Samsung NX 16 mm f/2.4 review - Build quality

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Samsung NX 16 mm f/2.4

5 March 2012

Arkadiusz Olech

3. Build quality

The Samsung NX 16 mm f/2.4 is a classic „pancake” device – small, handy, physically light. How does it compares to other pancakes with similar parameters, designed for mirrorless cameras? The following chart makes it easier to assess. It can be seen that the Samsung is the biggest and the heaviest among all these. It shouldn’t surprise you – it also features the fastest aperture and, compared to the Panasonic, a wider angle of view, as it is dedicated for a bigger sensor. Compared to its rivals it is also optically the most complex device.

The dimensions of the tested lens can be assessed quite well if you look at the photo below, where it is positioned next to the standard Samsung 2/30 ‘pancake’ and the small 20-50 mm ‘kit’ lens. It becomes obvious the 2/30 model is significantly smaller.

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The Samsung 2.4/16 starts with a metal mount with eight contacts. Inside the mount there is a rear element of the lens, 14 mm in diameter – not much when you consider the dimension of the sensor and the angle it has to ‘service’. The element moves along with the whole system, moving by about half a centimeter away from the sensor when you go to the minimum focus distance.

Already on the proper casing of the lens – also made of metal – we find a red dot, helping you to attach the lens to a body, and, right afterwards, a focal length of the lens. On the right there is an inscription ‘Samsung’ and a serial number with the information that the lens was produced in Korea. On the left you see an i-Function button which can be attributed one of many available functions, to be chosen in the camera body.

Then you find a narrow blue ring behind which there is a plastic, rubbed manual focus ring. It is 9 mm wide, well-damped and working smoothly. The ring has an electronic gear so if you don’t attach the lens to a camera it moves but doesn’t change the position of elements. That leverage is so slight that we get a great focusing precision. If you go from the infinity to the minimum focus you should turn the ring through an angle noticeably wider than 360 degrees.

At the front there is a non-rotating filter thread, 43 mm in diameter, and a front element, slightly convex, with a diameter of 18 mm.

When it comes to the optical construction of the Samsung 2.4/16 we deal here with 7 elements positioned in 6 groups. Two elements are aspherical. It is a quite complex construction for a ‘pancake’-type lens. Inside you can also find an aperture with seven diaphragm blades which can be closed down to the value of f/22.