[Release] Samsung launches their first DSLR

[Pink Floyd Veteran]

It's been rumoured for weeks, leaked ahead of annoucement and now it's here; Samsung's first digital SLR, and the first fruit of the Samsung / Pentax tie-in announced in October. The GX-1S is a lightweight 6 megapixel camera with a 2.5-inch screen, ISO up to 3200 and a Pentax AF lens mount. Nothing we haven't seen before; the GX-1S is a rebadged Pentax *ist DS2 (there's some new Schneider lenses too, but they also appear to be straight re-badge jobs).

Phil: Sorry for the late delivery of this story, it was due to go out tomorrow (but was leaked by another site earlier) and we were awaiting press materials from Samsung all day (which finally arrived at 7 PM our time).

Jump to:

• Press Release
  
• Specifications
  
• Additional images
  

Press Release:

Samsung unveils its first digital SLR - the GX-1S

• 6 mega-pixels CCD
  
• Light weight and portable - only 505g
  
• Large bright 2.5 inch colour TFT LCD screen
  
• Pentaprism technology provides clear, bright viewfinder
  
• 11 point auto focus
  
• High sensitivity up to ISO 3200
  

Samsung is announcing its advance into the digital SLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera arena with the launch of the six mega-pixel GX-1S.

Launching in February, the new interchangeable lens GX-1S is Samsung's first digital SLR camera, developed in conjunction with Pentax. Samsung now provides a full offering of digital cameras to cater for the needs of everyone - from point and shooters to advanced enthusiast photographers.

Offering high portability and mobility through its compact design, the GX-1S will weigh just 505 grams and house a 23.5mm x 15.7mm CCD image sensor. The 3200 ISO equivalent allows high sensitivity shooting in indoor environments.

The GX-1S also provides a continuous shooting speed of 2.8 frames per second (up to eight frames in JPEG mode).

Lens

The GX-1S will utilize the new advanced Schneider Kreuznach D-Xenon lens system and Pentax's lens KAF bayonet mount technology - all Pentax DSLR lens will be mountable on the GX-1S.

Viewfinder

The large TFT colour LCD screen (2.5 inch and 210K pixels) and Pentaprism technology ensure a clear and bright view. The field of view is 95% with magnification at 0.95x (50mm F1.4 lens).

Focusing, Shutter & Flash

Modes include AF Single (with focus lock) and manual focus together with continuous AF . Shutter speed is 30 ~ 1/4,000 sec. with Bulb. The flash is a built-in retractable P-TTL auto pop-up offering the following modes: Auto, Manual, Auto/Red-eye reduction, Manual/red-eye reduction. Angle of view coverage is 28mm wide-angle (equivalent to 35mm). Recharge time is 3 seconds.

Samsung announced its vision of becoming a world class digital camera manufacturer in May 2005. Since then, Samsung has seen strong success and rapid sales growth via the launch of innovative slim style cameras such as the Digimax i5 and i50 MP3. Its advanced technology was recognized again in the high-end camera Pro815 for semi-professional photographers.

Samsung GX-1S specifications

Sensor ? 23.5mm x 15.7mm CCD

? 6.3 million pixels total

? 6.1 million effective pixels

Image sizes ? 3008 x 2000

? 2400 x 1600

? 1536 x 1024 File formats ? RAW (12-bit)

? JPEG (EXIF 2.21) - 3 levels Color space ? sRGB

? Adobe RGB Lenses ? Schneider D-XENON Lens

? Pentax KAF2, KAF, KA mount lenses

* Power zoom not available

* K mount lenses available with (function limited)

* S mount lenses available with adapter (function limited)

* 67/645 lenses available with adapter (function limited) FOV crop 1.5x Focus ? 11-area AF

? TTL Phase matching AF system

? Focus point selectable

? EV 0 to 19 (ISO 100) detection range Focus modes ? AF-Single

? AF-Continuous (Action mode)

? Manual focus AF assist lamp yes, via flash Shooting modes ? AUTO SCN (scene)

? Portrait

? Flash off

? Program AE

? Shutter Priority AE

? Aperture Priority AE

? Manual

? Bulb Scene (SCN) modes ? Normal

? Portrait

? Landscape

? Macro

? Moving Object

? Night scene

Metering ? 16-segment

? Center-Weighted Average

? Spot ISO sensitivity ? Auto

? ISO 200

? ISO 400

? ISO 800

? ISO 1600

? ISO 3200 Exposure compensation ? -2.0 to +4.0 EV in 0.5 EV steps

? -2.0 to +2.0 EV in 0.3 EV steps Exposure bracketing ? 3 frames

? 0.3, 0.5 or 1.0 EV steps Shutter Electronically controlled vertical-run focal-plane shutter Shuttter speed ? 30 to 1/4000 sec

? Bulb Shutter x-sync 1/180 sec DOF preview Yes, on power switch White balance ? Auto

? Daylight

? Cloudy

? Shade

? Tungsten

? Fluorescent W

? Fluorescent N

? Fluorescent D

? Manual Viewfinder ? Eye-level type fixed penta-prism finder

? Natural bright-matte focusing screen

? Magnification approx. x0.95

? 95% frame coverage

? Dioptric adjustment (-2.5 to +1.5)

? Viewfinder info bar Viewfinder info ? Built-in flash status

? Picture mode

? In-focus

? Shutter speed

? Aperture value

? Exposure compensation factor

? Manual WB

? Manual focus

? ISO sensitivity warning

? AE lock

? Focus point indication

? AF frame with superimposed dislpay

? Spot AF frame Flash ? Built-in P-TTL pop-up flash

? Guide number 15.6 (ISO 200/m)

? Angle of coverage 28 mm (35 mm equiv.)

