The Samsung NX500 arrives, says “aloha” on Hawaii’s Big Island. See our first set of gallery images.

posted Sunday, March 15, 2015 at 12:41 PM EDT

The new Samsung NX500 -- an NX1 crammed into an NX300-style body -- is here. Offering many of the performance features as the NX1, including a large 28.2-megapixel APS-C sensor, 4K video recording and fast hybrid phase-detect + contrast-detect AF (with 205 on-sensor phase detect pixels), the new NX500 aims to provide most of the horsepower and image quality chops as its bigger brother but in a more compact, lightweight and more easy to use package. Aimed a families, travelers, step-up users wanting more than what their smartphone can offer, as well as enthusiasts looking for a smaller secondary camera, the NX500 offers a lot of bang for your buck.

We were fortunate enough to be invited to try out one of the first full-production version of the Samsung NX500 on Hawaii's Big Island and put the camera through its paces in an ideal scenario: the family vacation. From hiking in the jungle and strolling on the beach to hopping on tour busses and enjoying an impressive luau, the small size and performance of the Samsung NX500 looks to an excellent option for users looking to branch out and step up to a more advanced, more powerful camera, but one that's still small and can offers simple operability.

Head over to our Samsung NX500 Gallery Page to view and download full-resolution real-world sample images, including RAW files for many shots (please note, however, that currently the NX500's .SRW RAW files are not yet compatible with Adobe Camera Raw. And, of course, stay tuned for more of our Samsung NX500 review soon!

Meanwhile, here's a selection of Gallery shots to pique your interest: