Samsung NV10 Review

Review Date: October 6th 2006

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Page 1
Introduction / Features
Page 2
Ease of Use
Page 3
Image Quality
Page 4
Sample Images
Page 5
Design
Page 6
Specifications
Page 7
Conclusion

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 5 ISO settings available on the Samsung NV10 which you can select at any time if the camera is in the normal shooting mode. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:

ISO 100 (100% crop)

ISO 200 (100% crop)

   

ISO 400 (100% crop)

ISO 800 (100% crop)

   

ISO 1000 (100% crop)

 
 
   

There is no discernible noise at the slowest setting of ISO 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 some blurring of detail. ISO 800 is for emergency use only, whilst ISO 1000 is virtually unusable.

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 very slightly 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.

Original (100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

   
   

File Quality

The Samsung NV10 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.

10M Super Fine (4.64Mb) (100% Crop)
10M Fine (2.43Mb) (100% Crop)
   
10M Normal (1.66Mb) (100% Crop)
 
 
   

Chromatic Aberrations

The Samsung NV10 suffered quite badly from chromatic aberrations during the review. Obvious purple 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.

Example 1 (100% Crop)
Example 2 (100% Crop)
   
Example 3 (100% Crop)
Example 4 (100% Crop)
   

Macro

The Samsung NV10 offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 4cms 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.

Macro Shot

Macro Shot (100% Crop)

   

Flash

The flash settings on the Samsung NV10 are Auto, Red Eye, Fill In, Slow Sync and Off. These shots of a magnolia coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (35mm)

Auto Flash - Wide Angle (35mm)

ISO 64
ISO 64
   

Flash Off - Telephoto (105mm)

Auto Flash - Telephoto (105mm)
ISO 64
ISO 64
   

And here are some shots of yours truly. As you can see, neither the Auto setting or the Red Eye option caused any amount of red-eye.

Auto

Auto (100% Crop)
   

Flash - Red-Eye Reduction

Flash - Red-Eye Reduction (100% Crop)
   

Night Shot

The Samsung NV10's maximum shutter speed is 15 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/13.1 at ISO 100. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like.

Night Shot

Night Shot (100% Crop)
   

Advanced Shake Reduction

The Samsung NV10 has an Advanced Shake Reduction mode, 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 lens set to the same focal length, with the ISO speed set to 100. The first shot was taken with the camera set to Program mode, the second with it set to the ASR mode. Here is a 100% crop of the image to show the results.

Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)

Anti Shake On (100% Crop)
1/20th, f/5.1, ISO 100 1/40th, f/5.1, ISO 200
   
1/8th, f/5.1, ISO 100 1/15th, f/5.1, ISO 200

As you can see, with Advanced Shake Reduction on, the images are definitely sharper than with it turned off. The Samsung NV10 appears to increase the ISO speed if neccessary and perform some extra in-camera processing (it takes a few seconds for the image to be processed). However, I found that it only ever increased the ISO to 200, even when the shutter speed was greater than 1 second, resulting in blurred results. Also, if you are more experienced, you will know how and when to change the ISO speed yourself to compensate for poor lighting. Therefore the Advanced Shake Reduction mode seems to be targetted more at beginners, and is only genuinely useful in certain situations.

Overall Image Quality

The Samsung NV10's image quality is below average. The Samsung NV10's main drawback in terms of image quality is noise, with 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 pretty unusable ISO 800 and 1000 settings. The Samsung NV10 didn't handle chromatic aberrations very well either, however, with purple 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 change the in-camera sharpening level if you wish. The night photograph was OK, with the maximum shutter speed of 15 seconds allowing you to capture enough light for most situations, but the resulting images were quite noisy. Macro performance is above average, allowing you to focus as close as 4cms away from the subject at the wide-angle lens setting. Advanced Shake Reduction is a feature that promises to set this camera apart from its competitors, but unfortunately it seems to be little more than an automated way of increasing the ISO speed. The pop-up flash unit worked well indoors, with no red-eye and good overall exposure.

Page 1
Introduction / Features
Page 2
Ease of Use
Page 3
Image Quality
Page 4
Sample Images
Page 5
Design
Page 6
Specifications
Page 7
Conclusion

DIWAPhotographyBLOG is a member of the DIWA organisation. Our test results for the Samsung NV10 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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