Samsung DualView TL205 is a solid ultracompact camera, which provides second LCD up front and angled bottom for making self portraits a snap. Its front LCD and affordable price, makes it an unparalleled choice for self portrait loving photographers on a budget. The DualView digital cameras of Samsung Company remain a wonderful choice for those customers, who shoot a lot. It is a basically a step up from an average smartphone or camera phone. The DualView TL205 comes with standard list of extensive features, which include 12-megapixel 2.3 inch CCD sensor, 2.7 inch LCD screen, 3x zoom lens, Motion JPEG/JPEG file format, highest resolution of 4000 x 3000 pixels at 30 frames per second, digital image stabilization type, SDHC/SD storage media and bundled software of Samsung Intelli-Studio.

The Samsung DualView TL205 offers decent images, and has the capability to capture nice landscapes and portraits for small prints, web use and occasional 8×10 image. The color performance is not that accurate as compared to other models in its class, while the video quality is good enough for web use. The ISO sensitivity ranges from Auto, 1600, 80, 800, 100, 400 and 200, while the white balance mode includes Auto, Custom, Daylight, Tungsten, Cloudy, Fluorescent L and Fluorescent H. The recording modes give you access to settings for Smart Auto, Movie, Auto, Night Scene, Program, Beauty Shot and DIS.

Some of the focus modes on Samsung DualView TL205 are Multi Autofocus, Face Detection and Spot, while the metering modes include Face Detection, Multi and Center. The DualView also provides you with some color effects such as Normal, Custom, Soft, Negative, Vivid, Classic, Forest, Calm, Retro and Cool. One of the unique features found in this model is the Auto mode, which gives you access to general shooting with settings for blink detection, focus areas and face and smile. The Program Auto allows you to control the ISO and white balance along with saturation, contrast and sharpness. Overall it is a basic ultracompact digital camera that offers average shooting performance and photos in its segment.

Samsung PL200 is a simple ultracompact digital easy to use camera that offers excellent image quality and large LCD screen for the money. It is a simple camera with long lens. Just about every manufacturer is introducing point and shoot cameras with zoom lens which is longer than 3X, but shorter as compared to more expensive and bulkier 10X zoom models. Like all point and shoot cameras, the PL200 offers wide array of shooting options with extensive list of features. Some of the key specifications include 14-megapixel ½.3-inch CCD sensor, three-inch high resolution screen, H.264 AAC/JPEG file format support, digital and optical image stabilization, storage media of SDHC/SD and bundled software which include Samsung Intelli-Studio.

The image quality from Samsung PL200 is quite good and the images look crisp and clear at ISO400. On the other hand, color is fairly accurate, good, pleasing and bright; the Smart mode offers better color and image quality as compared to Program mode. White balance mode is quite good, but its presets are better then auto white balance. The ISO sensitivity ranges from Auto, 3200, 80, 1600, 100, 800, 200 and 400. Some of the white balance modes include Auto, Custom, Daylight, Tungsten, Cloudy, Fluorescent L and Fluorescent H, while the recording modes are Smart Auto, Movie, Auto, Scene, Program and Dual IS.

The Samsung PL200 also features some focus modes which include Multi Autofocus, Tracking AF, Center AF and Face Detection AF. The metering modes are Multi, Face Detection AE, Spot and Center Weighted, while the color effects includes settings for Normal, Custom, Soft, Vivid, Negative, Forest, Classic, Retro, Calm and Cool. Apart from these modes, it also offers some additional shooting options such as Smart mode which automatically selects the camera settings based on sixteen different scene types from Macro Text and Portrait Landscape.

The Program mode of Samsung PL200 gives you access to settings for exposure compensation, metering, ISO and white balance along with few other settings like color effects and smile and face detection. The clearly labeled buttons are Delete, Menu and Mode; on the other hand three-inch LCD screen is quite bright and displays crisp images. Some of the advantages of PL200 is that it works pretty fast and features good response times, 7x optical zoom lens, easy to use and well organized menu structure, good image quality and autofocus system.

The default JPEG settings in Samsung TL500 also offer low contrast and profile images with desaturated colors and there is no preset option for more saturated but still accurate color. It can function like other point and shoot cameras in the market, but is designed and developed for image enthusiasts and aficionados. The TL500 is quite attractive and feels solid in hand with its robust construction all metal body. It also comes with a neck-strap which offers better protection against bumps and drops and also saves couple of seconds.

However, the Samsung TL500 performs aberration control and in-camera distortion for JPEGs. Like all point and shoot cameras in the market, the TL500 delivers 0.7 second in low contrast shoots and focuses in 0.4 second in high contrast situations. Some of the standard features found in TL500 are 10-megapixel CCD sensor, sensitivity ranges from ISO 80 to ISO 3200, continuous shooting of 1.1 frames per second, articulated three-inch AMOLED display and optical image stabilization.

