Samsung announces the NX Mini - The thinnest & lightest ILC on the planet!

 

 

Samsung must have seen the Pentax Q-series and the Panasonic GM1 and felt the challenge: "If they can do it, we'll do it smaller!" Hence, the Samsung NX Mini, otherwise known as the "world's slimmest and lightest interchangeable lens camera."

Indeed, this little guy is certainly that. Imaging Resource editor William Brawley made a special trip to New York today to see just how small the NX Mini really is, and he's the perfect candidate, having just completed an exhaustive review of the oh-so-petite Panasonic GM1. After a few hours with the diminutive NX Mini, he reported that it is indeed: "...extremely compact and very slim... easy to carry in a jacket pocket."

 

The Samsung NX Mini looks like a smart phone with a small zoom lens attached

So how did Samsung achieve this feat? First, they started with a smaller 1-inch 20.5MP backside-illuminated CMOS sensor, complete with a new lens mount to go along with it (don't worry, NX owners, an adapter will allow any NX lens to mate with the NX Mini, as you'll see a rather ridiculous example of in our hands on preview). But they still managed to include a 3" tilting 180-degree LCD display, perfect for selfies, and of course all the connectivity you'd expect from a Samsung product. Battery life is also impressive; we were left wondering how they fit such a big battery into such a small case, and still had room left over for all the camera innards.

 

The 180-degree swivel surely makes selfies a breeze

Intrigued? We certainly are, and are eager to get one into our lab for testing! Until then, head on over to our Samsung NX Mini First Impressions report to see much more about our preliminary findings. And check back with us soon as we're sure to be bringing you much more on this small and unique little camera.

The Samsung NX Mini will be available in early April in a variety of configurations. It will retail for US$449, paired with the new 9mm f/3.5 (24.3mm equivalent) NX-M lens, or US$549 when paired with the 9-27mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS (24.3-72.9mm equivalent) OIS lens and SEF-7A external flash. NX-M lenses will also be available separately, the 9mm and 9-27mm NX-M lenses retailing for US$179 and US$279, respectively.  A 17mm f/1.8 OIS (45.9mm equivalent) NX-M lens will be available at a later date, but its price and timing haven't been disclosed at this time.