? Flash sync 1/180 sec

? Electronic pop-up Flash modes ? Auto

? Flash on

? Auto & Red-eye reduction

? Flash on & Red-eye reduction External flash ? Hot-shoe

? High speed sync

? P-TTL sync

? SEF-36PZF (optional) Image parameters ? Saturation (-2 to +2)

? Sharpness (-2 to +2)

? Contrast (-2 to +2) Custom function ? Default

? Custom (18 functions) LCD monitor ? 2.5" TFT LCD

? 210,000 pixels Drive modes ? Single shot

? Continuous (2.8 fps, up to 8 frames) Self-timer ? 12 sec

? 2 sec Remote release ? InfraRed remote (tbc)

? Wired (tbc)

? Instant or with 3 sec delay Connectivity ? USB 2.0 Hi-Speed

? Video out (NTSC or PAL)

? DC-IN

? Remote terminal Playback modes ? One frame

? Zooming in/out (up to 12x)

? Nine-image

? Slideshow

? Image rotation

? Delete: One-frame-delete, All-frames-delete, Card-format, Protect Digital filter B&W, Sepia, Soft, Slim Storage SD card Power ? 4 x AA batteries (NiMH rechargeable recommended) or

? 2 x CR-V3

? Optional AC adapter Weight (no batt/lens) 505 g (1.1 lb) Weight (no lens) 605 g (1.3 lb) (reduced by approx. 20 g if using CR-V3 batteries) <a name="images">Additional images 93 x 66 mm (4.9 x 3.6 x 2.6 in) Supplied software Digimax Master <a name="images">Additional images 93 x 66 mm (4.9 x 3.6 x 2.6 in) Supplied software Digimax Master

<a name="images">Additional images

Source

A real nice camera that will make competition to Nikon D50 and Canon Rebel XT (Y)

[CoolerUK]

:drool: :drool: :drool:

[vip]

very nice, wonder what the price is ??

[instant.human]

looks nice, i was a fan of the istD handling, but 6 megapixels is not state of the art anymore. atleast 8 should be there, its not that 6 aint enough but 8 is even better. anyways, thats a beginners-DSLR, so 6 megapixels will do for most people.

i will defenately try it out, when its released.

i can imagine a kit-pricing of about 900-1100€.

[Pink Floyd Veteran]

looks nice, i was a fan of the istD handling, but 6 megapixels is not state of the art anymore. atleast 8 should be there, its not that 6 aint enough but 8 is even better. anyways, thats a beginners-DSLR, so 6 megapixels will do for most people.

i will defenately try it out, when its released.

i can imagine a kit-pricing of about 900-1100?.

Sorry to disapoint you but you wont see any difference between 6.1 and 8 MP

Dont use this reason to choose your buy

[Monkeh]

Pentax ist? 6MP? Mediocre features?

How is this going to compete with Canon or Nikon? :s

[Syphonic]

Pentax ist? 6MP? Mediocre features?

How is this going to compete with Canon or Nikon? :s

It wont, but it will probably get bought by the same people who spend more on a prosumer camera than a DSLR. I don't understand either of them :no:

[instant.human]

Sorry to disapoint you but you wont see any difference between 6.1 and 8 MP

Dont use this reason to choose your buy

you dont disapoint me, since i know, whats the difference and, even more important, that there is one. :yes:

ive already said:

6 is good.

you cant say that 8 aint better. infact it is.

8 megapixels can provide more sharpness. if you size down an 8mp image to a 6mp image, the quality is better in most cases. if you size a 4 to a 2 mp image, its the same.

but, since reading could help you, ive already said, that 6 megapixels is enough for beginners.

:yes:

[Pink Floyd Veteran]

you dont disapoint me, since i know, whats the difference and, even more important, that there is one. :yes:

ive already said:

6 is good.

you cant say that 8 aint better. infact it is.

8 megapixels can provide more sharpness. if you size down an 8mp image to a 6mp image, the quality is better in most cases. if you size a 4 to a 2 mp image, its the same.

but, since reading could help you, ive already said, that 6 megapixels is enough for beginners.

:yes:

whatever floats your boat my friend (Y)

[Kerm]

Would love to see the final retail price.

Is it 'out' out now, as in in the shops, or will that take a few more weeks?

[Pink Floyd Veteran]

I would guess out in a couple of weeks... my guess

[Monkeh]

6MP vs. 8MP is only a 15% resolution improvement. When it comes to DSLR sensors, MPs won't really matter unless you plan on printing BIG.

My point is though, most consumers will instantly think that 8MP is much better than 6MP. It's surprising that a company releases a 6MP DSLR NOW, as Canon and Nikon are likely to announce new models soon.

[Pink Floyd Veteran]

6MP vs. 8MP is only a 15% resolution improvement. When it comes to DSLR sensors, MPs won't really matter unless you plan on printing BIG.

My point is though, most consumers will instantly think that 8MP is much better than 6MP. It's surprising that a company releases a 6MP DSLR NOW, as Canon and Nikon are likely to announce new models soon.

ahh nice, someone that understands :)

[instant.human]

6MP vs. 8MP is only a 15% resolution improvement. When it comes to DSLR sensors, MPs won't really matter unless you plan on printing BIG.

My point is though, most consumers will instantly think that 8MP is much better than 6MP. It's surprising that a company releases a 6MP DSLR NOW, as Canon and Nikon are likely to announce new models soon.

man thats what im talking about.

i already mentioned that most custumers wont print BIG or do any other more professional things, where more than 6mp are needed. since i NEED more megapixels wherever i go, since bigger is better in press photography, this camera would be nothing for me as a second body or something. and thats why i was wondering why samsung would put a 6mp sensor into their first dslr, as the other big companys announce new models within the next months.