Cool vid! I bought an EX1 11 years ago for doing eBay pics of music gear, and I did some vids of my band which had a sort of funky retro look (not HD). I used it for like 5 years on the same battery lol, until it expanded and was stuck in the camera (hey, I'm no photographer). Then I picked up a white EX2 because I figured it wouldn't be much of a learning curve. I finally got the battery out of the old EX1 after being given another by a buddy who owed me one. I also bought the optical hotshoe viewfinder, and yesterday picked up a NOS wide conversion lens which was a score. Sorta glad I was a weirdo who went the Samsung route. Thanks again for the vid!
This aged so well. I was actually shopping for an iphone 4s because the phone cameras are so advanced now, it feels sterile. I miss the graininess of my old phone. It got me down the digicam rabbit hole and found this gem of a camera, the Ex1/TL500. The predecessor to the EX2F with a CCD sensor. The output is so good and in a short amount of time, I learned so much about how a more camera works with all its knobs and buttons. That dedicated shutter scroll wheel is so good too. I find myself using it most of the time. I wish Samsung revives their camera line. They are so well thought of. I actually will consider buying it if they do come up with a new model.
The EX1 was less advanced than the EX2F, but it did have that awesome CCD sensor... I am always keeping an eye out for one that is a good price and in good condition. The only problem with Samsung cameras was that they said "Samsung" on them, so people just assumed they weren't going to be as good as something from Nikon/Canon/Sony?etc.
Thank you for your video! I was looking online for a digital camera to capture an overseas trip, but my mother let me know she had two old digi cameras from when she used them for real-estate pics, including this EX2F! After watching this video I feel very lucky :)
Absolutely awesome pictures! Time for a colab in Seoul I'd say. :) Until halfway through the video I actually thought "what's so unknown about the Ricoh GR?". It's really a shame Samsung left the camera market, they were probably the one company that could stand up to Sony on the technical innovation side. But as you said, nobody wanted Samsung - which I don't get, because Sony has the same entertainment electronics background and reputation.
It really is unfortunate. I remember when the Samsung NX1 was first announced and hearing about how it had a 28mp BSI APS-C sensor, shot 4k video (which was mind blowing, at the time), etc. I remember looking over the spec sheet and just being in utter disbelief at how far they were pushing the envelope. It's sadly ironic that at the exact same time people were mocking Canon and Nikon for not being innovative, those same people seemed indifferent about Samsung's innovations.
@@SkylerKing I remember the NX1 getting stellar reviews, however at that point it was apparently already decided they'd leave the camera market. No idea what went wrong there, sometimes I think it's down to marketing, product names and throwing out too many low end compacts so the better ones don't stand out anymore. Maybe Schneider wasn't as recognisable as a partner as Leica, Zeiss etc. I often wonder how Panasonic does it with their busloads of almost indistinguishable cheap Lumix compacts that seem only to exist to confuse consumers and hide the good ones. Anyway, I just checked ebay here in Germany and you seem to have found a great deal, since that camera is still sold for €150-€200 here. :)
Wow that is a great video. I bought my EX2F when it came out in 2012 and a still love it and use it. I was just loading the battery for a video session tomorrow and thought about how great the camera is and googled for "samsung ex2f f1.4 still a great video camera". And I found your dpreview article. What a coincidence. I cannot agree more about the points you love. I only use it as a video camera and just now after 8 years, I found my first real alternative for my video needs - which is an iPhone 11 pro. But still, in many situations the EX2F is better - even in 2020. The swivel display is just amazing for shooting from the hip. It feels perfect in the hand. But whats killer for me is F1.4. The iPhone 11 pro gets totally noisy when the EX2F still can grab amazing videos in rather dim situations. And you can get really close to objects in video mode - something no smartphone can do as well (Though the P30 pro has a rather underrated super macro mode for photos, that I use often). I can mount an LED light in the hot shoe and have a super compact package in my hand that is really comfortable to operate. My iPhone 11 pro on a short selfie stick comes close but not really. Those are two different use cases for me - I like them both. What I want is the smallest possible package to shoot in very unusual situations. Shooting from the hip, cam on the floor shooting from under. All this I always could do with the EX2F. Once my EX2F fell into sand and the zoom was blocked. I could get it repaired for about 60€ and I was happy that I did. I think if it would ever fail I would buy it again - immediately. So the combination of the iPhone 11 pro (and actually a Huawei P30 pro as back up camera) AND the EX2F is my current video set up that I totally love. 2019 smartphone technology meets totally underrated 2012 vintage technology. For me the perfect match.
