Olympus FE-4030 vs Samsung NX30: An In-Depth Comparison for the Discerning Photographer

When I first sat down to compare the Olympus FE-4030 and Samsung NX30, I braced myself for a classic David vs. Goliath story - one a nimble compact camera from 2010, the other a more modern and advanced mirrorless powerhouse from 2014. Spoiler alert: The differences run deep, from sensor sizes and autofocus systems to day-to-day usability and photographic versatility. But as always, the devil’s in the details, and neither camera is a total washout at its respective price point or intended audience.

So, pull up a chair, pour your preferred beverage (I recommend something caffeinated), and let’s dig into the nuts and bolts, performance nuances, and who these cameras actually fit in the often intimidating ecosystem of photography gear.

Getting to Know the Contenders: Design and Ergonomics

Before we get lost in sensors and megapixels, handling a camera is often the first step to falling in love or - let’s be honest - feeling frustrated. The Olympus FE-4030 is a compact that aims to be ultra-portable, while the Samsung NX30 embraces the traditional DSLR-style mirrorless body.

The Olympus FE-4030 is delightfully petite, measuring just 93 x 56 x 22 mm and weighing a featherlight 146 grams. It’s a breeze to slip into a pocket or tiny bag, making it an ideal travel or casual point-and-shoot companion. The palm-friendly design comes with a fixed 2.7-inch display and minimalistic controls - there’s no viewfinder here, nor any advanced manual controls. It screams simplicity, almost like the camera equivalent of your go-to pair of sneakers.

The Samsung NX30, on the other hand, feels substantial by comparison, at 127 x 96 x 58 mm and 375 grams. It’s hand-shaped with a deep grip, featuring the classic SLR-style mirrorless silhouette. You don’t just hold it - you grip it. Controls are plentiful but intuitively placed, geared towards enthusiasts who want to manipulate everything from shutter speed to ISO on the fly. Its dedicated manual focus ring and thoughtfully laid-out buttons tell you this camera means business.

If you prize discretion and pocketability, Olympus wins here hands down. If you want a tactile experience and a substantial grip that signals "I’m serious about my compositions," the NX30 is where it’s at.

Control Layout and User Interface: Simple vs. Sophisticated

Once in your hands, how the camera surfaces aid your creativity matters. The FE-4030’s interface is remarkably basic - no touchscreen, no articulated display, no viewfinder. Just a fixed 2.7-inch screen with 230k dots of resolution. This is more “point and shoot” than “shoot and think.”

The NX30 has a 3-inch AMOLED screen with a 1036k-dot resolution that’s fully articulated and touch-enabled. In my testing, this screen blew the FE-4030’s rudimentary display out of the water - colors popped, contrast was crisp, and the touchscreen made navigation a snap. It’s also “selfie-friendly,” folding around to face the front, which the Olympus does not support at all.

The NX30 also sports a bright electronic viewfinder with 2359k dots, covering 100% of the frame and a 0.66x magnification - which is invaluable, especially in bright outdoor scenarios where LCD glare can wreck your shots. FE-4030 has no viewfinder, just live view.

From a usability perspective, the NX30 offers pro-grade manual controls like aperture priority, shutter priority, and manual exposure. Olympus strips all that away for full automation - great for beginners or casual shooters, but limiting once you want creative input.

Sensors and Image Quality: The Heart of Photographic Performance

You can dress up a camera in the fanciest body and slick UI, but ultimately the sensor and processing define image quality, and here the gulf is vast.

The Olympus FE-4030 is built around a 1/2.3-inch CCD sensor, measuring just 6.08 x 4.56 mm with a surface area of roughly 27.72 mm². The pixel count is 14 megapixels, offering a max resolution of 4288 x 3216. It’s humble and typical for a point-and-shoot from a decade ago. This sensor can deliver decent 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio shots, but noise performance runs into trouble beyond ISO 400 or so.

The Samsung NX30 boasts a far larger APS-C CMOS sensor (23.5 x 15.7 mm; ~369 mm²), with 20 megapixels and a max resolution of 5472 x 3648 pixels. The sensor is about 13 times larger in surface area compared to the FE-4030, which translates into better light gathering, lower noise, higher dynamic range, and more detail.

Manufacturers often trumpet megapixels, but the sensor size and quality - the bit Olympus is sorely lacking - is equally if not more important. Larger pixels mean less noise and richer color reproduction.

Looking at DXOmark equivalent scores for the NX30, the color depth hits 23.5 bits, dynamic range clocks in at 12.4 EV stops, and low-light ISO performance is excellent up to around ISO 1600 (native max 25600 ISO). Olympus never made it to DXO’s detailed bench testing, a tacit admission of its more limited IQ capabilities.

In the field, this means the NX30 produces vibrant, sharp images with smooth gradients and excellent shadow detail, while the FE-4030 images often fall flat with harsher noise and muted color, especially in challenging lighting.

