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A little late with this, but here we go: Samsung announced its latest generation of NX mirrorless cameras on the 19th of April, comprising of the NX20 flagship, the NX210 compact, and the budget NX1000. All three of them share a lot of common features, chief of them the APS-C sized 20 megapixel sensor, which first made its debut on the NX200. It is not a bad sensor, compared to the 14 megapixel found in the first generation, but I am not sure how it compares to the latest from Sony and Panasonic. The other main feature is built-in Wifi, which allows photos to be shared and uploaded wirelessly. Unfortunately, the new ability to share a Wifi link with a smartphone for remote control purposes is only available on the NX1000. The feature is not too different from the one in the recently announced Nikon D3200, but having it integrated means not having to deal with a clunky dongle. Traditional camera manufacturers watch out: The new boys are hungry, and they will beat you to their game in this connected world if you are not careful!

All three cameras can also do 8FPS continuous photo taking, along with 1080p video at 30FPS in h.264 with manual controls (unclear to what extent) and in-camera panorama stitching like the Sony cameras. The NX1000 comes with a 3" VGA LCD screen, a small external flash to make up for the lack of an internal flash, as well as the mentioned smartphone link capability. It will ship with the compact 20-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS lens in June at a currently undisclosed price. The NX210 comes in a slimmer metal body, and uses a 3" AMOLED screen instead. Unfortunately it is not the Plus variety, meaning it will have the Pentile patterns. It will be packaged with the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS lens for US$900, and be available from May. The NX20 comes in a bigger faux-SLR style body, with more external controls, a SVGA EVF, and the 3" VGA AMOLED screen is now attached to an always handy articulated arm. There is also a built-in flash. The NX20 will ship with the same 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS lens found in the NX210 kit, but at a price of US$1100! Ack, I am not sure if Samsung can move many at that price. It feels like twice the price the NX10 and NX11 debuted at. Ships in May. Hit the read link for full specs and more images.

"The Samsung NX200 is the company's fifth NX camera but only the third body design, and represents a significant step up for the series. It's built around a completely new 20.3MP APS-C CMOS sensor and wrapped in the series' first all-metal body. The result is a handsome camera of similar size to Sony's NEX models but one that takes a rather different approach."

Samsung has launched its 5th NX camera, the NX200, which is the successor to the NX100. The improvements are in a new 20 megapixel sensor of the APS-C size, a beefier magnesium alloy body, and an upped ISO range to ISO 12,800. Other niceties include 1080p video at 30FPS, and the ability to have full manual control while taking videos, and recording at a variety of speeds, from 0.25x to 20x. The camera is a bit smaller than the NX100 as well. The LCD is still a nice 3" AMOLED screen, though of the PenTile variety. I wonder though, if Samsung is going to have any success; its past few NX cameras have been a little underwhelming in terms of image quality, and there has not been any other unique hook to it. Upping the pixel count and making the body smaller isn't going to be enough Samsung; your old enemy Sony has done that already. Hit the link for the preview.

"The Samsung NX200 is the company's fifth NX camera but only the third body design, and represents a significant step up for the series. It's built around a completely new 20.3MP APS-C CMOS sensor and wrapped in the series' first all-metal body. The result is a handsome camera of similar size to Sony's NEX models but one that takes a rather different approach."

Samsung has launched its 5th NX camera, the NX200, which is the successor to the NX100. The improvements are in a new 20 megapixel sensor of the APS-C size, a beefier magnesium alloy body, and an upped ISO range to ISO 12,800. Other niceties include 1080p video at 30FPS, and the ability to have full manual control while taking videos, and recording at a variety of speeds, from 0.25x to 20x. The camera is a bit smaller than the NX100 as well. The LCD is still a nice 3" AMOLED screen, though of the PenTile variety. I wonder though, if Samsung is going to have any success; its past few NX cameras have been a little underwhelming in terms of image quality, and there has not been any other unique hook to it. Upping the pixel count and making the body smaller isn't going to be enough Samsung; your old enemy Sony has done that already. Hit the link for the preview.

With CES 2011 coming, expect to see a deluge of new consumer cameras, and Samsung is the first with their announcements. The NX11 is an update of the NX10, and most notably adds the i-Function feature introduced in the NX100, which essentially is a customisable function button built into the lens. The other change is in the grip design, which looks to be slightly better than the older one. It retains all of the features of the NX10, including the 3.0" AMOLED screen and 720p video recording. Available in February with the 18-55/3.5-5.6 kit lens for US$649.

The second camera is the WB700, which is a compact superzoom with an optically stabilised 18x 24-432mm equivalent f/3.2-5.8 zoom lens. What is interesting about the WB700 is that it comes with a 16 megapixel sensor; a sign of things to come in 2011? More pixels is the last thing the small sensor compacts need; I thought we stopped the insanity already, but I guess not. Features 1080p video recording, and interestingly enough, RAW format for stills. Ships in April for US$299. Photo of the WB700 after the break.

Samsung introduces NX11 interchangeable lens camera

Samsung WB700 super zoom camera

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"In this review, I'm going to stick to one camera from each maker. I'm ignoring the more DSLR-like cameras with optical (EVF) viewfinders, such as the G and GH series from Panasonic and the NX5 and NX10 from Samsung. What I'm looking to cover here is the cameras most likely to act as a competent compact replacement for a typical DSLR user. To that end I've narrowed things down to these four:"

Continuing from his earlier compact camera review, Thom Hogan looks at four mirrorless cameras (I can't quite call them EVIL, can I?) and not surprisingly finds them all capable of producing good photos; just a matter of what one's preferences are. Personally, I can't give up a viewfinder, so all of them are out for me. If you're looking for such a camera though, check out the article for a experienced photographer's viewpoint.

"Samsung has announced the addition of the NX100 to its NX series of mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras. It features the same 14.6Mp sensor and 3.0" OLED screen as the NX10, which are built into a flat, 'compact camera style' body. It also offers the i-Function feature that allows the use of the focus ring to control various camera functions when using compatible lenses. To complement this feature the company has launched two lenses with i-Fn buttons - the 20-50mm F3.5-5.6 ED kit zoom and 20mm F2.8 pancake lens."

Today's a big day, as three manufacturers decided that somehow Tuesday is a good day for announcements. The most interesting of the lot is Samsung's GF1/Pen competitor, the NX100. Thanks to Samsung's useless Press Release site, I have no images for you dear readers, save for a nicely watermarked image from DPReview (honestly, why they watermark PRESS IMAGES is beyond me).

The NX100 is an interchangeable lens compact using Samsung's own NX mount with APS-C sized sensors, in this case, a 14 megapixel Samsung development. Highlights include a 3" AMOLED display, 720p video, two command dials, and the ability to use i_Function lense. These lenses have an extra button on them, which when pressed, will allow the focus ring to perform other functions; kind of like the Canon S90/S95's customisable front command ring. The lenses have icons on them to show what kind of lenses they are; portrait icon for portrait lenses, and so on. The lenses communicate with the camera depending on the focal length, and will set the appropriate scene mode. Looks like Minolta's card system from the early 1990s revived, but placed in lenses instead of cards.

The two new lenses that debut are the 20-50/3.5-5.6 compact zoom, which collapses like many of the Olympus Pen lenses, and the 20/2.8 pancake lens. This gives Samsung about three kit zooms; two versions of the 18-55 (with and without stabilisation), and this 20-50. Samsung's lens lineup is rather pedestrian at this point, which is not good for a new system looking to attract users in a crowded market with many entrenched players.