Speaking of Wi-Fi connected cameras, Samsung’s entire new range of NX mirrorless cameras has Wi-Fi inside. This is an improvement on Nikon’s new D3200 – also announced today – which requires an awkward dongle to do the same trick.
There are three new models, the NX20 and NX210, which replace last-year’s NX10 and NX200. There is also the brand-new entry level NX1000. All share the same 20MP sensor as the old NX200.
While all of these cameras come with Samsung’s i-Function lenses (with camera controls on the lenses themselves) and a slew of fancy picture-processing options, the real news is the Wi-Fi connectivity. I was a big fan of putting Android into cameras just for the Wi-Fi and the chance to use apps like Instagram right from the device. But these new cameras from Samsung and Nikon have gotten me thinking.
After all, if you want to do this kind of processing and sharing with a camera, you likely got that desire from doing it already, with the phone you have already. So why not just make it real easy to share the photos between the two?
Samsung hasn’t just dumped a wireless radio in there and walked away, either. You can upload direct to photo-sharing sites like Flickr and Picasa, connect to a smartphone and beam photos or use the phone as a remote viewer and trigger, auto backup to a computer or Skydrive and even watch photos on your (presumably Samsung) TV.
The only thing I worry about is that this will not only be Android-only, but Samsung-phone-only. This would probably be a smart business move, but a lousy move for customers.
Then again, if it can send to a computer, there must be a way to at least share the photos to an iOS device.
The new NX cameras will cost $1,100 (NX20) and $900 (NX210 – both with 18–55mm kit lens) and $700 for the NX1000, with a 20–50mm lens. Release dates TBA.
