Superb Samsung camera (Samsung NV100HD)

Member Name: mtpatton

Product:	Samsung NV100HD
Date:	19/07/09 (193 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amazing picture quality, Easy to use, Looks stylish

Disadvantages: Pictures take up more memory

Ever since my first digital camera ended up attempting to learn to swim last year and has no longer been able to charge have I needed a new one. I have been avoiding purchasing a new one, but the final straw came just before I went to a friends wedding and I pulled out the camera to remember that it had completely dead. There and then I decided that I needed to replace it. So after hunting around loads of electronic shops and reading comments left on websites, I choose Samsung NV100 model. My previous camera was also a Samsung and this is a brand that I have grown love for all of electronic products.

The Camera's Look
-------------------------

The Camera comes in two colours; you can choose either a black finish or a silver finish. I chose the silver finish as I personally think silver looks more modern. The camera itself is two tones as the top and one side of the camera are a rich deep read colour.

One thing to notice about the camera is that this is really light device and only weighs 140 gram. This was a noticeable difference compared to my old model which was roughly the same dimensions as this model.

Along with the camera comes the usual range of devices like a USB cable so that you can transfer your pictures to computer, a handle which can be attached at the side of the device to hold it, camera software to run on your computer and a charger. There is also a full instruction manual in the box for those who would like to know more about any of the camera features.

Main Features
------------------

The camera has loads of good things going for it, here are my favourites.

First and fore most, is the large 3" touch screen operation. This is great for navigating around the menus and for scrolling through your pictures. This handily also gives you access to decide on the function and settings that you wish to set on the camera.

Obviously you can get into any of the modes from here and you have 8 automatic modes (one of these modes is a mode called beauty shot!) preset on the camera which help capture the moment in any conditions. If you are brave enough there is also a manual mode where you can set the finer details of the picture quality yourself, but let's face it, I have never used this mode. Also from the modes you can get into movie mode where you can record and excellent quality HD video. In fact when you look at the camera it is pleasing to see a lack of buttons as it makes you think it is simple to operate and I have to say that this was the case. When operating the touch screen, if you make a mistake there is a simple button in the top right hand corner of the display to go back.

The picture quality on this camera is also amazing. This is helped by the wide variety of modes available (as mentioned above) but also due to the fact that the camera is 14.7 mega pixels. My old camera was merely 10 (really this was only 3 years old and was top of the range then!). The pictures on this device are noticeably clearer, sharper and it is able to cope with a wobbly hand or the subject moving slightly. This was my biggest criticism of my previous camera as it did not always hold a great picture. The picture quality is helped enormously by the optical zoom that is available which is an impressive 3.6. This also has a lens that advances from the front of the camera to again give sharp images of the subject when they are quite a distance away.

Battery life is something that I was keen to ensure was a key feature of whatever camera I bought owing to my last exploits. The great news is that this camera last forever! I took this camera to the wedding I went to and have used it on several other occasions and the device never seems to want charging. This is helped by the simple fact that it is similar to a computer, the camera will turn itself off after a period of inactivity, this is something my old camera did not do. This will obviously save you money in the long run as well by not having to charge each before each and every time you use it. The camera can be charged in a conventional way or if your transferring files to your computer via the USB cable the camera will take a little bit of power to charge itself.


So are there any drawbacks?
-------------------------------------

I have only noticed two very trivial drawbacks.

Firstly the file size of any pictures you take is around 3mb. That's ok when placing them on a computer, but sadly if trying to attach pictures to certain websites it will not accept the picture as the file size is too large, ciao for example! The camera comes with an impressive 30mb internal memory; however this is only 13 pictures when you think about the file size. Usually the file size is around the 1mb size and this is quite a difference. Obviously this is caused by the picture quality and sharp images that the camera delivers but it worth bearing in mind before purchasing this. The camera also takes the usual memory cards so this memory can be easily expanded on.

Secondly the pop up flash is in a place that I place my hands on the camera which means that it try's to pop my finger out of the way. Obviously this is a good feature when you know about it as its one less thing to worry about when taking pictures, but it can take a bit of getting used to.

Price and availability
-------------------------

We purchased this camera from Argos. The camera's recommended retail price is £199.99. However Argos appears to always have a deal on with this one to lower the price to £159.99, which for the picture quality and a HD Video camera as well is excellent value.

Conclusion
--------------

As I said I needed a new camera and this is a camera that I would happily recommend to anyone. The picture quality is wonderful and the touch screen on the device is simple to use.

The camera itself looks stylish and is a nice compact size and weight making it easy to carry around with you.

Thanks for reading, this review is also published on Ciao.co.uk, under the same username

Summary: A supreb stylish easy to use camera

Processing/Quality:
Reliability:
Ease of use:
Features:
Picture quality: