Inspires me to take better photos! (Samsung L201)

Member Name: dee778

Product:	Samsung L201
Date:	09/06/09 (202 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A very small and light camera, with a high spec, very clear instructions, and excellent results

Disadvantages: None that I have experienced

After reading all the reviews and Which guides, I decided on the L201 as the best buy, even before I had seen the amazing offer from Tesco. I bought the camera for £78 and added a £10 case and memory card special offer to the deal - but having used the camera I would have paid a lot more for it. Technically, the reviews all say that the camera has a very high spec for its size, and I certainly found things like the image shake option and face recognition very useful.

The first thing I noticed was that the camera is much slimmer and lighter than any of my family's other compact digitals. I bought the silver version, which is less attractive than the black, but has a nice blue LED light around the 'on' button to give it a bit of glitz.

The main menu dial on the top of the camera makes it quick and easy to turn on DIS mode, manual mode, portrait, night scene, and most importantly for me, the Photo Help Guide. This help option talks you through almost every problem and query, much like the help screen on your computer. You can chose help on various problems such as 'features to use whn the image is out of focus, features to counter camera shake', etc. For example, choosing 'Features to use when adjusting colours' tells you that to shoot in natural colours you must use the Fn button and adjust the White Balance. This sort of semi-professional use is way beyond what other compacts have offered me in the past, and the clear instructions mean that even a traditional point and shoot merchant like me can achieve really good results!

Choosing the Auto setting on the top dial gives access to yet another clear and helpful menu selection via the main screen. The menu navigation is achieved via symbols along the top of the screen, very similar to the menu used in Word and so familiar to most people. You can adjust the camera by choosing one of four main symbols - 'settings, display, sound and recording' - and each of these options has a very clear drop down menu leading from them.

I have not used the movie function much yet - reviews mention that the volume can be very low on this, but as stills are my main interest this does not put me off. This camera has encouraged me to be more adventurous with my photography and to experiment with different settings. The excellent results that I get make it well worth the money.

Summary: A really excellent buy

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