Samsung HZ35W (WB650)

Opinion: This definitely is the worst digital camera I ever had. I bought it upon DP's recommendation because I needed a camera that would serve me on my travels as back up when I didn't want to use my pro gear ( I am a pro and have had bad experiences in Rio and NY). It had all the specs I was looking for. But not only was the picture quality lousy (I compare it to the Sony T90 I have) the auto focusing was so unreliable, even in clear sunshine with a clearly defined object, that more than 50% of the pictures were blurred. Most of the time I only found out after I uploaded the photos and saw them larger than the camera screen. Zooming into the tele range made everything worse. Absolutely unusable images! - I am pretty sure that I am not alone with my critic and as proof I would like to point out that the camera completely disappeared from the market. Can't buy it anywhere! Little more than a year after it's introduction. That's remarkable. - PS After initial curiosity I didn't even bother with that idiotic GPS system.

Opinion: I've used mine for about four months now and waited in order to give a more valid review.

1. GPS- I did not have problems with it. I simply followed the guides online the day before getting it and spent about 15 minutes setting up the file structure on my memory card (in addition to help with obtaining the files). When I got the camera, I plugged the card in and the GPS acquired the signal in just a few minutes, and worked immediately.

The GPS is quite helpful, especially when mountain biking. Sometimes the trails are marked, which is quite a cool bonus. When I need to, or I don't have a map, I take pictures of points in the mountains, then I follow them back. Same for touring around cities in Europe. I simply take shots of hotels, parking spots (such as street signs where the car may be) and then locating with the mapping is very helpful.

I've never not acquired. The two times I didn't, I simply turned the gps off then on, and acquired right away. Traveling often makes it quite useful. I even get a signal inside a car, though it takes longer.

Support could be better, but the user base bailed many of us out of hardship in this case.

Now to the image quality- I'm quite glad that Samsung didn't go nuts with the MP race on this cam, though 12MP is still stretching it. Technology has enabled better IQ at high MP from small sensors, but it's still stretching it. The flame wars about reducing MP settings and increase in image quality are better left to the forum, but I, as well as others, have noted an increase in IQ when shooting in 10 and 8 MP (though be aware of an aspect ratio change, though nothing severe).

Some have noted the cam has inferior low light compared to the comparable Panasonic cams. A relative has a TZ10 and I was able to compare them together. The Samsung gives up nothing to it in low light. If anything, they are the same. At best, the Samsung is better and renders colors across the board MUCH BETTER. Build quality much better, by far. The screen on the Samsung makes bright light shooting much easier.

Now I shoot nearly exclusively in manual mode, which is surprisingly good. Naturally, it could be better, with regard to access, but it's better than any small-sensor compact I've used so far. They could take off 1 step in shutter setting, or reverse its position with the aperture in the menu, but it's not a huge thing. Definitely, the shutter setting should be first in the manual menu to allow virtually direct access, since one tends to change the aperture less often than shutter.

It appears, though I only have anecdotal evidence, that when the manual mode is selected, the camera processes pictures differently (and better), which includes low light and colors. This likely applies for A and S modes.

I am now using it for low light/night photography and it's quite good and satisfying and renders colors quite well. I tend to use as low ISO numbers as possible in my style and make up for it with shutter, where possible. This reduces noise, and it's so far been surprising.

On board scene processing is quite interesting. First, there's a slight glitch in the firmware, which has been noted by reviewers. Scenes, such as black and white, are only available in auto, and sometimes are locked out, sometimes not. No explanation. They are locked out from the manual modes, but all one has to do is select in auto, then switch to the manual mode, and it is fully available. The on board post processing is quite good, actually, when one wants to create more artistic shots, such as b&w and vignette together. It will leave an original on the card, so experimenting is sometimes quite fun. However, allowing direct black and white and vivid modes are something that should be retained for composition purposes (though one simply has to switch to auto for setting purposes, then switch back).

