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Samsung has announced the NV7, a 7.0 megapixel camera in a super slim design (4.2 x 2.5 x 8 inches).
The NV7 features Optical Pictures Stabilization and Advanced Shake Reduction (ASR), Schneider 7x optical zoom lens and multiple manual functions. It will be available in the fall of 2006.
Get full details of the Samsung NV7 in Samsung's official announcement below.
Compare prices on the Samsung NV7
Get a Price on the Samsung NV7
The NV7 is one of three new models that make up the NV Series of digital still cameras from Samsung. All three models feature unique, slim designs with sleek bodies in brushed black, stainless steel and a trademark Samsung blue ring located around the lens. This premium line was developed after two years of extensive market research, and as a result, two of the NV models feature a revolutionary, easy-to-use Graphical User Interface (GUI) that allows users to easily toggle through menu functions using a convenient touch pad located along the LCD on the back of the camera, instead of the traditional dial located at the top of the camera. For outstanding image quality, the NV7 features legendary Schneider optics.
"We worked closely with our designers to develop a long-zoom camera that would fit within the lifestyle of today's style-conscious consumer and came up with the slim-bridge design," says Stewart Henderson, National Marketing Manager at Samsung Opto-Electronics. "As part of the NV Series, this model is sleek, compact and includes important features like optical picture stabilization in a package that can be easily slipped into a purse or pocket."
For outstanding image quality, the 7-megapixel NV7 includes a world-renowned Schneider 7x optical zoom lens (equivalent to 38-270 mm in 35 mm format). For clear images in undesirable shooting conditions, the NV7 includes an Optical Picture Stabilization system. The system combats the many causes of blurry images, including handshake, long zoom shooting, long exposures and nighttime shooting, by incorporating a sophisticated CCD shift mechanism that senses motion and that will automatically shift the CCD to compensate for the movement. Also included is Samsung’s Advanced Shake Reduction (ASR) that electronically combats blurry images in environments lacking sufficient lighting.
For the more advanced photographer looking for additional control, the NV7 provides multiple manual functions at the user's fingertips. The NV7 features three kinds of manual exposure adjustment, including Aperture Priority, which allows more control of depth, Shutter Priority, which allows better capture of fast motion, and Manual adjustment, which allows users to set the shutter and aperture themselves. For additional control, the NV7 also includes an Auto Macro function that automatically adjusts shooting distance and focus between 10cm to infinity, as well as a super macro mode that enables subjects to be photographed up to as close as 4 cm.
For smoother video and a larger view of the movie on LCD and TV screens, the NV7 can record in VGA (640x480) at 30fps. The NV7 also includes a movie stabilizer function that automatically detects and corrects minor lateral and vertical camera movement. For additional control the continuous video recording function allows the user to pause and resume video recording at any time, while the built-in movie editing function allows users to edit video in-camera. The NV7 features several special effects functions for creative control in-camera, such as Color Effect, Highlight, Photo Frame, Negative and Composite Shot. Color effects include B/W, sepia, blue, green and red.
For crystal-clear images under various shooting conditions, the NV7 features 11 scene modes including Night, Portrait, Children, Landscape, Close-up, Sunset, Backlight, Fireworks, Beach & Snow and Text Recognition. Text Recognition, a feature unique to Samsung digital still cameras, allows users to shoot documents such as books, papers and magazines and then extract text from the image taken using the bundled “Digimax Reader�? text recognition software.
The Samsung NV7 has an MSRP of $449.99 and will be available in Fall of 2006.
Compare prices on the Samsung NV7
Digital Camera Info reviews the Samsung NV7 OPS where they write - 'Samsung priced the NV7 at $399 and I can take plenty of guesses why. Perhaps it’s the 7.2-megapixel image sensor. Perhaps it is the high-resolution 2.5-inch LCD screen with the groundbreaking Smart Touch interface. Maybe it is the 7x optical zoom lens pinned onto the 0.8-inch thick body. Perhaps it is the optical picture stabilization system that is so effective it even warrants the end of the camera’s title, Samsung NV7 OPS. The camera has many great qualities, but most have to do with its raw specs. The camera also has plenty of great components, but those didn’t translate into beautiful pictures on the display model we examined. Many of the pictures looked blurry, noisy, or distorted from various recording factors. So while the Samsung NV7 OPS looks like the next big thing on paper, if there isn’t a firmware fix or some other alterations to the internal components prior to shipping, its pictures won’t pan out to be as gorgeous as its specifications.'
PhotographyBLOG reviews the Samsung NV7 and writes - 'So, as with the NV10 that we reviewed a couple of weeks ago, the Samsung NV7 offers a truly unique user experience, but sadly the images that it produces do not match the high quality of the rest of the camera. Thankfully the purple fringing problem that plagued the NV10 has been largely cured on this camera, but the NV7 is still as noisy, with even the slowest speed of ISO 100 displaying some noise. The image stabilisation system compensates for this to some extent, in that you can set the camera to ISO 100 and use slower shutter speeds than normal, but Samsung really needed to come up with a better sensor than the one in the NV7. It's a real shame, as the NV7 is otherwise very enjoyable to use and a genuine breath of fresh air. If you can live with the noisy images, then we can just about recommend the Samsung NV7.'
