Review Date: November 1, 2011
Category: Point-and-Shoot
Photoxels Bronze Award – Point-and-Shoot
IMAGE QUALITY
The Samsung MV800 targets entry-level point-and-shoot photographers and features 16.15MP resolution (on a 1/2.3-inch CCD image sensor), a 5x wide-angle optical zoom (26-130mm Equiv.135) lens, and a maximum aperture of F3.3(W)-F5.9(T).
We find the overall image quality of the Samsung MV800 to be good at ISO 80 with low noise. Image quality is also good at ISO 100. At higher ISOs, images suffer from noise and increasing loss of detail but you may be able to use them at small print sizes and for Web display.
| 5x Optical Zoom | |
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| Wide-angle 4.7mm (26mm, 35mm equivalent) |
Telephoto 23.5mm (130mm, 35mm equivalent) |
The Samsung MV800 has a 5x wide-angle optical zoom lens. In the above pictures, we show the coverage for 26mm and 130mm. We love the 26mm wide-angle coverage that allows us to capture wide landscapes.
Macro can be as close as 5 cm (2 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 four metering modes: Spot, Multi-Pattern, Center-weighted, and Face Detection AE. Touch Shot allows you to touch the screen to immediately take a picture with focus set at that point.
| 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 MV800 allows WB to be easily set manually and this brings out the real colors. AWB works very well in natural light.
| ISO Comparisons | |
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| ISO 80 | |
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| ISO 100 | ISO 200 |
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| ISO 400 | ISO 800 |
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| ISO 1600 | ISO 3200 |
The Samsung MV800 has 7 ISO settings going from ISO 80 to ISO 3200. The 100% crops above (area delimited by the white square) demonstrate the noise at the available ISO Speeds. At ISO 80, noise is under control but fine detail is already smudged. Noise starts to be visible at ISO 100 but is still very acceptable. Images at higher ISOs are quite noisy but may be usable in small prints and for Web display.
CA is under control in everyday shots but can be visible in some very high contrast shots. The corner delimited by the red square at top left, and reproduced at 100% crop at bottom right, shows minimal purple fringing.
Our Long Shutter Speed test is a torture test for digital cameras. Here we test whether (and how well) a camera can lock focus, provide accurate WB and obtain a correct exposure in extreme low light situations. The MV800 passes this test well: it focuses fast and precisely, and gets a correct exposure in Night Shot mode.
The Samsung MV800 allows the use of a long shutter speed of up to 16 sec. in Night Shot mode which allows you to manually select a shutter speed (from 1 sec. to 16 sec., or Auto) and an aperture (3.3, 9.4, or Auto), thus acting as a pseudo manual mode. 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 F9.4. Even at this long shutter speed, the Samsung MV800’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 MV800 at ISO 80 and ISO 100 to be good. Images taken at higher ISOs are usable in small prints and for Web display.
View the Samsung MV800 Photo Gallery [In the Photo Gallery, click on the picture of the camera to return here.]
Next: Samsung MV800 Handling & Feel
