Following in the footsteps
of the NV10, Samsung's
new Samsung NV11 continues the use of Smart Buttons,
but adds a longer, 5X zoom, a fractionally larger LCD monitor,
and extends the range of shooting modes.
Like the NV10, the NV11 has
13 Smart Buttons (5 on the right and 7 below
the monitor) which are used to access camera settings, and
make selections.
The keys are hyper sensitive and react immediately
to the lightest touch. (Samsung has a Flash animation on their
site that shows very well how the system works. Click here
to see it.)
The power switch, along with the two-stageshutter release and the mode dial
are located on top of the camera, on the right side.
The Mode Dial
is on the edge of the body, its diameter matching the curve
of the camera's side precisely. The Mode Dial has eight positions,
as does the NV10, but the Manual mode of
the NV10 is replaced on the NV11 by an ASM
position that provides a choice of Aperture Priority, Shutter
Priority, and Manual.
When turning the Mode Dial while the camera is on, the movement
is accompanied by an animation of the rotating dial on the
monitor, and each mode offers a short description of its use:
P
Program
mode allows access to all camera settings such as white
balance and ISO sensitivity, while the camera selects
the aperture and shutter speed.
ASM
Allows selecting any one
of three shooting modes using the top most Smart Button on
the right side of the screen, and then selecting the specific
mode by pressing the corresponding Smart Button below the
monitor.
The apertures or shutter
speeds are selected using the Smart Buttons, a process
that involves rubbing the buttons below the screen lightly
and in one direction, so as to make the aperture or
shutter speed change gradually.
Aperture Priority provides a range
of apertures that covers from f2.8 to f7.3 when the
zoom is set to the wide angle end, and f4.4 to f11 at
the maximum telephoto.
Shutter Priority
allows setting the shutter speed from 1/2000 second
to 15 seconds.
Manual mode provides control over
both aperture and shutter speed, along with all other
camera settings. The aperture range available is the
same as with the Aperture Priority mode, and the shutter
speed selection is similar to the Shutter Priority mode.
ASR mode
stands for Advanced Shake Reduction.
It serves to capture sharper images when there is insufficient
light. It works by increasing ISO sensitivity gradually
and by processing the image post-capture. Capture time
is longer than normal, the camera indicating "Capturing!"
and then "Processing!" on the monitor, a period
during which the camera is not supposed to be moved. Compared
to the NV10, the NV11 is described has having an enhanced
ASR mode.
Special Effect
mode serves to add filters to images: Black and White,
Sepia, Blue Tone, Red Tone, Green Tone, Negative or User,
which allows setting RGB values. In addition, it offers
the possibility of adding frames to images; or creating
an animated Motion GIF by capturing a burst of images
(400 x 300 or 320 x 240 pixels at 5 or 2 fps to a maximum
of 50 images) or by combining 2, 3 or 4 shots into a single
image.
SCENE
provides access to the 12 Scene modes
of the NV11, one more than the NV10, which preset the
camera to photograph the selected subject.
Choosing the specific scene mode is accomplished using
the uppermost Smart Button on the right
of the monitor to open the selection, and then pressing
the keys below the monitor to select a mode, or move
to the next group:
Each of the 12 modes is illustrated
by a photo typical of the mode, and by a line of text below
the image:
Night
Portrait
Children
Landscape
Biz
Close-up
Text
Sunset
Dawn
Back light
Firework
Beach and Snow
Movie Clip
mode allows capturing video clips in MPEG-4 format at
either one of two frame sizes:
640 x 480 pixels at 30 frames per second, or 15
frames per second.
320 x 240 pixels at 30 frames per second, or 15
frames per second.
Focus, metering and white balance are continuously
adjusted as the recording progresses. The optical zoom
remains available, but sound recording is temporarily
suspended when it is used, in order to prevent the sound
of its motor being captured. Recording can last as long
as there is space on the memory card, or up to 4 GB/6
hours.
Photo Gallery
mode corresponds to a Playback mode, and serves
to review photos and movies captured with the camera.
Auto mode
handles most camera settings, simplifying the user's task.
