Samsung Digimax S500 (black)
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"This camera is nice! You won't be disappointed." on by cgwhites
Pros: Excellent image quality; Intuitive; Good shutter response
Cons: Bulky non-standard A/V cable; Little shutter door thingy got stuck open
Summary: Let me write this review in rebuttal to the CNET review. This camera does not have poor image quality. I own a Canon 20D with a 24-85 lens, and I would place the sharpness of the pics from the S500 next to the 20D. I was very impressed. I am comparing also to Kodak Easyshare and a recent model Fuji Finepix. This pics from those models are not as sharp as the S500. This camera comes with a "Samsung High Definition" (SHD) lens and the resulting pictures are very sharp and contrasty, especially when you use the decent integrated flash as a daylight 'fill flash'. For samples, check here:
http://cgwhites.phpnet.us/SamsungS500/S5000037.JPG
http://cgwhites.phpnet.us/SamsungS500/S5000049.JPG
Also nice is the shutter response. None of this 2.5 second 'bzzz-bzzz-flash-flash-click' business that you have with the Easyshares. The camera response is very fast for its price, I'd say approaching the higher-end Casios and Sonys. My intolerance for Shutter-lag is why I have a 20D for my more serious shoots. But I don’t mind the S500's speed at all.
There are a couple of problems though: The proprietary combination A/V and dock port cable is very bulky. There is no separate mini-usb or firewire port. If you use a card reader to transfer photos, then you are ok. Leave this monster cable in the box. Also, the little shutter cover started locking open after a few weeks, and I had to return the camera. I DID get a droplet of water on the lens the day before, so this may be the cause. I expect that the trap door is pretty standard technology.
All in all, I would highly recommend this camera. I'm looking on ebay for one right now. There's also the S600 with the larger sensor but same features. I cannot speak for its image quality but I expect it to be in line with the S500, and for only a few Hamiltons more. -
"Muted zooming makes me think hard to take it back" on by MikeMasi
Pros: Pictues look good and menu system is fairly easy to use. Somewhat responsive
Cons: Muted Zooming, no full-res movie snapshots, Battery life
Summary: Many digital cameras consume batteries so I'm not as concerned with that.
I would expect that if one could zoom in movie mode that the audio would continue to record as well. However, during zooming the audio is muted (hard to tell in a noisy store). I'd almost rather not have the feature rather than be tempted to record movies with choppy audio.
I'm told by Samsung US support that zooming during record is not supported (I believe on the s600 as well) and that this is listed in the specification somewhere, but I don't see that. I also see in the specification that in movie mode the camera can do still image capture, but I'm told that all the sX00 models' definition of still image capture is capturing a VGA frame of a movie during playback, not taking full-resolution snapshots during recording. (you can't pause recording to take a shot either, you must flip modes and start a new clip after the shot).
Thus, my concern with the camera is with the specified/perceived vs. reality of the movie recording functionality, features top on my list. If you don't mind not being able snap shots or zoom during recording and like the ability to write as much video as you have memory for you may be ok. -
"Was alright, then just quit working." on by mks242
Pros: Took OKAY pictures.
Cons: Just stopped working, and had few special effects.
Summary: Well, I was giving the Digimax S500 for my past Birthday. I thought it was pretty cool, I mean it took pictures. The quality was OKAY, but they were too amazing. I had the camera for a few months, then it just quit working. I figured, maybe I just got a bad one, so I returned it. Luckily, they gave me a new one. This one worked for a few months, then stopped working AGAIN. I just think this camera is cheap, and isn't worth anybody's time.
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"Never buy Samsung Cameras" on by ykenkare
Pros: Absolutely Nothing
Cons: Hangs, Battery life
Summary: I had a S500 . I used it for 2 weeks and was not at all happy with it. I have it back to the shop where i purchased it. The problems which i faced were
1) Battery life was a disaster(even with Energiser and rechargables)
2) Picture Quality was a shame on samsung.
3) There was some problem when i used to record video with sound
4) The camera used to hang very often. The only way to restart it was remove the batteries and put it again.
I would like to suggest everyone to avoid purchasing Samgung Cameras. Instead there are lot of options available(like Pentax,Fuji or even Acer(I was very happy with my Acer))) within(more or less) the same price range.
I hope it clarifies and helps anyone who wants to buy Samsung Cams -
"Excellent Camera" on by lil moyin
Pros: Very good pictures, huge LCD, easy to use
Cons: battery life
Summary: Sorry cnet, but this little camera deserved a much better rating.
I've bought two of this camera (mom, cousin) and will probably talk another two people into buying it.
The pictures are CLEAR, I did not see the problems your reviewer found (maybe for professionals the picture quality is lacking, but I don't see them buying a camera at this level).
Battery life is a concern, but is easily handled with rechargeables.
Get it while it's still around..........
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