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Samsung Galaxy NX Performance

Timing and Performance

Generally slower than most mirrorless cameras, though burst mode is fast.

Startup/Play to Record/Buffer Clearing

Power on
to first shot
~2.7 seconds

Time it takes to wake up from sleep mode and capture a photo.

Play to Record,
first shot
~3.0 seconds

Time until first shot is captured.

Buffer clearing time
27 seconds
after 16 LSF JPEGs*

16 seconds
after 5 RAW files*

Worst case buffer clearing time after a burst. -- This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card. Some cameras won't retract their lenses and shut down until the buffer is cleared.
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a Samsung Class 10 UHS-I microSD memory card. Slower cards may produce correspondingly slower clearing times.

The Samsung Galaxy NX takes about 2.7 seconds to wake-up and take a shot from sleep mode, and there's a pre-press penalty if you press the shutter button before it's ready. That's pretty slow for a dedicated CSC, but perhaps understandable for one that's Android based. From a cold boot, it takes about 30 seconds, and there's no lightweight camera-only mode to speed that up. Switching from Playback to Record mode and taking a shot takes about 3 seconds and requires 2 presses of the shutter button, quite slow. Buffer clearing was sluggish with a Samsung Class 10 UHS-I microSD card considering the relatively shallow buffers.

 

Shutter Response (Lag Time)

Full Autofocus
Single-area AF mode
0.334 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with the lens already at the proper focal distance setting. (All timing performed with Samsung 18-55mm kit lens at medium focal length.)

Full Autofocus
Multi-area AF mode
0.422 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with the lens already at the proper focal distance setting.

Full Autofocus
Single-area AF mode
Flash enabled
0.553 second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with the lens already at the proper focal distance setting. Built-in flash enabled.

Manual Focus
0.201 second

For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "prefocused".

Prefocused
0.146 second

Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

Full autofocus shutter lag was on the slow side in Single-shot Center-AF mode, at 0.334 second. In Wide-area AF mode, that increased to 0.422 second. With the flash enabled, Center-AF mode shutter lag increased to 0.553 second. Manual focus required 0.201 second, also on the slow side. Prefocused shutter lag was 0.146 second which while still responsive, is one of the slower prefocused shutter lags we've tested in recent history.

To minimize the effect of different lens' focusing speed, we test AF-active shutter lag with the lens already set to the correct focal distance.

Cycle Time (shot to shot)

Single Shot mode
Large Super Fine JPEG
1.12 seconds

Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots, 2 seconds to clear.*

Single Shot mode
RAW
1.33 seconds

Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots, 36 seconds to clear.*

Early shutter
penalty?
Yes

Some cameras don't snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.

Continuous High mode
Large Super Fine JPEG
0.12 second (8.19 frames per second);
15 frames total;
27 seconds to clear*

Time per shot, averaged over buffer of 15 shots, then slows to an average of 0.66 second or 1.52 fps.

Continuous High mode
RAW
0.13 second (7.84 frames per second);
5 frames total;
16 seconds to clear*

Time per shot, averaged over buffer of 5 shots, then slows to an average of 1.30 seconds or 0.77 fps.

Flash recycling
6.3 seconds

Flash at maximum output.

*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a Samsung Class 10 UHS-I microSD memory card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity also affects cycle times and burst mode performance, with higher ISOs generally increasing cycle times and reducing burst performance.

Cycle time in single-shot mode was a bit slow for a mirrorless camera, capturing a best quality JPEG frame every 1.12 seconds, though there is a early press penalty (if you press the shutter button too soon after a previous shot, it is ignored). Cycle time increased slightly to 1.33 seconds for RAW files. The Galaxy NX also has a RAW+JPEG capture mode with unspecified JPEG quality, however we did not test that mode.

Full-resolution Continuous High mode was quite fast, at 8.19 frames per second for 15 best quality JPEGs. Buffer clearing took at rather lengthy 27 seconds (with a Class 10 Samsung UHS-I Micro SD card). When shooting RAW files, burst speed dropped only slightly to 7.84 frames per second, but buffer depth was quite shallow at 5 frames, taking 16 seconds to clear. The NX also offers a Continuous Normal mode rated at 5 fps, and a 5-megapixel Burst mode that shoots up to 30 JPEGs at 10, 15 or 30 fps, however we did not test those modes.

The Samsung Galaxy NX's flash recycles in about 6.3 seconds after a full-power discharge, which is on the slow side for an interchangeable lens camera.

 

Download Speed

Windows Computer, USB 2.0
10,407 KBytes/sec*

Typical Values:
Less than 600=USB 1.1;
600-769=USB 2.0 Low;
Above 770=USB 2.0 High

Connected to a computer or printer with USB 2.0, the Samsung Galaxy NX's download speeds were reasonably fast. Note that we used fast Samsung Class 10 UHS-I microSD, so slower cards may result in slower download speeds.

Bottom line, the Samsung Galaxy NX's timing performance is slower than most compact system cameras apart from burst speed, probably because of the added overhead of running Android instead of an operating system optimized for cameras.

Battery Life

Very good battery life.

Operating Mode
Number of Shots
Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery,
(CIPA standard)
440

The Galaxy NX's battery life has a CIPA rating of 440 shots per charge, which is well above average for a mirrorless model, and impressive for one running Android and with such a massive screen (though Samsung doesn't state if that's when using the EVF or the LCD).

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on a fully-charged rechargeable battery as appropriate), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

 

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