Design Sojourn | Strategic Industrial Design Blog

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The Samsung NV10 digital camera is a sublimely designed camera that really considered all the past joys of manual cameras packaged all in a brilliantly retro styled hedonistic black housing.

I picked up this beauty a few weeks before I moved to Australia, and so far it has been living up to my expectations. Its basically a cheap 10.1 mega pixel camera that does a fairly decent job. However I’ll give it to you straight, its not all perfect. One of the issues I have with this product is that if you want to create really good photos consistently, and in every take, this is not the camera for you.

The main issue I find that it has a lot of problem focusing and getting the right exposure when it is taking photos in a optical zoom mode. I often have to take the same photo a few times just to get the best exposure. Some how the electronics are just do not produce consistent shots, often producing shots that are blurred. However when the camera gets it right, the photos are great. I also find keeping the camera in a zoomed out mode also helps. I cant help wonder if it’s the optics or the electronic metering system?

The vertical and horizontal buttons are operate also as touch activated scroll bars by running your finger along the heads of the buttons.

Other wise I find the design just wonderful and I have to admit I bought it based on the design without much care for the electronics or features. It has a great battery life, very slim solid built, and an amazingly bright LCD display. The retro-ness of the product does not end with the look, it has a whole host of other retro effects such as shutter sounds, large dials, and the pop up flash lid. All together it reminds me of the manual SLRs of the past. This I have to say is the result of some clever design by managing the products’s user experience in such a manner. The other innovations include an interesting menu navigation method that uses touch sensitive technology. You can scroll through your photos if you run your finger over the tops of the buttons.

All in all, you have to be aware of what you are buying with this product. This camera is almost half the price of the similar specified Sony or Canon. So if you can manage your expectations or just love the design go get it! But if you want the best money can buy this camera is not for you.

Read other reviews for the Samsung NV10: 1, 2, 3, 4 ,5, 6, 7, 8.

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