Samsung digital cameras

[SGladwell]

I saw an ad for a Samsung digi-cam in the Esquire black book that intrigued me. It's time to move beyond my 2MP Nikon, I think. If it's not too big, I also like the idea of a 7x optical zoom.

But are they any good? Anyone experienced with Samsung cameras? Is the user-interface relatively Mac-like or do they expect the user to know everything about photography just to get off a shot?

 

[Brian SD]

Generally speaking I am a fan of Samsung products, but if you're looking for a point-and-shoot, there's no reason not to get a Casio Exilim. There's really no competition. It's a waste of your money otherwise, IMO. Here's a very detailed review of the camera: http://www.kenrockwell.com/casio/exz750.htm It's important to note that the review was written by a photographer, not a camera / equipment fetishist. Generally speaking, it's a feature-war in the point and shoot market because unfortunately, that's what sells. What it SHOULD be is a functionality-war. In this battle, Casio has trumped pretty much every other digicam on the market, including the $4000+ DSLRs. The menus and features are so incredibly well-thought out, they beat out Nikon, Canon and every other company by pure function and usability. Also, don't get the 10MP version, get the 8, if you're stuck between the two. You really, truly don't need the extra pixels on a point-and-shoot, and the 10mp version is crippled by slow-speed USB transfer.

 

[whodini]

I'll have to agree/disagree. Exilim has easily been the best digicam I've owned so far, after 2 Fuji's and a Nikon. I was looking for something slim, more advanced features like a high ISO, and that it used SD cards since they're very inexpensive these days. All this factored to my getting the EX-Z1000 or the 10MP model. USB transfer speed means nothing to me as I only use the dock to recharge. I prefer to pull out the SD card and plug it into my card reader since it's always been easier/faster for me. ISO, btw, is up at 800 on Best Shot and 3200 manual. Yeah. The pictures come out beautifully either in a point-and-shoot 3MP or 5MP mode which I'm sure most people do. I opted for the 10MP because being able to crop/blow up my photos matters a lot to me as a professional photographer, not to mention not wanting to drag around an SLR everywhere I go. I haven't had too much experience with Samsung but they seem to be rather minor players in the digicam market. I'd recommend the obvious: compare price/features with other cameras. I did a quick comparison and from what I saw, Samsung didn't seem to pack much punch for the price compared to other cameras but look around. http://www.steves-digicams.com/ is a great source of detailed reviews and I'd suggest you look around there. Here are some sample shots taken off my Z1000 of late. Edit: I should add the reason why I went slim with a high ISO is because concert pics are my bread and butter and low-lighting kill most cameras.

 

[Brian SD]

whodini, do you really get the quality you need for images as a pro photographer from a JPEG file at such high ISO? honest question, not trying to make a dig.

I also don't have the ability or the patience to drag around my DSLR all the time, but I have noticed an amount of noise on my Casio at ISO 400. I have the EX-Z750. Unfortunately I can't take noise at all. I also cannot take JPG artifacts, though I completely understand if you work in smaller formats (like computer screens), in which case I could see why the EX would be a very nice fit, starting from some 3800x2900 or whatever pixels and cropping to 400x800, or whatever format. I never go above ISO 200 except for dire circumstances, and in the past I am regretful to say that I've been unsatisfied by the performance of *any* point/shoot camera for full-size prints taken at ISO 400+ (even the $900 DSLR-wanna-bes).

To be honest I don't understand why the 10mp doesn't use USB 2.0. It seems like a no-brainer, and you would think the highest / most expensive model would support it. It may be a thing that they give a free firmware update for later down the line.

Oh, your photos look very nice. =]

 

[whodini]

Well, I should have been a bit clearer. I use the high ISO for my personal stuff, not art/work. You're right about artifacts although here's a sample I took @ 3200: Very acceptable for a 480x640 photo album collection, but there's no way in hell I could blow it up any more before it becomes a pixelated nightmare. But I really wanted it for all the shows I go to where finding a nice still spot in a pit is impossible. The "anti-shake" mode brings up the ISO to 800 which is still acceptable as long as you deal in smaller formats. In terms of work, I only shoot in the day unless I'm fine with 200 and going for the artsy "action" technique which actually worked in Paris: and at the occasional show: My line of work is scenery for offices, mostly hospitals, so I need picture quality to hold up to poster-size. Until low-light DSLR performance improves, I'll stick with my EX for my all-around since it's clearly more portable than a traditional SLR and there have been plenty of times where I'd rather not draw attention to myself like a tourist, such as in Cuba: The EX, btw, already had a firmware upgrade but it was nothing on the USB side of things. 2.0 should have been automatic but a 2.0 reader is only a few bucks these days anyway. Thanks for the compliments.

 

[Toiletduck]

I've only used Sony's and Samsungs so far. I use these cameras for holidays or what not, by far not professional.


So far, I think Sony is crap
(night time shots are horrible/all my shots are too easily blurred)

But, Samsung is even more so.
(However my samsung takes the best night shots)

My friend uses a Canon and I've always been impressed by the quality of her shots

 

[SGladwell]

Thanks, guys. I'll have to play with the Casios. The exterior design and long zoom lense of the Samsungs grabbed my attention, and that was a great ad.

 

[Mute]

Go over to DP Review. They have in depth tests and reviews of a great number of digital cameras. You should be able to get a good idea of which camera will best fit your needs.

 

[Brian SD]

Originally Posted by Mute

Go over to DP Review. They have in depth tests and reviews of a great number of digital cameras. You should be able to get a good idea of which camera will best fit your needs.

True, DPReview is very indepth, but the system is somewhat flawed in that they measure specific performance attributes by taking specific shots in the same lighting for all their cameras they test. I consider them to be a great resource for information about Photography, but they seem to tend to fall under what I consider the "fetishist" category.

Definitely test them all out, but DPReview *will* give you a great way to compare specs <-> cost.