Digital Cameras
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Samsung ST66
by Breezy9768 The Samsung ST66 has a 16.1 Megapixels 25mm Wide 5X Optical Zoom, Bright F2.5 Lens and the ability to record in HD (720p, 30fps, MJPEG). I've found that this camera is perfect for taking pictures when at home or when you are out with friends, photos of your animals and photos of the outside world. One thing I love about it is that it ... has a very good focus, it literally only takes a couple of seconds. The auto-focus feature is great as you don't have to mess about preparing the camera for any photos you want to take . If you want to take a pic in the dark a little orange light turns on to help it focus, this is a great help. One downfall of this camera is the actual interface, it can be pretty confusing at times, but once you have a good understanding of how to use it, it's fine (it may take a while). I'm a massive fan of this camera. I've taken some really superb photos with it and I'd recommend it to anyone. One last positive are the built in speakers are very impressive - perfect for playing back and listening to video. Pros Great built in speakers Wonderful display Cheap considering the quality very light and easy to carry around Cons As mentioned above the digital interface can be pretty tough to navigate and use if you are not familiar with it. Read the complete review |
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Samsung DualView DV300F
by anonymili I bought the Samsung DV300F about 8 months ago now after my previous Samsung decided one day that it wasn't going to retract its lens (I had worked it very hard, clocking up well over 15,000 photos in the 2 or so years I'd had it). I had seen this clever looking camera and the idea of having a dual view feature (i.e. a viewing screen on ... the front so you can see yourself when taking photos). You may think it's sad to purchase a camera partly based on this feature but there you go; that's me! So I did a bit of research, reading around on technical review websites and didn't find anything negative about this 16-megapixel model so off I went credit card in hand to check out various online sites to buy my new toy. As luck would have it, Amazon was selling it at around £130 at the time, considerably cheaper than all other reputable sites (by reputable, I mean sites I'd actually heard of and that I would consider using). And with a whopping 16.0MP I just had to have this camera! Anyway come the day my new camera arrived, I eagerly unpacked the box having been using my old faithful Canon Ixus 75 as back up in the meantime. I tend to take my camera with me to all social events and am somewhat known for being the "mad camera woman" and although most friends jokingly say this, they are very appreciative of the photos when I email them later, provide hard copies when I do prints once in a while or share on my online albums. I digress! Taking my brand new shiny camera straight out of the box I noted that it looked not dissimilar to my most recent trusty camera, the Samsung IT100 (R.I.P)! It came with a USB lead which could be used with the AC adaptor plug provided or directly with your PC or laptop and several CD-ROMs for software installation. FIRST USE I'm not really one for spending hours reading the manuals when I buy cameras or other electronic devices so I literally took the battery out of the plastic wrapping inserted it into the camera and tried to find the slot to insert the SD card. Imagine my horror when I discover that there was no slot for an SD card but only for a Micro SD card. I hadn't even considered this would be an issue, my last 4 or 5 digital cameras only having taken regular SC cards. I have half a dozen SD cards floating around at home ranging in size. I was not a happy bunny. Back online I went to order a 16Gb Micro SD card with reader which thankfully arrived in a couple of days so I didn't have to contain myself for too long (you may not understand this but for an amateur enthusiast like myself, not having access to a camera for more than a couple of days is akin to missing a limb)! With my new micro SD loaded into the camera, I was clicking away at everything in sight. Luckily for me I have a husband who just loves having his photo taken so I had a willing victim for me to practice the different features of the camera on. FEATURES ~ FRONT SCREEN ~ As mentioned earlier one of the features that really attracted me to the DV300F was its ability to take photos from the screen on the front of the camera itself which allows you see the photo you're about to take with the 1.5" screen. The Dual LCD feature allows you to take photos of yourself alone or within