Review Date: February 4, 2013
Category: Point-and-Shoot
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 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.
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.]
I have had the camera for one week and am taking pictures mainly in Auto Mode.
Even in sunny conditions most of my pictures show pixallation on the edges of flowers,buildings ,boats etc.
Accordingly when blown up on a 60 inch Pioneer Full HD TV everything seems slightly out of focus and not sharp.
I have taken similar pictures with a full hd Sony with the same size sensor and the results on the same TV are clear and crisp.
Your sample pictures appear to be taken in manual mode and appear sharper on a 27 inch monitor.Do you believe they would be as good on a 60 inch TV.
I like the camera but not the results. Any suggestions would be appreciated on how to improve the ultimate sharpness and clarity of the pictures for my plasma viewing.
Should I only shoot in manual and if so what general settings should I use.
I await your response,
Regards,
Colin
Hi Colin,
I usually take pictures on Program (P) mode, which is an Auto mode where the camera will select the shutter speed and aperture. If you set ISO to AUTO, the camera will also select the ISO for you. If you set the WB to AUTO, the camera will also select the WB for you. However, I usually use the lowest ISO for the best image quality. I also select the highest File Size/Quality. In Full AUTO (A) mode, the camera could automatically reduce the File Size/Quality, which may account for the pixellation you may be encountering. Give P mode a try at the highest File Size/Quality.
Thank you for your advice so far. Before I try your suggested settings could you advise what additional settings I should use at the same time with the P mode in relation to:
Focus area
Photo size for 60 inch plasma tv
Auto contrast on or off
Metering
Sharpness
Contrast
Saturation
Also what are your thoughts relative to using Shutter Priority mode for my problem.
Thanks,
Colin
Hi Colin,
THe settings I mentioned earlier should show a difference on image quality. The other settings you listed, you have to experiment to see what you like best: e.g. contrast and saturation.
Shutter Priority mode is the same as Program mode, except you select the shutter speed and let the camera select the aperture. We usually use a fast shutter speed to freeze action or a slow shutter speed to allow blurring to depict motion. It has no effect on image quality.
Hi colin,
Whats the correct picture size setting? Ive sent my picture to the shopfir printing and the lady in the photo shop print my photoin wide landscape size. She also told me it was not a standard size so she can amend it to fit into 4r 8r or others. Please help
According to the Samsung Galaxy Camera Tech Specs, you can save images in 16M at 4608 × 3456 pixels. For display on the Internet, you can crop this image to any size you want for the best composition. You can do the same thing for prints — pros do that all the time.
However, when you print at a print shop, standard paper print sizes are 4R (4 x 6 inches) and 8R (8 x 10 inches). Obviously, they’ll need to crop your pictures to fit into these standard paper sizes. It’s then just a matter of choosing which part to crop and which interesting part to keep. Usually, the people at the print shop are experienced enough to know which parts to keep (for example, do not cut off people’s heads).