Image Quality

Packing a large APS-C sized sensor, image quality is a key area where we expect the NX20 to excel. Given the choice of three metering modes – Multi, center-weighted and spot, it produced well-balanced exposures, even in tricky conditions where bright highlights and dark shadows could easily fool a metering system. On the rare occasion that highlights were clipped in our images, highlight detail was quickly retained in Camera RAW by setting the recovery slider between +20 and +30. Tonally the shots were punchy too. Colour in our test images faithfully resembled the scenes we photographed, leaving us with little work to do in post processing.

Samsung NX20 review sample image gallery

With more and more CSC’s pushing the creative effects they offer, the NX20 seems to be lagging behind slightly in this area. Picture Wizard has nine presets to try out including landscape, forest, retro and classic but don’t expect to be able to apply more creative effects such as selective colour or miniature effects in-camera.

To convert our files we used Adobe’s DNG Converter 6.7 but for those using Photoshop CS6, Camera RAW 7.1 also supports the NX20’s RAW files. Image sharpness and detail is well controlled by the CMOS sensor, though noise is present at higher ISO’s. Noise is handled well up to ISO 800, but push beyond this point and it’s noticeable when images are viewed at close proximity. We identified no shift in colour up to ISO 3200, however at ISO 6400 and 12800 our test images did appear to have a very slight magenta cast. For optimum results, you’ll want to keep the sensitivity below ISO 800 and rely on the higher settings only when you really need to.