Samsung NV11

Reviewed August 2007

Test Photos

STILL LIFE PHOTO

This subject is photographed in a room that has a mix of fluorescent and incandescent light, but which is not brightly lit. The camera's flash is used to add fill light. The backdrop is 1.95 m (6.5 ft) from the camera.

To capture this image, the NV11 was set to its default settings, including Auto ISO and Auto white balance. With these settings the NV11 yields a relatively bright image and sticks to its lowest sensitivity of 80 ISO. The image has somewhat cool colours, and shadows have a very slight blue tone. The overall sharpness is quite good and there is no noticeable noise.

ZOOM PHOTO

Now we zoom in on the on the centre of the image above to gauge the sharpness of the image at the zoom's maximum setting. The camera remains at the same distance as in the preceding photo.

To capture this image, the camera automatically increases the sensitivity marginally, to 100 ISO, but noise is not noticeable.

At the telephoto end, the NV11 yields a blue-tinted photo whose colours are noticeably different than those of the wide angle shot, and which do not match those of the monitor, which were perfect irrespective of the focal length used.

With plenty of sun, the NV11 yields beautiful and accurate colours, as can be seen with this shot using the Super Macro mode. The Super Macro mode is only accessible when the zoom is at the widest angle, otherwise only the standard Macro mode is shown. The Super Macro mode allows the camera to focus on a subject this 1 to 10 cm (0.39 to 3.9 inches) from the front element of the lens. The standard Macro mode, on the other hand, allows focus from 10 to 80 cm (3.9 to 31.2 inches) with the zoom at the wide end, and 50 to 80 cm (19.5 to 31.2 inches) at the telephoto end.

BUILDING PHOTO

This image is our "outdoor" test. The architecture of the building, in particular its angled girders, immediately show the presence of jaggies. The shadowed entrance can also often reveal the quality of the exposure.

Outdoors and with natural light, the exposures the camera yields using the default Multi metering and the Auto white balance are excellent.

Still, when the image is seen at 100% on a monitor, some mottling can be detected in the blue sky, likely a result of the compression, as well as a few jaggies along the sharp edges of the beams that form the building's canopy.

ZOOM PHOTO

Zooming in on the entrance of the building, the shadowed entrance takes on a greater importance for the metering and can cause an overexposure of sections that are directly lit.

At the telephoto end, the NV11 delivers another well-exposed shot with no visible difference in the colour tone from the wide angle shot. Highlights and shadows are well balanced, and detail can be seen in both. Likewise, there is no serious pincushion distortion, nor is there any chromatic aberration.

A closer inspection of the shadows reveals little or no noise, and a good overall sharpness.

NIGHT PHOTO

Since this camera is capable of long exposures, a photo taken at night is included here.

Set to the ASM position and to the Manual mode, the NV11 is capable of exposures as long as 15 seconds and provides full control over elements that are important when capturing night shots such as the aperture, the sensitivity and the white balance.

Worth noting, the tripod mount of the NV11 is at one end of the base, on the lens side, which, unless the photographer pays attention to the levelness of the camera, can lead to photos that tilt to one side.

With the sensitivity set to 80 ISO, the level that is the least prone to noise, the NV11 produces excellent images.

Noise processing is achieved using a dark frame system that captures a second frame without opening the shutter, a process that allows noise to gather on the sensor, making it possible to extract it from the first shot before storing the image.