Overall, the Samsung TL500 comes with functional and attractive design and is little heavier as compared to Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5. It is not ideal for single handed shooting, but the horizontal jog dial embedded in grip controls aperture, exposure compensation and shutter speed. On the top, you will find the typical dial model with usual collection of automatic, manual and semimanual options along with drive mode dial with bracketing, continuous shooting and self timer settings.

At the back of Samsung TL500, there is a traditional control layout with dedicated metering button. The function reveals the shooting settings like focus area, quality and white balance; all you can navigate through scroll dial. The navigation dials also gives you access to ISO sensitivity settings, display settings, macro and flash. One of the exquisite features found in this model is Smart Face Recognition that allows you to mark 12 different faces as favorites and take focus priority while shooting with face detection mode. The TL500 is robustly constructed, thoughtfully designed and precision built imaging tool, which is ideal for serious shooters. Overall it offers comprehensive selection of shooting options including Smart Auto, Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, Dual IS, Scene (Close-up, Text, Landscape, Sunset, Children, Dawn, Portrait, Backlight, Night, Fireworks, Beauty Shot and Snow/Beach) and Movie.

The Samsung DualView TL225 comes with a catchy dual screen design, has a huge shooting feature set and responsive touch-screen navigation.

Cons:

The Samsung DualView TL225’s touchscreen interfaces can be problematic, the camera needs HDMI output adapter, the camera requires a microSD card, which can annoy some customers and finally the battery of the camera can not be charged in the camera.

Overture:

The Samsung DualView TL225 comes in the market with many of attractive features, and many of the camera customers will love this innovative move by Samsung. Samsung actually has introduced an actual innovation by means of the dual-LCD design of DualView TL225, and it’s no marketing gimmick here. The best thing here is that to appeal the modern customers the TL225 has a compact body, but still has got plethora of impressive features such as a quick touch-screen interface and dynamic automatic shooting options.

All that said, the DualView TL225 clearly is not for everyone, especially not for the ones who hates using a lot of touchscreen, but if you loves being in the pictures rather than being behind the camera, then this camera surely will appeal you. Though, like many of the other cameras the TL225 also suffers from one or two noteworthy flaws, which can be a deal breaker for some of its aspiring customers. But as far as the modern customers are concerned who loves sharing their picks instantly, rather than just clicking them the Samsung DualView TL225 definitely is a good buy.

Build and Design:

If you love touchscreen devices then you surely won’t hate the Samsung DualView TL225’s design. The façade of the camera houses a 27mm equivalent wide-angle lens with 4.6x zoom. Alongside the lens is a 1.5 inch touchscreen display. Considering the fact that the camera has dual-LCD design, we didn’t expect it to have a lot of physical controls, and very rightly so, the camera didn’t have them. The very few limited physical controls that we found on the camera included a small zoom rocker, and buttons for shutter release, power and play.

The rest of all the functions of the camera are controlled and accessed using its high resolutions 3.5 in touch-panel display on its rear end. The only problem that we have with the LCD screens of the camera is the fact that there wasn’t sufficient space for gripping the camera.

The good thing about the touchscreen of Samsung DualView TL225 is that they are some of the most receptive touchscreen displays that we’ve scene here. The receptiveness of the display screen comes handy here, as the camera comes with plethora of menus, which are countless here. Overall the design of the camera is satisfactory and apart from some of the minor flaws here and there, we didn’t have any problems with the design of the camera. One of the major problems that we had with the design of the camera is the fact that the battery of the camera can only be charged inside the camera.

Performance:

In terms of performance, the Samsung DualView TL225 was an average performing camera, neither too bad, nor exceptionally good. The start-and-shoot timing for the camera was around 1.5 secs; the same time was taken in between two consecutive shots as well. The photo quality from TL225 was pretty impressive; especially the photos captured under ISO 400. The colors shown for the photos are pretty precise and bright.

Expert Comments:

The Samsung DualView TL225 is a superb touchscreen camera as far as the feature set and performance is concerned.

Considering the price of the camera Samsung HZ35W has high-quality features, performance, design, and photo quality.

