Nikkon P520 or Samsung NX1000

[elrasho]

I'm looking for a bridge camera. I can get the P520 for £280 and the NX1000 for £210 but don't know which to go for. Has anyone got either of these?

I mainly take shots outdoors but I need the camera to be good indoors at parties where there could be low light and people moving.

EDIT: The NX1000 - 'the camera does not include direct controls for quick manual-exposure adjustments' Oh well looks like I'm getting the P520 which has full manual control.

 

[bulb66]

The NX1000 does have manual-exposure adjustments.

There's no way to set EC in M mode. That's the whole purpose of shooting manually, *you* decide what shutter/aperture/ISO you want to shoot in.

Where did your above quote come from?

J

 

[Columbo]

My Mrs has an NX1000 and it does indeed have full manual controls, so wherever you got that info from is wrong. Ok it does'nt have exp comp but just increasing or decreasing the aperture / shutter / ISO does the same thing and after all that is the point of full manual.

Also the P520 has a poxy 1/2.3" sensor, the NX1000's sensor is APS-C sized and will be far far better in low light.

Stick a Samsung 30mm f2.0 pancake on the front of the NX1000 and it makes for an awesome and very portable little unit with some great creative control.

Bridge cameras are a jack of all trades but master of none, ok they offer 10 billion 'X' optical zoom but in front of a small sensor, slow aperture, garbage ISO performance and limited dynamic range it really does make for an all round 'avoid it' package.

However if a bridge camera is really what you want the only one I'd consider is the Panasonic FZ200 because of it relatively bright constant f2.8 lens.

 

[elrasho]

The NX1000 does have manual-exposure adjustments.

There's no way to set EC in M mode. That's the whole purpose of shooting manually, *you* decide what shutter/aperture/ISO you want to shoot in.

Where did your above quote come from?

J

I had to do some research about the camera and found you can adjust those settings, but it through the lends itself by clicking on a button by the side of it. That quote is from the 'purple shirt' people who like to eat Indian food like curries

My Mrs has an NX1000 and it does indeed have full manual controls, so wherever you got that info from is wrong. Ok it does'nt have exp comp but just increasing or decreasing the aperture / shutter / ISO does the same thing and after all that is the point of full manual.

Also the P520 has a poxy 1/2.3" sensor, the NX1000's sensor is APS-C sized and will be far far better in low light.

Stick a Samsung 30mm f2.0 pancake on the front of the NX1000 and it makes for an awesome and very portable little unit with some great creative control.

Bridge cameras are a jack of all trades but master of none, ok they offer 10 billion 'X' optical zoom but in front of a small sensor, slow aperture, garbage ISO performance and limited dynamic range it really does make for an all round 'avoid it' package.

However if a bridge camera is really what you want the only one I'd consider is the Panasonic FZ200 because of it relatively bright constant f2.8 lens.

Thanks for the little review mate, I'm really tempted to get the NX1000 now Just need to convince the other half. I've looked at the FZ200 but it's out of my range of around £220. The NX1000 deal I've seen is a clearance deal, online they still retail for about £280.

 

[Columbo]

Not a problem.

My wife tends to use aperture priority mode along with Auto ISO. She simply selects the aperture she wants and the camera works out the ISO and shutter speed.

The little wheel on the back changes the aperture and if you get a lens with the iFn button on it gives really quick access to a lot of the popular settings in one click, it's really very good and I like it a lot.

She also has the 16mm f2.4 which she uses for landscapes and 50-200mm which is gathering dust, generally though when out with the kids etc she'll use the 30mm f2.0 as it focuses plenty fast and is tack sharp at f2.

 

[Mekrel]

I have the NX1000 and it's a fantastic performer for the price; the f2.0 30mm lens can be had for about £90 and as said, makes it a very portable unit and very capable in low light.

The WiFi direct mode is great if you're not too much of a prosumer, you can quickly get your photos off onto your tablet and run some post processing via Snapseed.

 

[elrasho]

Still deciding which path to take, had a play with a Nikon D3100 and found it too bulky and there are menu options that I would never use! I think that camera is overkill for my needs.

My friend lent me his Fuji S4000 and I liked it, very simple on M mode when selecting the shutter speed and aperture. It even had a little - to + guide which showed if the picture was going to be overexposed, I liked that a lot. So I'm looking for a bridge camera in that sort of range. I noticed indoors under relatively low light it had a lot of noise when zooming in. I'm looking for a camera that I can zoom in a bit indoors and still take relatively noiseless pics.

