware releases.

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.

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.

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).

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).

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.

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.

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).

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.

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).

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.

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.

Conclusion

The NX1 is a great camera, but with a few changes in the firmare it would be perfect for my needs. Particularly the manual focus in movie mode needs to be accessible more easily.

Jan Behrens wrote:

After some consideration time, I finally decided to buy an NX1 camera. First of all, I have to say that I'm overall happy with the general handling as well as the picture quality of the camera. One reason for choosing the NX1 instead of waiting for the NX500 is because I like to take pictures in manual mode and I would miss all the dials and buttons with the latter model. However, "manual operation" is one of the issues where the current NX1 firmware V1.20 has (unfortunately) several flaws, which I'm going to point out in this review. I do believe these flaws are easy to fix, and I would hope for Samsung to notice these flaws and provide fixes in their upcoming firmware releases.

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.

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.

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).

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).

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.

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.

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).

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.

Are you sure?  I don't have an NX1, hopefully someone else weighs in.

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).

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.

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 thought this was intentional.  With finesse it allows very fast navigation, it stops when you retouch the screen right?  Or no?

Conclusion

The NX1 is a great camera, but with a few changes in the firmare it would be perfect for my needs. Particularly the manual focus in movie mode needs to be accessible more easily.

Interesting. You may want to add your competent suggestions here:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/55198011

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).

Press OK to get into mode where you can move it, and press delete key.  This will recenter it.

ttbek wrote:

Jan Behrens wrote:

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.

Are you sure? I don't have an NX1, hopefully someone else weighs in.

Menu > Settings > Device Information says:

Body firmware 1.20
Lens firmware 1.22 (I got the 30mm prime)

In the keymapping, I set the following options:

AEL: AEL Hold
AF ON / AEL: AF ON = AF ON, AEL = AEL (i.e. no swapping of buttons)

If the mode wheel is turned to "P", then the AEL button works (it will show AEL in green on the screen). The AEL button also works in "A" and "S" mode, but not in "M" mode. In "M" mode it just doesn't show any reaction. The ISO is set to auto, i.e. it shows "ISO A + some number" on the screen.

Maybe someone else can confirm this?

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 thought this was intentional. With finesse it allows very fast navigation, it stops when you retouch the screen right? Or no?

Generally it should be a feature, but it seems to be oddly implemented. The fast scrolling happens also unintendedly sometimes and goes very fast (such that I can't even touch the screen fast enough to stop it).

I noticed this issue both with a sample and with the device I bought. Maybe I just operate it in a wrong way? Does anyone else have the same problems?

Regards
Jan

viking79 wrote:

1. 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).

Press OK to get into mode where you can move it, and press delete key. This will recenter it.

It was already mentioned in my review:

Jan Behrens wrote:

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).

It is actually 3 buttons to recenter it (if you count the third button for leaving the mode where you can move it to be able to make other adjustments with the command wheels). That alone wouldn't be an issue, but with the inability to focus to a single spot once (without changing the focus spot for all subsequent photos), I find this a bit annoying.

tecnoworld wrote:

Interesting. You may want to add your competent suggestions here:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/55198011

Done, here.

Are you kidding? This is a typical example of why marketing departments (and interns) exist.

Jan did an amazing job defining what needs to get done, let Samsung deal with his improvement suggestions and sort through the rest. Posts such as Jan's should be any camera manufacturer's dream.

Henri F wrote:

Are you kidding? This is a typical example of why marketing departments (and interns) exist.

Jan did an amazing job defining what needs to get done, let Samsung deal with his improvement suggestions and sort through the rest. Posts such as Jan's should be any camera manufacturer's dream.

Thank you

Just for the record, I do believe Raw Jaw was not referring to my post but to this other thread.

Raw Jaw wrote:

Jan Behrens wrote:

tecnoworld wrote:

Interesting. You may want to add your competent suggestions here:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/55198011

Done, here.

