Samsung EX2F does street

After having regrets on selling my EX2F, I recently picked up another. Despite its dodgy mode dial that can change modes by touching the top of it - I'm very pleased to have this gem back.

Very sharp from wide open, it's got a great lens. This is at 24mm F1.4

Weather conditions were perhaps a bit bright and contrasty for a small sensor camera. The NX500 with 16mm pancake I had in my pocket would've given me more subtle tonality and not burnt out so many highlights but with the EX2F sensor I get a broader DOF for zone focussing and frankly it's hard to miss focus. It gives you that bit extra time to choose the right moment when on the move. With a bigger sensor the chances of that moment falling within your zone are slimmer unless you stop right down. Do that and that wonderful dynamic range is rapidly diminishing and you're blowing highlights as you would the smaller camera.

So it's taken me quite a few years to truly appreciate the smaller sensors for what they bring. Chasing ever better resolution and dynamic range might impress the pixel peeker in you but it does little to aid your photography in certain genres. For street I can wholly recommend small sensor cameras as a starting point, maybe even as an end point! Besides being cheaper and smaller they stop you being geeky and focussed on technical issues and give you the freedom to hone your craft instead.

Now the RX1R can stop in the cupboard. 

Got me a Sony RX100 IV on the way but it's not replacing my EX2F, rather my Nikon 1 J5. The only thing that will replace my EX2F is another EX2F so I don't have to suffer my current copy's dodgy mode dial. Currently I'm using a wired remote I got for my NX500 so there is less chance of me accidentally knocking the mode dial - it's a little more discrete too which is a bonus.

1.  Love the images - what else can I say!

2.  I absolutely love the EX-2F - what a remarkable little camera.  I enjoy the way it renders colors, the way it looks and feels, and a shame Samsung ended their foray into superb enthusiast cameras with this model.

3.  As to the occasional blown out hi-lights scenarios, I have a good suggestions that often works.  We all know (well, those of us with EX2F cameras) that at times, this baby can overexpose images in some scenarios - often leaving us surprised and scratchin' our heads.  What I do in about half the situations is to dial in anywhere from -.3 to -.7 exposure compensation with the multi-segment metering option.  However, even then there will be times whereby some hi-lights may be blown out (those smaller sensors can only do so much DR-wise).  That's when I use the center-weight average metering option.  I find in numerous cases this works.  Of course, I shoot in RAW format mode, so I have the ability to play with the RAW file to bring up the shadows more and tone down any hi-lights that look too hot.

Ben Herrmann wrote:

1. Love the images - what else can I say!

Thanks Ben.

2. I absolutely love the EX-2F - what a remarkable little camera. I enjoy the way it renders colors, the way it looks and feels, and a shame Samsung ended their foray into superb enthusiast cameras with this model.

Me too. At the time I got my first copy I also got an NX mini. I sold the NX mini because the lenses were very prone to flare. I've since bought that back too but it's strictly my fishing camera only. The EX2F was also better than an LX7 I tried and it even looks good compared to my Nikon 1 J5.

3. As to the occasional blown out hi-lights scenarios, I have a good suggestions that often works. We all know (well, those of us with EX2F cameras) that at times, this baby can overexpose images in some scenarios - often leaving us surprised and scratchin' our heads. What I do in about half the situations is to dial in anywhere from -.3 to -.7 exposure compensation with the multi-segment metering option. However, even then there will be times whereby some hi-lights may be blown out (those smaller sensors can only do so much DR-wise). That's when I use the center-weight average metering option. I find in numerous cases this works. Of course, I shoot in RAW format mode, so I have the ability to play with the RAW file to bring up the shadows more and tone down any hi-lights that look too hot.

Well it's an idea worth exploring Ben - thanks. My street haunts are well trodden paths and I've come to know what exposure comp is needed where. Sometimes it's a case of accepting some blown highlights for the sake of getting the skintones exposed in the right ballpark. With my NX500 I can confidently under-expose and push the files quite hard if I want to preserve those highlights. With the RX1R I can even ETTR because highlight recovery is the best I've experienced.

With smaller sensors it's usually a case of deciding what you'd rather sacrifice. I shoot blindly from the chest so can't do much to mitigate flare and so on. I usually use centre weighted average on all my cameras.

That said, with the EX2F I'm still adjusting to its limitations and have not really tried pushing shadows much in post. Maybe I can dial the exposure back a touch. I think maybe getting well acquainted with your camera's sensor is key to getting good shots consistently. I need to test that ISO out and know when that dynamic range tails off and bear that in mind when dialling in exp comp. Maybe limit ISO to 800 max and either use that F1.4 aperture more or reduce the shutter speed a touch (usually 1/500s on the move).

Cheers Ben. Food for thought.

These photos are nothing exceptional - except they were taken indoors where it was darker, and the outside shining through the windows would have caused a burnout in those areas. Taken at the Fairfield Inn dining room in Elkin, North Carolina, I elected to use the center-weight averaging metering in this case.  The RAW file was just right - and I knew I'd have to bring up the shadows a bit - but the hi-lights were preserved after bringing those sliders down, making the scenes look fairly natural.  Had I shot this in multi-segment metering, I would have been able to recover the hi-lights.

A superb little camera. I love the look, feel, and handling. One of a kind.