a group at close-up range when there's no one else around to take your photo. Of course there's also the self-timer mode which can be activated so you know just when to smile. I will be perfectly honest and say that this is the feature that actually least impressed me about the camera as taking photos of yourself should come out much better when you're able to see yourself whilst taking the photo. I haven't been able to take many clear photos indoors so far with this feature but outdoors in daylight this works much better. The auto flash feature just doesn't seem to want to work when using the front screen. So aside from not being that fabulous when using indoors what's actually good about the front screen? Well it's pretty discreet so unless you know it's there you won't know it's there if you know what I mean! When not in use the front screen is not visible (unless of course you choose to leave the sticker on the front outlining where the screen which is how it is presented when you unpack the box). There's also a very handy children mode which lets you play an animation on the front LCD to hold children's attention whilst you catch their best moments. ~ OPTIONS FOR SHOOTING ~ Ever wanted a camera which gives you lots of different options to frame photos or have your photos taken with different effects? Well the DV300F delivers in this area! The "Magic Frame" option includes 12 templates to use as a background for your photos! I love playing with this feature! The "Artistic Brush" feature allows you to apply an ink painting, sketch or cartoon effect to your photo and actually saves your original photo as well as the one taken with the "Artistic Brush" option. The "Funny Face" feature reminds me of those fun house mirrors you get at fun fairs (are they still around?) where part of your face is warped - the outcome never actually flattering but quite funny most of the time! Then there's the "Motion Photo" feature which allows you to click various frames and then choose which bits you want frozen/animated. I do like the feature which allows you to rotate your shots and remove red eye! ~BASIC MODE~ Within the Basic Mode there are various options to choose from as follows: * Smart Auto - this allows the camera to select the best mode when taking shots and works very well. For example it switches between daylight and dim light photo capturing by automatically detecting the scene with 16 different shooting conditions. * Program (auto exposure mode with automatically adjusted shutter speed and aperture value for the camera) * Smart Movie - as per Smart Auto feature but in video mode * Movie - regular video mode * Scene - allowing you to select from Landscape, Sunset, Dawn, Backlight, Beach and Snow, Text * Live Panorama - this cool feature allows you to take a Panoramic photo by slowly moving the camera from one side of a view to the other for a wide angle effect - easy to capture - just hold the shutter button down whilst moving from left to right or right to left * Settings - within this option you have options for Sound (Volume, Beep Soun, Shutter Sound, Start Sound, AF Sound), Display (Start Image, Wallpapers, Guide line, Date/Time Display, Help Guide Display, Display Brightness and Quick View), Connectivity (Video Out, USB, PC Software), General (Device Info, Language, Time Zone, Date/Time Set, Date Type, Time Type, File No., Imprint, Auto Power off, AF Lamp, Format, Reset - allowing you to return settings to default) ~WI-FI~ Want to impress your friends on Facebook by sending photos straight from your camera to your Facebook albums? This is fairly straightforward to set up but a little bit time-consuming. For example, you need to set it up with the local wi-fi details (that's if you have them available in the first place) and then enter your email details for your Facebook account. Also you can send photos direct to email addresses, say if you're with someone who doesn't want to wait till you get home to be emailed the photo you can do this too (again ensuring you have the details to connect to local wi-fi). You can also use this feature to share photos via MobileLink, TV Link, Cloud or Social Sharing which includes Picasa, YouTube and Photobucket. The Auto Backup feature within the Wi-Fi section allows you to transfer photos and videos to wirelessly to a PC. ~SCENE~ Within scene you can choose from Picture in Picture, Self Shot, Children, Jump Shot, Beauty Shot, Intelligent Portrait, Night Shot and Close-up Shot. ~MAGIC~ Here you can choose a variety of fun features such as Magic Frame, Funny Face, Photo Filter, Movie Filter, Split Shot, Artistic Brush and Motion Photo, some of these features I've already discussed above in