Really good starter camera (Samsung S1050)

Member Name: karenroach

Product:	Samsung S1050
Date:	17/06/09 (20 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good quality pictures due to high pixel count and high optical zoom

Disadvantages: Very slow for the same reasons.

My Samsung S1050 was my very first Digital Camera, it won't be my last. I bought it because I was about to take (I mean teach) a Digital Photography class and I had never even owned one!

How hard could it be? Not very. With this camera taking really good quality photos is a piece of cake. Very little skill is needed the camera will take care of most of the settings for you when you start off. When you get a bit more experienced, experiment with some of the settings. Try websites like Webshots and Cnet for helpful tutorials on composition, shutter speed and ISO settings.

The screen at 3 inches is one of the largest you'll get, this is really useful as there is no viewfinder. The camera has automatic settings for different kinds of subject, like landscape or macro close ups of flowers. Photograph people using the face detection or catch children (harder than you think) on the special children setting. Use the night time settings, the snow settings, and the fireworks settings which are self explanatory.

It has a regular 3* digital zoom which will naturally make things blurred it you zoom right in. What is impressive is the 5*optical zoom. By using this feature you can zoom right in and not get the blurred pixelated effect.

When you have taken your pictures, you can apply all sorts of special effects like black and white, sepia, area of colour with part black and white background. Experiment and have fun with this.

The camera cost me £80 from Argos. It is very heavy on batteries, it will always run out right when you see a rare car, rare bird, your baby's first step etc. So buy a set of rechargeable batteries. I bought a set of 12 from Maplins along with a recharger for about £28 total. It has saved me a fortune.

The 10 Megapixels produce nice photos, with big file sizes, so when you have taken about 20, your camera won't hold any more. I ordered a 16Gb memory card from ebay for £16. This holds as many photos and bits of video as I need (a lot).

There is one downside to this camera, because it is quite feature heavy, it is very slow. You press the button, and it takes ages to capture your picture. Sometimes your subject has gone by the time the picture is taken! You can use a Digital photography technique to counteract this. When you are ready to take pictures, press the button down halfway this shows a green rectangle on the screen around the focus area. Just focus and press down fully when your subject is ready.

It's the best £80 I ever spent!

Summary: Brilliant cameral for the money

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