Again, screen is great for bright light. In the GPS mode, when I'm using it to navigate, I wish it would turn off to save power, but it doesn't. That's kind of a letdown with the cam. Good delay modes (for long shutter shooting to allow stabilization after pressing the shutter). According to someone on the forum, they discovered the camera has a real mechanical aperture, not a digital one like others. Being small sensor and being only 3.2 on the wide end, don't expect bokeh, but when one does close ups, the bokeh is a quite nice type of it. Pics generally need little cleaning in Lightroom.

The lens is awesome. Unfortunately, despite the Leica name on the TZ10, one quickly finds much more vignetting and odd distortions, which likely are the result of the mapping of the lens distortion and on board removal. I'm finding that the Leica lenses seem to have weird distortions at the edges. Nothing abnormal in the industry, but they don't seem to be worked out as well in the processing.

Video is quite good. Yes, there is noise from the zoom, and it sucks. Same from the Panny, though not as bad. The upcoming version is supposed to use noise cancelling. We'll see how it works out. Sound quality is quite good, though I suspect it will distort during loud concerts. It's not a camcorder, but I'm sure in good lighting outdoors and less essential events, it will do quite a good job.

Battery life I find to be quite good and I like the USB charger with the USB AC-adaptor. I can charge my other USB devices with the plug, though the wire is short. To remedy it, I have a USB extension cable, and it works well.

If the upcoming WB700 can build on this, increase the efficiency of the user interface (which, to be honest, is really not that bad) to make it a bit more serious for manual, then, combined with the expected same advanced processing options, it should be killer, despite the loss of the GPS and despite the fact that they resumed the MP race. Naturally, as an evolution of the technology, low light performance comes into play, but this cam is quite good when used in manual. Wish manual focus could be better, and naturally, everyone would wish for a much brighter lens, but it seems difficult in this size.

Image Adjust is in something of a hidden menu, where one can adjust contrast, sharpness, and saturation on board, as is flash strength.

Shooting times from off are quite good. Flash recharge time, as expected, is average.

Overall, satisying. When one doesn't expect to get dSLR, EVIL, or High End Compact performance out of it, they will be satisfied and surprised many times. When they expect good performance in the compact realm, then their expectations will be exceeded. The reality is that this is a well-performing, pocketable (though slightly large) compact with good zoom capabilities, great GPS for travel, and good manual setting support. Learn how to use the cam's settings outside of auto to get the most from it.

My ratings below reflect it compared to compacts in its class.

Opinion: Bought as a replacement for my TZ5 and it was the GPS that sold it for me (unfortunately).

The camera is not as small as a number of modern compacts but for my big hands it is fine and about the same as my TZ5 was.

The controls are well laid out and the menu system is clear. Most camera controls are similar now so it did not take much time to get used to the layout.

Picture quality is average for a small sensor compact, I do not pixel peep so have no complaints at all.

15X zoom is very good if not particularly quick to get extended. Focus at full zoom is good and I enjoyed the extra reach the zoom gave me while still maintaining a largish file size.

Video is good but still not what you would get from a dedicated camcorder, zoom noise also shows up. Quality is about average for a top end compact.

GPS is so slow to acquire a signal (even in wide open ground) that it makes it all but useless for giving a location to travel photos. You cannot even store the last position acquired. If I am going to have to use Flickr or Picasa to geo tag my pics I would not have spent on a useless function like GPS.

Loading the map/s was a nightmare and not all intuitive with no guidance from Samsung.

Contact with Samsung regarding the GPS and maps got no usefiull answer and obviously no interest in users comments/problems.

Opinion: Pros:
- Feature Set
- 15X zoom
- Incredible AMOLED 3" display
- Zoom during video
- Charge using PC
- Automatic switch to camera mode when press shutter
- Mapview for GPS shots
- Manual controls (A,S,M)
- SW in camera ROM, easy to install on PC

Cons:
- GPS takes a long time to acquire
- Documentation is only fair and on CD only
- Proprietary USB cable
- Not very fast
- Format erases both images and Mapview data