Still, colour tone (warmer or cooler colours) and brightness
(more or less) can be adjusted, macro focus can be selected,
and the flash mode, self-timer, image size and quality
can be set.
All the other external controls of the NV11 are on the right
and below the 2.7-inch, 230,000
pixel monitor.
The zoom control is a toggle, moving the
zoom to the telephoto end when pushed up and the wide end
when pushed down. In addition, when the NV11 is in playback
mode, pushing the zoom control to the telephoto side,
allows zooming into an image (up to 11.4X. And, when the control
is pulled towards the wide angle side, ,
images can be seen in an index view with 9 thumbnails per
screen.
Just like the NV10, the NV11's controls are all — with
the exception of the
button which starts the playback mode — Smart Buttons.
To change a setting, the button closest to the icon representing
that setting is pressed, displaying all the possible settings
so the new setting can be selected with the opposite buttons,
which also confirms the change.
Brushing lightly against the rows of buttons displays the
name of each setting, as shown below:
The vertical icons on the
right side of the monitor allow controlling the exposure
compensation, the sensitivity, the white balance, and
depending on the mode in use, the aperture, the shutter
speed, and special effects.
The icons on the lower portion
of the monitor serve to control: the focus mode, the flash,
the image size, the shooting mode (auto exposure bracketing,
continuous, etc.), the metering, and sharpness.
The last button on the bottom row displays the Extension
Menu button, identified by an "escalator-like"
icon, ,
whose little arrow indicates the presence of another level
of options. When accessed, the new settings' icons move the
existing line up, allowing the additional settings' icons
to take their place. The icon's arrow then changes to the
opposite direction , ,
indicating the way to return to the previous row or column
of settings. The settings of the NV11 are extensive, and are
detailed in the Characteristics
and Interface and Software sections
of the review.
Worth noting, the lowest button on the right side of the
monitor is not considered a Smart Button although it looks
the same as the others. It serves to back out
of a setting, or to start the face recognition mode.
The extension menu provides
controls over the effects, the image quality, the self-timer,
the microphone (to use the camera as a digital voice recorder
or to add an annotation to an image), or access the Setup
menu.
The last external button on the back of the NV11 is a simply
labelled round button, ,
that accesses the playback mode, which Samsung
calls the Photo Gallery mode.
The NV11 is equipped with what seems to be the same small
pop-up flash as the NV10. The flash is built into the top
of the camera and when the camera is set to a Scene mode,
or the Auto mode, the flash opens automatically.
When the camera is set to
the Program or any of the A, S, or M modes, the flash must
be set to Auto for it to open automatically. The flash is
unavailable when the camera is set to Super Macro mode.
With the ISO sensitivity set to Auto, the flash is able to
light from 0.3 to 4.9 m (12 in. to 16.7 ft) with the zoom
at the wide angle end, and from 0.5 to 3 m (1.64 ft to 9.84
ft) at the telephoto end.
The Samsung NV11 is a modest
revision of the NV10, adding some features such as a longer
zoom and additional modes. Ergonomically, however, the NV11
is not noticeably different from the NV10. As we had noted
with the NV10, the interface system is surprisingly effective,
and pleases most of the people who try it. It is not, however,
without some drawbacks: setting apertures and shutter speeds
in the A, S, and M modes is tricky, requiring much rubbing
of the lower row of buttons to reach the desired setting.
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Introduction
,
allows zooming into an image (up to 11.4X. And, when the control
is pulled towards the wide angle side, 
,
images can be seen in an index view with 9 thumbnails per
screen.
button which starts the playback mode — Smart Buttons.
To change a setting, the button closest to the icon representing
that setting is pressed, displaying all the possible settings
so the new setting can be selected with the opposite buttons,
which also confirms the change. 
,
whose little arrow indicates the presence of another level
of options. When accessed, the new settings' icons move the
existing line up, allowing the additional settings' icons
to take their place. The icon's arrow then changes to the
opposite direction , 
,
indicating the way to return to the previous row or column
of settings. The settings of the NV11 are extensive, and are
detailed in the Characteristics
and Interface and Software sections
of the review. 
