Samsung NV100HD

True to the series, the NV100HD is also an ultra portable. This time around, Samsung has gotten rid of the touch sensitive buttons that we've seen in their previous cameras in the series, only to be replaced by a bigger, brighter, touch-sensitive screen. Considering how responsive the button navigation was, I'm not entirely convinced that shifting to a more rigid touchscreen was a better idea.

Sized at 95x60x20mm and weighing a mere 178g, the NV100HD is very easily pocketable. In most of my usage I had the camera in the same pocket as my wallet (front trouser pocket) and it still didn't create a very noticeable bulge. The camera, however, also comes with a safer and more convenient leather carry case.

With all the major navigation work and settings managed by the touchscreen, the hard buttons on the camera are kept to a minimum. On the top you have the mode dial along with the power button and the shutter release.

On the back, to the right of the screen there's the wide/tele zoom switch and buttons to bring up the menu and playback of recorded images.

The handgrip is minimal, but very effective, especially considering the ergonomics of the camera. Overall, the NV100HD is comfortable to use with its ergonomic design and it's thoughtful button placement.

Features
The NV100HD pushes imaging limits with its 14.7 megapixel resolution. I can imagine the Samsung marketing team having a ball flashing that number around, but megapixel count does not directly translate to better quality. In fact, it usually leads to a higher strain on the image sensor in some cases. We'll see how the image quality holds up at full resolution in our performance tests.

Zoom level's not too high at 3.6x (28mm-102mm), but then again it's understandable considering its ultra-compact design.

As I mentioned earlier, the 3-inch screen controls most of the in-camera navigation. Though the display quality is top notch in every sense of the word, the screen itself isn't as responsive as I would have liked it to be. Most navigation options are easy to reach, but considering that most sub-menus are bite-sized, it gets a bit difficult to select the right option. Considering I have hands of  a giant, I constantly found myself wishing for an alternate navigation method. How I miss the navigational buttons from the previous NV cameras.

With "HD" being a part of the model's name, you would have guessed by now that the NV100HD is capable of shooting video at the HD Ready resolution (1280x720) at full 30 fps — a pretty good feat for any consumer camera. How well does that translate to quality will be seen in the performance section.