« [THESE CAME TO STAY] | Main | [THE SOFTWARE OF OUGHT NINE] »
December 31, 2009
SAMSUNG ST1000 Price: $550
SAMSUNG ST1000
Price: $550
Camera for the Facebook brigade
The low-down: This 12.2 megapixel camera has a 35–175mm (film equivalent) lens. The lens optical path folds inside the body so that it doesn’t extend for focus or zoom. All controls, except for zoom and review, are via the 9cm touch screen. The special features of the camera are inbuilt geo positioning to record shooting location, and Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Samsung’s DLNA connectivity. Construction quality is good and the camera has a reassuring mass in the hand. Memory is on the miniscule Micro SD card, as used in mobile phones. There is also a generous 100MB of internal memory. The battery is charged by connecting the camera to a power point through a USB connector.
Like: This camera is the second we have tried with Samsung’s excellent touch screen interface. This is intuitive, easy to access and to use. There is a touch qwerty keyboard for setting up internet connections and it is easy to use with a finger-tip. The Wi-Fi connection provides for direct upload of pictures to Picasa, Facebook and YouTube. It works brilliantly.
Dislike: There is no printed user manual, which for a camera like this is unforgiveable. Neither the Wi-Fi nor GPS setup is even mentioned in the “Quick start manual”. Too many pixels.
Verdict: The image quality from the ST1000 is par for this type of camera. It would be better with fewer pixels, but as it is it is not bad, particularly at low ISO speeds. However, we suspect that image quality will be a secondary consideration for customers. It is a party gadget with interesting whiz-bangery included. The built-in instant upload to Facebook will be a winner. That it does 720p video at 30fps is the icing on the party cake.
*
Posted by terry at December 31, 2009 07:31 AM
