Kudos Samsung but...

I just got off the phone with Samsung about my NX30 not powering on. It is not the first time I had this issue and luckily I started a support when the issue first happened. Oddly after a few days of not powering on it simply came back to life so I never sent it in. Fast forward to now and my camera has the same issue again and my warranty has expired.

Samsung said they will honor the warranty even though it expired in February. I caught a break there but now I am re-evaluating my camera choices.

I have had many different systems over the years and I have had issues with my nx210, nx300 and nx30. Overall I am pleased with the image quality but the reliability issues I've encountered over the years make me long for a more stable camera system.

I was planning to go the nx1 route but now I am having second thoughts. Once I get the camera back from Samsung I am going to start selling off the Samsung gear I have. It has nothing to do with the rumors of Samsung's demise but the robustness of their system which in my experience has sometimes been very frustrating.

I was looking at my alternatives and think a FF Nikon is in my future.

The d750 is a great performer, but after using it a couple of hours I missed the evf. Anyway nikon ff is a great system, probably the best today, if you don't do video.

Bryan M wrote:

I just got off the phone with Samsung about my NX30 not powering on. It is not the first time I had this issue and luckily I started a support when the issue first happened. Oddly after a few days of not powering on it simply came back to life so I never sent it in. Fast forward to now and my camera has the same issue again and my warranty has expired.

Samsung said they will honor the warranty even though it expired in February. I caught a break there but now I am re-evaluating my camera choices.

I have had many different systems over the years and I have had issues with my nx210, nx300 and nx30. Overall I am pleased with the image quality but the reliability issues I've encountered over the years make me long for a more stable camera system.

I was planning to go the nx1 route but now I am having second thoughts. Once I get the camera back from Samsung I am going to start selling off the Samsung gear I have. It has nothing to do with the rumors of Samsung's demise but the robustness of their system which in my experience has sometimes been very frustrating.

I was looking at my alternatives and think a FF Nikon is in my future.

Every Nikon camera I have ever owed has had problems.

I had a D300 that would'nt auto focus properly.

A D40 that kept switching off

A D3200 that kept overexposing for no apparent reason

A Nikon V1 that wouldn't switch on and had to go back to Nikon for a repair

A Nikon FT1 adapter that wouldn't work with Nikon lenses after a firmware upgrade.

As for the lenses, a Nikon 70-300 VR that the VR switch failed.

A sigma 18-55 f2.8 lens that just collapsed inside.

A sigma 50-500 that no longer retracts back to the 50m end as it sticks.

No I don't believe I am heavy handed or mistreat my kit, I just think manufacturing isn't great with any of the companies out there.

Out of my Samsung kit I have a NX200 that has had no issue, a NX1 that is going strong

The lenses are all great apart from the 16-50 PZ which ended up with some sand stopping the lens from retracting/extending which was easy to sort out.

The only issue I have with an Samsung kit was the Samsung flash which I bought second hand off of ebay, it lasted about 2 weeks before the connecter to the camera snapped and the pins went everywhere...  I suspect the seller of this knew it was on it's way out

Al I wanted to say is don't give up on Samsung kit if you are happy with the quality of the photo's you get, the grass is not always greener on the other side.

Just my thoughts

Whats the problem? Samsung honors the warranty, so you get it repairs.

Do you think if you buy Canikon you don't run into buying crap?

Well I bought a new Canon 100-400 L IS but only used it very randomly and seldom.

After some years borrowing it to my friend the IS suddenly went crazy. Answer Canon:

We know this issue with the 100-400 as often IS gets broken.

And no, they did not honor any warranty, they went deep in our pocket sand I had to pay several hundred Euros to get it repairs.

Oh, and the story was not over, as after repair the lens was multi crap. Had to send it back 3 times!!! till finally a lens came back that works but optical quality never as it was before repair.

So go buy a Canikon if you think they don't sell the same crap as every of the big manufactures. All at the same level.

Ralph McIntosh wrote:

Whats the problem? Samsung honors the warranty, so you get it repairs.