Hi Jan,

I can't see someone in Samsung (or any place else) taking the time to sort through the valuable feedback on that thread.

Perhaps... a forum member.... of Proven Competence (such as yourself) could compile all that good feedback into a new thread as a single post.

Then we can all link to it as we communicate to Samsung.

Just an idea. (I hope I'm not stepping into Moderator Territory with this).

@RawJaw: I just wanted to share my personal experiences with the current firmware. I (currently) do not have the time to go through that other thread and compile it into a good feedback. Importance is also always a matter of perspective and there are always things you can improve about a camera: better image quality, more customizability, yet another option here and there. I didn't want to compile an exhaustive list of potential improvements, but I just wanted to point out a few issues that I myself found bugging when starting to use the NX1 camera and which I believe are (mostly) easy to fix for Samsung.

I did write a support ticket to the (German) Samsung support to point out these issues and referred them to my review.

This is a follow-up to my review on the NX1 firmware (v1.20).

In my original post, I pointed out some issues with the AEL button (issue 5) and the inability to configure the AF ON button to allow for a "focus-once" functionality (issue 2), see below:

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 meanwhile figured out another bug in the NX1 firmware which is related to the behavior of the AEL and AF ON buttons. To provide some background information to those who do not own an NX1, I would like to give a short overview on how those two buttons may be configured:

Only one of those two buttons may be assigned one of the following functions:

• AEL
• AEL Hold
• AFL
• AFL Hold
• AEL + AFL

The other button then must be configured in one of the following ways:

• AF Start
• AF Start + Lock
• Metering & AF Start
• Metering & AF Start + Lock

While it is possible to switch the available options for the AF ON and the AEL button, it is (according to my knowledge) currently not possible to configure the buttons in such way that you may select options from the same list for both buttons. For example, if one button is configured as "AEL Hold", then the other button cannot be configured as "AFL Hold". It may, however, be configured as "AF Start + Lock" which behaves slightly different:

• AFL Hold does not start focussing but only prevents automatic focussing on (half or full) shutter press.
• AF Start + Lock performs auto-focus once, and then locks the focus in the same way "AFL Hold" does (a green "AFL" sign will appear in the screen).

I tried to configure the AEL button as "AEL Hold" and the AF ON button as "AF Start + Lock", so I would be able to point the camera to an object I want to focus on and press the AF ON button to focus (and prohibit the shutter button from refocussing later) while at the same time I'd still be able to have auto-exposure-lock available on the other button (AEL).

First bug:

As already explained in my previous post, the auto-exposure-lock doesn't work in manual mode:

Jan Behrens wrote:

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.

I do consider this to be a bug. Moreover, I discovered yet another bug today 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.)

Summary:

The customizability of the AF ON button and the AEL button is unnecessarily restricted. Moreover, both the auto-focus-lock (when combined with AF Start) and the auto-exposure-lock (in manual mode) are buggy in the current firmware v1.20.

If Samsung doesn't address these issues, the AFL and AEL functions cannot be used properly.

Jan Behrens wrote:

ttbek wrote:

Jan Behrens wrote:

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.

Are you sure? I don't have an NX1, hopefully someone else weighs in.

Menu > Settings > Device Information says:

Body firmware 1.20
Lens firmware 1.22 (I got the 30mm prime)

In the keymapping, I set the following options:

AEL: AEL Hold
AF ON / AEL: AF ON = AF ON, AEL = AEL (i.e. no swapping of buttons)

If the mode wheel is turned to "P", then the AEL button works (it will show AEL in green on the screen). The AEL button also works in "A" and "S" mode, but not in "M" mode. In "M" mode it just doesn't show any reaction. The ISO is set to auto, i.e. it shows "ISO A + some number" on the screen.

Maybe someone else can confirm this?

I confirm, that's really annoying, especially for video to avoid exposure shifts.

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.

