| Product: |
Samsung Digimax S800 |
| Date: |
11/11/07 (87 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: High image quality, variety of features, plug and play, videos with sound.
Disadvantages: Consumes batteries
My Need For The Camera
As a design student, I was in desperate need of a cheap camera, but that packed some punch at the same time. Although this went over my initial spending budget I have no regrets. I guess if I lost it, I would love to replace it, not sure I'd have the money though! Maybe I should take out some insurance!
Basics
The S800 is your standard digital camera. It can take we have red eye flash, lighting level flash, standard and none. Its has a lot of contrast/resolution features for specific features such as portrait or shooting at night, Whilst these aren't new features, it doesn't make them any less useful. Its 3x optical zoom is great with no quality loss and although its technologically "ahead of its time" its better than not having it.
It has 3 picture qualities normal, fine, superfine and you can choose your mega pixel size from 1-8 for optimal strategic memory card managing.
Videos you say?
It can take mpeg4 videos up to 640x 480 at 15fps with sound recording as well. Now if you're a tech wiz then take what you want from that, if your not then that's fairly standard, its not for making feature lengths but for capturing memories with friends. It is an ideal camera for frequent facebookers or myspacers. The camera however has no lighting system so for club videos or steamy sex tapes it may not be ideal, but for family moments, or a casual desire in video editing it is ideal.
Is it Complicated?
It is very simple to use, the menu is accessible and easy to read. The large LCD screen is brilliant for reminiscing upon pictures just taken and is simple to navigate. The menus are very simple. I've only referred to the manual once and that was to find out what each button did. To be fair for anyone that has used a camera before, it is fairly self explanatory.…and then a bit more.
Value for Money…
I paid £80 for this camera and I use it to take pictures both for art and for leisure and the real question is," is it worth the money?" and to answer that properly you really need to compare the features with the competition.
This was the highest quality camera I could get for that price. 8 mega pixels is definitely an improvement on 4 which is the standard for 80 pound cameras. The features lack real individual ness, but with plug and play capabilities and photo edit software packaged in with every new pc, who needs them?
So what about its purpose….
The S800 is definitely a standard camera, is positives are its high quality and low price. Its size may make it a bit more difficult to transport in small mini skirts, and the camera does actually consume batteries like no tomorrow. However these are negligible when you get such a nifty camera at such a price. Its no professional tool, but for those that just want to capture moments, or maybe with a bit of an interest in commercial photography its ideal.
You can't change the lens or add fish lens, so it may not be ideal for cooky counter culture photography, however I'm sure these effects can be replicated in programs such as photoshop
This camera is all about price and quality and it is definitely a recommended buy, if this is the type of camera that you are looking for. If anything this is definitely a family camera.
Additional
I also bought a 1gb card for an additional £15 from Currys Digital on medium quality this gives me around 1000+ pictures and at higher quality (8 mega pixel and super fine) I get about 300 which is still a decent amount. Its gives me just short of an hour of film footage.
If you are still hesitant - then maybe you should buy the camera and take it out for a spin and if its not what you want take it back (just be very careful!) Normally shop assistants are very helpful and can give you on the spot demonstrations.
Summary: A great camera for those that just want good quality pictures. Maybe not for professionals
| Processing/Quality: |
|
 |
| Reliability: |
|
|
| Ease of use: |
|
 |
| Features: |
|
 |
| Picture quality: |
|
|
|
|
