Samsung L77 review (digital camera)

Despite some flaws, the L77's pictures look good. Colors generally appear neutral and saturated, though dark subjects tend to lose some detail. Noise becomes apparent at levels as low as ISO 200, but it manifests in a gentle grain that generally will only appear on computer monitors and not in your prints. This unobtrusive noise remains even up to ISO 800, though a lot of fine detail, such as small text, and shadow detail is lost along the way, so images at higher ISOs end up less sharp and with a narrower dynamic range. At ISO 1,600, noise levels skyrocket, creating a fuzzy static that muddles color and consumes detail.

Most impressively, the L77's 7x lens suffers from very little distortion. Shots taken at both the wide-angle and telephoto ends of the lens remain clear and accurate in shape and proportion. This is a difficult enough feat in any high-zoom lens, but in a completely internal compact mechanism like the L77's, this is downright impressive.

If you want a simple, pocket-friendly point-and-shoot camera with a strong zoom, give the Samsung L77 a try. With its slim body, relatively powerful lens, and solid image quality, the Samsung L77 should appeal to snapshooters. Its performance is sluggish, though, and its dearth of manual controls will turn off more advanced photographers.

Shooting speed (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Typical shot-to-shot time

Time to first shot

Shutter lag (typical)

Canon Powershot SD850 IS

1.7 

1.2 

0.5 

Casio Exilim EX-V7

1.6 

1.5 

0.5 

Samsung L77

2.4 

1.9 

0.5 

Samsung NV7 OPS

2 

3.1 

0.5 

Samsung L74 Wide

2.8 

4.4 

0.9