majoraxis

​I experimented and liked what I saw. I like to shoot in less than optimal lighting situations, so I fine turning the colors RGB setting all way up helps keep the image looking good in lower light with the Calm picture profile. I am not recommending these setting for anything other that the Calm picture profile which is totally washed out otherwise. I leave the master black at zero most of the time, but I am trying for an near finished image in camera and not looking to do major color correction in post.

This is a bummer - I have seen this same pink color cast on skin tones using Gamma DR. I have not used Smart Range+ You might try Normal DR with the Calm picture profile. Color: Red x1.99, Green x1.99, Blue x1.99 (yes that's all the way up!!!) Saturation: 7 Sharpness: -5 (or higher depending on what lens you are using) Contrast: -5 (or higher if you want to finish in the camera) Hue: 21

I really hope the rumor regarding the NX1-LX is true. The auto focus on the NX-1 works best with low ISOs and maybe that is due to the lower noise at lower ISOs. If the LX has low noise and excellent autofocus at 3200-6400, it would be an immediate purchased. Less jello at 4k would also be appreciated. I've purchased a few of the native Samsung NX lenses, so I am definitely in the market for another/better NX1 style body. Bring it on Samsung - keep the momentum going. That said - an A7S II with internal 4K and on sensor image stabilization would be almost impossible to resist, even if the NX1 and NX1-LX had received log profile. All else being equal, Sony wins on the fact that their lens-mount-flange-distance is closer to the sensor allowing for a broader range of lens and speed boosters.

I bought one used as well for the about $1300. I welcome the price drop and new or replacement version. The NX1 for $1000 used will be an amazing value if price drops to that point. I have been buying Samsung lens so I will be ready for another NX camera body at a lower price after NAB. There is lot's of ways they can improve the NX - some by software - hey please allow us to leave focus peaking on the whole time. As well as all things people are hoping for in regards to DR, high ISO noise, Auto focus improvements. That said I am loving the image I get out the NX1 in natural light. It is does a great job of making a finished looking image IMHO.

Something new from BlackMagic. A 4k Pocket Camera?

@ Caleb Genheimer Try the "calm" picture profile and adjust the colors so that they look right in camera and not so washed out. I tweaked the calm profiles's RGB settings and Hue to get the color back into balance. I wouldn't call it flat but out of the color profiles, I would try tweaking "calm" or "standard" to taste if you do not like Gamma DR, which has its place but is not the end all be all of picture profiles.

16-50s is a great lens for handheld shooting due to the image stablization. It's nice in low light at the wide end and AF is pretty good in good light. What's nice is you can switch to manual focus on the fly and back and while recording video by pressing the "AF on" button. Not sure if focus peaking works non-Samsung lens as it only goes on only when I am focusing in MF mode. Focus by wire has been a non issue, in fact I like how smooth it moves but I am not using it to pull focus. I wish focus peaking could be set to be on the whole time for any lens. Any one have the 50-150s? If so, how is it for video?

I still have a Nikon 1 V1 and found the auto focus to be good in movie mode (the 10-30mm lens eventual was throwing errors and stopped working). I loved the 17mm flange distance as I could use c-mount lens that were wider near the c-mount treads without having to grind them. The view finder was also very nice. Anyway, this will be a great format for c-mount lens. The add on flash also works great. If only it had 24p it would have gotten more use.

I'm interested in how the rolling shutter is in 4k crop mode. Hopefully the 4k crop mode will come to the NX1. With Gamma DR not included, it will make it harder to match as a b-camera, if Gamma DR is your primary shooting mode on the NX1, like it is for me. It's interesting that what made the Samsung NX1 so attractive - having no market to protect - is now what is driving the NX500 feature set - protecting the NX1. I hope NX500 sales are slow an they decide to add an equivalent feature set to the NX1 or as much as possible. There is a strong case for a smaller lighter NX1 feature set camera for use with gimbals and drones. They should have charged a bit more and delivered more. Oh well, I will wait to see what Sony (A7000) and Nikon (J5) have to offer in the way of 4K video and features. And with NAB less than a month away - if you don't have to buy right now, I would wait to see what gets announced at the show....

I find my self asking the same question and narrowing it down to the following must have features: Flat picture profile (A7S, A7Mk II, Nikon D750, GH4, NX1, Black Magic) 4k Recording (A7s, GH4, NX1, Black Magic) Acceptable autofocus (NX1) Secondary needs are: Low light IBS / or Optical stabilized Primes So in the end really only one company can deliver I want and that's Sony. We will see what they announce at CP+. a sub $1500 4k mirror-less camera with IBS and S-Log is my dream camera. If the Samsung NX500 has GammaDR like the NX1, I will be getting at least 2 for my shoot, unless Sony earns my business at CP+

@ ChristieEnglish - Thanks posting this - I really appreciate you taking time to share this! GammaDR is looking good. It seems to have some latitude to play with when I push the image around in Abobe Bridge. Well done Samsung! I believe this is what is called Cine-Gamma rather than Log-Gamma. But I could have my terms wrong. Hopefully they will give us an even flatter Log style picture profile in a future firmware release. This looks to be a definite step in the right direction and maybe even better for people who want a bit more dynamic range without having to totally tweak with the colors in the post.

Yeah - I'm expecting the NX1 to kill the hacked GH1 in all ways as well. With enough light - like out doors, the GH1 looked pretty good, I thought, but indoors the everything was wrong as you said. Still takes decent photos in good light though...

