Samsung Announces N-Series Digital Cameras
By Geoff Duncan
July 05, 2006
Samsung has announced a new N-series of digital cameras, combining megapixels, zoom, cool features, and image stabilization in slim, somewhat pricey packages.
Samsung has taken the wraps off its new NV3, NV7 OPS, and NV10 N-series digital cameras, offering a set three slim, feature-laden shooters with a decent selection of features, although they also come with price tags which may make you think twice. The cameras' naming is a little counter-intuitive: the NV3 is intended to be a simple point-and-shoot with PMP capabilities, while the NV7 OPS carries the most features while the NV10 offers the highest pixel count.
The Samsung NV3 is tiny (measuring just 3.7 inches by 2.2 inches by a slim 0.7 inches) offers a 7 megapixel point-and-shoot capability Samsung's Advanced Shake Reduction (ASR) technology) a 2.5-inch LCD display, and personal media player capabilities, so you can take pictures and carry your tunes and videos at the same time. Users can convert MPEG, AVI, QuickTime, WMV, and ASF files for viewing on the NV3's built-in display using the including Digimax Converter software; MP3 and WAV audio files can also be converted in "several simple steps" for playback on the camera's built-in speakers or via headphones. The camera also a 3x optical zoom, 11 scene modes, and ships with text recognition software for extracting text from exams/blueprints/secret documents you might photograph. The camera also sports built-in editing functions (trim, rotate, etc.). Samsung doesn't say anything about expanding beyond the camera's built-in 16 MB, but we sure hope that's doable. Samsung says the NV3 should be available in "Fall" 2006&#!51which we take to mean October or November—for $350.
The NV10 is the highest-resolution N-series shooter, with 10 megapixel resolution, both a 3x optical zoom and a 5x digital zoom, a 2.5-inch color LCD display, and a touch-pad graphical user interface. Like the NV3, the NV10 is just 0.7 inches thick (not including the lens—which includes Schneider optics) and features Samsumg's ASR shake-reduction technology. The NV10 can record VGA video at 30 fps, and also features the 11 scene settings and built-in editing capabilities of the NV3. No PMP capabilities, and (again) no mention of storage capacity (or even built-in memory), but the NV10 will be priced around $400 when it debuts this "fall."
The NV7 OPS is slightly thicker (at 0.8 inches) and offers a mere 7 megapixels of resolution, but combined the NV10's Schneider optics with both physical anti-shake technology (which stabilizes the CCD) with the Samsumg ASR stabilization in the other N-series models. The N7 also sports a 7x optical zoom, three kinds of manual exposure adjustment, can record VGA video at 30 fps, and offers a number of built-in effects (sepa, color effect, highlight, etc.) and 11 preset scene modes. The NV7 OPS will run $450 when it hits stores this "fall."