Thumbs Down:

The Samsung HZ35W has confusing GPS setup; then using the ASM mode is a real pain here, and the camera delivers middling low-light photos.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Manufacturer: Samsung

Part Number: EC-HZ35WZBPAUS

Price: $319.00 – $319.99

Product Type: Compact Digital Camera

Weight: 7.5 oz

Dimensions (W x D x H) in inches: 4.2 x 1.1 x 2.4 inches

Optical Sensor Type: CCD

White balance: Custom, Automatic and Presets

White Balance Presets: Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent light (daylight), Tungsten light and Fluorescent light (cool white)

Software: Drivers & Utilities & Samsung Intelli Studio

Cables Included: USB cable& A/V cable

Connector Type: USB, Composite audio/video output, DC power input and HDMI

Additional Features: DPOF support , Built-in GPS , Face detection , USB charging , Date/time stamp , Audio recording , Face Recognition , Built-in speaker , PictBridge support , Exif Print support , Recycle Bin function , Photo album function , In-camera red-eye fix , Touch-screen control , 720p HD movie recording , USB 2.0 compatibility , Blink Detection technology , Dual image stabilization , Auto Contrast Balance (ACB) and Smile Detection technology

Shooting Programs: Food , Cafe , Text , Snow , Children , Sunset , Dawn/dusk , Close-up , Landscape , Fireworks , Beauty shot , Back light , Portrait mode , Night scene and Self-portrait

Focus Adjustment: Automatic

Flash Modes: Fill-in mode,   Auto mode,   Flash OFF mode,   and slow synchro and Red-eye reduction

Included Accessories: Carrying strap

Operating System Support: Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows XP, Apple Mac OS X 10.3 or later and Microsoft Windows Vista

Camera Flash: Built-in

Peripheral Devices: USB port & CD-ROM drive

Supported Battery: Samsung SLB-11A

Razzle Dazzle:

IN terms of design and build the Samsung HZ35W clearly is one of the biggest compact Megazooms we’ve tested this year. As a matter of fact, the camera has the longest and the widest lens in this class. The camera also has a 3-inch dazzling AMOLED screen with high-resolution, as well. The best thing is that the screen performed exceedingly well in direct sunlight as well. The body of the camera is a blend of chrome plastic and gray metal, and gives a sturdy feel when held in hand. With the lens retracted, the HZ35W is a good-looking camera and can easily slip into your jacket’s pocket or bag, but will be an awkward fit in a pants pocket. Despite the huge, heavy lens the camera is well balanced and is comfortable to use and hold.

Inside Dope:

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 have been better.

The one thing that we can assure you here is that if you are someone who makes a lot of changes in settings changes or really wants the ASM mode, then this camera surely is not the right option to go with. But apart from this, on a whole the HZ35W is a solid compact Megazoom on a whole, particularly for those who are looking for a widest and longest lens in a pocketable body and built-in GeoTagging.

The biggest selling point for Samsung HZ35W is its en suite GPS receiver for GeoTagging photos while you are capturing them. Sadly, but yes, the experience of using the GPS out of the box is a tad less than instinctive. There is a switch given on top of the camera for turning the receiver on and off, which makes its operation fast and is surely better than going in to the menus and then doing it all.

The control panel for the camera is rather straightforward, and along with the GPS power switch positioned on the top are the power button, the shutter release button with a zoom ring and shooting mode dial. All these are angled, a bit downward which makes them comparatively comfortable to use. Positioned on the rear end, and at the top is a one-touch record button for movies that’s exceedingly more functional than the exposure compensation rocker button from its precursor HZ15W. Go further down and you will find a Menu button to access all the setup and shooting; there also is a four-way directional pad to navigate and to alter the display information, entering manual and macro focus, setting a timer, or for turning the flash on; a Function (Fn) button which brings up a context-sensitive shooting menu and a Playback button.

The controls on the camera are rather clear, but the same can’t be said about the menu system. Now, as for the outputs and inputs, the camera has a flip-open door positioned on its right side body. Under that cover is a Mini-USB/AV and Mini-HDMI ports. The camera also has a Mini-HDMI-to-USB cable included to connect the camera to a computer and charging.

The shooting performance of Samsung HZ35W is pretty decent for its class, but still we wont recommend it for shooting fast moving subjects like athletes, kids and pets, though you can use it for still subjects. The photo quality for the camera is pretty decent up to ISO 200, and the photos taken at these lower sensitivities are comparatively sharper, with very less to no noise, even when viewed at 100 percent. Though, by ISO 400 there is a significant shift in quality with the noise becoming apparent. The, photos taken here are decent enough for small or web uses, with very small or no cropping. Theirs is a significant detail loss at ISO 800. So on a whole the Samsung HZ35W is also like all the other compact cameras: impressive in bright light, but weak indoor and low-light photos.

Nitty Gritty:

The Samsung HZ35W is a completely refurbished successor of HZ15W, and hence is a worth considering GPS-enabled compact Megazoom.

The Samsung NX10 has an elegant LCD, is smartly designed and this comfy camera is capable to taking great quality pictures.

