Hai. So I mentioned earlier of something coming, it arrived an hour ago and a lot sooner then I expected since it's coming from Netherlands and I bought it on Saturday.
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I have been itching to try the Samsung NX system for MANY MANY years since it came out but I could never really get into it because of the price and lack of IBIS. So I ignored the system and waited until it dropped in price because the system was abandoned in 2014. In the last 2 years I have noticed at CEX (local UK electronics and gaming used store) that the Samsung NX lenses go for almost dirt cheap price for what they can offer in terms of IQ and performance, here's a the list of the lenses that I am interested (though mostly on the prime lenses):
*Samsung NX 12-24mm f 4-5.6 ED: 200 £
*Samsung NX 18-200mm f 3.5-5.6 ED OIS: 215 £
*Samsung NX 50-200mm f 4-5.6 ED OIS III: 85 £
*Samsung NX S 16-50mm f 2-2.8 ED: 500 £
*Samsung NX S 50-150mm f 2.8 ED OIS: 250 £
*Samsung NX 10mm f 3.5 Fisheye Pancake: 35 £
*Samsung NX 16mm f 2.4 Pancake: 65 £
*Samsung NX 20mm f 2.8 Pancake: 75 £
*Samsung NX 30mm f 2 Pancake: 120 £
*Samsung NX 45mm f 1.8: 150 £
*Samsung NX 60mm f 2.8 ED OIS SSA Macro: 200 £
*Samsung NX 85mm f 1.4 ED SSA: 235 £
One can have all the pancake lenses for just 300 £. Most of the zooms are extremely cheap, except for the pro-oriented 16-50mm f 2-2.8, and most of them are not even that big or heavy either. Some of them come in matching white colour with my Samsung NX500 too, the 50-200mm & 10mm & 16mm & 30mm & 45mm, and the 20mm comes in black or silver only.
NOW, the reason why the system popped into my head was that I was looking to get a pocket-friendly camera with a flippy screen for selfies because I want more pictures with me and my dog this year and I was close to getting the Panasonic GF9/850/880 and seeing the prices for it on evilBay and the Samsung NX was being advertised between the search results. I looked if there are any NX xxx series that does have a flippy screen and I found 3: Samsung NX 3000, NX 300M and NX500 ... after looking through evilBay for all the models I found a seller that was selling this NX 500 with 16-50mm f 3.5-5.6 Power Zoom and 20mm f 2.8 Pancake for 300 £ from Netherlands.
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Now it's not without a fault hence the attractive price BUT I was thinking: HEY I CAN FIX THAT ... it's just 2 missing screws from the hinge to the camera body, I can either find 2 size fitting screws or ask one of the phone shops that advertise repairs if they can fit 2 screws for me ... AND THAT WOULD BE ONE HELL OF A DEAL.
So I put my brain on a number crunching and the more I thought about it the more tempting it was getting. And what sealed the deal for me was that IF I can get that sexy 10mm f 3.5 Fisheye Pancake then I would have one hell of a setup for my doggie book. Of course then it means I will have 3 fisheye lenses within 3 systems with 3 different outputs BUT I think I can figure out which one to keep after I use them and compare them.
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The camera works fine and I spent about 20 minutes cleaning it. I think the camera belongs to a non-photographic-oriented person because the poor NX 500 was dropped a few times and there are some dents in it, most likely on hard pavement because it took off the paint of the top aluminium plate as well as damaged the leathered cover. But it seems to be just cosmetic damage so it's not the end of the world (I am a more damaged person than my Samsung NX 500 so we belong to each other
😛 )
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All the buttons and dials work fine, both lenses focus well and the OIS in the power zoom lens works well. It has a bit of a dent on the front plastic frame but it's not affecting the lens. I doubt I am going to use the power zoom lens all that much once I have the prime lenses.
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The only think that has been a bit more disappointing is the crack on the tripod socket from the bottom, I can see the plastic frame being pulled out of the housing so I don't think it's safe to put it on a tripod so it doesn't cause any further stress on the socket and the bottom housing. I think at some point the camera fell down with the tripod connected to it and it stressed the housing out of it's plastic clips.
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I can't wait to see what the 28 MP BIS CMOS APSC sensor can do and what colours it will render (as Samsung has a history of technology partnering with Pentax). I absolutely delighted and surprised how small and light the camera was. it's less than 300 grams and that's less than the Pany GF cameras.
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Ok, it's not as small as my Pentax Q BUT damn it's so close for a sensor so much bigger. I think it's still pocketable (I don't wear skinny jeans).
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The only really significant difference is the lens mount sticking out because the NX mount is the longest of all mirrorless cameras (Samsung, why?) and the lenses will stick out a bit more. But seriously, the 01 Prime is just a little bit shorter in the end compared to the pretty close Samsung NX 20mm f 2.8 lens.
Now I am going to be on a long-term hunt for the white and silver version of the prime lenses, especially the fisheye, and if I get along with the NX 500 (I have a feeling I will adore it) I might look at the few zoom lenses and the larger prime lenses.
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I still love my Little Q and will keep using it but I know that one day the battery will die and the Q will become a permanent decoration, so I hope the NX 500 will keep going for a long time. (And I don't think I will get any of the rangefinder-style Micro Four Thirds cameras anymore because they don't offer anything more then what NX 500 already does, flippy screen but no IBIS, flippy screen with IBIS but a lot bigger and heavier (Pen-F and GX8), small but no EVF, EVF but bigger but no flippy screen, etc).
