• NX-20 at $1100
• NX-210 at $900
• NX-1000 (probably) under $700

All three of them share a 20 MP APS-C sensor, a high sensitivity climbing up to ISO 12800, 1080p/30fps HD video capture, 8fps continuous shooting, a nice 3″ LCD display and a WiFi interface to cooperate with your Android phone.

The NX1000 is most noticeable for its choice of colors (white, black or pink).
The NX210 is still a point’n-shoot in format, while the NX20 tries to hide under a near SLR or bridge camera guise.

1. colorful cameras
2. retro-styled cameras that try not to look old

Two recent examples: A white Nikon V1 and a retro-styled Samsung NX-200 RS (with only a metalized plastic top to distance itself from the usual all-black livery).

Nikon 1 V1 blanc

Samsung - before/after

They did not reach very far, though. There still some before we can draw on the surface of the camera like with our mobile phones…

While waiting for this dream future, we still have to be patient until we see the next camera from Olympus which (according to PhotoRumors) could well look a lot like an Olympus OM SLR camera from old times.

Olympus OM Digital

Funny, but until there is some clarification of the financial status of the Olympus mother company, I will sit and look from some distance, with a tender smile on my face.

Samsung NX

Samsung tells us the story of how they proceed to launch the future lenses (particularly for the products of the hybrid NX family). Presented as several videos from their web site.

Videos are in English.

On this occasion, Samsung took some time to produce an illustration picture which gives us an idea of what could be the next generation of the NX range at Samsung. Obviously, they intend to give this modern range of cameras a retro look.

Future retro products at Samsung NX

Bizarre, but why not? We’ll see if it works.

Some will also ask if the next Samsung NX-20 and Samsung NX-200 are present on this photo.

• Samsung 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 ED OIS
• Samsung 16mm f/2.4
• Samsung 60mm f/2.8 Macro ED OIS SSA
• Samsung 85mm f/1.4 ED SSA
• Samsung 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 OIS

Samsung NX-11

The new Samsung NX-11 is not a revolution but simply the natural evolution of the previous Samsung NX-10 that its creator wished able to bring the best off the i-Function (introduced with the Samsung NX-100), a feature allowing to use the the ring and i-Function button of the most recent Samsung lenses (circled of a nice blue marking) to control directly many functions that the competition can only control from the coded wheels of the SLR body.

Add to it the increased bulge of a more marked grip (more ergonomic), an automatic panorama function (you only have to pan around the landscape to automatically build a panoramic picture of it, like on some other photo cameras).

From launch, the NX-11 camera is presented with a new 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens, but also with a 20mm f/2.8 pancake and a 20-50mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens.

Press Release

CES, Las Vegas – December 28, 2010 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, announced today the launch of the NX11 – the latest addition to the highly successful NX family of cameras. The NX11 is an upgraded model based on the NX10, compatible with the new i-Function lens, introduced for the NX100. The NX11 will come complete with an 18-55mm i-Function lens, as well as two new i-Function lenses, a 20mm pancake and a 20-50mm zoom silver colour lens. The launch reinforces the company’s commitment to leading innovation in the compact system camera market.

The i-Function lens puts the perfect picture at the fingertips of all photographers by providing an exceptionally easy way of controlling the camera. A typical camera user wraps their hand around the lens when holding the camera, the new i-Function system allows photographers to naturally use their left hand to change settings through a button built into the i-Function lens, without the need to take the camera off the target. Users can toggle between shutter speed, aperture, EV, WB, and ISO quickly and easily by simply using the i-Function button and ring on the lens, meaning easier and quicker configuration while shooting.

The NX11 also has a focus on usability, with a change in the grip design to make shooting easier and more comfortable for users. Additionally, it has a lenspriority mode dial, to simplify searching for the best mode for each lens. The camera makes taking great landscape scenes or pictures of large groups simple by featuring a panorama mode, which allows the user to take panoramic pictures in one press-and-sweep motion. As with the NX10, the NX11 uses the best in class APS-C sensor for better image quality. The APS-C sensor is larger than Micro 4/3 and the larger sensor delivers high quality images, easily.

