Samsung EX2F review
The superb lens tops the impressive list of features, but numerous niggles hold it back
Specifications
1/1.7in 12.0-megapixel sensor, 3.3x zoom (24-80mm equivalent), 319g
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Another concern is that automatic exposure settings were poorly chosen in low light. Smart Mode (Samsung’s name for auto mode) restricted the ISO speed to 800 and the shutter speed to 1/8s, which resulted in under-exposed shots in very low light. Program and priority modes refused to budge beyond ISO 400 and used shutter speeds up to 1 second, resulting in blurry shots in low light. The 1/1.7in sensor is capable of decent results up to ISO 1600, but it shouldn’t be up to the user to have to set it manually.
Crisp, smooth details and balanced skin tones – we’ve no complaints about this shot
Then again, the bright f/1.4 lens means that manual intervention isn’t usually necessary in typical household lighting, as long as subjects are reasonably static. It’s a sharp lens, too, giving crisp details into the corners of frames. Image quality was excellent up to ISO 400, although it struggled a little with complex, fine textures.
The lens is sharp but handling of these dense textures is good rather than great
Faster ISO speeds took their toll on details. It’s common for noise reduction to smear fine details, but photos also exhibited a strange pixelated quality on close inspection. Processing raw files in Lightroom gave much better results, but given the performance penalty of shooting raw, we’d be hesitant to use it routinely.
Zooming in in overcast weather has pushed the ISO speed to 400, but details are still crisp, with little evidence of noise reduction
By ISO 1600, fine details have all but disappeared. Also note the pixelated edges around the white areas
1080p videos exhibited sharp details and flattering colours, but the zoom was clearly audible on the soundtrack and low-light clips fizzed with image noise. There’s no manual exposure control for videos, and slow-motion clips are limited to VGA resolution. It’s fine for casual clips but not for demanding use.
Basic Specifications | |
---|---|
Rating | *** |
CCD effective megapixels | 12.0 megapixels |
CCD size | 1/1.7in |
Viewfinder | none |
Viewfinder magnification, coverage | N/A |
LCD screen size | 3.0in |
LCD screen resolution | 614,000 pixels |
Articulated screen | Yes |
Live view | Yes |
Optical zoom | 3.3x |
Zoom 35mm equivalent | 24-80mm |
Image stabilisation | optical, lens based |
Maximum image resolution | 4,000×3,000 |
File formats | JPEG, RAW; MP4 |
Physical | |
Memory slot | SDXC |
Mermory supplied | none |
Battery type | Li-ion |
Battery Life (tested) | 240 shots |
Connectivity | USB, AV, micro HDMI, Wi-Fi |
Body material | magnesium alloy |
Lens mount | N/A |
Focal length multiplier | N/A |
Kit lens model name | N/A |
Accessories | USB cable |
Weight | 319g |
Size | 64x112x51mm |
Buying Information | |
Warranty | one-year RTB |
Price | £380 |
Supplier | http://www.johnlewis.com |
Details | www.samsung.com/uk |
Camera Controls | |
Exposure modes | program, shutter priority, aperture priority, manual |
Shutter speed | 30 to 1/2,000 seconds |
Aperture range | f/1.4-7.7 (wide), f2.7-8.5 (tele) |
ISO range (at full resolution) | 80 to 3200 |
Exposure compensation | +/-2 EV |
White balance | auto, 5 presets with fine tuning, manual |
Additional image controls | contrast, saturation, sharpness |
Manual focus | Yes |
Closest macro focus | 1cm |
Auto-focus modes | multi, centre, flexible spot, face detect, tracking |
Metering modes | multi, centre-weighted, centre, face detect |
Flash | auto, forced, suppressed, slow synchro, red-eye reduction |
Drive modes | single, continuous, self-timer, AE bracket, WB bracket, precapture |