Thumbs Down:

One of the major issues with Samsung NX10 is its default image settings and it easily could have been better. The camera has some other issues as well like the average EVF, absence of an override EVF eye sensor, average EVF and the raw software for the camera can be infuriating at times.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Manufactured by Samsung the NX10 is a Prosumer Digital camera and is priced at $699.00 to $699.99. The camera weighs about 12.5 oz and measures 4.8 x 1.6 x 3.4 inches (W x D x H), and can be carried frequently. The Samsung NX10 has a decent LCD screen measuring 3 inches and is decently bright. The camera is a14.6 megapixel camera with software like Samsung Master, Samsung Raw Converter and Drivers & Utilities.

If you are willing to use the camera with your computer than you will have to have Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista as your operating system as the camera supports these OS only and hence can be a disappointment for the Mac users. The still images taken from the camera are stored in        RAW,   JPEG and RAW + JPEG image formats into the system. The camera has CMOS type optical sensor and the effective sensor resolution here is of 14,600,000 pixels.

The camera has four flash modes namely: the Fill-in mode,   the Flash OFF mode,   the Auto mode,   the Red-eye reduction mode, the slow synchro and the Rear curtain sync mode. The standard for video compression in here is H.264 – 640 x 480, H.264 – 320 x 240 and H.264 – 1280 x 720, to offer you the best possible quality. One another downside here is that the camera only supports    SD Memory Card. But the camera does have five exposure modes: Bulb,   Manual,   Program, Automatic and Aperture-priority. The White balance here is preset and the camera shoots the digital video in H.264 video compression.

If you are buying the Samsung NX10 then the bundle will come along with Body cap, Eyecup, Shoe cap and Carrying strap. The camera is powered by a 1300 mAh Li-ion battery and has maximum and minimum operating temperatures of 104 °F and 32 °F.

Razzle Dazzle:

With the looks it becomes pretty obvious that the Samsung NX10 is bigger and weighty than some of the other compacts. Despite its plastic body the Samsung NX10 gives a sturdy and comfortable feel in hand and the design makes it comfortable to hold. Although, the positioning of the buttons on the body is a tad congested and offers limited travel. But the overall structure of the camera is smartly planned and even if you are getting out of a point-and-shoot, you won’t find any trouble in finding the settings here.

Inside Dope:

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 your focus area (mentioned that you’re in AF selection mode) and in addition to it, you can choose one of the four different sizes for AF area (a really pleasant feature).  There is pair of prominent drive mode options in NX10. Even as the camera offers three-frame bracketing, it is capable of supporting up to three stops in either direction, which clearly is enticing if you are HDR enthusiasts. The Samsung NX10 is also capable of bracketing about three set of images with its Picture Wizard settings.

The performance of the camera definitely isn’t the best in class, but the NX10 does respectably well. The camera starts and get ready for its first shot a brisk 0.8 seconds. Though the camera has a decent frame rate, but still shooting from an EVF camera is still a risk and you frequently will miss the shot and hence the provided frame rate here is sort of debatable. Another debatable thing for NX10 is its photo quality and the good new is that after a lot of debate on it we thought that the photos taken from NX10 aren’t all that bad. Although, most of the quality photos were taken shooting raw, but if you are an expert photographer you can change the settings and can do a bit of experimenting with the photo quality.

Like the stills taken from the camera the NX10′s video quality looked decent as well, mentioned that you don’t look too closely. The video shot from the camera are relatively sharp, without any substantial compression relics. In our test on all the three lenses of the camera the result was almost the same and the saddening thing was the fact that they all performed almost similar to their low-priced counterparts for dSLRs.

Nitty Gritty:

The Samsung NX10 has ample drawbacks to keep the camera off the unanimous choice for the people looking for interchangeable-lens cameras. But the camera still has an elegant design and delivers satisfactory performance and considerable pictures.

Relatively close focus; manual exposure controls; sharp video

Thumbs Down:

Slow auto-focus; exposure adjustment problems; mediocre low-light performance quality; no optical image stabilization; annoying touch-screen

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

The Samsung SC-HMX10 is a 720p high-definition camcorder than has 8GB internal flash memory. It has 1/4.5” 1.61-megapixel CMOS optical sensor, infrared remote control, 15 lux minimum illumination, 2x digital zoom, digital photo shooting mode, widescreen video capture, and electronic image stabilization. The maximum shutter speed is 1/10000 second and minimum is 1/60 second. The memory card slot accepts SD memory card, and MultiMedia Card.

The effective video resolution 1-megapixel, while the still resolution is 1.56-megapixel. The Samsung SC-HMX10 supports JPEG image format, and MPEG4 & H.264 video format. The analog video format is NTSC. The image storage resolution options are JPEG 2048×1536, JPEG 1440×1080, and JPEG 640×480.

