Samsung NX300 Performance

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Samsung NX300 Performance

Timing and Performance

Mixed performance with fast autofocus and burst rates, but slow single-shot cycle times and buffer clearing.

Startup/Shutdown
Power on to first shot	~1.2 seconds	Time it takes to turn on and capture a shot.
Shutdown	~0.8 second	How long it takes camera to turn off before you can remove the memory card.
Buffer clearing time	16 seconds after 14 large/superfine JPEGs*	Worst case buffer clearing time. -- This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card.
	15 seconds after 5 RAW files*
	18 seconds after 5 RAW+ LSF JPEG files*
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/sec UHS-I SDHC card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity and noise reduction settings can also affect cycle times and burst mode performance.

Startup and shutdown times were faster than average for a CSC, but longer than most DSLRs. Buffer clearing will depend on image size and quality, as well as card speed. Here, the Samsung NX300 was faster than prior NX models but still sluggish. (Note that the NX300 user manual does say UHS-1 cards are supported.)

Mode Switching
Play to Record, first shot	~0.9 second	Time until first shot is captured.
Record to Play	~2.7 seconds	Time to display a large/superfine JPEG file immediately after capture.
Display recorded image	~1.0 second	Time to display a large/superfine JPEG file already on the memory card.

Play to Record mode switching time was good, but Record to Play was quite sluggish.

Shutter Response (Lag Time)
Full Autofocus, Single-area AF mode	0.116 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	0.299 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 Auto flash enabled	0.408 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with the lens already at the proper focal distance setting. Built-in flash enabled.
Continuous AF	0.114 second	This mode usually shows no speed increase with our static subject; we have no way to measure performance with moving subjects.
Manual Focus	0.088 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	0.071 second	Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

The Samsung NX300 exhibited full-autofocus shutter lag (with the subject at a fixed distance) that ranged from only 0.116 second in single-area AF mode to 0.299 second in multi-area AF mode when using the 18-55mm kit lens in our tests. This is very fast, particularly Single-area AF mode. Enabling the bundled flash increased shutter lag to 0.408 second, to account for the preflash metering.

Shutter lag was 0.114 second in continuous mode AF, though the subject may not be in focus in this mode. When manually focused, the Samsung NX300's lag time dropped to 0.088 second, which is quite fast. The NX300's prefocused shutter lag time was 0.071 second, which is close to average.

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/Superfine JPEG	1.12 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots, 10 seconds to clear*.
Single Shot mode RAW	1.72 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 2 shots, 10 seconds to clear*.
Single Shot mode RAW + LSF JPEG	2.56 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 2 shots, 15 seconds to clear*.
Early shutter penalty?	No	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 Hi Mode Large/SuperFine JPEG	0.12 (8.07 fps); 14 frames total; 16 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 14 shots, then slows to an average of 1.11s or 0.90 fps when buffer is full.
Continuous Hi Mode RAW	0.14 (7.14 fps); 5 frames total; 15 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 5 frames, then slows to an average of 1.98s or 0.50 fps when buffer is full.
Continuous Hi Mode RAW + LSF JPEG	0.13 (7.69 fps); 5 frames total; 18 seconds to clear*	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 5 frames, then slows to an average of 3.01s or 0.33 fps when buffer is full.
Flash Recycling	2.8 seconds	Flash at maximum output.
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/sec UHS-I SDHC card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity and noise reduction settings can also affect cycle times and burst mode performance.

Single-shot cycle times are sluggish and irregular, with averages ranging from 1.12 seconds for large/superfine JPEGs to 2.56 seconds for RAW+LSF JPEG files.

Continuous Hi mode at full resolution was well above average for its class, though, at about 8.1 frames-per-second for large/superfine JPEGs. That dropped to 7.1 fps for RAW and oddly increased a bit to 7.7 fps for RAW+LSF JPEGs. That's a little slower than Samsung's 8.6 fps spec, but still quite fast.

Buffer depths were decent with JPEGs at 14 large/superfine JPEGs before the camera slowed, but quite shallow when RAW files were captured, at only 5 RAW or RAW + LSF JPEG frames. Note that our test target for this is designed to be difficult to compress, so JPEG burst lengths may be longer with typical subjects. The NX300 has a Burst mode that can capture at up to 30 frames-per-second at a reduced resolution of 5 megapixels, however we didn't test that mode.

As mentioned previously buffer clearing is on the slow side, taking up to 18 seconds to clear after a burst of just 5 RAW + LSF JPEG frames, and that's with a very fast UHS-1 card. This is an improvement over the NX200, though, as the NX300 now losslessly compresses RAW images, producing .SRW files that are less than half the size of the NX200's.

Flash recycle was good, taking an average of 2.8 seconds after a full power discharge.

Download Speed
Windows Computer, USB 2.0	6,791 KBytes/sec	Typical Values: Less than 600=USB 1.1; 600-769=USB 2.0 Low; Above 770=USB 2.0 High

Download speeds via USB 2.0 were just okay. You may want to consider a separate card reader, especially if you shoot a lot of RAW files or HD videos. (Note that this test was performed with a SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/sec UHS-I SDHC: Slower cards would likely show slower transfer times.)

Bottom line, the Samsung NX300's performance is a mixed bag. Autofocus speeds are fast, startup is good, but single-shot cycle times are sluggish. Continuous mode speeds are quite good, though buffer depths are shallow with RAW files. Buffer clearing times have improved over the NX200, but are still on the slow side.

Battery

Battery Life
Slightly below average battery life for a compact system camera.

Operating Mode	Battery Life
Still Capture, (CIPA standard)	320 shots

The Samsung NX300 uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack for power, and comes with a single battery and an AC adapter for in-camera charging via USB. Samsung rates the NX300's battery life at 320 shots per charge using CIPA standards. That's a bit below average for a CSC, so we recommend getting a second battery for your NX300 if you plan any extended outings or shoot a lot of video.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on a fully-charged rechargeable battery), 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))