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We clicked with:
Elegant, well made body
Very intuitive controls
Excellent value for money
Shots in the dark:
Heavy-handed noise reduction
Autofocus not good up close
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Ever play 'battleships'? Have you ever found somewhere on a map using grid references? If so, you can pretty much dispense with the manual for the 12.1 megapixel Samsung NV20… it's already hard-wired into your head. You see, flanking the 2.5” LCD at the rear of the camera are six 'row' buttons and seven 'column' buttons; between them, they handle every aspect of image manipulation possible on the camera. All that's left is the shooting mode button, the zoom thumb pad, the shutter and the power button.
Aside from this deeply intuitive layout, what sets the Samsung NV20 apart from its peers is that it's not that modal. Many compacts demand that you switch from shooting mode to review mode, using the shooting mode dial. Instead, the Samsung uses a button to the bottom right corner of the screen for previewing. So you can jump back and forth between picture taking and previewing at a moment's notice. This is extremely useful, but there is also a preview 'gallery' mode on the shooting dial if you find that too hard a sacrifice.
The Samsung NV20 is also feature rich for a style-led compact design. It has the usual raft of scene modes - 16 in total, including different settings for document copying and the photographing of business cards… perhaps sometimes these things can get too specific. However, in addition it has full auto, program, anti-shake priority, even manual (of sorts; you only get the option of two aperture settings at any given point on the 34-102mm equivalent f/2.8-f/5.2 Schneider zoom). It also has three metering modes and allows the user to dial in up to two stops under or over the meter reading.
There are also a range of effects that can be added at the time of picture taking, including an 'interesting' series of frames within a frame, like this one. In auto modes, the fill-flash pops up quickly and cleanly, but a minor niggle is that you have to manually, physically close the flash down. I'm sure there will be Samsung NV20 cameras in bags and pockets with a half open flash.
The company has gone for the elegant approach with the NV range. The brushed metal black case with a piano gloss plastic top plate is extremely tasteful and the small fingergrip on the front of the body seems ergonomically ideal. Even the strap holder - which seemed like a welded on afterthought in previous Samsungs - fits in nicely here. The zoom thumb pad is perhaps a bit dinky for those at the stubbier end of the hand-size scale, but it's difficult to fault otherwise.
The Samsung NV20 takes SD cards and these load from the underside of the body, sitting next to the slim 800mAh lithium ion battery, that's good for around 200 shots. Unlike many cameras, this charges in the camera body itself and Samsung supplies a combination charging/USB connecting cable, that comes with a mains plug adaptor. The socket for this is on the bottom of the camera and permanently exposed to the elements, but unless you are in the habit of playing rugby with the camera, this should pose no problems, and the connection - twixt camera and printer or computer - is quick and intuitively driven from the camera itself.
The lens is not close focussing in standard mode - the book claims 0.8m as minimum focus, but we'd almost double that in telephoto mode. The camera chimes at you and puts a warning red ring round its focus point, but still allows you to take the shot, so expect some blurry photos until you start to learn how to use the Samsung NV20. Perhaps surprisingly, face recognition fares better than regular multi or centre-weighted AF in close combat. Regardless of AF system used though, using the camera at close distances can be somewhat unpredictable.
Colours on the Samsung NV20 are - in the main - muted, but in most cases hanging back from blowing out the highlights. This makes for a very natural look to images, removed from the shiny hyper-reality of some compacts, which is a thoroughly good thing. The ISO range (between ISO80 and ISO1600 at full resolution, plus ISO3200 at 3MP only) shows the limitations of trying to squeeze so many megapixels onto the small 1/1.72” CCD sensor; there are signs of noise reduction at ISO200, fine detail is lost by ISO400 and ISO800 and beyond gets into watercolour painting territory.
The noise reduction is clever though, because the overall effect is more 'where are my glasses' than 'someone just spray-painted my photo'… even at ISO3200. The lens is extremely sharp, but there is mild chromatic distortion and softening in the corners of the image (most of this is undetectable beyond ISO200 anyway).
Where the Samsung NV20 scores highest is in the value stakes. Priced around the £150 mark with a sturdy body and a lithium ion battery makes it extremely competitive. Add in the extremely easy to drive interface and a good set of in-camera tools and it reads like a bargain. And, as long as you stay below ISO200, that's exactly what it is!
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Sensor
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12.3 megapixel CCD chip
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LCD monitor
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2.5" LCD (230,000 pixels)
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Picture Modes
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Auto, Program, Manual, ASR, Effect, Scene (Night, Portrait, Children, Landscape, Biz - business card mode, Closeup, Text, Sunset, Dawn, Backlight, Firework, Beach & Snow, SelfShot, Food, Café
AVI movie
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Stabilisation
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Yes
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Sensitivity
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ISO80-1600 (3200 in 3MP mode)
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White balance
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Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent (x2), Custom
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Storage
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SD
20MB internal memory
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Battery
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800mAh Lithium Ion rechargeable (CIPA rated 200 shots) |
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Other / Key features
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Multi, Spot, Center-weighted, Face Recognition AF and AE
B&W, Sepia, Red, Green, Blue, Negative, Custom, Composite, Photo Frame, GIF Animation effects
Voice recording
Auto contrast balance
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