That's awesome to hear! I very rarely hear from anyone who has actually used this camera. It's one of the few cameras that I haven't sold (and likely never will). Sometimes, I will go back and watch a video of mine, and I think "man, I like the way this video looks, what did I shoot it on?" Then I remember, it was the EX2F 😍
I actually own one myself and did a video here on RUclips about it, I think it's a great little camera and I'll be keeping it, would love to see where Samsung would be now if they kept on making cameras. The NX1 is one of there cameras that I would love to get my hands on, pity they stopped making cameras. Thanks for the video, good info about this great little camera. Cheers.
I always wanted to try the NX1 or the NX500 but have never come across one on the used market. It's definitely a shame that Samsung no longer makes cameras like these.
Just got one. Looks and feels like new, even the original silvery advertise-like sticker is still on. Problem is, I have no idea how to use the Wi-Fi-functions as the Samsung app is not a available anymore. Any ideas out there, what app could serve as an option!?
Congrats on getting one. Especially one in good condition. I was just playing with mine, yesterday. Unfortunately, these days the "smart" options are basically dead. I have yet to find a modern app that supports it, and obviously Samsung stopped supporting the original app awhile back.
The moment you said Tainan lol haha I was like wait what where is he at? LoL 😂 nice 👍 hope you enjoy taking photos there. Street photography is really awesome there
Been doing some research on this camera and I don't understand the "small sensor" claim. That's a 1/1.7" sensor. That isn't a small sensor, not for the time, competing cameras or even current compact ones. In my search for used compact cameras I don't think I've found a single other camera featuring a sensor this big, even when the others have more resolution to offer. Even when they get close they lack a crazy lens like this or the ability to shoot raw, which is MASSIVE for a now cheap pocket camera. I own an Xperia 5 III and the primary sensor, 24mm, of this phone is a 1/1.7" 12mp sensor like on that camera and when that smartphone came out it was considered large, larger than most smartphones. It delivers great image quality and being native 12mp, the individual pixels are pretty big. All of this goes for this camera and even more, considering the lens goes down to 1.4 and is a proper camera image sensor with actual high quality glass optics as opposed to a smartphone. So no, the sensor on that camera and the sensor's pixel pitch are both quite large even by today's standards. Some premium smartphones have surpassed that sensor nowadays in raw numbers but you're still stuck with inferior ultrawide and telephoto sensors to the primary one, not to mention you don't have the ability to optically zoom on any of them, let alone with an f/1.4 starting point. And to top it all off, internal ND filter. That to a photographer is a crazy extra addition. I'll probably bite the bullet and buy a used one I've found for 50$ (basically free).
Yeah, the specs are actually solid. Of course, most people complain that micro 4/3 is too small, so they would never even consider this (unfortunately).
@@SkylerKing That's funny considering I also own an A7III and a bright f/1.4 lens for it. I've experienced peak camera performance and I still find value in a good 2012 compact, weird how some people can't appreciate how impressive its spec sheet is despite being a pocket device, from so many years ago no less. The most important thing when it comes to its performance though is noise-cleaning AIs that exist now. There's a website that provides downloadable raw files shot using an ex2f and I processed some in Photoshop using its new AI denoising feature. You can make images shot from this sensor look equal to or better than current Iphone /Samsung shots if you know how to.
I got into samsung digital cameras after I had an amazing experience of their compact film cameras with the Schneider lenses. I first got into NX-1 which was their flagship and was blown away from the specs and the price of some lenses that looked really good. Unfortunately Samsung failed to withstand the digital processing, all of their cameras have really rough looking colour science and overall it felt artificial. Same goes for this one, amazing specs but the results were always looking like every bad aspect on an aps-c sensor was oversaturated. They also dropped the quality of their lenses or at least they dropped the Scgneider collaboration (for example 2:09 on the cap of the baskets were highlights are overblown it causes ghosting etc.). Conclusion: when it comes to compact cameras if you look for the best of the best stick with Ricoh, otherwise if you want something with zoom I'ld say Sony (?!). If you just care to mess around I would say this camera is actually a great piece, especially if you find it on a great deal. When it comes to the NX-1 since I mentioned it, if money can't get you a Fuji or even a Pentax, go for it but don't have too high expectations and be ready for A LOT of colour correcting and colour grading.
