NX1 - Dead System, Best Thing Ever

We picked up Samsung's NX1 Mirrorless Camera (February 2017?).

It's good to have a reason for choosing something - and chalk it up to A LOT of noob mistakes (that fortunately did not burn a big hole in our pockets). So, without further ado, "why we're keeping it."

 Lightning in Weather | Highway 89, Logan, UT; May 24, 2017

 

 NX1 (w/ 16-50mm f/2.8) - f/16 - 25s - 16mm - ISO100 

(Photo has absolutely nothing to do the post... it's just an excellent adventure DSLR paired with the S lens - weatherproof).

If you don't know, it's a dead system - Samsung is no longer actively supporting their mirrorless venture (no new bodies and no new lenses; and firmware and warranty support will probably slowly die out too).

What we bought is all we are going to get -

• next year (after we have gotten some experience into the belt and figured out our 'style'), we won't have lenses to try out
• ten years down the line, our lenses won't have an up-to-date body to be attached to (worse than that - because the aperture is electronically controlled, we won't even be able to attach it to a converter and use on a different body)

But I think we are way ahead of ourselves... we're beginner photographers, with perhaps (most definitely yes) a bit of gear acquisition craze. I jumped us from the NX300 compact mirrorless to the NX1 (a $1000 upgrade)... and have been actively tracking down the NX 50-150mm S f/2.8 lens (essentially to complete - usefully complete - the collection), *fingers-crossed we will have it by next week.

And that's plenty (perhaps too much).

What we do need:

1.  We need to figure out everything...
• the basics (lighting, sharpness, movement)
• gear we need and/or don't need
• preferences/styles, what subjects interest us
2.  We need to keep it simple
• do we need primes? <--- nope, as if we could tell the difference in quality between a zoom and a prime.
3. We need to get out there and shoot
• experience
• situational awareness
• tactile ability

No way we are going to figure out 'photography' in five years let alone three months. This is a hobby, a past-time (which we can still be serious about) - a way to enjoy events and adventures; that's why we are getting into it, right?

So, we are going to ride this system out until it dies. And this (lol, now) is what the NX1 provides for us... a closed-system that offers no further options and forces us to enjoy what we have (no use worrying about what we don't have, or what we could have). If, ten years down the line, we are good at this photography-business, then we will look at other systems - until then NX1 all the way.

I think I'm going to nickname it the "Nix1 - Watergate". It also helped my frame of mind when I checked Amazon, and if we trade it in, we'd get $1200 (for the base kit)... which would not be a significant loss at all. Makes me feel like we did indeed pick up a good deal.