Samsung NX300 20.3MP CMOS Smart WiFi Mirrorless Digital Camera with 18-55mm Lens and 3.3" AMOLED Touch Screen (Black)

I did a good deal of research to find the right camera. I wanted a solid camera with a generous feature set but I didn't want to spend a huge sum either - my budget was roughly $500. At Christmastime the NX300 went on sale, enough of a sale to put it in my price range. After doing a little more research to make sure I had found the camera I wanted, I committed. So far I have been very pleased with it.Every digital camera I have used before this one has been a point-and-shoot camera, the best of which was actually another Samsung. These types of cameras are great for casual use like a day at the amusement park or making memories on a day trip, but for making really exceptional photographs these cameras are usually ill-suited. Either the focus is flat (meaning everything is one-dimensional), the zoom isn't granular enough, the color is wrong or something else is off just enough to make the picture not quite perfect.The Samsung NX300 is a "prosumer" camera, meaning it's a high-end consumer and low-end professional camera. Unlike point-and-shoot cameras it has an interchangeable lens system and can be manually focused. It has a good number of features I have not seen on less capable cameras too, such as Wifi connectivity, the ability to add color filters to the lens and much more. I'll hit the highlights.Without the lens in place, this camera is about the same size and weight as a point-and-shoot camera, maybe slightly larger but not appreciably heavier. Adding the lens adds some bulk and heft to it but it's not as large as something like a Canon Rebel or a high end Nikon. To me this makes this camera a lot easier to carry around than some other models with which it competes, and that can be important when traveling. That said, if not used to working with a camera that has interchangeable lenses there's more to carry (particularly if you use more than just a single lens). A good camera case is a good investment.This camera has several modes of operation, each optimized for specific shot types and accessible through the spin dial on the top of the camera. The one I use most when experimenting is Auto, which does most of the adjustment for the user and tries to calculate the best settings given the lighting and conditions. It's a good, general purpose mode for most situations. Smart mode is a good choice too, which has presets for a good number of predefined situations like optimized face shots, panorama views, night shots, light traces, silhouettes and several more. Of those smart settings, "Beauty Face" makes adjustments to portraits to compensate for imperfections and this is a great feature. There is a mode for giving the lens the highest priority when it comes to adjustment and that's the mode that gives the user the maximum control over zoom and focus. Manual mode gives the user good control over what to focus on automatically but the camera maintains most of the control. Shutter priority mode allows the user to adjust the shutter speed which is great for when a faster shutter is needed (like an action shot). Aperture priority mode adjusts the aperture width and thus the amount of light allowed in. Program mode seems to be roughly equivalent to Auto mode; I am still learning about that one.The menu system on this camera is accessible through a nice touch-screen interface, providing access to all manner of settings. I will not go into great detail on the menu system as to do so would make this more of a novel instead of a review. I will say this, though - it is very easy to accidentally make changes when using the menu system if handling the camera in any but the most careful of ways. Just picking up the camera when it is turned on must be done with care as it is almost too easy to touch the screen and make changes without intending to do so. It's fantastic that the screen is sensitive and can be so easily manipulated but it's so sensitive that care is required.One of the greatest things about this camera is that it can take pictures that have a 3-dimensional quality to them. The main subject of the picture in the foreground is clearly in focus and the surroundings at different depths are in varying levels of being out of focus, and this gives the photo a depth that usually is very difficult to achieve with a point-and-shoot camera. I spent an afternoon playing with the camera just experimenting with this and was thrilled at how natural and easy this camera makes it to take this kind of picture.Built into the camera is the ability to connect to a Wifi network for uploading images to a smartphone or to share online. This is a nice-to-have but it is not a feature I personally need.The lens system on this camera is what makes it shine. I bought the 18mm-55mm OIS lens with the camera and this is my first exposure to smart lenses. The lens assembly itself has smarts built into it and when the camera mode it set to give the lens the most control the lens controls the digital zoom and the focus. The focus ring on the lens allows the user to determine what specifically in the picture is in focus which allows for overriding the camera's idea of what should be the main subject of the picture. Sometimes the camera gets it wrong and by using the lens to override it's possible to get the focus just perfect, even on very distant shots or shots that are very busy.Samsung occasionally updates the firmware for this camera - and the lenses - and updating is relatively simple. With a PC connection the firmware download to the camera is quick and the update is applied through the menu system.Though this camera is more than capable of taking high-quality video I do not use it for such. I prefer using a dedicated video camera. That said, video recording is easy with the touch of a single button on the back of the camera, to the right and just above the touch screen. What little recording I have done with it has turned out excellent of course, but I will not use this function most of the time.For all of the positive things I can say about this camera, I do have a couple of minor gripes. First, though it's convenient to have a removable flash I would have preferred to have the flash built-in to the camera body. It's a minor issue but it's worthy of mention. A printed manual would have been nice too, but at 200+ pages it is understandable why one is not included. At least it's on the CD in the package. It is common knowledge that the battery life is not great on this camera and that the only way to charge the battery (without buying a separate charger) is to plug in the camera, either with a USB charger or into the computer itself.I have found the camera I really wanted. It is a highly capable camera with a really generous feature set and it takes amazing shots (with some practice). There's a learning curve with it if all you have used prior is a point-and-shoot, but the effort is worth it.

I got my camera, lense and battery with nothing else! No usb cable, strap or dvd/instructions. Would have been nice for the company to disclose these were not included.

I got this camera to compliment my larger DSLR. I took the camera to Disneyland and while it did take good pictures, I found the focus slow and almost unusable in low light. I did not know how much I missed the viewfinder until I went into manual focus mode and the screen would try to assist the MF by zooming. This is a feature that can be turned off.The video quality was awesome and it did work well, I also found the 18-55 OIS lens to be nice.One major problem I had was in very bright light, it was very difficult to take pictures due to the glare on the screen.I ended up returning the camera because of the poor low light focusing and lack of EVF.

I purchased this camera as a big step up from a mobile phone camera.This is a great entry-level CSC camera with the 18-55MM lens. The LCD screen is quite nice although difficult to see in sunshine as others indicated. This is the same problem with mobile phones and tablets. This camera has a lot of features more than I can understand. Btw, I am a novice photographer.Initially, looked at the Sony CSC NEX 6L. Sony camera is quite nice and has a view finder coupled with LCD screen. After trying out both cameras, I found the user interface much easier to navigate on the Samsung than the Sony. I choose to give up the view finder as Samsung LCD can pivot at different angles.Samsung just released NX3000 in Jun-2014 which is little cousin of NX300. Of the two, NX300 is a better camera based on professional reviews.Samsung isn't known for cameras, but in time they will be in par with Canon, Sony, Panasonic, and Olympus.

I got a bad camera!! The screen goes wrong. Is divided and placed randomly pink, not allowing you to see anything. Now I must see to fix it, and I have no service Samsung where I live in Argentina. A huge headache and a waste of time and money. What a disappointment!! Unpresentable