Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 28 megapixel SuperFine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 10Mb.

The Samsung NX500 produced images of excellent quality during the review period. The 28.2 megapixel APS-C CMOS megapixel sensor used in the NX500 produces noise-free JPEG images at ISO 100-1600, with ISO 3200 also looking very good. ISO 6400 only shows a little noise, while the fastest settings of ISO 12800-25600 are quite a lot noisier and suffer from softening of fine detail and a loss of saturation. The NX500 does apply quite a lot of noise reduction to the JPEGs, as demonstrated by the RAW files which have more noise at the comparable ISO settings.

The images were a little soft straight out of the NX500 at the default sharpening setting and ideally require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting for JPEG files. The night photograph was excellent, with the maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds and bulb mode of 4 minutes allowing you to capture plenty of light.

Colours were vibrant without being over-saturated in the default Standard Picture Wizard mode, and you can always choose Vivid if you want even more punch or one of the other presets to change the mood of your JPEG images, with three customisable settings also available. The Panorama shooting mode, Dynamic Range mode and extensive range of Smart Filters are welcome additions.

Noise

There are 10 ISO settings available on the Samsung NX500. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting, with JPEG on the left and RAW on the right.

JPEG	RAW
ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 100 (100% Crop)
ISO 200 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 400 (100% Crop)
ISO 800 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 1600 (100% Crop)
ISO 3200 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)
ISO 6400 (100% Crop)	ISO 6400 (100% Crop)
ISO 12800 (100% Crop)	ISO 12800 (100% Crop)
ISO 25600 (100% Crop)	ISO 25600 (100% Crop)
ISO 25600 (100% Crop)	ISO 51200 (100% Crop)

File Quality

The Samsung NX500 has 3 different JPEG image quality settings available, with SuperFine being the highest quality option, and you can also shoot in the RAW format. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.

28M SuperFine (8.61Mb) (100% Crop)	28M Fine (5.65Mb) (100% Crop)
28M Normal (2.81Mb) (100% Crop)	28M RAW (34.1Mb) (100% Crop)

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 a little soft at the default sharpening setting and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You can also change the in-camera sharpening level.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

Flash

The flash settings on the Samsung NX500 are Smart Flash, Auto, Auto + Red-eye reduction, Fill-in, Fill-in + Red-eye reduction, 1st Curtain, 2nd Curtain, and Off. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Off - Wide Angle (24mm)	Fill-in - Wide Angle (24mm)
Off - Telephoto (75mm)	Fill-in - Telephoto (75mm)

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Fill-in or the Fill-in + Red-eye reduction settings caused any red-eye.

Fill-in	Fill-in (100% Crop)
Fill-in + Red-eye reduction	Fill-in + Red-eye reduction (100% Crop)

Night

The Samsung NX500's maximum shutter speed is 30 seconds and there's also a Bulb setting of up to 4 minutes, which is great news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 30 seconds at ISO 100. The camera takes the same amount of time again to apply noise reduction, so for example at the 30 second setting the actual exposure takes 60 seconds.

Night	Night (100% Crop)

Picture Wizard

Samsung's various Picture Wizard options are similar to Olympus' Picture Modes, Nikon's Picture Styles and Canon's Picture Controls, offering preset combinations of different sharpness, contrast, saturation and colour tone settings, all of which can be changed. The nine available Picture Controls are shown below in the following series, which demonstrates the differences. There are also three additional Custom styles so that you can create your own looks.

Standard	Vivid
Portrait	Landscape
Forest	Retro
Cool	Calm
Classic

Smart Filters

The Samsung NX500 offers nine creative filter effects that can be applied to both JPEG stills and movies.

Off	Vignetting
Miniature (H)	Miniature (V)
Watercolor	Red
Green	Blue
Yellow

Dynamic Range

The Smart Range+ feature noticeably increases the visible detail in both shadow and highlight areas, although it does tend to wash-out the stronger colours in the process. The HDR option successfully combines three shots taken at different exposures into a single photo with greatly expanded dynamic range, with three different strengths on offer.

Off	Smart Range+
HDR - Low	HDR - Medium
HDR - High

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Samsung NX500 camera, which were all taken using the 28 megapixel Superfine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample RAW Images

The Samsung NX500 enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files. We've provided some Samsung RAW (SRW) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).

Sample Movies & Video

As of February 2025, we are no longer providing full size sample images or videos for download.

Please contact us if you have any feedback on our new policy.

Product Images

Front of the Samsung NX500

Front of the Samsung NX500 / Lens Fitted

Front of the Samsung NX500 / Flash Raised

Side of the Samsung NX500

Side of the Samsung NX500

Side of the Samsung NX500

Side of the Samsung NX500

Rear of the Samsung NX500

Rear of the Samsung NX500 / Image Displayed

Rear of the Samsung NX500 / Turned On

Rear of the Samsung NX500 / Main Menu

Rear of the Samsung NX500 / Function Menu

Rear of the Samsung NX500 / Mobile Menu

Rear of the Samsung NX500 / Tilting LCD Screen

Rear of the Samsung NX500 / Tilting LCD Screen

Rear of the Samsung NX500 / Tilting LCD Screen

Front of the Samsung NX500 / Tilting LCD Screen

Top of the Samsung NX500

Bottom of the Samsung NX500

Side of the Samsung NX500

Side of the Samsung NX500

Front of the Samsung NX500

Front of the Samsung NX500

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The new Samsung NX500 is by far the cheapest interchangeable lens camera to offer 4K video recording, coming in at less than half the price of the flagship NX1 whilst cramming in most of that camera's features into the design of the more compact previous NX300 model. It isn't quite as simple as NX1 meets NX300, though, as the NX500 makes quite a few concessions, particularly on the video side, to hit both the aggressive price point and to the compact dimensions. Still, it feels slightly mean to criticise the NX500 too much when it delivers so much of the NX1's features and image quality at such a competitive price.

Overall performance and video are the two areas where the NX500 doesn't compare quite so favourably to the flagship NX1. The NX500's DRIMeVs processor has less memory than the NX1, resulting in a slower (but still very impressive) 9fps burst shooting rate, a lower maximum bitrate of just under 50Mbit/s, the inability to stream 4K video from the HDMI port, and a 4K mode that is achieved by cropping the middle 60% of the image from the camera's 6.5K sensor, which drastically changes the effective focal length of the attached lens. The NX500 also suffers in comparison to its big brother by not having a standard 3.5mm microphone input for higher quality audio capture or a headphone jack, all things which will make serious videographers choose the NX1.

On the stills side, image quality is identical to the NX1, making the NX500 one of the best APS-C cameras in terms of image quality despite only being a mere mid-range model. And despite its compact dimensions, the NX500 offers pretty good handling and customisability and also solid build quality too, although the lack of a viewfinder is a bitter pill for serious photographers to swallow (the AMOLED screen is excellent though).

So although the Samsung NX500's formula isn't quite as simple as NX1 features meets NX300 design, the fact that you can now buy a 28 megapixel, 4K video interchangeable lens camera that's stylish, well-built and fast for just £599.99 / $799.99 (with a half-decent lens) is a really aggressive move by Samsung, one that should make the other manufacturers sit up and take note. Our only concern is that the NX500 might prove to be too complicated for its target consumer audience, and not quite complicated enough for advanced users, especially on the video side...

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	4.5
Ease-of-use	4.5
Image quality	5
Value for money	4.5

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Samsung NX500.

Specifications

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