Samsung's latest NV series camera is slim and stylish, but are its photos any good? Find out in our in-depth Samsung NV4 review.
Review summary of the Samsung NV4:
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 The Samsung NV4's best feature is its array of filters and customization options, so you can use it as a simple point-and-shoot but still get creative results (assuming you're creative). It lacks optical image-stabilization, but its advanced form of digital stabilization isn't a complete write-off. Image quality in fair conditions was quite good, at least when it comes to portrait photography. We didn't really like the irksomely tiny buttons though, which along with the inner zoom lens revealed the camera's focus on thinness and compactness. Still, the filters and customization should save the day for point-and-shooters who enjoy taking pictures of friends and family with an artistic slant. Release: April 2008. Price: $190.
Pros: Stylish looks. Filters and customization galore.
Cons: Buttons suitable for toothpicks. Lacking in camera features, yet has unnecessary media playback. Even suped-up digital stabilization doesn't replace optical stabilization.
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Full Samsung NV4 Review:
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Design - Good
The Samsung NV4 is small enough to slip in a pocket, and it has an aesthetic, polished body. It's also surprisingly hefty for something so thin and unassuming, and we imagine it could survive some punishment without falling apart. The lens is positioned in the very top-right corner, which looks nice but can be problematic. Users should prepare for the occasional, accidental close-up of their fingers.
The buttons on the Samsung NV4 are exceedingly small. The power button in particular is so minuscule it reminded us of a pinhole tray-ejector on a CD drive, and it was almost as annoying to depress. Thankfully, the shutter release is of a more standard size, and Samsung has included a nice mode wheel on the top right.
Unfortunately, the rest of the controls follow the munchkin trend. The shortcut buttons in particular are Braille-sized at best, and they're overly resistant to boot. We were confused as to why Samsung went with such unnecessarily small buttons, considering that the back-plate isn't hurting for space. After all, the LCD viewfinder is a relatively tiny 2.5-inches. With a little rearrangement, the buttons and zoom control could have been doubled in size.
Interface - Mediocre
The button layout on the Samsung NV4 is fairly standard, with zoom, shortcuts and a four-way controller. System settings are available through the menu button, while shot settings like ISO and white balance are available through the FN button. We liked that filter, color, saturation and sharpness controls get their own button, labeled E for 'effect.'
As we mentioned, the LCD screen is rather small, and it can be quite grainy even in decent light. Responsiveness was among the lowest we've seen, to the point that when we jerked the camera, there was a noticeable delay before the display would update. Camera operation was also on the slow side: it took several seconds to boot up and take the first shot, and single shot processing took up to three seconds.
Features - Mediocre
The Samsung NV4 features a full range of flash modes, including red-eye correction, and the 3x lens is completely internal, so nothing juts out even at full zoom. ISO is selectable and ranges up to 1600, or 3200 at reduced resolution. Samsung has fully automated backlight detection and macro focus, so users needn't worry toggling them on and off.
We particularly liked the amount of easy customization on the Samsung NV4. A slew of photo filters are available, everything from standards like 'vivid' and 'soft' to more inventive selections like 'forest,' 'retro' and 'calm.' There are also basic color filters for red, green, blue and B&W, as well as a negative-film effect and a user-configurable setting with independent RGB controls. Finally, Samsung offers saturation, contrast and sharpness sliders with five steps. As far as point-and-shoot customization goes, this is how it should be done.
Samsung has not equipped the lens with optical stabilization, though small compacts like the Samsung NV4 arguably benefit the most with good stabilization. Instead, Samsung has included their nouveau form of digital image-stabilization. Before you tear your hair out in antipathy, Samsung's implementation isn't just a simple crop, so it's not completely worthless like past versions of digital stabilization. On the other hand, it's nowhere near as effective as real, optical stabilization. It's also incompatible with practically all of the camera's other features (even the color filters), and it actually takes two successive exposures and pastes them together, so it's completely ineffective when the subject itself is moving. This even makes it dubious for taking pictures of people, since they tend to move, even if you yell at them not to.
The rest of the NV4's features don't really qualify as camera features. Samsung has tacked on multimedia functionality, so you can load up MP3s, movies and even text files. Honestly, we're not sold on this, and we can't help but wonder if all the required circuitry couldn't have been put to making the Samsung NV4 a better camera, instead of a subpar multimedia device.
Image quality - Mediocre
People who like tweaking their shots should enjoy the Samsung NV4. It affords a lot of customization and interesting styles without the learning-curve of manual shooting. Still, the camera is a full-auto point-and-shoot, so it's limited in difficult and atypical situations. Image quality is fair, with good detail in subject shots but a hazy quality in wide shots. The Samsung NV4 is a good choice for creative shooting, portraits and tight framings, but not the best for landscapes and vacation photos.
Trinity Church
Trinity Church statues
We took the NV4 to Trinity Church in downtown Manhattan, and we started off with a few exteriors, taken without filters or adjusting any settings. The tight shot of the statues is fine; there's some focus issues, but detail is sharp. The wide shot is less successful though, with notable blooming that results in a swimming, murky-blue haziness. Honestly, if all of our shots turned out like this one, we wouldn't be able to recommend the NV4 at all. Thankfully, though, this was by far the bottom of the pile.
Greenery
This shot was taken with the 'forest' filter, and we really like the added snap. Greens have been pushed almost to the breaking point, making for a daringly colorful photograph stopped just shy of overkill. Noise has been increased, no doubt due to the higher demands of so much saturation, but overall this is a great result for an ultra-compact. Outside the concrete loom of NYC, out where there are actual forests, this would be even more useful.
Ruddy graves
Next is the 'retro' filter, which deemphasized contrast and put a ruddy cast over the image. It's a decent emulation of old film stock, and there's nothing wrong with adding a little pseudo-analog charm back into a photograph. Still, we'd consider this less inherently useful than the other filters, since it calls so much attention to itself.
Trinity Church [B&W]
Black and white is helpful in testing raw detail, and the Samsung NV4 performed well for its class. There's little to complain about at sub-100% zooms, but at full size there's evidence of noise-reduction, something that affected all of our shots in varying degrees. This isn't too big a deal, though it does mean detail was lost. Other 8-megapixel cameras with better sensors will take sharper photographs, even though the literal resolution is the same. Also, the woman is motion-blurred because the camera chose a low ISO and shutter speed, reproving that manual shooting is sometimes the only way to get the ideal shot.
Stained glass
Flashed bronze
We also took the Samsung NV4 into the chapel to test low-light shooting. The first shot was taken with Samsung's digital stabilization, and for a 1/15-second shutter, the results are surprisingly good. Even 1/30 can be tricky with a tiny compact, yet this shot exhibits very little camera-shake. The flash sample, however, is perfect. Even faced with reflective bronze, the camera managed an excellent exposure without glare or blasting out the whole photo.
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