I loved my Ricoh GR’s (multiple). I have had nothing but bad luck with Sony. The RX100 I bought is the only camera I’ve ever owned that just suddenly stopped working for seemingly no reason. I like the look of the EX2F raw files, as long as I adjust the exposure compensation to “underexposed” while shooting. I’ve not had any experience with the other Samsung cameras, but I’ve heard complaints similar to yours about the NX line of cameras.
@@SkylerKing The reason I didn't painted the Sony option as a clear one is because I have had no experience with those, I rarely use zoom lenses and rarely would go for a zoom point and shoot, but I have seen some decent results from those cameras. Personally I wouldn't say that I am satisfied with EX-2 files from those I found online (talking for raw files alone). I do kind of prefer the crispy results of the CCD sensor of EX-1, but you give up half the pixels EX-2 offers and you limit yourself to 100-200iso shots (maybe rarely 400), so it's up to the needs of anyone. Generally I feel that samsung was left behind on the camera game because of their lacking colour science and their sensors. I have nothing against samsung cameras but I wouldn't say that they are the best at their league. Another thing that I want to mention is that the APS-C Schneider lenses that Samsung used were nowhere near the quality of the 120mm lenses they put out or the large format lenses they had. They are definitely better than the supposingly "Zeiss" lenses sony uses but do not expect top notch quality.
It's all true‼️ I have This camera and it's the best camera ever. Before that I had the ex1. The other best camera is the Olympus xz1. The are Both better than Everything they make these days. Thanx for the great video‼️
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Cool vid! I bought an EX1 11 years ago for doing eBay pics of music gear, and I did some vids of my band which had a sort of funky retro look (not HD). I used it for like 5 years on the same battery lol, until it expanded and was stuck in the camera (hey, I'm no photographer). Then I picked up a white EX2 because I figured it wouldn't be much of a learning curve.
I finally got the battery out of the old EX1 after being given another by a buddy who owed me one. I also bought the optical hotshoe viewfinder, and yesterday picked up a NOS wide conversion lens which was a score. Sorta glad I was a weirdo who went the Samsung route. Thanks again for the vid!
The battery expanding and getting stuck is a common problem, unfortunately. But, they are great cameras.
This aged so well. I was actually shopping for an iphone 4s because the phone cameras are so advanced now, it feels sterile. I miss the graininess of my old phone. It got me down the digicam rabbit hole and found this gem of a camera, the Ex1/TL500. The predecessor to the EX2F with a CCD sensor. The output is so good and in a short amount of time, I learned so much about how a more camera works with all its knobs and buttons. That dedicated shutter scroll wheel is so good too. I find myself using it most of the time. I wish Samsung revives their camera line. They are so well thought of. I actually will consider buying it if they do come up with a new model.
The EX1 was less advanced than the EX2F, but it did have that awesome CCD sensor... I am always keeping an eye out for one that is a good price and in good condition. The only problem with Samsung cameras was that they said "Samsung" on them, so people just assumed they weren't going to be as good as something from Nikon/Canon/Sony?etc.
I'm on the same rabbit hole path.
Thank you for your video! I was looking online for a digital camera to capture an overseas trip, but my mother let me know she had two old digi cameras from when she used them for real-estate pics, including this EX2F! After watching this video I feel very lucky :)
Woah, that is one lucky gift!
Just pick this cam for about $70 here in Indonesia because of your video, thanks for the detail explanation.
I really hope you enjoy it!
Absolutely awesome pictures! Time for a colab in Seoul I'd say. :) Until halfway through the video I actually thought "what's so unknown about the Ricoh GR?". It's really a shame Samsung left the camera market, they were probably the one company that could stand up to Sony on the technical innovation side. But as you said, nobody wanted Samsung - which I don't get, because Sony has the same entertainment electronics background and reputation.
It really is unfortunate. I remember when the Samsung NX1 was first announced and hearing about how it had a 28mp BSI APS-C sensor, shot 4k video (which was mind blowing, at the time), etc. I remember looking over the spec sheet and just being in utter disbelief at how far they were pushing the envelope. It's sadly ironic that at the exact same time people were mocking Canon and Nikon for not being innovative, those same people seemed indifferent about Samsung's innovations.
@@SkylerKing I remember the NX1 getting stellar reviews, however at that point it was apparently already decided they'd leave the camera market. No idea what went wrong there, sometimes I think it's down to marketing, product names and throwing out too many low end compacts so the better ones don't stand out anymore. Maybe Schneider wasn't as recognisable as a partner as Leica, Zeiss etc. I often wonder how Panasonic does it with their busloads of almost indistinguishable cheap Lumix compacts that seem only to exist to confuse consumers and hide the good ones.