This is the third update on my NX1's firmware review (v1.20).

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:

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.

Further testing of the video mode and video standby mode revealed the following behavior:

As previously explained, the manual focus setting in shooting mode is ignored in movie mode: you always have to switch to movie (standby) mode first, and then turn manual focus on, if you want to focus manually. However, the setting for the touch autofocus is shared between these two modes, e.g. setting the Touch AF to "Touch AF" in capture mode will also cause movie mode (and movie standby mode) to have "Touch AF" enabled. Since not all touch autofocus settings are available in movie mode, the following mapping seems to be used:

• "Off" in shooting mode > "Off" in movie mode
• "Touch AF" in shooting mode > "Touch AF" in movie mode
• "AF Point" in shooting mode > "Touch AF" in movie mode
• "Tracking AF" in shooting mode > "Tracking AF" in movie mode
• "One touch shot" in shooting mode > "Touch AF" in movie mode

The reverse mapping looks as follows:

• "Off" in movie mode > "Off" in capture mode
• "Touch AF" in movie mode > "Touch AF" in capture mode
• "Tracking AF" in movie mode > "Tracking AF" in capture mode

The setting in capture mode won't be changed by simply entering and leaving movie mode (or movie standby mode), e.g. if the setting is "AF Point" in capture mode and you switch to movie standby mode and back to capture mode, then the setting in capture mode will still be set to "AF Point" and not to "Touch AF". But if you explicitly (re)select "Touch AF" in movie mode (or movie standby mode), then the setting will be set to "Touch AF" also in capture mode.

I personally like this behavior, and I would appreciate if the AF/MF setting was mapped in a similar fashion between capture and movie mode (which is NOT the case, as alright explained in my original post quoted above).

But I made a further observation when experimenting with the different touch settings:

Turning on "Tracking AF" and touching a the touch screen in movie mode (or movie standby mode) will not only initiate focus tracking but also change the position of the focus point for capture mode (to the point that you touched, not to where the focus followed). This happens only with "Tracking AF" being enabled. If you select "Touch AF", then setting an autofocus point in movie mode won't affect capture mode.

I consider it a bug that using the tracking autofocus in movie mode will mess with the focus point in capture mode, since setting the autofocus point in movie mode doesn't affect the capture mode in all other cases either, i.e. "Touch AF" with SAF or CAF doesn't show this behavior.

I would appreciate if someone else could confirm this behavior.

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!

Jumpingjack, in his own thread, put in evidence a phone number of samsunk uk, where there is a nx1 expert. You should try and contact them to see if they got your bug/issue report.

I think it's a very competent list if updates/fixes that you are suggesting.

I think I just found one or two more bugs in the new NX1 firmware, version 1.21. Though I'm not really sure if these are bugs.

Overexposure guide in view/playback mode slightly crushes image

When enabling the "Overexposure Guide" in play mode and using the DISP button to select histogram view, the image gets slightly squished when the overexposure area is blinking (i.e. in that very moment when the overexposure area is highlighted, the image gets compressed slightly, and it gets uncompressed again while the highlighted area is hidden during blinking). Maybe there is a technical reason for this? It only happens when the histogram is shown, not when the image is displayed on the screen in full size.

Gamma Control settings cause Picture Wizard settings to be ignored

Setting "Gamma Control" to "Gamma C" or "Gamma DR" seems to cause all "Picture Wizard" settings to be ignored:

• Picture Wizard preset (Off, Standard, Classic, Vivid, etc.)
• Color
• Saturation
• Sharpness
• Contrast
• Hue

Since it is often desirable to disable the sharpness filter to allow for proper post-processing, it looks like the "Gamma C" and "Gamma DR" settings are unusable in this case.

Maybe "Gamma C" and "Gamma DR" are just shortcuts to increase or decrease the contrast? If yes, then it's not really a bug (because you can use the Picture Wizard instead of Gamma Control), but it's still confusing.