The Samsung SC-HMX10 has 2.7 inches touch-screen display. It has inbuilt stereo microphone and lens shield. The additional features are Display brightness control, Display contrast control, Backlight compensation, USB 2.0 compatibility, progressive scanning, Pictbridge support, inbuilt speaker, Auto power save, and DPOF support.

Zoom lens has 3.2-32mm focal length and F/1.8 aperture that features 10x optical zoom. The camcorder has 30mm filter, inbuilt lens shield, and TTL contrast detection auto-focus. The zoom adjustment is motorized drive, and focus adjustment is Automatic and Manual.

The shooting programs are Hi-speed shutter, Portrait mode, Sport mode, Beach/snow, and Spotlight. The white-balance options are Automatic, Custom, and Presets. Its presets include Tungsten light, Fluorescent, Daylight, and Cloudy. The HMX10 has three types of exposure modes: Automatic, Program, and Manual.

The connector set includes 1 x Composite video/audio (input/output) , 1 x USB , 1 x S-Video output , 1 x Docking station , 1 x Component video output , 1 x Microphone , 1 x HDMI output. The camcorder has 850mAH lithium polymer rechargeable battery. Accessories supplied with USB cable, A/V cable, battery, drivers & utilities disc, power charger, remote control, docking station, and user manual.

Razzle Dazzle:

The Samsung SC-HMX10 is 2.7 inches tall, 2.4 inches wide, and 4.8 inches deep and weighs 11.6 ounces. It feels quite solid despite its plastic housing. The camcorder is a bit taller than other flash-based units.

Inside Dope:

$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 battery are located behind a tethered cover on top. Like cassette-based models, it is very convenient to have media slot and battery on the top if you are shooting using tripod. The Samsung SC-HMX10 also has inbuilt lens shield with its mechanical switch. This is also a plus point for the HMX10 in its range.

The Samsung has included the 2.7-inch touch-screen, but it is not quick responsive. In contrast, the menus are well-organized. On switching the mode, the Samsung SC-HMX10 takes few second to initialize for mode-specific video, photo or loading thumbnails. This slow speed is quite annoying, especially when it causes to miss the shots.

The manual controls for focus, gain and shutter speed are not as useful as for other camcorders. The touch-screen does not allow any sort of magnification that makes the manual focus completely useless. We like that the Samsung SC-HMX10 has a video light. It has 29 exposure steps, but they work linearly to clip off to black without any notification. This will decrease the available adjustment range.

You can record the non-interlaced 1280×720 pixels video through MPEG4 AVC/H.264 encoding mode. As the Samsung SC-HMX10 records 720p video, it accepts Class 2 SDHC card (2MBps) instead of better one or Class 4 (4MBps). It is unlike standard AVCHD camcorders as they record 1080i video with higher bit-rate. The 8GB card in the SC-HMX10 can store 88 minutes of Best quality as compared to 20 minutes of 1080i video by AVCHD model. Please remember that the Samsung SC camcorder will record single clip of 2GB.

The bundled CyberLink suite worked perfectly for playing the recorded videos. We will recommend you to use the appropriate software while using video clips recorded on the Samsung SC-HMX10.

The Samsung SC-HMX10 performed average in its price range. We faced some difficulty while adjusting the zoom due to loose switch. The auto-focus was a bit sluggish in good lighting and faces some problem while differentiating background and foreground subjects. The focus pulses even after being locked in low light. The audio sounded good but we noticed some static.

The overall video quality was average. It was relatively sharp and colorful, but was not fully accurate. It looked pleasing and saturated while playing back on computer. The still picture looked OK even at low resolution. The exposure was inconsistent across the frame, but highlights blown out completely in sunlight, mushy low-light videos, and sallow skin tone outdoors.

Nitty Gritty:

The HMX10 is a good high-definition camcorder, but also has some drawbacks like its annoying touch-screen, below average low light performance, missing optical image stabilization, and slow auto-focus.

If you are looking for rotating and affordable camcorder and can overcome the mentioned flaws then you can select the Samsung SC-HMX10.

Good feature set with slow-motion and interval video recording options; 25-degree angled lens; very compact shape.

Thumbs Down:

No accessory shoe or jacks for microphone and headphone; slippery body; videos has visible noise in low lighting; difficult to use manual controls at touch-screen; no lens protection.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Samsung HMX-R10 HD is a 1080i pocket camcorder that has 1/2.33” CMOS optical sensor of 9.15-megapixel resolution. It offers digital photo shooting mode, 100x digital zoom, wide-screen capture, and inbuilt flash. Camcorder effective video resolution is 5.3-megapixel and effective still resolution is 9-megapixel. The interpolated still resolution is 12-megapixel.

