Due to its dominance of the smartphone and home electronics markets, it’s easy to forget that just a decade ago Samsung also possessed a still-expanding and developing digital camera range.
And that a lot of its offerings displayed innovation far beyond what competitors were offering at the time – and which many of us would still find useful in digicams today.
Yes, eventually Samsung would decide to concentrate on camera phones rather than snapshot or mirrorless cameras. Especially as it seemed like the former was about to conclusively bury the latter, at the point when the South Korean electronics giant pulled the plug.
I’ve often thought the manufacturer’s always-connected Samsung Galaxy Camera series – with its large, 4.8-inch, handset-like, touchscreen LCD that enabled users to do just about everything a smartphone did, bar making calls – was ahead of its time and gone too soon.
And likewise its NX interchangeable camera series, begun in 2010 with the aptly named NX10, had lots to admire, including being able to connect directly to the Internet via 2013’s Galaxy NX – which was the world’s first mirrorless camera to fully embrace an Android operating system.
The following year’s interchangeable lens Samsung NX Mini also showed that it was aware of what the market wanted, with a flip-up selfie screen plus a respectable one-inch sensor.
That said, despite such innovation, Samsung was obviously hamstrung by asking adopters to simultaneously get to grips with its proprietary NX lens mount and accessories. Samsung really should have piggybacked on an existing lens mount, rather than construct of its own optical range from scratch.
Its first attempt at a DSLR, 2006's Samsung GX-1S, did just that, in borrowing Pentax’s KAF mount. However, when it decided that the future was in mirrorless and not DSLRs, it abandoned that partnership and came up with its own NX mount.
Yet ultimately Samsung failed because it could not win the trust of enthusiast photographers, while also establishing its own lens ecosystem, in the face of stiff competition from more traditional photographic brands. At the same time, its own smartphones suggested an alternative for the more casual snapper.
Unsurprisingly, there are more everyday photographers who just want a device that’s ‘good enough’ than enthusiasts and pros – and that’s where Samsung saw the money.
Its last launch was the NX500 in 2015, borrowing a 28MP sensor from the pro-level NX1, which had introduced 4K video and a top-plate display. Further releases, including the NX300, introduced a tilting back screen, which remains a mirrorless camera must-have to this day.
But it’s a shame that the idea of an Android operating system in a decent, high-level interchangeable lens camera option died at the very point at which Samsung appeared to be indicating photography’s future. Well, unless you consider the Yongnuo YN450… but that's another story!
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