[thethirdcoast]

Hello all,

So I've been playing with the Samsung NX100 for the past few weeks, and it remains a very compelling little device. Pentax' EVIL could do a lot worse, even though I fervently hope they hit a home run, than what Samsung has already brought to market.

This week I acquired the NX mount 30mm pancake and Samsung's ED-GPS10 position logger. My thoughts on these are as follows:

• Low-cost BP-1310 Li-Ion substitutes from eBay work perfectly. This is a huge relief because I have heard that folks using Panasonic m4/3 bodies need to hack their firmware to allow the use of low cost substitute batteries. I'm glad that Samsung is not so paranoid that they feel the need to lock users into their batteries. The cheapies are only rated at 1200 mAh, but I did not notice any difference versus the 1310 mAh rated Samsung battery during a brief walkabout.
  
• The Samsung GPS unit works pretty seamlessly. Once it is attached an turned on the NX100 body offers an extra menu page with GPS control options and that's it. It didn't take too long to sync up during tonight's brief walkabout, and I bet it would have synced more quickly if I'd stood still. Part of me wonders if the newly announced Pentax GPS unit is a tweaked version of the Samsung GPS attachment.
  
• The ergos on the Samsung GPS are a bit off for me. The unit's neck is a bit short and squat, and this creates two separate problems for me. The first is placing my fingers between the body and unit to tighten the GPS' collar for the purpose of fully securing the unit to the camera. The second issue is also related to the low neck height. On the 20-50mm kit lens I find the neck low enough to limit where I can place my fingers when manipulating the zoom ring. I think I would have the same issue manipulating the focus ring on the 30mm pancake.
  
• As for carrying the NX100 with ancillaries, you can fit quite a bit in a Crumpler 4 Million Dollar Home and barely notice the weight. Tonight I loaded the 4 MDH with the NX100 + 20-50mm lens, 30mm lens, GN15 flash, GPS unit, lens cleaner + microfiber, and lens mount cap. I could have easily added an extra battery and a Lowepro SD card case. I have a 50-200mm lens on the way, and I believe I could fit that in the 4 MDH while leaving the GN15 flash at home.
  
• Finally, I have some meager samples to share. They were both shot at ISO100 with the 20-50mm kit lens during the tail end of the golden hour in my locale. I have applied no post processing other than converting from SRW to DNG format. Apologies for the composition as I am somewhat out of practice. You should be able to navigate to my Mobile Me gallery and download the original DNGs for the purpose of pixel peeping should you desire.

[elho_cid]

Thanks for sharing that info. NX is so far the best EVIL, I'm still waiting for how the NX200 will look like, I hope for a design without mechanical shutter.
Have you any intention to try the adapter for Pentax lenses with the NX100?

[nickthetasmaniac]

NX is so far the best EVIL

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Must say though, there are some awfully sexy lenses coming up

[elho_cid]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Matter of opinion of course but Sony NEX sucks in lens and handling depatment. m4/3 is better than NEX but it lacks in IQ and I don't like the idea of getting used to another crop factor.

[thethirdcoast]

Have you any intention to try the adapter for Pentax lenses with the NX100?

Hi elho,

I will probably try the Pentax adapter later this summer. I'd like to acquire a few more quality primes before I do that.

In the meantime, I did capture a few low-light images from the NX100 the other evening. I hope to have those processed and posted within the next few days.