Rest in Peace

For a short time, Samsung had what we thought was the best mirrorless camera available, the NX1. But it was only on sale for about a year. Afterwards, Samsung abruptly exited from the camera market. It never made an official statement stating that the NX system was dead, but rest assured, it's dead. The last model was released in 2015.

So you shouldn't go out and buy a Samsung camera, even on the used market, and expect any sort of future support. But if you're a bargain hunter, have an affinity for discontinued tech, or bought into the system when it was in production, you can peruse the lens reviews we completed while NX cameras were still on sale. Samsung made some very good lenses in its day, even if the 300mm F2.8 that it showed at a few trade shows never came to fruition.

The NX system wasn't the only one that Samsung made through the years. It had a one-and-done NX-Mini model with a 1-inch image sensor, but there were only two lenses available. And there was a time that Samsung was selling SLRs, under the GX banner, but they were just Pentax models with a different logo.

Samsung made some interesting mirrorless cameras in its day. The NX1 was the best it ever put out, but it also had ambitious swings at the future with its Android-powered models, the Galaxy NX and Galaxy Camera, both of which offered LTE connectivity.

It's a shame it didn't stick around in the market.

If you want to buy a new camera today, Samsung isn't an option. Instead, take a look at our favorite mirrorless cameras and SLRs for some recommendations.