Maximum shutter speed is 1/10000 second and minimum is 1/60 second. Its exposure modes are Automatic and Program. The white balance is of three types: Automatic, Presets and Custom. White balance presets include Tungsten Light, Fluorescent, Daylight and Cloudy. Analog video format is NTSC, digital video format is H.264 and still image format is JPEG.

Samsung HMX-R10 HD has 2.7 inches touch-screen LCD display based on TFT active matrix technology. The rotating display has 230,000 pixels resolution and works as viewfinder. Its zoom lens has a focal length of 6.8-34mm with an aperture of F/3.5/3.7 that features 5x optical zoom. Zoom adjustment is motorized drive and focus adjustment is both Automatic and Manual.

The additional features of Samsung HMX-R10 HD are Still capture while video recording, Interval shooting mode, Backlight compensation, Face detection, Touch-screen controls, PictBridge support, Inbuilt speaker, Direct print and DPOF support. The camcorder also has inbuilt stereo microphone and SD memory card slot. Supported operating systems are Microsoft Windows XP/Vista.

The connector set includes 1×HDMI output, 1×Component video output, 1×USB and 1×Composite video/audio output. Samsung HMX-R10 HD has standard lithium ion rechargeable battery. Accessories supplied inside the package are power adapter, user manual, drivers and software disc, USB cable, SD memory card, A/C cable, hand grip, carrying case and battery.

Razzle Dazzle:

Samsung HMX-R10 HD has eye-catching and attractive design. Its body is capsule shaped and available in black and silver colors. Our test model had black color. It is 2.2 inches tall, 1.5 inches wide and 5 inches deep. The camcorder weighs 9.3 ounces with media and battery.

Inside Dope:

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. If you are using traditional positioning for your camcorder, then you may need few minutes to adjust. The right side of the R10 is so curved that palm fits easily in camcorder’s body. Instead of traditional strap, the company has included wrist strap due to these angled lens. You have to be careful while gripping the camcorder as the stand and body is made up of slippery material.

Shutter release button for pictures sits on the top of Samsung HMX-R10 HD. Record button, vertical zoom rocker, and Mode button to switch between shooting video and images are located on the back. USB/AV jacks, DC input and mini-HDMI port sits behind covered panel located at the back beneath Mode and other buttons. We are disappointed that persons with small hands will face difficulty to reach the controls at back, especially while using zoom rocker. We prefer to have the zoom rocker button on the top.

Samsung HMX-R10 HD has 2.7 inches touch-screen LCD display that can be flipped open for better view. You will find other zoom and record controls with Q.Menu button behind the display. The Q.Menu button allows quickly adjusting frequently used shooting options such as exposure, resolution, white-balance, focus and more. iCheck/display, Easy Q and power buttons sits in LCD cavity. iCheck/display button can show and off the onscreen information when camcorder is on. Otherwise, it displays remaining storage capacity and battery life only when camcorder is off. Easy Q is the Samsung’s automatic mode.

You can use the touch-screen for manually adjusting the settings such as aperture, shutter speed and focus. However, the touch-screen is not quick responsive and there is calibration setting. We like that you will get one-touch focus option to do focus on particular object or person.

Battery as well as memory card compartments are located on the bottom. Samsung HMX-R10 HD does not internal storage, but supplies an SDHC/SD memory card for external storage. The battery life of the camcorder is perfect in its class, but we will recommend you to invest additionally for getting a backup pack. Inbuilt flash sits on the front, but cannot be used as video light. Moreover, there is no additional accessory shoe for installing external microphone or headphone. The camcorder comes with protective case, but you have to carefully put it inside the case without scratching the lens.

Samsung HMX-R10 HD provides numerous shooting options including four HD modes: 720/60p, 1080/30p, 1080/60i (normal) and 1080/60i (superfine). It also allows the interval recording of clips every 30, 15, 10, 5, 3 and 1 seconds either over periods of 72, 48 and 24 hours or up to available storage capacity. You can capture high speed videos at 600fps at 192×108 pixels resolution and 300 fps at 416×240 pixels.  The HMX-R10 HD seems to be more for point-and-record usage.

The video quality of Samsung HMX-R10 HD is the perfect in its class. It performed best in 1080/60i (superfine) and most consistent in 720/60p with very less trailing and artifacts. The video quality at 1080/30p was choppy and unwatchable especially for moving objects. The quality was smoother at 1080/60i, but artifacts and trailing were visible. There was a bit more color noise and distortion in indoor and low light scenes at all modes. However, Samsung’s capability to turn on 3D-NR noise reduction helped to smooth out the images.