Steve Mitchell, General Manager, Samsung UK Digital Imaging, said: “Today’s launch is important for Samsung in reinforcing our position as a leading innovator in the digital camera market and for showing our innovation in the compact system camera market. The NX11, while offering the best features of the NX10, has an upgraded design and the additional i-Function capability with more lenses. The launch of our next offering in the NX range also demonstrates our commitment to our customers, by producing user driven innovation in the form of easy-to-use functions and upgraded customisation.”

Alongside the built-in flash and built-in electronic VGA (640×480) viewfinder, the NX11 has a 3.0” AMOLED LCD screen. The AMOLED screen reduces the glare from sunlight so the consumer can see their images under any lighting conditions, including sunlight. The user can also get a more vivid, clearer image through enhanced colour reproduction. The NX11 also provides high quality video with 720p HD recording, and its large APS-C sensor allows the videos to be recorded with shallow depth of field, providing effects that are shown in motion picture movies.

This is not perfect (it does not take into account any of the ergonomics of the camera, for example), but for a photographer in love with great image quality, the conclusion will be quickly drawn as you can see below:

The Sony NEX-5 is clearly ahead except in terms of color depth (which is particularly sensitive for smooth areas and soft fading colors that are more important in portraiture than in action sports photography).

• Sony NEX-5: 69 points
• Samsung NX 100: 62 points
• Panasonic DMC GF1: 53 points

This time, the video ad leaks the Samsung NX-100 in white suit.

At the same time, you will find two new lenses for it (and the other NX from Samsung):

• 20-50 mm f/3,5-5,6 zoom lens (not stabilized) (equivalent to a 31-77 mm in 35mm sensor size), for 249€
• 20 mm f/2,8 pancake lens, for 349€

All the Samsung NX-100

Samsung NX-100

Samsung NX-100

Noteworthy: The new iFn button (for i-Function) allows to use the ring on the 20-50 mm zoom to control some menus. It will be necessary to wait until real-life tests to decide whether this is a great idea or a mindless trick.

• Alpha 33 (a pellix camera with a 14 MP sensor)
• Alpha 55 (a pellix camera with a 16.7 MP sensor, 10 fps, ISO 100-25600, 15-point AF, EVF – all to be confirmed)
• Alpha 560 (with 14MP sensor, 5 fps, ISO 100-12800, 15-point AF, swivel display – near certain feature set)
• Alpha 580 (same as A560, with 16MP sensor)

Note: Pellix is the name usually applied to describe a camera where there is no mobile mirror, but a pellix semi-transparent mirror which is providing a simultaneous and continuous AF while bringing light to the photo/video sensor. For more information about it, see the Wikipedia articles in both English and German. The presence of Pellix should also allow to keep a LiveView operation during the photo/video capture (probably in association with an Electronic View Finder or EVF).

Images of the A55 and A33

Alpha 33 - front	Alpha 55 - front
Alpha 55 - back	Alpha 55 - back
Alpha 55 - front	Alpha 55 - back
Images from DChome

A33/A55 size

What is now certain is that the Alpha 33 and Alpha 55 will be very small indeed. They are smaller than the smallest existing Alpha cameras (the Alpha 290). They are nearly as small as the NEX-5 camera.

Thanks to SonyAlphaRumors, you can see a marketing-based and meaningful size comparison:

Alpha 33 vs. Samsung NX10 vs. Panasonic G2

As was reported here about a month ago, Canon does not believe that it is necessary to leave the traditional APS-C DSLR format factor to compete with the EVIL cameras. Sony seems to have understood this too. But they decided to provide both the (still?) smaller ones (NEX series) and continuously shrinking ones (Alpha series). It will be interesting to see how this works in the end.

At least, Canon appears right and we can expect to see similar comparisons appearing with Canon bodies of the near future.

Compatible lenses for NEX

Additionally, some companies are rumored to be interested in providing a real competition in terms of lenses for the NEX camera range (Sony will no longer be alone). If Zeiss and Leica are actually present there in a few weeks, it will mean that this NEX camera series will certainly be a huge success, if only because of the large advertisement effort supported by several companies at the same time. However, it is nearly impossible to sort out the good information and the false rumors in what is said from all sides.