DPReview has a review of the Samsung NV7 OPS and writes, "Taken as a whole the NV7's output is probably best described as being overprocessed. In good light the results are bright and almost ridiculously over-saturated (making wintry, dull London look like Disneyworld). ... Much more serious is the issue of noise, which rears its ugly head even at the lowest ISO setting, but really becomes a problem at ISO 200 and above. ... And yet if this all sounds terrible I should add some qualification. From the 500 or so shots taken in preparation of the gallery a very small number showed any serious problems - focus and exposure are generally very reliable (though the focus struggles in low light), and the color may be over cooked, but I'm sure it would appeal to the novice 'point and shoot' customer wanting punchy shots without doing any post processing."
DCResource has a review of the Samsung NV7 OPS and writes, "Like the NV10, the NV7's image quality is its weak point. The good news it that photos are well-exposed, with pleasing colors and well-controlled purple fringing. The bad news is that images start out with both visible noise and noise reduction artifacting, and go downhill rapidly from there. The NV7's closest competitor, the Canon PowerShot A710 IS, produces much better photos in all situations. Redeye was also a big problem, as it was on the other NV-series cameras. The Samsung NV7 OPS is a camera with a lot of nice features that ultimately is as let down for reasons I listed earlier. If you are intrigued by its design and features and will be sticking to small prints then it may be worth a look (just buy a spare battery). But you'll probably be better off choosing something else entirely. Something that will take better photos, have a more traditional user interface, and last longer on a set of batteries."
ThinkCamera has a review of the Samsung NV7 OPS and writes, "you soon get fed up with the funky smart touch buttons when you keep getting the wrong button and you have to use your finger nails to make sure you don't hit two at once or select the wrong one. The battery is poor on the NV7. From first charge to the camera shutting down I only managed to take a measly 40 photos. It warned me that the battery was low but as I had taken so few I didn't believe it. But it was!"
Digicam Review has a review of the Samsung NV7 and writes, "Sometimes a little bit of noise is acceptable, especially if you can use the lowest ISO setting for noise free photos, but the NV7 features noise even when using ISO100. The "Smart Touch" interface is an interesting idea, but whilst it was designed to make using the camera easier, none of the buttons are labelled, and I found the controls fiddly and difficult to use, meaning even the simplest of changes were time consuming. The camera has appealing features, such as CCD-shift image stabilisation, a 7x optical zoom lens, however, it also has a number of annoying faults: for example optical image stabilisation is off by default, the lens is rather bulky meaning the camera is difficult to fit in your pocket, noise is visible at all ISO settings, and battery life is disappointingly short. Overall, it makes it difficult to recommend this camera. It produces bright colourful images, and is fairly speedy in operation, but I found it annoying and awkward to use, even after several weeks of trying to get used to the user interface."
LaptopMag has a review of the Samsung NV7 OPS and writes, "Images were decent overall, but as we bumped up the ISO, we experienced increasing noise. At ISO 200, some artifacts began to appear, and at ISO 400 the noise was more apparent. Even when the antishake feature was enabled, we were a little disappointed with some of the shots. On the plus side, the Night and Super Macro modes performed very well, and once we tweaked a few settings, we were able to capture some good photos. The 7X optical zoom is one of the highlights of the NV7 OPS. While it adds to the camera's bulk, it also got us very close to a building across the street without sacrificing quality. ... Overall, the Samsung NV7 OPS feels solid and produces decent images in most situations, although its interface involves a bit of a learning curve. If you're not quite ready for a DSLR, however, this digicam is worth a look."
Vnunet has a review of the Samsung NV7 and writes, "The NV7’s worst feature is probably image noise; moving above ISO 100 introduces rather a lot of it. But thankfully the NV7 comes with two different forms of anti-shake technology to help you take sharp images at slower shutter speeds without resorting to high ISOs. The same electronic system found in the NV10 is used here, but with the addition of optical picture stabilisation built into the lens. ... It’s not without its faults, particularly image noise, but we were impressed with the NV7 OPS. It’s an interesting combination of a small camera with a big lens that seems to pay off."
CNET has a review of the Samsung NV7 and writes, "The NV7 OPS' performance matches its image quality, delivering acceptable but not great speed for its class. Based on CNET Labs' test results, it wakes up and shoots in a longish 3.1 seconds, with a respectable shutter lag of 0.5 and 1.0 second in bright and dim light, respectively. The 2 seconds it takes between consecutive single images puts it slightly behind the competition, though the 2.3 seconds it takes with flash enabled puts it ahead. Unfortunately, its continuous shooting is fixed at about 8 frames and .8fps, regardless of image size. The Samsung NV7 OPS shows a promising interface but is held back by sluggish performance and so-so photos."
Trusted Reviews has a review of the Samsung NV7 OPS and writes, "As might be expected the lens performs superbly, producing excellent sharpness across the entire frame at all focal lengths, with minimal wide-angle barrel distortion. Colour rendition and exposure are also excellent, although dynamic range is somewhat limited, with little shadow detail and some burned-out highlights. However the NV7 does have a major problem with image noise, and I’m not talking about the buzzing OPS system. Even at the lowest ISO setting and normal shutter speeds there was visible chromatic noise (random red/green mottling) in the darker and mid-tone areas of the picture and luminance noise elsewhere. The 7MP image files average just over 3MB, which is a bit on the small side, and there is some evidence of image compression on most images even at the maximum quality setting. This is the fault of the image processing system, which is very disappointing. It could have been so much better."
Get a Price on the Samsung NV7
Posted by Belle in our Samsung category on July 04, 2006
How big is the LCD on the NV7? And do we know anything about memory or media card types?