Samsung Samsung NX is dead

I saw a discussion that if they remarketed the NX mount and rebadged existing glass much of the R&D is already done to get an initial mirrorless foothold.
However the mount was designed for APS-C... so possibly Nikon intend APS-C to be their mirrorless lineup ?
I'm interested to see how such a partnership would work out for future Nikon D5/s and their pro FF lineup.....
 
I saw a discussion that if they remarketed the NX mount and rebadged existing glass much of the R&D is already done to get an initial mirrorless foothold.
However the mount was designed for APS-C... so possibly Nikon intend APS-C to be their mirrorless lineup ?
I'm interested to see how such a partnership would work out for future Nikon D5/s and their pro FF lineup.....

Then there will no longer be a relatively smooth upgrade path from APS-C to full frame. And since APS-C is still their bread and butter, it would be a risk to replace their APS-C DSLRs with a platform that has not proven itself in the market.
 
I think they'd be better off just converting the NX camera design to Standard Nikon mount. Unless I missed something (always a possibility) Nikon bought the technology not the stock of current stuff. It would be Samsung stuck with the NX mount glass.
 
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I can't say I am surprised. THis is the company that makes so many new smartphones, that it doesnt matter which you buy at release, its already out of date by the end of the week, and its why I havent felt seriously tempted to jump on board.
Yes, though I'll use my Galaxy S3 until it dies. It's handy on occasion but I have over 3 gigs of data saved up, and never use my 200 minutes a month, so spending on a smart phone makes no sense for me. (The Galacy was $99 refurbished and I use FreedomPop services for 6.50 a month. That's about what ANY cell phone is worth to me. And yes, I do like checking my email when in line at the store -- but never when dealing with a clerk or cashier, which I find utterly rude.
 
Well I'll be happy with the photographic value I got out of my Samsung gear, in that forced smile kind of way, but I'll be ecstatic if I hit the jackpot and NX mount isn't dead. Hope Samsung made Nikon agree to do the right thing. It'll be a PR boost for both of them.
 
Well I'll be happy with the photographic value I got out of my Samsung gear, in that forced smile kind of way, but I'll be ecstatic if I hit the jackpot and NX mount isn't dead. Hope Samsung made Nikon agree to do the right thing. It'll be a PR boost for both of them.
I can't imagine Nikon doing a mirrorless system that's not at least VERY compatible with their F-mount system. With the ENORMOUS inventory of those lenses out in the wild, lenses dating back to the '60s and '70s in use on modern cameras. I can't see them switching mounts. I think if this is true and they're really buying Samsung's photo division, it's mostly for the sensors. So they can compete with Sony rather than being at their mercy. I'm not aware of anyone other than Samsung making sensors as good as Sony's...

-Ray
 
I can't imagine Nikon doing a mirrorless system that's not at least VERY compatible with their F-mount system. With the ENORMOUS inventory of those lenses out in the wild, lenses dating back to the '60s and '70s in use on modern cameras. I can't see them switching mounts. I think if this is true and they're really buying Samsung's photo division, it's mostly for the sensors. So they can compete with Sony rather than being at their mercy. I'm not aware of anyone other than Samsung making sensors as good as Sony's...

-Ray
You'd think, except there's precedent. Their first foray into mirrorless was a new CX mount.

It's hard to get around the fact that people are attracted to the smaller size of mirroless. Using a mirrorless F mount loses the size advantage. It wouldn't make enough sense to go mirrorless without a new mirrorless mount. They'll probably run a new mount parallel to F mount, with adapters for compatibility. F mount will probably never ever be abandoned. But they might stop production of new lenses for it eventually.
 
I really hope all this is being done for the reasons reported, more choice in the mirrorless FF market is needed. I was beginning to wonder whether anyone actually wanted to challenge Sony.
 
You'd think, except there's precedent. Their first foray into mirrorless was a new CX mount.

It's hard to get around the fact that people are attracted to the smaller size of mirroless. Using a mirrorless F mount loses the size advantage. It wouldn't make enough sense to go mirrorless without a new mirrorless mount. They'll probably run a new mount parallel to F mount, with adapters for compatibility. F mount will probably never ever be abandoned. But they might stop production of new lenses for it eventually.

I don't think the CX format was anything other than a feeler and a camera for a completely different market than their DSLRs. One assumes that at some point both Canon and Nikon have to develop a mirrorless line to appeal to the same sorts of shooters who are shooting their DSLRs and who are attracted to stuff like Sony's full frame mirrorless gear.

