Samsung's interchangeable-lens NX mini sports 1-inch sensor, fits in your pocket (hands-on)
Hey "style-conscious" men and women in your 20s and 30s, Samsung's got a new camera just for you. The electronics giant is touting its NX mini as the world's thinnest and lightest interchangeable-lens camera, and while it technically falls at the low end of the company's NX line, this new cam comes along with a 1-inch (smaller) sensor and a scaled-down lens mount, which means new lenses, though you can use larger NX glass with a $150 adapter. Without a lens, the camera weighs 158 grams (5.6 ounces), making it lighter than "some bananas" (the fruit), as Samsung demonstrated with a PowerPoint slide during a presentation earlier today. There's a 20.5-megapixel BSI CMOS sensor, WiFi, NFC, a 1/16,000 max shutter speed, 25,600 top ISO, 6 fps burst mode, 1080/30p video, a battery that can capture up to 650 shots with a full charge and a 3-inch HVGA flip-up touchscreen.
We spent a few minutes poking around the mini's menu system and taking some sample shots (which we were required to leave behind). The camera performed well, with speedy focusing and accurate exposure (based on reviewing images on the LCD). It's hardly the fastest mirrorless ILC on the market, but Samsung's making no such claim -- performance was what we'd expect from an entry-level model. Both the 9mm (24.3mm equivalent) f/3.5 pancake lens and 9-27mm (24.3-72.9mm) f/3.5-5.6 zoom are incredibly compact and lightweight. With the prime lens attached, the mini will fit in a jacket pocket. There's also a 17mm (45.9mm) f/1.8 lens in the works, which should ship in July. The camera, meanwhile, will be available black, white, brown, green and pink sometime next month. A 17mm kit will retail for $450 while a version with the zoom lens instead (that also includes a tiny external flash) will be available for $550. Both pairings ship with a free copy of Adobe Lightroom 5.
