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Samsung Point and Shoot and Non-DSLR
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Samsung NV40 Digital Camera Reviewby Tim BarribeauPublished on August 18, 2008
The Imatest software also produces a second graph, which shows the difference between the captured and ideal colors as a vector. The squares represent the ideal value, and the circles what was actually captured, with a longer line equating to less accurate colors.
The NV40 performed well in this section, especially with skin tones, which are important for capturing accurate portraits. It outperformed both the Pentax Optio Z10 and Olympus Stylus 830. There were some small problems in the blues and browns, but these were relatively minor, especially considering the price the camera. Cheap point-and-shoot models can sometimes fare poorly in this test, but the NV40 showed good color fidelity. Samsung NV40 Color Scores
The NV40 produced a top score of a horizontal resolution of 2288 lw/ph horizontal and 2055 lw/ph vertical. This is an impressive result; putting the NV40 well above the cameras we're comparing it with. For a $280 camera, the NV40 produced a clear image, with only minor over-sharpening. This means that your photos will contain a large amount of detail, and allow you to zoom and crop your picture while still retaining image quality. Samsung NV40 Resolution Scores
Samsung NV40 Manual Noise Scores
Samsung NV40 Auto Noise Scores
White Balance (10.88)
Unfortunately, the NV40 did not fare as well when using preset white balance settings. While the score it received is not terrible, it was not at the same level as the automatic setting. This camera fared worse on this test than the Powershot SD1100 IS and Stylus 830. Because of this, we would recommend leaving the camera on automatic white balance while shooting, as it produces excellent color accuracy.
Samsung NV40 White Balance Scores
Low Light (6.39)
The NV40 had some trouble in this stage, and the color accuracy dropped noticeably at 30 lux and below. If you're shooting in very dark conditions, you may notice that the color in your shots doesn't come out particularly well. However, in the second half of our low light testing, the NV40 fared much better. This latter test involves taking long exposures, and running the resulting images through Imatest. Normally, we test from one second to 30 seconds, but we were unable to produce reliable results for exposures longer than 10 seconds, given the limited manual controls offered by the NV40. However, at the exposures we did test, the NV40 performed above average with minimal noise and good color accuracy. Samsung NV40 Low Light Scores
Dynamic Range (8.27)
Dynamic range measures how accurately a camera can reproduce the complete spectrum, from white to black, differentiating between the very dark and very light in a single shot. This is most important in high-contrast scenes, to make sure that blacks stay black and the whites stay white in the photo. To test this we photograph a backlit Stouffer chart at all ISOs, which shows a series of tabs running from bright white to pure black. The more tabs the camera can distinguish, the higher the dynamic range score.
Once again, the NV40 performed well, and was consistently able to capture a wide range of grays. We expect to see a certain amount of loss at the higher ISOs, and while the NV40 is no exception, it did better than most other compact point-and-shoots. Once again, it has managed to outperform our comparison cameras. Samsung NV40 Dynamic Range Scores
Speed/Timing
Digital camera speeds have improved dramatically over the last few years, but the time between shots, or the time from startup to first being able to take a photo can still make all the difference when trying to grab that perfect shot. Startup to First Shot (7.20)
The NV40 took, on average, 2.76 seconds to go from being completely powered off to taking the first shot. This is a mediocre result, and slower than many other cameras, and will make a difference if you are trying to grab the camera quickly for a picture. Shot-to-Shot (9.43) The NV40 has two shooting modes to capture quickly occurring action. The fastest option is Motion Capture, which will take 7 shots per second, but only at a resolution of 1024x768, and a maximum of 20 shots. At full image size, there's High Speed, which takes 3 images in quick succession. The manual says this mode shoots 2.5 frames per second, but our tests only showed a shooting speed of 1.75 frames per second, a significant difference. What the manual doesn't mention is that High Speed mode is only available at ISO 400 or lower. Shutter-Shot (10.00) The time from the moment you press the button to the moment a shot was taken used to be a major problem with point-and-shoot cameras. With the NV40, the delay is so small as to be immeasurable, less than 0.2 seconds. Processing (4.81) This test measure the time from when a full resolution photo is taken until it appears as a preview on the LCD screen. The NV40 averaged a time of 1.78 seconds, which is quite fast. It's not as speedy as the Canon Powershot SD1100 or the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ8, but it is faster than the Pentax Optio Z10 and Olympus Stylus 830.
Video Performance (6.58) The NV40 shoots video at two sizes, 640x480 (VGA) and 320x240, both at either 30 or 15 fps. It stores the movies in MPEG 4 (.avi) format, which is known for taking up only small amounts of storage space. We tested the NV40 at full resolution and highest frame rate to see just how well it performed. Bright indoor light – 3000 Lux We illuminate our test charts to a very bright 3000 lux and stabilize the camera on a tripod to simulate optimal recording conditions. Frames from the resulting video are exported and run through Imatest to judge color accuracy. The NV40 scored slightly above average for this test, but not exceedingly well. ![]() Low light – 30 Lux Just because the sun goes down doesn’t mean you want to stop recording, so we test the color fidelity at 30 lux too. Most point-and-shoot cameras struggle a bit when it comes to recording videos in the darkness, and there is a noticeable quality drop with the NV40. It’s an average result, similar to what we saw on the Canon SD1100, but better than the Lumix DMC-LZ8. ![]() Resolution (3.20) We also tested the resolution of the captured video from the NV40, which gave an above average performance in this test. It captured 618 lw/ph horizontal and 583 lw/ph vertical, which is better than the Powershot SD1100 IS, Optio Z10 and Stylus 830. It’s not fantastic resolution, but low scores are par for the course in this test, as compact point-and-shoot cameras are simply not on the same level as camcorders. Samsung NV40 Video Scores
We took the NV40 into the streets of Boston to shoot fast-moving cars, and see how well the camera captures speeding objects. The results were good, as colors came out bright, and there was minimal blurring and noise, and no stuttering. While a decent result for a compact camera, don’t expect the video to look good on an HDTV, as it’s still quite low resolution.
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