Samsung NX1000 Flash

Coverage and Range
A somewhat weak flash with uneven coverage. About average exposure compensation required.

Coverage. Flash coverage from the Samsung NX1000's bundled flash is uneven at wide angle (20mm), leaving corners and a band across the center of our flash test image a little dim. Narrow coverage at wide angle isn't unusual, though, and some of the corner fall-off is from the lens itself. Coverage is more uniform at telephoto (50mm), though exposure is darker and some fall-off is still noticeable.

Exposure. Our Indoor Portrait test scene is bright with +0.7 EV exposure compensation, about average for this test. The camera's Slow-Sync flash mode produced an overly bright image at the default setting, with a strong orange cast from the ambient room lighting from the longer exposure.

ISO 200 Range. With the 20-50mm kit lens, flash exposure starts out reasonably bright at 6 feet at wide angle, roughly maintaining the same brightness out to about 10 feet, then drops off from there. There were some inconsistencies in brightness, though, such as the brighter image at 14 feet versus 13 feet. At full telephoto, flash exposure is quite dim at 6 feet but becomes brighter up to 9 feet, then decreases in brightness from that point on. The brightest exposure (9 feet) is however still dim, so we rate the range at less than 6 feet.

Manufacturer Specified Flash Test. The Samsung NX1000's bundled flash is rated at a Guide Number of 8 meters at ISO 100. That works out to about 10.6 feet at wide angle, and 6.6 feet at telephoto with the kit lens at maximum aperture at ISO 200. In the shots above, the NX1000 produced a fairly bright target at wide angle, but flash exposure at full telephoto is quite dim. Given the wide angle shot is reasonably close to ideal brightness, we'd say Samsung's flash rating is credible. Our standard test method for flash range uses a fixed setting of ISO 200, to provide a fair basis of comparison between cameras. We also shoot two shots using the manufacturer-specified camera settings, at the range the company claims for the camera, to assess the validity of the specific claims.