Options for Shooting. The Photo Filter allows you choose from Miniature, Vignetting, Ink Painting, Oil Painting, Cartoon, Cross Filter, Sketch, Soft Focus, Fish Eye, Old Film, Half Tone Dot, Classic, Retro, Zooming Shot. Split shot enables you to take 2 or 3 photos in one frame such as 2 x horizontal and 2 x vertical and 3 x horizontal and 3 x vertical. You can create some amusing and creative images by taking a photo of the same person 3 times, e.g. facing left, front and right! ~ALBUM~ Here you can select Album or Photo Editor. The Album feature allows you to see thumbnail versions of your photos on the screen to easily scroll through to view the photo you want. Within Photo Editor you can choose to Rotate, apply a Smart Filter, and amend Brightness or Contrast, Saturation, ACB (Auto Contrast Balance), Face Retouch and Red-eye Fix. THE REAL OPINION I could go on for hours discussing the features of this camera and bore those of you who don't really care about the full range of features to sleep but I think I'll just skip to what I really think of the Samsung DV300F. Firstly, for those of you, who may be like me and want to get a camera out of the box and just start taking photos, this is a good option. You can figure out the different features fairly easily without having to resort to spending hours going through the manual. As an everyday camera for an amateur enthusiast happy to use an easy to carry digital camera this is a little gem. Taking photos in daylight is a doddle. Crisp and clear photos are easily achieved. With the range of features available, it's really easy to impress friends and family with the different type of background you can choose, hey, who of those that enjoys having their photo taken won't enjoy seeing themselves on a magazine or newspaper cover and due to the high resolutions available, these can make fabulous gifts for people if you want to print these off later. I can honestly say I've had people saying they're not keen on being snapped and when I've talked them into it and shown them their face on a billboard, they've not failed to ask me to email them the photos later! Good selling point eh? What I'm not overly keen on is the front LCD which doesn't do too well indoors or in dimly lit environment. You have to hold awfully still to get a decent photo and I actually always find it easier to click at random towards myself and a friend or two using the rear LCD and achieve much better results. The DV300F is not so clever at taking distance shots indoors in the evenings. If you're at a wedding or function and not seated near the front, you'll struggle to get a decent photo with the Smart Auto setting even though it's supposed to automatically select night mode. You WILL have to play around with different features to find just the right setting (which I have to admit I've not managed to find a decent enough setting yet to say this works)! I'd point out here that I've taken 5 or 6 short videos and well over 500 photos on one charge of the battery so battery life is definitely very decent. This has been the case whether using over one occasion (one day) or over several days use (e.g. on holiday). To fully re-charge the battery takes only a matter of an hour or so. OVERALL RATING Overall I'm rating the Samsung DV300F a strong 4 out of 5 stars. It suits my purposes generally to a tee and I've definitely given it a good testing over the last 7 or 8 months I've owned it. The even better news is that this is available at an even lower price now than when I bought it - I've seen it advertised online for less than £80 which is a real bargain. WHAT'S IN THE BOX? I thought I'd leave this bit (and the technical specs) till near the end so as not to bore those who are not interested in all the bits and bobs that come with the camera, so here's the list: * Camera (hopefully that's obvious) * USB Cable * AC Adapter * Quick Start guide * Manufacturer's 12 month warranty * Wrist strap * BP88 rechargeable battery * CD ROM instruction manual * CD ROM Intelli-studio software TECHNICAL SPEC And now for the complicated bits for those who want to know the nitty gritty regarding the technical specifications: 16.1 Megapixel Dimensions (W x H x D): 95.2 x 56.5 x 18.3(20.0)mm Weight: 120g (without battery and memory card) Main LCD: 3"(7.62cm), 460K TFT LCD Front LCD: 1.5"(3.8cm) 61K TFT LCD Rechargeable battery: BP88 Connector Type: Micro USB ISO Equivalent: Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 Program AE Modes: Smart Auto, Program, Scene, Live Panorama, Self Shot, Picture-in-Picture, Magic Frame, Funny Face, Artistic Brush, Photo Filter, Beauty Shot, Motion Photo, Jump Shot, Children, Intelligent Portrait, Night Shot, Split Shot, Close up 1/2.3" (Approx. 