Samsung NV7 OPS

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NV7 OPS Prices

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This digital camera has a definite retro design on the front, but takes a very modern approach on the back. Samsung completes the unique look with a shimmering blue ring around the lens barrel, which the company calls “a new mark of Samsung quality and style” in their brochure. The NV7’s body is constructed from metal and seems fairly sturdy, but its lens protrudes significantly, which could pose a problem when attempting to fit it into small places. The overall retro design is reinforced with the protruding lens, popup flash, slight hand grip, and black metal body. It adds up to be one of the most attractive Samsung digital cameras on the market.

The Samsung NV7 is set wide at 4.17 inches. It isn’t too tall, but just right at 2.45 inches. The main portion of its body is thin at 0.8 inches, but the wide lens barrel protrudes out to 1.4 inches – and that’s when the lens is tucked away and powered down. Overall, the camera is fairly small but its large lens won’t fit into a pocket. The NV7 looks very similar to the NV10 except that it is slightly wider – and a touch heavier too. The weight of the NV7 is an issue. It weighs 8.65 oz without the card and battery, which is twice the weight of most compact models. The hefty digital camera comes with a wrist strap, but I wouldn’t recommend dangling this model from a wrist unless you want a workout.

 

The Samsung NV7 is compact but still leaves room for handling features. There is a slight hand grip that curls out, much in the way that knuckles do, and it has a steep edge for fingers to grip. The texture or material isn’t anything special, but it is the shape that keeps the hand from slipping. The back of the camera has a metal thumb grip toward the top. Its placement is comfortable, which is a nice change from when users have to make shooting changes. The Smart Touch design is great except for the fact that the thumb has to extend far to the left to slide over the buttons surrounding the LCD. This isn’t painful at all, but could take an extra split second longer to get back to shooting position. The handling is good in general and there is plenty of room for both hands to comfortably grip the NV7.

 

There are few true controls on the Samsung NV7 because many of the camera and shooting changes are done with the Smart Touch interface. The Smart Touch interface is the LCD screen displays icons on a grid. There are seven buttons beneath the LCD screen and six buttons to the right of the screen. The buttons are directly below the icons on the LCD screen. When a button is pushed below the flash icon, for example, the flash options appear in a column above the icon. These options correspond to the buttons on the right side of the LCD screen. This sounds horribly complicated, but it is really very easy. Once users get the feel of the sensitive buttons, flying through menu options will be a regular occurrence. This Smart Touch interface is much faster and much more efficient than the traditional multi-selector interface that normally requires users to repetitively push a tiny button hundreds of times. More and more digital cameras are shying away from the multi-selector, with Nikon and Canon including rotary dials for faster scrolling. Samsung’s Smart Touch system works very smoothly though, perhaps more smoothly than the rotary dials.

 

The menu system definitely looks different on the NV7 because of the Smart Touch system, not to mention the unique navigation discussed in the previous section. The shooting menu is available from the LCD screen’s live view at all times. The icons are displayed along the bottom of the screen, with the options popping up in columns above them. When an icon is scrolled over, a text word or two appears above it to name the function. There are more functions than can fit across the seven buttons, so there is a second row that is accessed with an expansion button. Here are the shooting options.

 

 

The setup menu is accessed through the other menu by a wrench icon. While the shooting menu provided some live views, the playback menu has a solid background. The setup menu is organized into four tabs, and each tab shows a few options.

 

 

Overall, the menus are thorough and are even somewhat fun to navigate through because of the Smart Touch interface. The setup menu is well organized, but the abundance of icons in the shooting menu can look daunting to some.

 

The Samsung NV7 OPS is easier to use than one would think. Its interface allows users to make changes without wearing out the multi-selector or developing arthritis in their thumbs and will be quite familiar to the abundance of iPod owners out there. There are several live previews in the shooting menu that help users make more informed decisions about which setting to use. Overall, the Samsung NV7 is quite intuitive.