Samsung NV15 Review

The Samsung NV8, NV15 and NV20 are very closely related designs, with the most significant difference between the three being the choice of imager. The NV15 offers a resolution at 10.1 megapixels, and adds a 16:9 wide-aspect image mode in place of one of the NV8's lower-res modes.

The NV15 shares the same body design, LCD and the same Schneider-Kreuznach Varioplan branded 3x optical zoom lens as the other two models. The lens features a 35mm equivalent focal range of 34 - 102mm, and a minimum macro focusing distance of just 1.6 inches. Maximum aperture across the zoom range varies from f/2.8 at wide angle to f/5.1 at telephoto.

Images on the NV15 are both framed and reviewed on a 2.5" LCD display with 230,000 pixel resolution, as the camera foregoes any form of optical viewfinder. The Samsung NV15 offers ISO sensitivity ranges from a minimum of ISO 100 equivalent to a maximum of ISO 3200, and shutter speeds vary from 1/1500 second to a max. of 15 seconds. Images are stored in 20MB of built-in memory or on SD / MMC / SDHC / MMC Plus cards, with a limit of 2GB capacity for all except the SDHC type - this being guaranteed to a maximum of 8GB. NV15 connectivity options include both NTSC / PAL video and USB 2.0 (speed unspecified) computer connectivity. Power for the NV15 comes from a proprietary SLB-0837 Lithium-ion battery, and the camera ships with a Samsung Master software package.

The Samsung NV15 is slated to ship from Fall 2007, at a suggested price of US$299.