7.76mm) CCD Image sensor Metering: Face Detection AE, Multi, Spot, Center Weighted Samsung 5x Zoom Lens f = 4.5~22.5mm (35mm film equivalent: 25~125 mm) Digital Zoom: Still Image mode: 1.0X ~ 5.0X (Optical x Digital : 25X) TTL auto focus (Multi AF, Center AF, Face Detection AF, Object Tracking AF) Range: Normal: 80cm ~ infinity (Wide), 250cm ~ infinity (Tele) Macro: 5cm~80cm (Wide), 100cm ~ 250cm (Tele) Auto Macro: 5cm~Infinity (Wide), 100cm~ Infinity (Tele) Modes: Auto, Auto & Red-eye reduction, Fill-in flash, Slow sync, Flash off, Red eye fix Range: Wide: 0.2m ~ 4.1m (ISO Auto), Tele : 0.5m ~ 1.6m (ISO Auto) Image Display: Single image, Thumbnails, Advanced Slide Show, Movie Clip, Smart Album Storage: Micro SD Card (up to 2GB guaranteed)/ Micro SDHC (up to 8GB guaranteed)/ SDXC (up to 64GB guaranteed) File Formats: Still Image: JPEG(DCF), EXIF 2.21, DPOF 1.1, PictBridge 1.0, MPO Movie Clip: MP4 (Video: MPEG4.AVC/H.264, Audio: AAC) Read the complete review |
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Nikon D5000
by Huomenna As most of you know I'm a professional photographer and the Nikon D5000 is not a professional level camera. That said I always like having 'new' equipment to fiddle with and recently the opportunity came up for me to get a second hand one of these (complete with 18-55mm kit lens) for an incredibly low price - I won't bother telling you ... how much as it's far lower than they sell for on the open market, so a bit of pointless information, suffice to say though it was too good a deal to pass up. Why would I need to buy it? Well I didn't, but I justified it because it's much physically smaller than my professional level kit so when I'm out places (not getting paid or going specifically for photographic purposes) but still want better quality photos than my compact can provide, I can take this along. Plus I have to admit the childish part of me wanted to play with the swivel screen! What is the D5000? This Nikon SLR was one of the entry level single lens reflex cameras that first came onto the market around 3 years ago and has since been superseded by the D5100 and D5200. How does it come? Generally speaking these cameras are/were provided by Nikon in a 'kit' format with an 18-55mm lens which is a very basic standard zoom. Depending on where you shopped you may also be able to get hold of it body only (so you need to source a lens or more) or a double lens kit (usually a basic telephoto). Provided in the box you also get a USB cable, battery (ENEL9), Nikon branded nylon strap, battery charger, manual and CD. The things you don't get as standard are any filters, memory cards or a carrying case. How easy is it to use? As someone who is technically coming down to this model from much higher ones I found this camera a breeze to understand as obviously it's abilities are much more limited so there are less options. I do miss the lack of certain items such as a top LCD screen and dual adjustment wheels (one for shutter speed, one for aperture) and the camera is generally much more menu driven, but on the whole I would say it's fairly user friendly. I have no need for reading the user manual, but a quick flick through for the sake of this review looks like it explains all the functions in very simple terms. Obviously most people buying this camera will be new to the SLR market so many of the functions will also be entirely new to them and thus will take them a bit longer to get to grips with, but I wouldn't say there's an alternative SLR that's easier to understand (nor do I think there should be - if you're buying a 'proper' camera you should learn how to use it properly otherwise it defeats the point - whacking it on auto all the time is a waste of money and won't get the best from the camera). The LCD on the rear shows also the relevant information - your shutter speed and aperture settings (with a handy diagram showing the aperture change size as you adjust), ISO, exposure compensation, metering, shoot mode, battery life, number of photos remaining on card, quality etc. All of which are handy details and allow you to see if and when any particular setting is wrong. As there is only one adjustment wheel, which by default controls the shutter speed (when on fully manual), you need to do something else to adjust your aperture setting - if you know what an aperture diaphragm looks like then this is easy to work out how to do as a little drawing of this is placed next to the exposure compensation button on the top of the camera - you simply hold this down as you scroll the wheel to change function. In general all the buttons are well marked with their function and