Samsung Galaxy NX Image Quality

Sharing the same 20.3MP CMOS sensor and Samsung's latest DRIMe IV image processor, it's not surprising that the image quality from these two cameras looks very similar. Interestingly, at default shooting settings, the Galaxy NX handles the pink fabric a bit better than the NX30, while the NX30 handles the red a bit better in terms of contrast. But the NX actually renders some of the fine thread pattern in the red-leaf fabric more faithfully, which points to slight differences in default noise reduction. The mosaic tile crop is also nearly identical, with the Galaxy NX looking a hair sharper.

The Samsung wins hands-down in this comparison with lots of crisp, clean fine detail. The difference is most obvious in the mosaic and fabric areas, where the Samsung is noticeably sharper and more finely detailed despite the Canon's more conspicuous sharpening halos, though the Canon's smoother rendition of the red-leaf pattern does retain a bit more detail in the leaves.

There's a slight resolution difference here (20MP vs 16), but both do very well with fine detail at base ISO. Even at ISO 100, you can see the Samsung's default noise reduction at work smoothing out shadow detail slightly. The mosaic tile pattern from the Samsung is incredibly sharp and detailed with higher contrast compared to the Fujifilm. With the fabric swatches, the Samsung does much better with the pink fabric, although the Fuji easily wins in the red fabric comparison.

Again, another resolution difference (20MP vs 24), however, the sharpening on the Samsung is noticeably stronger than the Nikon's. Both are excellent at producing clean, crisp fine detail, however, the Nikon has the edge with fine detail in the fabric swatches. We can also see how the Samsung's default noise reduction is more aggressive, even at ISO 100, with our textured background smoothed-out in the shadows.

Another tough comparison here between the Samsung and the Sony. Again, both cameras display excellent performance at producing crisp, finely detail images at base ISO. The sharpening of the Sony is not as strong as the Samsung's, which is evident in the mosaic comparison, though both show a lot of fine detail. The fabric crop comparison is a tough one, but the edge goes to the Sony with better reproduction of the leaf pattern in the red fabric.

Like we saw with the ISO 100 comparison, these two cameras are very similar at ISO 1600, with low noise and still a lot of fine detail. Where they differ, again, is in the fabric swatches with the Galaxy NX doing better at the pink fabric, while the NX30 is better with the red.

It's clearer now to see the effect of the more aggressive noise reduction processing from the Galaxy NX, as most of the noise, particularly in the shadows, has been removed, unlike the 70D, which shows a bit of grain. Nevertheless, the Samsung still does better with fine detail in mosaic crop and the pink fabric, while the Canon handles the red fabric a bit better.

Both cameras do very well here at ISO 1600 to balance noise reduction and fine detail, however their approaches are quite different. The Samsung's NR looks much stronger in the bottle crop while the Fuji leaves more luminance noise, however the mosaic crop is very detailed from both cameras. The biggest difference is in the fabric, where the Fuji blows away the Samsung in the leaf pattern of the red fabric. Still though, the Samsung does better with the pink fabric.

While the Nikon is still nicely detailed at ISO 1600, the Samsung does better with lower noise and crisper details in mosaic crop. However, the Samsung struggles with red fabric pattern, while the Nikon handles that tricky area much better.

Both the Samsung and Sony do fairly well with noise reduction in the shadows, as well as fine detail, though the Samsung's mosaic crop appears just a hair crisper and more natural than the Sony's. There's a noticeable difference in the fabric swatches, though, with the Sony reproducing a better semblance of the leaf pattern on the red fabric, while the Samsung handles the pink much better (and the Sony noticeably struggles there).

Just like the other two ISO comparisons between these cameras, the bottle crops and mosaic tile crops look remarkably similar. At ISO 3200, both show relatively low noise and a nice amount of fine detail for an APS-C sensor. The fabric swatches are where they differ most: the Galaxy NX handles the pink better, while the NX30 does a slightly better job at reproducing the leaf pattern in the red fabric, though noise and NR processing take their toll.

It's even clearer now to see the effect of the more aggressive noise reduction processing in flatter areas from the Galaxy NX, as most of the noise, particularly in the shadows, has been removed, unlike the 70D, which shows a bit of grain. Nevertheless, the Samsung still does better with fine detail in mosaic crop and the pink fabric, while the Canon handles the red-leaf fabric better.

The Fujifilm shows its prowess at high ISO shooting with only minor -- if almost pleasant -- luminance noise in the shadows, very low chroma noise, and lots of fine detail. There is a fairly big resolution difference, but the mosaic pattern from the Fujifilm looks a bit more natural, while the Samsung's shows a bit of artifacting from the noise reduction (though still displaying a nice amount of fine detail). The starkest comparison, again, is the fabric swatches, with the Fujifilm doing a fantastic job with fine detail, even in the troublesome red fabric. The Samsung does show an advantage with the pink fabric, however.

Like we saw with the previous Fujifilm comparison, the Nikon D7100 trades off more aggressive noise reduction for better fine detail handling, which in this case only works in certain areas, notably the red fabric. In the mosaic crop, the black tile pattern from the Nikon looks a bit more natural while the Samsung's shows a little distortion from the NR processing.

While both cameras here at ISO 3200 show some aggressive noise reduction processing, the Sony's looks heavier and more patchy in the bottle crop, with less detail in the mosaic crop as well. The big difference, as we've seen with many of these comparisons, is in the fabric crops, where the Samsung still handles the pink fabric quite well, whereas the Sony does a slightly better attempt at reproducing the leaf pattern in the red fabric.