Anyway, I just checked ebay here in Germany and you seem to have found a great deal, since that camera is still sold for €150-€200 here. :)
I like the split shot feature of the camera. It allows for a lot of creativity and imagination.
How many EX2F videos have you made this comment, on? 😉
Wow that is a great video. I bought my EX2F when it came out in 2012 and a still love it and use it. I was just loading the battery for a video session tomorrow and thought about how great the camera is and googled for "samsung ex2f f1.4 still a great video camera". And I found your dpreview article. What a coincidence.
I cannot agree more about the points you love. I only use it as a video camera and just now after 8 years, I found my first real alternative for my video needs - which is an iPhone 11 pro. But still, in many situations the EX2F is better - even in 2020. The swivel display is just amazing for shooting from the hip. It feels perfect in the hand. But whats killer for me is F1.4. The iPhone 11 pro gets totally noisy when the EX2F still can grab amazing videos in rather dim situations. And you can get really close to objects in video mode - something no smartphone can do as well (Though the P30 pro has a rather underrated super macro mode for photos, that I use often). I can mount an LED light in the hot shoe and have a super compact package in my hand that is really comfortable to operate. My iPhone 11 pro on a short selfie stick comes close but not really. Those are two different use cases for me - I like them both. What I want is the smallest possible package to shoot in very unusual situations. Shooting from the hip, cam on the floor shooting from under. All this I always could do with the EX2F.
Once my EX2F fell into sand and the zoom was blocked. I could get it repaired for about 60€ and I was happy that I did. I think if it would ever fail I would buy it again - immediately.
So the combination of the iPhone 11 pro (and actually a Huawei P30 pro as back up camera) AND the EX2F is my current video set up that I totally love. 2019 smartphone technology meets totally underrated 2012 vintage technology. For me the perfect match.
That's awesome to hear! I very rarely hear from anyone who has actually used this camera. It's one of the few cameras that I haven't sold (and likely never will). Sometimes, I will go back and watch a video of mine, and I think "man, I like the way this video looks, what did I shoot it on?" Then I remember, it was the EX2F 😍
I actually own one myself and did a video here on RUclips about it, I think it's a great little camera and I'll be keeping it, would love to see where Samsung would be now if they kept on making cameras.
The NX1 is one of there cameras that I would love to get my hands on, pity they stopped making cameras.
Thanks for the video, good info about this great little camera.
Cheers.
I always wanted to try the NX1 or the NX500 but have never come across one on the used market. It's definitely a shame that Samsung no longer makes cameras like these.
Just got one. Looks and feels like new, even the original silvery advertise-like sticker is still on. Problem is, I have no idea how to use the Wi-Fi-functions as the Samsung app is not a available anymore. Any ideas out there, what app could serve as an option!?
Congrats on getting one. Especially one in good condition. I was just playing with mine, yesterday. Unfortunately, these days the "smart" options are basically dead. I have yet to find a modern app that supports it, and obviously Samsung stopped supporting the original app awhile back.
The moment you said Tainan lol haha I was like wait what where is he at? LoL 😂 nice 👍 hope you enjoy taking photos there. Street photography is really awesome there
I’m from Taiwan this was super popular when I was in 9th grade ish(~7 years ago) A lot of girls have it for taking selfies including me haha
Smart girls 😃
Can you still connect to wifi?
I had the original version. Sensor ended up annoyingly dusty. Ace screen, tough metal body. I liked it.
The EX1? I didn't have one of those, but have thought about grabbing one since it's got a CCD sensor and they can be had for $25 locally
@@SkylerKing yeah the ex1. Great little camera. Video isn't HD though. Well worth $25 I'd buy another in a heartbeat if I could get one that cheap.
Can u make a video how to work the flash and how to shoot a video like a toturial thank you
Are these graded or straight out of the camera?
Graded, since I primarily shoot in RAW with this camera
Been doing some research on this camera and I don't understand the "small sensor" claim. That's a 1/1.7" sensor. That isn't a small sensor, not for the time, competing cameras or even current compact ones. In my search for used compact cameras I don't think I've found a single other camera featuring a sensor this big, even when the others have more resolution to offer. Even when they get close they lack a crazy lens like this or the ability to shoot raw, which is MASSIVE for a now cheap pocket camera.
