Samsung Electronics has once again stolen a lead on the Japanese camera companies by announcing the world’s first interchangeable lens camera / Android / 4G device in the form of the Samsung Galaxy NX.
This follows Samsung’s release of the original Android camera, the Samsung Galaxy, and a string of Galaxy smartphones with advanced camera features. Samsung is now streets ahead of Nikon and Canon in what is clearly a lively area of camera development.
While the public is still getting used to the spectacle of people taking photos with their tablets; next year we may witness early adoptors having telephone conversations into their camera!
With 3G/4G telecommunications, the Galaxy NX allows photographers to stay constantly connected, and apps such as Google Talk for internet phone calls is standard.
While many new camera releases now boast WiFi connectivity to enable wireless connection to a smartphone or device, only the original fixed lens Samsung Galaxy camera, this new interchangeable Samsung Galaxy NX and the Nikon Coolpix S800C have taken that extra step of developing the camera itself into a directly connected device. The Nikon S800C has generally been reviewed as a seriously flawed implementation of the concept.
The Samsung Galaxy NX ‘is a new type of connected device that allows users to turn their experiences into a story that can be instantly shared with anyone they choose, from wherever they might be, in amazing color and outstanding detail,’ states the Samsung press release.
This ground-breaking new product, announced in London last Friday, has appeal for enthusiast photographers with specs such as Raw shooting, full manual control, an APS-C-sized 20-megapixel sensor and a wide selection of lenses from which to choose (including a 3D lens), while the highly-regarded Android Jellybean 4.2 operating system delivers seamless connectivity to the internet and availability to a smorgasbord of apps.
The Advanced Hybrid Auto Focus (AF) System ensures accurate phase and contrast detection, while a 1/6000 sec shutter speed and 8.6fps shooting ticks the boxes for action phootgraphers.
The small-tablet-sized 4.8-inch touch screen is superior to those available on most advanced-level cameras.
Blurb, the US-based photo book publishing platform, is partnering with Samsung to power worldwide book and magazine print production and fulfillment within the Galaxy NX’s new Story Album application. Users of Story Album will now be able to automatically create print photo books and magazines quickly and seamlessly from their camera phone images.
More than 30 Smart Modes lets users choose the optimum settings for the environment they are capturing, as well as create fresh, artistic images. ‘Multi Exposure’ merges two different shots together to produce one distinctive image, while ‘Animated Photo’ connects continuous shots of up to five seconds, creating a moving GIF file. ‘Sound & Shot’ stores sound and voice together as the picture is taken, so moments are captured exactly as they happened.
For added personalisation, Camera Studio allows users to easily customize settings with their most frequently used applications or camera modes, making sure their photos are captured exactly as desired every time.
There are no local or international release details so far, although the Galxy NX is tipped to be in the market in the second half of this year.
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