The past week has been replete with major camera announcements. However, Samsung, a relative newcomer in professional camera manufacturing, just announced the NX1, a mirrorless camera that delivers many of the specs that we were hoping for from today's announcement of the Canon 7D MKII. Not only does the NX1 offer 4K recording at 24fps, UHD at 30fps, and 1080p at 60fps, but in the higher resolutions, it encodes using the new, highly-efficient h.265 codec, a first for a camera of this type.
Here is some footage shot with the camera:
And here's a more in-depth video look at some of the features and specs of the NX1:
The specs:
- 28.2MP BSI APS-C CMOS sensor
- 4096 x 2160: 24 fps
- 3840 x 2160: 30 fps
- 1920 x 1080: 60 fps, 30 fps, 24 fps, 50 fps, 25 fps
- 1280 x 720: 60 fps, 30 fps, 24 fps, 50 fps, 25 fps
- 640 x 480: 60 fps, 30 fps, 24 fps, 50 fps, 25 fps
- Clean HDMI 4:2:2 (8-bit)
- H.265 Codec applied to 4K and UHD video files
- Tiltable 3.0″ HD 1036k-dot touchscreen
- 205 phase-detection AF points
- 15 fps burst mode
- 1/8000 Max Shutter Speed
- ISO range from 100 to 51,200
- Camera can utilize UHS-I or UHS-II-SD-type memory cards
- 1/8" Headphone, 1/8" Microphone, HDMI D (Micro), USB 3.0
- 802.11b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi capability coupled with Bluetooth 3.0 technology
- Samsung NX Lens Mount
- Price: $1,500 Body Only, $2,800 with 16-50mm f/2-2.8 S ED OIS Lens
This camera is a really exciting proposition for DSLR filmmakers, largely because of the internal 4K and h.265 encoding, which not only promises smaller file sizes for the larger resolution formats, but also a noticeable jump in image quality from its codec predecessor, the ubiquitous h.264. Of course, adapting lenses might be an issue for early adopters of the NX1 due to the fact that the NX mount is relatively new mount, and third party adapter manufacturers might not have released NX adapters yet. Still, it wouldn't surprise me to see a few different adapter options on the market within a few months.
The Samsung NX1 is currently available for preorder from B&H.
The company also announced a new 50-150mm f/2.8 NX mount lens, which is going to retail for $1,600:
