Quest for the Digital Rangefinder...Continued

Samsung NX100, an APS-C Mirrorless, Finderless Interchangeable-Lens Camera.

In my ongoing quest to find the digital equivalent of a rangefinder, two cameras have caught my attention; the Samsung NX100 and NX10.

Unlike the Olympus PEN E-PL2, The Samsung NX100 uses an APS-C sensor. So, it’s similar to the Leica X1 and the Fujifilm X100. It still doesn’t have an optical finder, but the fact that it has interchangeable lenses takes the edge off a bit. The fact that there are adapters out there for just about any kind of lens, including Leica M-Mount, takes it off ever further. Add a standard hot shoe, and thus the potential to add an external optical viewfinder, and things are starting to look pretty good indeed.

Now, this camera has just about the identical form factor as the Sony NEX-3 and NEX-5; an APS-C-equipped, interchangeable lens camera, with an included dedicated external flash. That’s right, these cameras do not come equipped with built-in flashes, making them even more rangefinder-like. Instead, they include a small dedicated external flash. But where the Sony NEX fails, is in its use of a proprietary “smart” hot shoe. Olympus, Panasonic and Samsung have all figured out how to add a “smart” connector to a standard hot shoe, but Sony has gone and done something different.

Sony also does not offer an electronic viewfinder option; Samsung does, and it’s reasonably priced. The NX100 also looks more like a camera; it’s rounded ends are reminiscent of the Leica M9, yet the fluid lines of its canted grip area give it just a hint of character. Sony’s radical design seems somewhat out of proportion and awkward.

Samsung has another option to this camera. Like the Lumix G2/GH2, the NX10 is mirrorless, but not finderless; it comes equipped with a built-in electronic viewfinder, flash and a hot shoe. However, it has the form factor of an SLR, albeit with a significantly smaller depth; only 1.57"! At about the depth of the Leica M9, it’s half of my D90! On the other hand, the NX100 is only 1.35" thick, which is only slightly thicker than a Voigtländer Bessa R!

Samsung NX10, an APS-C Mirrorless EVIL

But what about the lenses you ask? Both of these cameras accept Samsung NX mount lenses, with a flange focal distance of 25.5mm. This means that almost all lenses can be adapted to this mount, including Four Thirds lenses! And it seems that Samsung is on the right track with three pancake lenses; a 30mm f/2.0 lens (ideal 45mm equivalent focal length) a 20mm f/2.8 (that ideal 30mm street focal length), and a 16mm f/2.4 (the standard 24mm superwide). But with so many adapters available the lens options are virtually infinite. The 20-50mm (30-75mm) zoom kit lens bundled with the NX100 is only 1.55" long!

It remains to be seen how this camera meters with such lenses. At the very least, if it can give me a TTL approximation of aperture/shutter values, and I can adjust the aperture on the lens accordingly, I personally would be in heaven. It also remains to be seen how the image quality stacks up. People who own this camera seem to love it, although the video quality seems to be somewhat lacking. Still, I don’t feel that’s what you buy a camera like this for, so it’s not a deal breaker for me.

But, with all this going for it, I have to ask the question; could it possibly be that Samsung gets it, and Leica, Panasonic and Sony don’t? I think this could be the start of something really good.