Samsung NV20 Review

Review Date: October 15th 2007
Author: Mark Goldstein

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Conclusion

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	4.5
Ease-of-Use	4
Image Quality	2.5
Value for Money	3.5

The Samsung NV20 is virtually indistinguisable from the older NV10 model that we reviewed a year ago, both in terms of appearance and features. A premium-level product that is both well made and well thought out, the notable changes are an increase in resolution to 12.1 megapixels, expansion of the ISO range to 80-3200, and the addition of a Face Detection system. None of these changes really improve the camera - indeed, the new sensor actually makes the image quality worse than before, and has seemingly been included just to look good on the specification sheet. The NV20 still remains a brave attempt to do something totally different, with a unique menu interface that makes the camera easier to understand and navigate than a conventional system, but it doesn't improve on the previous generation of NV cameras. Sadly, although the NV20 offers a truly unique user experience, the images that it produces don't match the high quality of the rest of the camera. Even higher levels of noise at ISO 200 and faster is the main problem, and the NV20 also suffers from obvious purple fringing and a limited anti-shake mode. Ultimately, as with the NV10, the Samsung NV20 is an innovative product that forgets about one of the key fundamentals of a good camera, namely image quality, again making it an unfortunate example of style over substance.

PhotographyBLOG is a member of the DIWA organisation. Our test results for the Samsung NV20 have been submitted to DIWA for comparison with test results for different samples of the same camera model supplied by other DIWA member sites.

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