Samsung NV40 Review
Review Date: May 8th 2008
Author: Mark Goldstein
Leave
a comment about this Review
Image Quality
All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 10 megapixel Super
Fine mode, which gives an average image size of around 4.5Mb.
Noise
There are 7 ISO settings available
on the Samsung NV40 which you can select at any time if the
camera is in the normal shooting mode. Note that the image
resolution is reduced to 3 megapixels for ISO 3200. There
is no discernible noise at the slowest settings of ISO 80
and 100, as
you
would expect,
but
at ISO 200 noise is already appearing. By ISO 400 it is very
obvious, together with coloured artifacts and blurring
of detail. ISO 800 is for emergency use only, whilst ISO
1600 is virtually unusable. Here are some 100%
crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:
Sharpening
Here are two 100% crops which have
been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand
image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the
camera images are just a little soft at the default sharpening
setting of Normal. You can change the in-camera sharpening
level to one of the preset levels (Soft, Normal or Vivid)
if you don't like the default look.
File Quality
The Samsung NV40 has 3 different image
quality settings available, with Super Fine being the highest
quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality
of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.
Chromatic Aberrations
The Samsung NV40 suffered quite badly
from chromatic aberrations during the review. Obvious purple
and green fringing was present around the edges of objects in high-contrast
situations, and also often in places where you wouldn't really
expect it, as shown in the examples below.
Macro
The Samsung NV40 offers a Macro setting
that allows you to focus on a subject that is 5cms away from
the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first
image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this
case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.
Flash
The flash settings on the Samsung
NV40 are Auto, Auto & Red-eye reduction, Fill-in flash, Slow sync, Flash off, and Red-eye Fix. These
shots of a magnolia coloured wall were taken at a distance
of 1.5m.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Auto
Flash - Telephoto (102mm) |
|
|
 |
| |
|
And here are some shots of yours truly.
As you can see, both the Auto setting and the Red-eye Fix
option caused a tiny amount of red-eye.
|
|
Auto
(100% Crop) |
|
|
 |
| |
|
|
|
Flash
- Red-eye Fix (100% Crop) |
|
|
 |
| |
|
Night Shot
The Samsung NV40's maximum shutter
speed is 16 seconds, which is good news if you're seriously
interested in night photography. The shot below was taken
using a shutter speed of 10 seconds, aperture of f/7 at
ISO 100. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what
the quality is like.
|
|
Night
Shot (100% Crop) |
|
|
 |
| |
|
Anti Shake
The Samsung NV40 has an
optical image stabilizer, which allows you to take sharp photos
at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test
this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the
same settings. The first shot was taken with anti shake
turned off, the second with it turned on. Here is a 100%
crop of the image to show the results. As you can see, with
anti shake turned on, the images are much sharper than with
anti shake turned
off. This feature really does seem to make a difference and
could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing
the opportunity altogether.
| Shutter
Speed / Focal Length |
Anti
Shake Off (100% crop) |
Anti
Shake On (100% crop) |
| 1/13th
sec / 102mm |
|
 |
| 1/6th
sec / 34mm |
 |
 |
Overall Image Quality
The Samsung NV40's image quality is
average. The Samsung NV40's main drawback in terms
of image quality is noise, with the relatively slow speed
of ISO 200 showing some noise, particularly in shadow areas.
The
noise
gets
progressively
worse as you go from ISO 200 to ISO 400 and finally the virtually
unusable ISO 800 and 1600 settings. The Samsung NV40 didn't
handle chromatic aberrations very well either, with
purple and green fringing effects appearing in high contrast situations.
The 10 megapixel images were sharp straight out of the camera
at the default setting of Normal, and you can also change
the in-camera sharpening level if you wish. The night photograph
was fine, with the maximum shutter speed of 16 seconds allowing
you to capture enough light for most situations. The built-in flash worked
well indoors, with a little red-eye and good overall exposure. Macro performance is average, allowing you
to focus as close as 5cms away from the subject at the wide-angle
lens setting. Anti-shake
is a feature that sets this camera apart from its competitors
and one that works very well when hand-holding the camera
in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of
the zoom range.
 PhotographyBLOG
is a member of the DIWA
organisation. Our test results for the Samsung NV40 have been submitted to DIWA
for comparison with test results for different samples of
the same camera model supplied by other DIWA
member sites.
Compare Prices
Support PhotographyBLOG: Buy the Samsung NV40 from
one of our affiliate retailers:
|
RSS
Feeds