working out what to press and when shouldn't be difficult. The only thing I would say wasn't immediately obvious was how to access the video function (yes this does record in full HD) - to do this you need to activate the live view and then press 'OK' which will start recording, later models do have a more obvious dedicated record button. The LCD screen itself is the first swiveling one Nikon produced and is capable of 360 degree rotation. It hinged from the bottom which the cynic inside me says was a deliberate 'bad' move by Nikon. Why? Well at first it seems like a reasonably placed hinge, but if you want to do self portraits you'll need to hold the camera as you do it, because as soon as you put the camera on a tripod the screen in blocked from swiveling right the way down. Why do I think Nikon did this on purpose? Because the replacement models all have the screen hinged from the side allowing for uninterrupted use whether a tripod is employed or not. This means that many D5000 owners who otherwise loved their camera will have been rushing out to buy the D5100 to benefit from the improved useability = more money for Nikon. Any downsides? Aside from the obvious difference that the higher model you buy the better the picture quality (better sensor, processing, higher ISO's with better low light capabilities etc) there are an number of other points you may want to consider when looking at this camera... The D5000, and other models at this level, are primarily of plastic construction - this means they are lighter but not as sturdy and not especially weather sealed. Further more there is no motor drive in the body to control auto focus - to get auto focus you need to ensure you are using AFS lenses (DX or FX) which is fine, most new lenses are of this variety, but it will certainly restrict your options in the second hand market unless you're happy to always focus manually. The only plus side to the lack of a motor drive (depending on how you look at it) is it makes the camera smaller and lighter. Another slight bug bear for me is the lack of an ISO adjustment button - this has to be done via the menu which isn't great for quick adjustments. Finally Live View (using the screen to compose and take photos) was still in it's relative infancy when this camera was introduced so auto focus tends to be on the slow side and can drift a bit when it comes to movie. Most of the time you would still use the viewfinder as it's much quicker. What quality are the results? Obviously much of this comes down to the lens you are using, so for the sake of this review I'm basing it off the kit lens most people will have (as I doubt many other people will have an entry level body with £2k pro glass on the front!) and the other factor is you - a little bit of knowledge with settings goes a long way. I would say the quality of results from this camera compare well to that of my older, but a level up, D80 - certainly the noise levels (grain) present in a picture seem very similar at any given ISO rating. While the 18-55mm kit lens is one of the worst lenses Nikon make, it is capable of producing half decent results, especially if you shoot with with it at a couple of stops or so below base ie. f8 when at 55mm. Find the so called sweet spot of any lens to get the best from it. Colour reproduction is pretty accurate and edge definition fair, my main complaint would be images tend to lack a little on the contrast side of things, possibly erring slightly towards underexposure when on an auto mode which can make the images feel a little dull and flat. How much is it? As you can't generally buy these new in shops any more price can vary quite a bit. A quick look at places like eBay online tends to suggest that you could expect to pay anywhere between just under £200 for a body, up to £300ish with a lens. Anything else? As with all SLR's this camera has a hot shoe on top for attaching a more powerful flash than the inbuilt one - if you're thinking of doing a fair amount of flash work, I would certainly recommend this route as you will get much better results. The camera comes with a single SD card slot which will accept SDHC - I would recommend a class 10 card if you're going to do video although a class 6 should just about suffice. The D5000 was one of, if not the last camera to be released using the ENEL9 battery - there's nothing wrong with this battery, but newer models have gone to varieties with recessed contacts (I think this might have something to do with a Japanese law). You can still buy spares/replacements easily enough and you should get a few hundred shots per charge. Read the complete review |
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