Overall, the color performance of Samsung HMX-R10 HD is on par as compared to others in its class. One of the biggest problems is that colors looks a tad faded and there is no control option to make them more vivid. The auto white balance was good while testing.

The photo quality of Samsung HMX-R10 HD is better than other camcorders in its price range, but cannot replace dedicated still camera. At lower ISO levels, the photos show rich color and nice sharpness in bright light. You can use the still camera functions including semi-manual and manual controls as well as touch focus in video mode. The still capture effective resolution is 9-megapixel, whereas interpolated resolution is 12-megapixel.

Nitty Gritty:

Samsung HMX-R10 HD camcorder is worth one as compared to others in its price range. If you are looking for a budget-friendly fine HD video quality camcorder with good features and performance, then you can buy the new – HMX-R10 HD.

Thumbs Up:

Nice manual feature set, comfortable design.

Thumbs Down:

No optical image stabilization for the zoom lens, awkard interface, zoom rocker is hard to control, video quality is mediocre

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Samsung SC-MX20 has a 1/6” optical sensor size, videos are stored in H.264 format, minimum shutter speed is 1/60 second, maximum shutter speed is 1/10000 second, images are stored in JPEG format, supported flash memory is SD Memory Card, MultiMedia Card. The camcorder has Zoom lens – 2.3 mm – 78.2 mm – F/1.6-4.3, with 2.3 mm – 78.2 mm focal length, lens aperture is F/1.6-4.3, optical zoom is 34x, minimum focal length is 2.3 mm, lens manufacturer is Schneider-Kreuznach, maximum focal length is 78.2 mm

Additional features include Digital noise reduction, USB 2.0 compatibility, YouTube capture mode, Face detection. Bundled software includes utilities & drivers and Cyberlink Medi@Show. The display of the device is 2.7 inches big, connectors on the SC-MX20 include DC power input, Composite video/audio output, USB. Supported operating systems are MS Windows XP SP2, MS Windows Vista. Included cables are USB cord and A/V cable.

Razzle Dazzle:

The Samsung SC-MX20 is available in silver with options of blue accents, red accents, black accents or all white. Camcorders are not as easily to carry as a mobile phone or a digi-cam. However, this unit is compact and hence can easily fit in your jacket pocket with its tubular shape. It has rubberized grip for your fingers which feels comfortable for holding in hand.

Inside Dope:

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 time and again. Later on we were treated to a lagging series of starts and stops. The zoom switch is very sensitive and it is difficult to get a zoom speed which is evenly paced. The navigation button is a flat and we pressed frequently ended up pressing the enter/OK button when going for the right arrow key.

The Samsung SC-MX20 has a 2.7 inch LCD which is useable but pretty coarse. The buttons on the bezel include a four way navigation button with OK button in the center, and the secondary record and menu button. You can select the shutter speed but can’t go below 1/60 second. You also get control over manual focus and exposure compensation. In the menu, you get a night mode which will slow the shutter to 1/15 or 1/30 second, intervalometer (through 30 second increments till the memory card is full), backlight compensation, wind filter, resolution options (Mobile, Web, TV Normal, TV Fine, and TV Super Fine), 16:9 wide recording, digital effects, electronic image stabilization, white balance, and standard scene presets.

Your eyeballs may pop out of the sockets when you see the 34x zoom lens label on the MX20. However, it pairs an extremely long zoom with electronic image stabilization and not optical image stabilization. All the EIS can do is minimize the shake, the performance still remains bad. The focus is really slow and it pulses in dim light conditions. Video quality is mediocre and soft even by standards of YouTube. This is probably due to the low resolution 680,000 pixel sensor.

Nitty Gritty:

There is not much to look in the Samsung SC-MX20. We would recommend you this only if you are looking for a cheap camcorder having long zoom lens. But if you want better quality, you are better off with Canon FS100 by spending $50 more. If zoom isn’t important for you, we would recommend sacrificing this camcorder altogether and buying a mini- camcorder.

Thumbs Up:

Great features, AMOLED display.

Thumbs Down:

Photo quality is bad after ISO 200

Inside the Trunk:

Bundled software -  Drivers & Utilities, Apple QuickTime, Samsung Master, Adobe Reader.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

TL 320 is a 12 mega pixels camera, the light sensitivity options includes ISO 3200 (3Mpix), ISO auto, ISO 1600, ISO 800, ISO 400, ISO 200, ISO 100, ISO 80. The camera has 5x digital zoom. Shooting programs include Backlight portrait, Night portrait, Portrait mode, Frame guide, Beauty shot, Night mode, Macro text, Beach/snow, Back light, Anti shake, Landscape, Fireworks, Close-up, Children, Tripod, Sunset, Action, White, Macro, Text, Dawn.

