Review Date: February 4, 2013
Category: Point-and-Shoot
Samsung GALAXY Camera
Photoxels Silver Award – Social Network Camera
IMAGE QUALITY
The Samsung GALAXY Camera targets photographers who need to instantly share their photos online. It features 16.3MP resolution (on a 1/2.3-inch BSI CMOS image sensor), a 21x wide-angle optical zoom (23-483mm Equiv.135) lens with optical stabilisation, and a maximum aperture of F2.8(W)-F5.9(T).
We find the overall image quality of the Samsung GALAXY Camera to be good at ISO 100 with low noise. Image quality is good up to ISO 800 for Web posting and small prints. At higher ISOs, images suffer from increasing noise and loss of detail.
| 21x Optical Zoom | |
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| Wide-angle 4.1mm(23mm, 35mm equivalent) | Telephoto 86.1mm(483mm, 35mm equivalent) |
The Samsung GALAXY Camera has a 21x wide-angle optical zoom lens. In the above pictures, we show the coverage for 23mm and 483mm. We love the 23mm wide-angle coverage that allows us to capture wide landscapes or large crowds. In bright lights, you can handhold the camera at the max tele with the help of the optical image stabilisation [Camera settings – OIS (anti-shake) – On] allowing you to zoom in on distant action from a safe distance.
Macro
Macro can be as close as 10 cm (4 in.) at wide-angle. AF is fast, works very well in good light and in low-light (with the help of the AF-assist illuminator).
There are 3 metering modes: Spot, Multi-Pattern, Center-weighted. Touch AF allows you to touch the screen where you want the camera to focus.
| Auto White Balance Indoors | |
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| AWB | Custom WB |
As the above two pictures show, the Auto White Balance (AWB) is not quite accurate indoors under artificial lighting [I have two energy-saving fluorescent light bulbs on the ceiling]. The Samsung GALAXY Camera allows WB to be easily set manually and this brings out the real colors. AWB works very well in natural light. High contrast situations easily result in blown highlights.
| ISO Comparisons | |
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| ISO 100 | |
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| ISO 200 | ISO 400 |
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| ISO 800 | ISO 1600 |
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| ISO 3200 | |
The Samsung GALAXY Camera has 6 ISO settings going from ISO 100 to ISO 3200. The 100% crops above (area delimited by the white square) demonstrate the noise at the available ISO Speeds. At ISO 100, noise is under control (but with detail lost). Though noise is also low at ISO 200, this has been achieved by aggressive noise reduction and it is apparent looking at the image at full size that fine detail is lost. You could shoot up to ISO 800 if you are only going to use the image in small prints and for Web display (which is after all the main use for the GALAXY Camera). Images at higher ISOs are quite noisy with detail lost but again, depending on your use for the pictures, they may be adequate for sharing on social networks.
CA (Purple Fringing)
Long Exposure – 9.2mm (51mm), Manual, CWA, 16 sec., F4.2, ISO 100, Self-timer (10 sec.), Tripod Used
The Samsung GALAXY Camera allows the use of a long shutter speed of up to 16 sec. in S and M modes which allows you to manually select a shutter speed (from 1 sec. to 16 sec., or Auto). Some night photography is therefore possible. Generally, with image sensors, noise becomes more prominent at long shutter speeds.
To test this noise reduction algorithm, we take an extreme low-light shot. I experiment a bit to obtain the optimum exposure, eventually settling on 16 sec. at F4.2. Even at this long shutter speed, the Samsung GALAXY Camera’s noise reduction seems to be working well, producing a nice smooth blurring effect of the background.
We find the overall image quality of the Samsung GALAXY Camera at ISO 100 to be good with low noise but fine detail lost. Images taken at higher ISOs exhibit noise and detail loss but are usable in small prints and for Web display.
View the Samsung GALAXY Photo Gallery [In the Photo Gallery, click on the picture of the camera to return here.]