I own an Xperia 5 III and the primary sensor, 24mm, of this phone is a 1/1.7" 12mp sensor like on that camera and when that smartphone came out it was considered large, larger than most smartphones. It delivers great image quality and being native 12mp, the individual pixels are pretty big. All of this goes for this camera and even more, considering the lens goes down to 1.4 and is a proper camera image sensor with actual high quality glass optics as opposed to a smartphone.
So no, the sensor on that camera and the sensor's pixel pitch are both quite large even by today's standards. Some premium smartphones have surpassed that sensor nowadays in raw numbers but you're still stuck with inferior ultrawide and telephoto sensors to the primary one, not to mention you don't have the ability to optically zoom on any of them, let alone with an f/1.4 starting point.
And to top it all off, internal ND filter. That to a photographer is a crazy extra addition. I'll probably bite the bullet and buy a used one I've found for 50$ (basically free).
Yeah, the specs are actually solid. Of course, most people complain that micro 4/3 is too small, so they would never even consider this (unfortunately).
@@SkylerKing That's funny considering I also own an A7III and a bright f/1.4 lens for it. I've experienced peak camera performance and I still find value in a good 2012 compact, weird how some people can't appreciate how impressive its spec sheet is despite being a pocket device, from so many years ago no less. The most important thing when it comes to its performance though is noise-cleaning AIs that exist now. There's a website that provides downloadable raw files shot using an ex2f and I processed some in Photoshop using its new AI denoising feature. You can make images shot from this sensor look equal to or better than current Iphone /Samsung shots if you know how to.
In my country Malaysia there's 1 left in new condition (EX1). Costs about US370. Should i buy it?
I would not pay that much for it. Especially because the EX1 is the older version with less features
@@SkylerKing Yes. Thanks for your opinion.
These are way up in price now looking at ex1 have not seen the ex2 online yet
I got into samsung digital cameras after I had an amazing experience of their compact film cameras with the Schneider lenses.
I first got into NX-1 which was their flagship and was blown away from the specs and the price of some lenses that looked really good. Unfortunately Samsung failed to withstand the digital processing, all of their cameras have really rough looking colour science and overall it felt artificial. Same goes for this one, amazing specs but the results were always looking like every bad aspect on an aps-c sensor was oversaturated.
They also dropped the quality of their lenses or at least they dropped the Scgneider collaboration (for example 2:09 on the cap of the baskets were highlights are overblown it causes ghosting etc.).
Conclusion: when it comes to compact cameras if you look for the best of the best stick with Ricoh, otherwise if you want something with zoom I'ld say Sony (?!). If you just care to mess around I would say this camera is actually a great piece, especially if you find it on a great deal.
When it comes to the NX-1 since I mentioned it, if money can't get you a Fuji or even a Pentax, go for it but don't have too high expectations and be ready for A LOT of colour correcting and colour grading.
I loved my Ricoh GR’s (multiple). I have had nothing but bad luck with Sony. The RX100 I bought is the only camera I’ve ever owned that just suddenly stopped working for seemingly no reason. I like the look of the EX2F raw files, as long as I adjust the exposure compensation to “underexposed” while shooting. I’ve not had any experience with the other Samsung cameras, but I’ve heard complaints similar to yours about the NX line of cameras.
@@SkylerKing The reason I didn't painted the Sony option as a clear one is because I have had no experience with those, I rarely use zoom lenses and rarely would go for a zoom point and shoot, but I have seen some decent results from those cameras.
Personally I wouldn't say that I am satisfied with EX-2 files from those I found online (talking for raw files alone). I do kind of prefer the crispy results of the CCD sensor of EX-1, but you give up half the pixels EX-2 offers and you limit yourself to 100-200iso shots (maybe rarely 400), so it's up to the needs of anyone. Generally I feel that samsung was left behind on the camera game because of their lacking colour science and their sensors.
I have nothing against samsung cameras but I wouldn't say that they are the best at their league.
Another thing that I want to mention is that the APS-C Schneider lenses that Samsung used were nowhere near the quality of the 120mm lenses they put out or the large format lenses they had. They are definitely better than the supposingly "Zeiss" lenses sony uses but do not expect top notch quality.
5 years of hesitation…
Impossible to find.
It's all true‼️ I have This camera and it's the best camera ever. Before that I had the ex1. The other best camera is the Olympus xz1. The are Both better than Everything they make these days. Thanx for the great video‼️
Eh no view finder
That’s correct
$250 in January 2024
Holy crap, prices have gone way up