The Samsung HZ35W came as a surprise to us, as its precursor the HZ15W, was kind of a mess and we actually doesn’t have any serious hopes with this camera as well. But happily, the HZ35W is, which it should be, an improved camera than its precursor. Samsung has made improvements in its photo quality and design, and has equipped the camera with some of the advanced features like a sharper, a GPS receiver, a longer, wider lens and higher-resolution display. Though, on the downside, the shooting performance of the camera isn’t improved, but as the shooting performance was already good, there actually isn’t any major displeasure there. The menu system of the camera can stick use some improvement and the GPS setup for the camera still has got some wrinkles that needs to be addressed. Another downside here is the manual and semi-manual modes; they actually are pain to use. Also the low-light/ high ISO photo quality delivered by the camera could easily  [...]

The Samsung NX10 is comparatively heavier and larger in size than many of the other compact cameras without electronic viewfinders (EVF) and at the same time is lesser in size than the entry level dSLRs. The plastic body of Samsung NX10 is well constructed and gives a great feel and comfortable grip to the camera when held in hand. Despite getting such comfortable grip on the body, the operation of camera is tricky and the reason being the flat switches on the camera which gives really confined travel. But the good thing here the layout of the controls and it has been done intelligently and are easy to find even for those who are coming straight from point-and-shoots. The controls on the camera include a four-way navigation switch with middle OK button, and pressing it brings up metering, white balance, AF/MF alterations (with an emblematic array of options for all) and ISO sensitivity. The middle OK button for the navigation switch lets you pick  [...]

$699 priced the Samsung SC-HMX10 is a flash-based high-definition camcorder. It features all-in-one diminutive package, microphone input, manual exposure controls, 8GB inbuilt memory, and 720p video. The HMX10 camcorder can focus relatively close and has full manual exposure controls. However, it does not have optical image stabilization, 1080i video and performs mediocre in low light. The SC-HMX10 has sluggish auto-focus and small sensor. We like that its grip can rotate about 150 degrees that allows aligning the camcorder at any angle. The first rotation drops the camcorder by 5 degrees and then increases the heights. It is one of the cleverest designs we’ve seen. The Samsung SC-HMX10 provides comfortable and nice easy gripping due to its large size. The buttons including record, mode, power, photo, and zoom switch comfortably fall under forefinger or right thumb. As already mentioned, you can rotate the camcorder up to 150 degrees that is very useful. The SDHC card slot and the  [...]

In the U.S., Samsung is in the queue to become a famous camcorder brand like JVC, Panasonic, Sony and Canon. It is noteworthy that the company is trying its best to differentiate itself from the crowd. The perfect example for the same is its new product – Samsung HMX-R10 HD that is compact HD camcorder with affordable price tag. It features numerous shooting options, easy to use controls and 25-degree angled lens. The HMX-R10 costs $499.99 and is the best point-and-shot camcorder. Needless to say, it is one step ahead as compared to other pocket mini-camcorders available in the market. On the dark side, its results at 1080p are not so good like that of other resolution options. Samsung HMX-R10 HD is very easy to use with its 25-degree angled lens. You do not have to cock back your wrist to capture any photograph. Not only its lens helps to keep the wrist straight, but it also makes easy to held natural position for shooting pictures and videos.  [...]

This device costs $200 and has a nice set of manual features, SD-card based recording, long zoom lens and a traditional design. The feature set is good however when it comes to quality and performance, the SC-MX20 is no match for its competitors. On the top of the camcorder there is a zoom rocker with a toggle button for still/movie mode. There is also a plastic cover which reveals power jack, USB connector and AV out connector underneath it. Just like a camera, the SD card slot and battery is located on the bottom which makes it difficult to swap the peripherals if you are using a tripod. On the body, there are three buttons which can be accessed when you open the LCD – Easy Q, screen brightness and info/battery check. There is also a speaker in there. The lens is covered by a manual cover. It feels easy to use with minimal buttons but there is an irritating delay when you start/stop recording. In our tests, we thought our press wasn’t registered and we pressed it  [...]

It is quite rare to find a camera which offer control over the pictures and still stay in the ultra compact range. TL320 is one of them, it gives you control over saturation, contrast, tweaking of sharpness, shutter speeds and aperture, color and white balance. We really liked this camera for the amount of features that it offered, however the photo quality didn’t live up to our expectations. Usually you find a LCD in the back of the camera but this one has a three inch AMOLED display screen which is used in high end mobile phones. AMOLED phones gives you crisper image due to their superior quality. The brightness of the screen is more and it can stand bright sunlight. Finally AMOLED is economical on batteries as they consume less power. There are two gauges on the top of the device which we thought was a nice innovative feature on a camera. The gauges are for battery life and memory card space on the camera. Other buttons on the top of the device  [...]

The unique selling point of this camcorder from Samsung has to be the storage capacity. SMX-F34 has 16 GB of internal memory and you can further expand it through SDHC card. It has a host of manual shooting controls that you rarely find it such compact cameras and the lens is capable of 34x zoom. On the downside, this product from Samsung doesn’t give good quality of videos. Speaking of controls, the F34 has a zoom rocker, mode button which has options of playback, photos and music and shutter release which is used for still capture (but not for recording movies). Connection ports include miniUSB port, DC power input and 3.5 mm AV jack. There is a big record button and spring based power button next to the cover of the jack. The SDHC card slot and the battery compartment of the device are located behind the sliding door which is placed at the bottom of the camcorder. Open the LCD and three more buttons are revealed like LCD enhancer, Easy Q and  [...]

Camcorders built on solid state drives or SSD are fast becoming popular, the only thing that keeps it from reaching the masses is the high price. However we are sure that with time it will become cheaper and completely replace traditional hard disks even in computers. SSDs are more popular because there are no moving parts and hence less heat dissipation, less noise and larger battery life. SSD is still costly which means you will have to shell out a premium price if you want to own this device. The all plastic exteriors make this device look good and the keys like photo button, zoom switch, mode, power and record are all located under your forefinger or thumb which makes it easy to operate. Below the device are the connectors for USB, miniHDMI, power connectors and AV. The grip of the camera rotates up to 150 degrees but it will lock only at 2 positions. Buttons for photo flash, power switch, full auto easy Q, options for image stabilization and  [...]