The camera has 3 inch AMOLED display. Connectors on the camera include DC power input, USB and HDMI and there is card slot. Special effects include Color Filter, Negative, Classic, Forest, Vivid, Retro, Noise, Soft, Cool, Calm. Maximum Shutter Speed 1/2000 sec, minimum shutter speed is 16 seconds. Exposure modes include Aperture-priority, Shutter-priority, Automatic, Program, Manual. White balance presets include Fluorescent light (warm white), Fluorescent light (daylight), Tungsten light, 2800K – 10000K, Daylight, Cloudy.

Videos are stored in H.264, images are stored in JPEG. Video capture resolution options are H.264 – 320 x 240, H.264 – 640 x 480, H.264 – 1280 x 720. Image resolutions are JPEG 1024 x 768, JPEG 1920 x 1080, JPEG 2048 x 1536, JPEG 2592 x 1944, JPEG 3264 x 2448, JPEG 2976 x 2976, JPEG 3968 x 2232, JPEG 3984 x 2656, JPEG 4000 x 3000. The camera has internal memory of 76 MB and the card slot can take MultiMediaCard and SD memory card.

Flash modes include Red-eye reduction, Flash OFF mode, Slow synchro, Fill-in mode, Auto mode. Additional features include Digital image stabilization, Auto Contrast Balance (ACB), Smile Detection technology, Scene Detection Technology, Blink Detection technology, Dual image stabilization, 720p HD movie recording, Digital image rotation, USB 2.0 compatibility, In-camera red-eye fix, Saturation control, PictBridge support, Exif Print support, Brightness control, Sharpness control, Resizing an image, Contrast control, Built-in speaker, Audio recording, Face detection, Face retouch, Direct print, DPOF support.

The camera has Zoom lens – 4.3 mm – 21.5 mm – F/2.8-7.3, with focal length of 4.3 mm – 21.5 mm, minimum focus range is 15.7 in, macro focus range is 5 cm, lens aperture is F/2.8-7.3, optical zoom 5x. The phone is powered by Samsung SLB-11A Li-ion rechargeable battery – 1130 mAh

Razzle Dazzle:

TL320 is a sleek all black camera which is quite thin and hence will fit very comfortably in your pants pocket. Though the phone looks attractive it is just like any other camera and not much has been done to grab the attention of people. We don’t blame Samsung for this, maybe they wanted to make a simple looking camera. The camera is indeed looks simple but has loads of features inside.

Inside Dope:

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 include recessed mode dial for shooting, shutter release and power button. On the back of the device there is Fn (Function) key, playback key, circular navigation button and the menu button.

The function key is for shooting menu and you get a really attractive interface with which you can get access to display, shooting functions, settings and sound. We were disappointed to see a proprietary jack for AV output, power and data. The camera comes bundled with a USB cord for charging through computer or wall outlet and for connecting to a large TV there is an analog cable.

The TL320 is packed with features and adjustability options so much that some might get intimidated. There are eleven different scene types to choose from and if you are confused, you can always select the Smart Auto mode. There are thirteen scene types including an option called Frame Guide which lets you compose a shot, capture a part of the scene and then give the device to someone to capture the photo so that you can get in it. Auto mode locks the options from being changed. Shutter speeds range from 1/2000 of a second to 16 seconds.

The features that the phone had to offer really made us happy; you can fine tune the color temperature and white balance, effective backlight compensation, motion-sensitive shutter release timer and exposure bracketing. The self-portrait face detection gives a beep from the device that lets you know that you are in focus. You can wave your hand in front of the camera which will start a timer and the device will click with the set countdown timer.

The performance of the camera is not the best we have seen but it is OK. It needs 1.99 seconds to wake up and start shooting, subsequent shots take about 2.4 seconds without the flash and 3.6 seconds with flash on. In bright conditions it takes 0.5 second to focus and 0.8 seconds in dim light environments. The continuous drive option takes 0.8 fps.

The photo quality will start dipping as you go beyond ISO 200. The inferiority of the sharpness starts to get in and there is graininess in the photos when you view them at 100%. At ISO 400 the amount of details is still good but the noise reductions makes things soft and hazy. This will further increase at settings of ISO 1600 and ISO 800. However for small prints ISO 800 quality is acceptable.

We liked the exposure, white balance and color of the device. For the latter you can always play with the setting if you are not happy with the reproduction in photos. We were pleased with the video quality of the camera; you can use zoom and optical image stabilization white recording.

Nitty Gritty:

Samsung TL320 is priced at about $300 and we think it is justified considering the features it packs in. The photo quality is a bit inferior to other point-and-shoot cameras but TL320 will time and again win hearts with its features.