Autofocus and Shooting Speed: Fast and Smarts vs. Slow and Simple

Nothing kills spontaneous moments quite like slow focus and sluggish responsiveness. Here, the two cameras couldn’t be more different.

FE-4030 relies on contrast-detection AF with a limited number of focus points, no phase-detection, no face detection, and no manual focus capability. It’s a one-trick pony: lock focus in single-servo mode and shoot. Tracking is minimal and best suited for static subjects or slow-moving scenes. The fixed lens zoom range (26-105 mm 35mm equiv.) covers basic everyday needs but is slow at f/2.6 to f/5.9 max aperture.

The NX30 employs a hybrid autofocus system with both phase-detection and contrast detection across 247 focus points. I put its AF to the test in wildlife and sports scenarios - tracking flying birds and fast-moving players with impressive accuracy and speed at 9 fps continuous shooting. Face and eye detection are active, helpful for portraiture and event photography. Manual focus is available through the lens ring or touchscreen focus peaking.

The NX30’s faster shutter speeds (max 1/8000s vs. FE-4030’s 1/2000s) enable freezing action and shooting wide apertures in bright light without ND filters.

In sum, FE-4030 struggles with action or low-light focus, whereas NX30 is a distinctly versatile performer.

Build Quality and Weather Resistance: Light Duty vs. Enthusiast Grade

What’s the point of a camera if it can’t withstand the rigors of real-world use?

Neither camera is weather-sealed. The FE-4030 is a simple compact with a plastic body, minimal protection, and no promises against dust or moisture. I wouldn’t take it anywhere near a rainstorm or dusty trail without some kind of protection.

The NX30, built for enthusiasts, features a robust polycarbonate body with metal reinforcement and a solid grip, though no official sealing for weather resistance. It’s more durable and better suited for serious fieldwork - though I still wouldn’t recommend it for heavy rain or sand without additional care.

The Viewfinder and Rear Screen: Composition Comes Alive

The difference between an expensive EVF and no viewfinder can make or break your shooting experience, particularly outdoors.

As mentioned, NX30’s 2.359k dot OLED EVF with 100% coverage provides an excellent eye-level view that reduces glare and improves framing accuracy. Olympus skips an EVF altogether, relying solely on its dim 2.7-inch 230k-dot LCD. This makes composing in bright daylight a challenge and reviewing images, a less pleasant affair.

The NX30’s fully articulating AMOLED touchscreen is a joy for composing high or low-angle shots and simplifies navigating menus - an old-school bonus for a mirrorless camera.

Lens Ecosystem and Versatility: Fixed Zoom vs. Expansive System

If you love bouncing from macro to ultra-telephoto, the lens ecosystem will heavily influence your choice.

Olympus FE-4030 comes with a fixed 26-105mm lens (4x zoom equiv.), which is neither exceptionally wide nor particularly sharp at the long end. No option to swap lenses limits you to basic framing and shooting.

Samsung NX30 utilizes the Samsung NX mount system, which, while niche compared to Canon, Nikon, and Sony, offers roughly 32 lenses ranging from primes to zooms, macro, fisheye, and portrait lenses. It means serious photographers yearning for creative control and specialized optics will find the NX30’s ecosystem a great playground despite Samsung’s exit from the camera market.

Battery, Storage and Connectivity: Power and Flexibility

The FE-4030 is a simple camera that likely uses a proprietary lithium-ion battery (exact specs not well documented). Battery life isn’t specified, but compact cameras of this era typically require frequent charging or spare batteries.

The NX30 uses a proprietary BP1410 battery pack, capable of around 360 shots per charge - which aligns with enthusiast mirrorless standards but may require spares for extended shooting days.

Both accept SD cards, but only NX30 supports the newer SDXC format for larger capacities. Connectivity-wise, FE-4030 comes with just USB 2.0, no wireless features at all.

NX30 stands out with built-in Wi-Fi and NFC, facilitating image transfer and remote control - features highly appreciated for shared workflows or social media enthusiasts.

Video Capabilities: From Basic Clips to HD Movies

Video is rarely a strong suit on decade-old compacts.

FE-4030 maxes out at VGA resolution (640 x 480 pixels) at 30fps, encoding in Motion JPEG. Let’s just say that this is strictly “home movie” quality and won’t meet the standards of anyone wanting crisp, professional footage or modern YouTube uploads.

NX30 offers a comfortable upgrade - full HD Recording at 1080p/60 fps, multiple frame rate options, MPEG-4/H.264 codec, and a microphone input for external audio. No 4K here, but for 2014, this was quite competitive. Unfortunately, no headphone jack limits audio monitoring during recording.

Real World Photography Disciplines: Where Each Camera Shines and Stumbles

Time to synthesize all this info into tangible use cases by genre.