Looking forward to seeing the test footage of the Log Gamma profile and AF performance. It's hard not to purchase it right now. However, I feel the need to wait to see what Samsung and Sony announce at CP+ Feb 12th-15th. If Sony doesn't step up with Native 4k and great AF, Samsung will most likely get's my camera and lens budget. In the next few weeks we will probably hear that the NX1 with firmware 1.2 is an indy filmmaker's dream camera and that if you can't make something worth watching with the NX1, it's probably not the camera's fault. At that point I can throw caution and dollars to the wind and feel like I am making a justifiable purchase decision. ; ) If the NX500 is announced at CP+ and has similar specifications at a lower price point and with less camera body weight, I will probably purchase it as my B-camera then and wait to see what comes out at NAB April 13th-16th for my A camera purchase. Bottom line is, it is a great time to be in the market for 4k camera and we have Samsung to thank in-part for helping to move things forward faster than they otherwise would be moving. And of course Black Magic for shaking up the camera market a fews year ago. Really this whole budget higher-resolution-than-HD-indy-camera dream was defined by RED when they announced 3k for $3k and Magic Lantern didn't hurt either, and not that it was higher than HD, but when the hacked GH2 was chosen by a certain high profile person over RED in the Zacuto shootout, the indy crowd felt like there was truly hope for budget indy filmmaking. And talk about high hopes for indy filmmakers, back in the early days it was tester 13 on DVXUser (just call him Vitaliy Kiselev ) and GH13 hack.... I still have my hacked GH1... I wonder how the hacked GH1 footage will stand up against the NX1's LOG Gamma - probably can't tell them apart. I hope that's not the case or I want the last 5 years of my life back waiting for the perfect camera. Sorry Panasonic, Sony, Canon, Nikon, and Black Magic: there's a new sheriff in indy town his name is Samsung NX1.

Hey Andrew - thanks for your top 5 camera list! My top camera would be the Samsung NX1 with the Shogun. As I need an external monitoring and an external audio recorder that makes the investment in the Shogun more reasonable. Also as crazy as it sounds, I want AF and as far as I can tell in my price range the Samsung has the best AF of the budget 4K cameras. Also, looking at the Pro Res LT capture from it in your Shogun test, it seem to now have enough dynamic range and shadow detail, which was a concern before I saw the NX1 Shogun footage. Happy New Year!

Great article Andrew - Great shooting as well! Would love to see a this video without the color correction as I like the look of the castle picture with the title "And if we want a flat image, then here it is without the grade..." Also looking forward to your Shogun tests. BTW anyone else like the geometric rendering of the APS-C better than the speed-boosted equivalent focal length? When watching some of the youtube test videos from Max Yuryev, I believe that a straight APS-C lens and sensor is more pleasing than the slightly barrel distortion of the GH4 and Speedbooster... or maybe something else is causing this up look.

Yes! NX1's AF is pretty amazing. A few software tweaks for rack focus style transitions and it will be ideal. The fact that it can do great AF in 120 fps is a big deal as shown in the last half of the video. I would like to see 240 fps at 720p with contentious auto focus. Hopefully it will be possible with a firmware upgrade as well - we'll see.

Here's a youtube video comparing the AF of the Samsung NX1with the 45 f1.8 prime as again the GH4 with the 12-35.... both at 2.8 - the DOF is shallower on the NX1 because of the crop factor. Looks like the AF on the 45 is pretty good - it did not expect it to perform as well. Looking forward to more comparisons, but this looks pretty hopeful to me regarding how this particular prime as it performs with AF.

I'm very interested in the AF performance of the 30 F2.0 for video Samsung prime lenses. From the videos I have watched, the Samsung zoom lens with Ultra-Precise Stepping Motor (UPSM) seem to provide the best tracking AF performance. It's claimed that UPSM improves upon the conventional Stepping Motor (SM), offering three times the precision in its ability to focus on subjects... I hope someone will do a test that covers the AF performance in video for at least a zoom and a prime for the Samsung lenses.

Between the GH4 and NX1 - I will be purchasing the NX1 with the 16-50S f2.0-f2.8 over the GH4 with 12-35 f2.8 for the following reasons: 1. Autofocus with the 16-50 2.0-2.8 seems to work pretty well (in good light). 2. Image stabilization on the Samsung does not seem to cause jitter. 3. Colors are great with not that much grading required. It looks like it can be graded if desired. 4. Depth of field or lack there of. 16mm at f2.0 for the NX1 is about 24.6mm f3.0in FF. The GH4 in 4k mode at 12mm f2.8 is 26.4mm at f6.16. 5. Shows less noise and the image does not lose its punch at higher ISOs. 6. Slow motion can go slower 120 fps and is said to be as good as 96 fps on the GH4. 7. Photo mode is 28.2 Megapixel vs 16.05 Megapixel - 43% greater resolution or dare I say full frame DSLR resolution. That said if I was shooting video with very bright/high contrast scenes and I had fast manual glass with an ND (and did not need auto focus or image stabilization) I would pick the GH4 as it seems to have a bit more dynamic range at the lowest ISOs and with up and coming log profile it will most likely be able retain more of that dynamic range. If your not going with fast manual glass - the NX1 with the 16-50S is the way to go IMHO.

I am hoping that A is RAW and B is the video because I like the look and feel of B better. That said I am expecting B to be RAW for the reasons people mentioned - better color gradation, purer white balance, etc... Anyways - looking forward to reading the results as well as the workflow overview.