Samsung NX mini review – Dynamic range
Given the small sensor housed inside the NX mini, I wasn’t expecting to be blown away by its dynamic range but it is still respectable, scoring 10.69EV at ISO 100 in our lab test. One of the most interesting things to note is that the dynamic range performance of the camera is very stable up until ISO 3200, delivering consistent performance where other cameras show a much larger decline as you move through the sensitivity range.
Overly bright skies are easily lost as the camera fights to capture information in darker areas. However, Samsung has included Smart Range+ and HDR modes in the dynamic range section of the menu to help you squeeze a greater amount of detail from highlight and shadow areas, and the results are decent. Smart Range+ intelligently analyses the scene and brings up shadows while preserving highlight detail, whereas HDR mode combines three images captured in quick succession at different exposures settings.
Using the Lightroom software provided, it’s possible to adjust the exposure settings to get more out of the raw files.
Image: The NX mini has done a good job of capturing the varying colour tones, but in doing so the background highlights in this image have been slightly overexposed
