Samsung S860

Opinion: Having used analogue SLRs in the past and done a little darkroom work even, these days I confine my creative urge mainly to digital capture, composition and touch-up. So while not a pro, I've been a dabbler/enthusiast long enough to know my own mind when it comes to imaging pros & cons.

My digicam learning curve has been mainly with Canon gear, starting with an A5 early on, then a number of successors and other models since, recently settling for an A720is. Then for the past couple of years I've also had a simple point-and-shoot model for daily use, taking my main cameras only on trips and planned events.

I suspect many will be doing something similar.

My snapshot model has been a Nikon L10 and while it was making a fair job of its limited brief, now it was time to move on. Naturally I looked at the L16/18 as a replacement, alas, in most of the reviews I found, these successors weren't exactly drowning in accolades! So maybe the L-series Nikons had run their course for sensor size and pixel density?

Now a while back, I remember someone saying that I should seriously look at the Samsung gear - it may have been in relation to a hard drive or something. 'They are really trying now, while others are trading on their reputation, with what is after all coming out of China anyway' - or words to that effect. Hmm...

So while I admit to rather 'being seen' with a Nikon than a Samsung, I started looking at options which quite frankly hadn't existed for me previously. I found some good things said about the S85 but precious little (certainly no digicam site reviews) about the model which sort of caught my eye, the Samsung S860. Maybe that's why I decided to pen my own?

Ok, so I ended up buying an S860. Sometimes you've just got to buck the norm in your life, right? That's despite the salesman imploring me to 'trust the Nikon marque' etc, as he'd done (and I'd done no less) previously!

You can get these things in all kinds of eye candy, but I went for the black. I'd heard that the model has a cheap feel to it, but it feels pretty chunky and solid to me.

In the end however, it's all about image quality, right?!

While the S860 doesn't quite match the 720is, the results are more than just ok, they're quite good, dammit! It also has the best VGA movie mode I've seen in a consumer still model (including digic IIIs), with optical zoom available and the ability to pause recording. I know people who run script hacks on their dress-circle digicams to get such functionality.

Opinion: Having used analogue SLRs in the past and done a little darkroom work even, these days I confine my creative urge mainly to digital capture, composition and touch-up. So while not a pro, I've been a dabbler/enthusiast long enough to know my own mind when it comes to imaging pros & cons.

My digicam learning curve has been mainly with Canon gear, starting with an A5 early on, then a number of successors and other models since, recently settling for an A720is. Then for the past couple of years I've also had a simple point-and-shoot model for daily use, taking my main cameras only on trips and planned events.

I suspect many will be doing something similar.

My snapshot model has been a Nikon L10 and while it was making a fair job of its limited brief, now it was time to move on. Naturally I looked at the L16/18 as a replacement, alas, in most of the reviews I found, these successors weren't exactly drowning in accolades! So maybe the L-series Nikons had run their course for sensor size and pixel density?

Now a while back, I remember someone saying that I should seriously look at the Samsung gear - it may have been in relation to a hard drive or something. 'They are really trying now, while others are trading on their reputation, with what is after all coming out of China anyway' - or words to that effect. Hmm...

So while I admit to rather 'being seen' with a Nikon than a Samsung, I started looking at options which quite frankly hadn't existed for me previously. I found some good things said about the S85 but precious little (certainly no digicam site reviews) about the model which sort of caught my eye, the Samsung S860. Maybe that's why I decided to pen my own?

Ok, so I ended up buying an S860. Sometimes you've just got to buck the norm in your life, right? That's despite the salesman imploring me to 'trust the Nikon marque' etc, as he'd done (and I'd done no less) previously!

You can get these things in all kinds of eye candy, but I went for the black. I'd heard that the model has a cheap feel to it, but it feels pretty chunky and solid to me.

In the end however, it's all about image quality, right?!

While the S860 doesn't quite match the 720is, the results are more than just ok, they're quite good, dammit! It also has the best VGA movie mode I've seen in a consumer still model (including digic IIIs), with optical zoom available and the ability to pause recording. I know people who run script hacks on their dress-circle digicams to get such functionality.

Opinion: I needed a smaller camera to aide me in day to day activities. I have a problem with my memory and beside the standard notepad and pen, I wanted something to take pictures of places I had been and things I saw. Well, bumping into this camera exceeded my expectation to a great degree.

I had been using a very small (cheap $10) snapper for a few weeks, and while it satisfied most of my needs, it fell short in the area of detail, especially taking snaps of text, letters, newspaper ads, TV or computer monitor and so on. So, I knew I needed something better.

I am not sure how the Samsung S860 and I crossed paths, but I got to tell you, it was a fortunate crossing.

The S860 turned out to be a lot more than a simple device for remembering text and the like without having to carry a briefcase full of photocopies. The camera fits nicely in a shirtpocket (along with my 3x5 notepad) but the images it captures are very nice! A week or so ago I decided to put it through the low-light picture taking test. I was quite pleased with the outcome. The camera is not overly heavy, but it is not a piece of fluff either. The weight is very good for holding long exposure shots (even up to a second w/DIS*, if YOU are steady enough) and with the ability to manually set it to ISO 1000, it can take some quite bright images with practically no light at all. In bright daylight, the camera is very nice, faster time between shots.

For folks looking for a nice P&S camera, this one is a camera worth taking a look at. It is nice to have an 8+MP camera in your pocket (for under $100) That will provide nice, sharp, colorful images that can even be printed at quite large sizes.

For folks looking for a nice carry around camera that lets you explore your creative side, this camera comes through with program and manual modes that let you set the mood. It also has a usable DIS (*Digital Image Stabilization) mode for shots in a "bumpy" environment, say shooting from a car and the like (My preffered method of "Drive-by Shooting". To add to the creative capability is the SCENE mode, with I think 11 different settings from twilight to bright beach and snow, and one of my favorite (useful) modes is TEXT! Few cameras offer a text mode, and this one delivers what you expect in this mode. I assume it handles very high contrast situations in this mode... hmmm... maybe something to experiment with later??? This is yet another thing I found to be fun while I got to know this camera. It really does give you the opportunity to explore the different possibilties of picture taking.

Opinion: I wanted to buy a digital CLR and my wife wanted
small camera to take it everywhere.
So we have chosen this model because it was
cheapest and looked good enough.
I didn't expect high quality from such camera so it
didn't show it. Anyway IMO such small camera could
show higher quality if producers didn't try to put as
many megapixels in the same sensor as possible. For
example I compared photos made with this Samsung
and my previous camera - Olympus C50 (5 MPx).
Cameras are of the same class, but on 5 MPx matrix
there is noticeably less noise.
From other sides, the camera is good for money. It
uses standard batteries and unlike other reviewers I
can't say it eats them a lot (I used rechargeables).
SD card is another plus. Camera is compact, has
enough settings for advanced users, on automatic
mode images are good enough.
So if you need cheap compact camera for everyday
use it can be a good choice.