Review Date: November 1, 2011
Category: Point-and-Shoot
Samsung MV800
Photoxels Bronze Award – Point-and-Shoot
HANDLING & FEEL
The Samsung MV800 Multi-View is ultra compact at 92 x 56.2 x 18.3 mm (3.62 x 2.21 x 0.72 in.), light at 121 g (4.27 oz) and easily slips into a jeans pocket. The “multi-view” in the name refers to the unique flip-out LCD that rotates up to 180° — all the way to face forward, and thus providing multiple angles of view.
The F3.3(W)-F5.9(T) lens provides a 5x wide-angle optical zoom which extends outside the body. At 26mm (equiv.), the starting focal length is great for wide-angle shots that will allow you to include a large group of friends or capture wide landscapes. The 130mm tele is perfect as a portrait lens allowing you to get close without getting “in your face.”
On the front of the camera, at top right of the lens is the AF-assist Light/Self-timer lamp. The flash is at top left. There is no grip but the logo’s rough texture provides some [minimal] grip. The use of the hand strap is therefore highly recommended.
Startup is fast at about 1 sec. (from Power ON to LCD ready for capture, i.e. time-to-first-shot). Shot to shot times is on the slow side at about 2.5 sec. (approx. 4 shots in 10 sec. in P mode, ISO Auto.).
In good lighting, AF is fast and precise. In low lighting, with the help of the AF-assist light, AF is also fast and locks precisely. The MV800 has Touch Shot [Menu – Touch Shot] that allows you to simply point to the screen to focus on that spot and take the shot. Simple and elegant.
Included in the box is a rechargeable Li-ion battery BP70A. A Travel Adapter AD5055 uses the USB Cable to recharge a depleted battery directly in-camera. It should be pointed out that the USB Cable is ridiculously short and if you need to plug in the travel adapter to an electrical outlet on the floor, then you need to inconveniently (not to mention, dangerously) rest the camera on the floor.
The Samsung MV800 uses the microSD (up to 2GB) or microSDHC (up to 32 GB) memory card.
Samsung MV800 Top View
The top of the camera has, from right to left (viewing from the back), the Shutter Release Button with the Zoom lever around it, the Power button and the microphone.
It takes about 2 seconds to zoom from wide to tele and I counted approx. 7 intermediate steps. Unfortunately, I was not able to disable digital zoom but there is a slight pause before the camera ventures into digital zoom territory. I recommend that you turn Intelli Zoom ON [Menu – Intelli Zoom – ON] so that you get a simple crop instead of a crop and pixel extrapolation (which reduces image quality). As soon as you venture into Intelli Zoom territory, the image size will be reduced (cropped) depending on the amount of zoom (cropping) used.
Samsung MV800 Back View
On the back of the MV800, you’ll find a generous 3.0-in. touch screen LCD panel with 288k-dot resolution. The two control buttons are the HOME (MENU) button and the Playback button, which are right on the LCD panel itself. The LCD display gains up barely in low-light.
The LCD is a touch screen panel and if you are used to the smartphone icons and controls, you’ll feel right at home using the MV800 touch interface. It’s quite well designed, pretty looking and, more importantly, responsive.
When the LCD is all the way up (i.e. facing forward), it covers the shutter release button, so a second shutter button is provided at the back of the camera. With the LCD facing forward, the camera can stand by itself if the surface is totally flat, though the camera is so thin that there’s not much to rest it on and so it can fall very easily.
You can record HD 720p movies 1280 x 720 @ 30fps with monaural sound. You can zoom while filming videos, but you will also record the zoom noise, though it is very faint. Various Smart Filter effects can also be used during [regular, not Smart] Movie recording.
The plastic Terminal door opens up (and stays open) to allow unimpeded access to the USB/AV port (one port used by both cables) and the HDMI port. There is a nice Battery/Card door and the battery has a latch to keep it from accidentally falling. The tripod socket at the bottom is plastic; you won’t be able to change battery or memory card when the camera is on a tripod.
The Samsung MV800 is pocketable, handles well and the touch user interface works well. It’s flip-out LCD is unique, making taking self-portraits a snap.
Next: Samsung MV800 User’s Experience