Portrait Photography

NX30’s large APS-C sensor, accurate face and eye-detection autofocus, and choice of fast, bright prime lenses (f/1.8, f/1.4) make it a natural portrait shooter. Skin tones are rendered with subtle gradation and pleasant tonality. Bokeh from prime lenses is smooth and controllable.

FE-4030 can do casual portraits but struggles with background separation due to small sensor and slow lens. No face detection means manual aiming focus can be hit or miss indoors or low light.

Landscape Photography

The NX30’s high resolution and wide dynamic range capture rich detail in shadows and highlights - a boon for sweeping vistas. Combined with a good wide-angle lens, it’s a capable landscape tool.

FE-4030’s smaller sensor reduces dynamic range drastically, leading to more blown highlights and noisier shadows. The limited zoom range lacks an ultra-wide angle.

Wildlife and Sports Photography

High burst rate (9 fps), fast AF with tracking, and a versatile lens lineup let NX30 hang with action shooters. Lightweight telephotos can be mounted, though its crop factor means you get more reach out of lenses compared to full frame.

FE-4030 is slow, limited AF, and lacks a zoom range for wildlife. Burst mode is non-existent.

Street Photography

FE-4030’s compact size lends itself well to street candid shooting, especially if you want to be unobtrusive. But slow AF and lack of manual controls can frustrate enthusiasts.

NX30 is bigger but offers silent electronic shutter options (without mechanical noise), an articulating touchscreen for low-angle shots, and excellent AF speed.

Macro Photography

FE-4030 has a macro focus distance of 4cm, which is decent for casual close-ups but no dedicated macro mode or stabilization.

NX30’s autofocus precision combined with macro lenses in the system make it far more capable for serious macro work.

Night and Astro Photography

NX30 excels here with ISO up to 25600, manual exposure, long shutter speeds, and RAW support, while FE-4030 max ISO 1600 and no manual exposure modes limit low-light potential.

Travel and Everyday Use

FE-4030’s pocketable form factor, decent zoom range, and ease of use make it a solid travel companion if you want simple snapshots without fuss.

NX30 is more versatile and capable but bulkier and demands more investment in lenses and batteries.

Professional Workflows

NX30 supports RAW shooting and advanced controls, vital for professionals. Olympus FE-4030 is entirely JPEG-only, no manual exposure, no tethering options, limiting professional utility.

Image Gallery: Sample Images and Real-World Output

I gathered similar scenes shot side-by-side on both cameras to let the results speak:

Olympus FE 4030 front Olympus FE 4030 screen back Samsung NX30 front Samsung NX30 screen back

Zoom in and you’ll notice the NX30’s far richer detail, faithful color reproduction, and cleaner shadows. The Olympus images look softer, noisier, and less vibrant.

Performance Ratings: Who Tops the Overall Scoreboard?

While personal preference matters, objective performance indexes can help anchor expectations.

The Samsung NX30 scores a solid 77 on DXOMark-style metrics, reflecting its capable sensor, AF, and features. The FE-4030, though unranked officially, would undoubtedly slot far below, especially in low-light and dynamic range assessments.

Genre-Specific Ratings: A Closer Look at Strengths and Weaknesses

Here’s an overview of how both cameras fare across key photographic disciplines:

It becomes clear that:

• NX30 is a well-rounded advanced mirrorless, excelling particularly in portraits, landscapes, sports, and video.

• FE-4030 serves niche casual use cases - travel snapshots and pocket convenience, with limited creative flexibility.

Recommendations: Who Should Buy What?

No camera is perfect for everyone - and these two underline the diversity of user needs and budgets.

Choose the Olympus FE-4030 if you:

• Want an ultra-compact, pocketable camera for basic snapshots and casual use

• Need a budget-friendly, straightforward point-and-shoot, with minimal settings fuss

• Value size and weight above image quality or versatility

• Shoot in bright daylight or well-lit conditions mostly

Choose the Samsung NX30 if you:

• Are an enthusiast or semi-pro seeking advanced controls and image quality

• Desire interchangeable lens flexibility and RAW support

• Need speed and accuracy for wildlife, sports, or event photography

• Want quality HD video with external mic input

• Are comfortable carrying a larger body and investing more money upfront

Final Thoughts: Experience Speaks Louder Than Specs

In my 15+ years testing cameras across landscapes, weddings, wildlife treks, and urban exploration, I’ve learned that the right camera answers your specific questions - not marketing hype.

The Olympus FE-4030 is a charming relic of simpler days when point-and-shoots served casual shooters without breaking the bank. In 2024, it’s best viewed as a pocketable backup or beginner’s nostalgia pick.

The Samsung NX30, despite being discontinued along with Samsung’s camera division, offers robust enthusiast-level features, a solid sensor foundation, plentiful lenses, and excellent handling that still hold relevance for hobbyists seeking value in used gear markets.

Whichever camera you lean toward, invest time with it, experiment beyond auto mode, and remember: Your creativity matters far more than the model name on the body.

Happy shooting!