Do you think if you buy Canikon you don't run into buying crap?

Well I bought a new Canon 100-400 L IS but only used it very randomly and seldom.

After some years borrowing it to my friend the IS suddenly went crazy. Answer Canon:

We know this issue with the 100-400 as often IS gets broken.

And no, they did not honor any warranty, they went deep in our pocket sand I had to pay several hundred Euros to get it repairs.

Oh, and the story was not over, as after repair the lens was multi crap. Had to send it back 3 times!!! till finally a lens came back that works but optical quality never as it was before repair.

So go buy a Canikon if you think they don't sell the same crap as every of the big manufactures. All at the same level.

The problems have all been centered on reliability. I have owned Nikon, Sony, Canon and Samsung cameras. I certainly know there is no perfect camera or lens but I have decided the issues with my Samsung equipment are reason enough for the change.

In my experience my Samsung cameras while capable of producing great results doesn't trump reliability. I had a d300 for many years and I never experienced a software glitch or power issues. I have had numerous lockups that only a battery pull would resolve to the mode dial not behaving properly. The worst case is scenario is the camera not powering on. This once happened the day of a wedding I was covering and had to use the nx300 a my backup.

I'm ready for a change, I've been wanting to try FF for a while now and the prices are more affordable than ever. I think I've given Samsung a good run these last few years but now it's time to try something different.

Reliability is such a pita for any manufacturer, it just boils down to luck. I've had zero reliably issues with D300 and 18-200mm, 50/1.4, 24-70 and (shortly owned) 70-200/2.8, but my coworker had a ridiculous ride that included bonkers D90, then two tamron "pro" lenses, then D600, got feed up with it, sold it and bought D800 that would focus. Maybe. Sometimes. Eventually it got fixed, but he's shooting canon now. Someone else probably went the other way around.

The catch is, if you're worrying about equipment you're not having fun shooting, and that's just wrong.

I suggest you sell off the stuff it makes sense to sell but keep nx300 (it's quite cheap anyway) and 45 or swap it for 30 to have something pocketable and carry anywhere.

Best of luck either way.

Bryan M wrote:

The problems have all been centered on reliability. I have owned Nikon, Sony, Canon and Samsung cameras. I certainly know there is no perfect camera or lens but I have decided the issues with my Samsung equipment are reason enough for the change.

In my experience my Samsung cameras while capable of producing great results doesn't trump reliability. I had a d300 for many years and I never experienced a software glitch or power issues. I have had numerous lockups that only a battery pull would resolve to the mode dial not behaving properly. The worst case is scenario is the camera not powering on. This once happened the day of a wedding I was covering and had to use the nx300 a my backup.

I'm ready for a change, I've been wanting to try FF for a while now and the prices are more affordable than ever. I think I've given Samsung a good run these last few years but now it's time to try something different.

I had some issues and strange behaviour on NX30 too. Not that big, but unpleasant. Now I own NX500 and happy with it. You should try NX500/NX1 - different cameras and different generation.

As for other brands... Well, any has it's flaws and you can find it in corresponding forums here.

I haven't had any issues with my NX1, even after dropping it hard enough to dent the drive dial and have to send it in for replacement.  I've been extremely fortunate with all of the cameras I've ever purchased, knock on wood.

Over the past few years I've owned the following Samsung cameras:

NX2000, NX3000, NX20, NX30, Galaxy NX, NX1, and NX500

And every lens Samsung has except for the 18-200.

Number of issues with the cameras: 0

Number of issues with the lenses: 0

And I use them a lot. I am a long time (nearly 30 years) Nikon user (DX and FX) and am slowly moving away from them. I wouldn't be doing so if the Samsung gear was unreliable.

It sounds like you've had some bad luck but I don't think it's reflective of the brand.

Look at the list of defective products Nikon has had lately:

D800

D600

D750

300 f/4 VR

Maybe you have 1 or all of those products and maybe you haven't had any issues, but thousands of people did. Sometimes it's just the luck of the draw.

"Sometimes I like to throw a grenade and run away."