With a unique “Smart Touch” interface, the Samsung NV7 OPS is a 7.2-megapixel digital camera that nixes the traditional multi-selector and opts for a more innovative system. It isn’t a touch screen and it isn’t buttons – but it’s something in between that is far easier. The unique NV7 is paired with a 7x Schneider-Kreuznach optical zoom lens that is optically stabilized, thus the “OPS” (optical picture stabilization) label. The camera also offers manual controls and an extended ISO sensitivity range. DPReview have a posted their review of the NV7 and had this to report-

"I don’t often get excited about new compact cameras when I first see them, but last summer when I got my hands on a (very) early pre-production sample of the NV7 OPS I was genuinely pleased to see a company like Samsung taking the risks with design and functionality that the main players seem to have given up on entirely. It looked, on paper - and in the flesh - to be the perfect solution for the serious photographer wanting something small, solid and stuffed with features, and the fact that the styling gave a healthy nod to the rangefinder cameras of the 1950’s was the icing on the cake.

And yet, having spent around a month with the NV7 OPS my experience can be summed up in a single word; disappointment. Not with the camera itself, which is a bold - and mostly successful - attempt to break the mold of ‘me too’ faceless compacts and to squeeze a ridiculous amount of functionality into the smallest possible space, but with the results it produces.

The NV7 OPS is an otherwise fantastic camera that produces mediocre - and on occasion downright poor - images, certainly when compared to the best alternatives on the market. Which is a bit like saying ‘it takes 20 minutes to hit 60mph, at which point it rattles enough to loosen your teeth, but otherwise it’s a fantastic sports car’. To us, at least, the end result is the defining quality of a camera, and the NV7 OPS simply doesn’t deliver the goods."

Too bad, I kind of like the looks of this camera.

Technical Details

  • 7-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 15 x 20-inch prints
  • 7x optical zoom with both CCD-shift and electronic image stabilization
  • Multiple manual functions, including Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and an Auto Macro function
  • Records VGA-quality video at 30 frames per second
  • Bundled with Digimax Reader text-recognition software, for conversion of images taken of books, papers, and magazines