VistaVision20XX

Okay, here is a true story. Back in 2015 Samsung spent enormous resources on pushing their new NX camera. They for example offered workshops with star photographers in important markets, here in Germany it was Jim Rakete ( in the US I think Alex Webb among others) who shot a series about the music scene in Hamburg on the camera and did a little exhibition along with a workshop for I think something along the line of 20 young photographers who needless to say got a free a camera and some lenses in exchange for posting a bunch of pictures in a visual diary created as a marketing tool by the agency doing the promotional work for the camera. I am not a photographer but a filmmaker and found the video specs of the camera to be quiet exciting. So I asked the agency wether I could have one as well. To my surprise they agreed and loaned me a free camera, plus a whole set of lenses six month for free, with the option for another additional three month if required. Surprised about the generous offer, the agency explained to me, that Samsung had such a high degree of vertical integration, meaning they were able to build the whole camera in-house, that for them cameras were much cheaper to produce than for most competitors. So they did not really thinks twice, when it came to giving away free cameras or loaning them for longer periods of time. Plus they aggressively were pursuing marketshare and had deep pockets. I got the camera and the lenses, shot some stuff on it and got an invitation to lunch from the agency, around late August 2015. The meeting was among other things about a new Samsung full frame camera that was supposed to come out in early 2016. Originally the plan was to release the camera for x-mas 2015 and according to the agency people it was completely ready and in existence, they just had it delayed to devise a better way to market it. The camera, in the words of agency reps, was targeted at the A7 / A7S market and having had a good response from filmmakers for the NX1, they planned on focusing much more on its filmshooting abilities for marketing. So I was asked wether I`d be interested to be among the people to shoot something on the camera before its scheduled release in early 2016. I said sure and we agreed to meet again later that year. Anyway about a month or so after our last meeting, Samsung decided to cut its loses and I had to return the NX1 and the lenses and never heard again from the agency. Since Samsung already had working prototypes for FF cameras with a strong focus on video featuresin 2015, I would not be surprised if those would now see the light of day under a different brand.