I think the size thing has more to do with the difference between full frame and crop sensors than DSLR vs mirrorless. I know the lack of a mirror-box and the various flange distance calculations means a mirrorless body can be somewhat smaller, but honestly I don't find that much difference between the new A7 bodies and the smaller full frame DSLRs like the D750, D610, and DF, and maybe the 6D on the Canon side. Looking at the A7R II and the DF, there's a size and weight advantage to the Sony, but it's not that great, about 10-20% depending on dimension and weight. But then add essentially equivalent lenses, lets say the 70-200 f4 that both Sony and Nikon offer, and they're nearly identical in both size and weight. At which point the camera size and weight becomes a really minor issue - not quite background noise but probably not determinative. And I gotta say, having been a mirrorless enthusiast for years and moving to a DF, the size and weight thing was really underwhelming with the kinds of lenses I shoot with. If I favored big pro zooms that would be a different story, but it would be with full frame mirrorless as well, once they start developing f2.8 zooms...

So I don't know how much it's about size and weight, or at least I don't think that's the primary consideration. I think mirrorless has a great appeal to a lot of people for functional reasons like the ability to immediately see a preview of exposure changes in the EVF, focus peaking, more precise AF that doesn't need fine tuning. And eventually the tracking AF and burst rates should leave DSLRs in the dust, although they're not quite up to parity yet. There are plenty of reason that Canon and Nikon need to be moving toward pro-level mirrorless gear, but I don't see pro-level full frame mirrorless being substantially smaller or lighter than full frame DSLRs. A bigger question to me is how well a huge inventory of f-mount AF lenses, designed around PDAF only, can be made to work in a CDAF or hybrid AF system? Time will tell - I'm sure many engineers are working on this stuff as we speculate...

-Ray
 
Honestly, I don't think Nikon will keep the NX mount.

Samsung and Nikon cameras are too different culturally. For example, on any Nikon camera you have to turn lenses counter-clockwise to mount them, but on Samsung cameras (or any other camera for that matter) it's the other way around. Although, interestingly enough, both zoom and focus rings on Samsung's lenses go the same direction as on Nikkors, and the reason is pretty simple: Samsung's chairman, who insisted on starting the camera business, loved his Nikons.

But if Nikon decides to keep the existing NX mount, I think an electronic adapter for F-mount lenses (a la Nikon FT1) won't be too difficult to implement.
 
I'd be REAL surprised to see Sony do the same thing though. They do it in fits and starts, but between the RX family, which they've clearly put some R&D into, and the A7 group, which is finally producing some really compelling bodies, I don't think they're going anywhere. I don't know how much they'll throw at lenses and how much they'll rely on Zeiss and Sigma and others for the really high end stuff, but I don't think they're going anywhere. And also, their sensor business is driving the industry and that gives them a really nice competitive edge in developing the cameras that use them too.

I don't think Sony will exit the camera business, right now it's one of their core business units along with Playstation. I suspect they will offload their cellphone division and TV sets long before they decide to part with the cameras.

However, I think Sony will kill the A-mount pretty soon. Right now it's neither dead nor alive, while their E-mount lineup is flourishing.
 
As it turns out, in September 2015 Korean news outlets learned that Samsung stopped production of Samsung NX cameras, lenses and accessories.

The company failed to gain significant market share (or any market share at all) and with recent downturn in its fortunes it simply can't afford to keep its camera division afloat.

Link to the original article (you can read it with Google Translate): 삼성전자 카메라 철수설 끊이지 않는 이유는

Conversation today with Samsung.

Manoj B: You can go through the News section under "about Samsung" in Samsung home page website for the latest news.

Visitor: That's good for now what about in the future if Samsung leaves the business and if you can't answer the question who can. So far I have had no answer to this question from anyone at Samsung. What are they afraid of?

Manoj B: As the information about the product exiting is not available, no one from Samsung is not answering the question.

Manoj B: You can be sure that the latest products such as those released in last year will be supported.

Manoj B: If you are looking for more details on the functionality of a product or would like to find answers to some of the questions, visit us at "Samsung Smart Simulator" for an interactive review of some of our Samsung products.

Manoj B: Is there anything else I can assist you with?

Visitor: Samsung is upsetting lots of NX owners they need to come clean and not act like everything is normal. Like nothing new since NX500. Not at the January electronics show, no more firmware updates. Who do they think they are kidding?

Manoj B: I could have assisted if there is any information with me in available resources. As of now, there is no information about stopping of the support for the Camera.

Visitor: Can you give me a contact number and email to someone at Samsung who will know?

Manoj B: The NX series has not been stopped. You can contact our phone support at 1-800-726-7864 for other non technical questions.

Visitor: Thank you.

Manoj B: However, I am unsure about the availability of information too.

Manoj B: You are welcome.

Manoj B: If you are looking for more details on the functionality of a product or would like to find answers to some of the questions, visit us at "Samsung Smart Simulator" for an interactive review of some of our Samsung products.

Manoj B: Is there anything else I can assist you with?

No thanks.
 
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