I'm looking at either the NX1000, Nikon P520 or Canon SX50 HS. I like the NX1000 as it has interchangeable lenses but at the same time I don't want to be carrying leneses around with me. The camera is going to be used for when I'm travelling as well as taking pics idoors during family gatherings, parties etc...

 

[Columbo]

Well for indoors stuff bridge cameras with their tiny sensors and slows lenses are not where I'd be looking.

The noise on any 1/2.33" sensor degrades the image significantly at ISO 400-800. Also the AF performance will be particularly compromised in low light.

The only thing attractive about bridges is the zoom range but honestly do you ever need 50x zoom or even 25x?

What I generally see with bridge users is that they zoom in because they could and not because they should.

Lenses with short zoom ranges and fixed primes make you think about your shot more and in the end, result in a more considered approach.

Honestly, while bridge cameras seem like the middle ground between a DSLR and a compact they simply are not. They offer no better image quality than a decent standard compact and don't offer the flexibility of a DSLR or M4/3 camera.

If you are worried about bulk then buy a Panasonic TZ or similar, they are compact, offer a decent sensible zoom range, some level of manual control and will fit in you pocket.

 

[elrasho]

Thanks for your advice, does the nx1000 have a bigger sensor? I saw on a chart somewhere it's 3/4 the size iof a full frame DSLR camera

 

[Columbo]

Yes it does. The NX1000 has an APS-C sized sensor where as the bridge cameras you are looking at have a tiny 1/2.3" which is the smallest on that chart.

See below for size chart. The Samsung has a sensor the same size as where it say APS-C (Nikon DX, Pentax, Sony), bridge cameras have the 1/2.3"

 

[elrasho]

Went out and bought the NX1000 The guy said they had the twin pack that came with the Pancake Sensor for the same price but it went yesterday, gutted should have made a decision earlier. Took some pics on SMART mode and the clarity is amazing! Any tips as to what accessories I should get and some useful tutorials?

 

[elrasho]

Took some pictures:





Really impressed with it Looking forward to taking it out on a sunny day and see how she performs, thanks for the advice ManCuBus

 

[elrasho]

Can anyone recommend a bag for my NX1000? I like to leave the lens on so it has to be big enough for this.

 

[elrasho]

Been playing around with the camera and struggling to get a slow shutter speed shot. I basically want to take a slow shutter speed shot of a busy road at night so all the lights look blurry. I set the shutter speed to really slow but all I get is an over exposed picture?

 

[Columbo]

A couple of tips below to help get you going:

Shoot at in the evening or at night.
Get a tripod and use it.
Put the camera in 'A' (aperture priority mode) and set to between f8-f11
Set the ISO to 100 / 200

Now look at the shutter speed calculation (the camera will do this automatically in 'A' mode).

Because the camera has a maximum automatic shutter length of 30 secs, you'll need to ensure that it's metering at less than that. If it is metering at 30 secs you can do 3 things to bring the shutter speed down:

1: Open up the aperture to let more light in. (potantial hit on IQ)
2: Increase the ISO to make the sensor more sensitive to light. (definite hit on IQ)
3: Put the camera in full manual and use 'Bulb' mode with a cable release.

I wouldn't worry about No 3 for now and just try to shoot at dusk when there is still some light around but the most important point there is the tripod or some kind of stability for the camera (maybe a wall).

 

[elrasho]

Great thanks Columbo Will try that and post my results.

 

[Sonea Fifer]

Can anyone recommend a bag for my NX1000? I like to leave the lens on so it has to be big enough for this.

Hi there

I also have the Samsung NX1000 - you can see some of my pics in this thread which will give you an indication of what the camera is capable of.

Also I've ordered this bag for carrying my camera. You can get it slightly cheaper from the rainforest but I don't think we're allowed to link to there

 

[elrasho]

Wow Sonea Fifer your pics are amazing! Are you using the standard lens that comes with the camera? Have you got a flickr page, I'd love to see more of your pics Will that bag fit the NX1000 with the lens already attached?

 

[Sonea Fifer]

Wow Sonea Fifer your pics are amazing! Are you using the standard lens that comes with the camera? Have you got a flickr page, I'd love to see more of your pics Will that bag fit the NX1000 with the lens already attached?

Thank you for the kind comments but I'm still very much an amateur compared to some of the other fantastic pictures on here - my Flickr account is below my signature though I've not been a member that long and haven't uploaded too many pictures.

I am still using the standard lens that came with my camera and I believe the NX1000 will fit into the bag with the lens attached. Going by the reviews it seems quite good - I can't comment for sure as I'm still waiting on it getting delivered.

 

[Columbo]

The kit lens does indeed seem fine but whenever I use it, I just can't get off the 30mm f2.0. All the below were taken with the 30mm.