Samsung WB600 - 12.2MP, 15x super-zoom, 720p HD at Rs. 19,900 [review]

The Samsung WB600 promises to be a good mid-range camera with a feature-rich configuration. Although, its performance is quite disappointing in spite of the heavy hardware configuration and leaves a lot to be desired for a performance hungry user. The price is on the high side, and there are a bunch of options from the likes of Nikon and Canon that would provide more bang for buck.

Pros

• It is sleek, trendy and portable


• Incorporates 24mm ultra-wide angle lens & 15x super-zoom control for taking tele-wide snaps


• Adds support for 720p recording at a decent 30fps

Cons

• Lacks depth of field and focus leading to blurred images


• Interface is quite confusing and not user-friendly


• Lack of image clarity with lot of sensor noise above ISO 200

Overview

Samsung WB600 is the industry's first digital compact camera to combine a 24mm ultra-wide angle lens with 15x super-zoom control. It incorporates a 14.2 megapixel CCD image sensor that adopts a point and shoot mechanism. Built with a 3-inch LCD display incorporating intelligent brightness technology, it automatically adjusts itself to the ambient light conditions for optimal viewing. Adding support for 720p HD video recording at a decent 30 fps (frames per second), it produces high quality videos in H.264 format and allows the user to hook up the camera to a HDTV using the HDMI interface. Encompassing a wide array of impressive features like Smart Auto, Face Detection, Smile Shot, Blink Detection, Self Portrait and Beauty Shot, it promotes digital compact cameras to the next level.

Build quality & dimensions

Samsung WB600 is built with a robust plastic material and decorated with chromium metallic finish across the body frame covering the top and side edges. The body contours are elegantly sculpted, with an outward body curve marking the right-hand thumb grip for holding the camera steady while shooting stills and videos. The camera is very sleek and trendy, aptly fitting the dimensions for a digital compact camera and hardly weighs about 200grams.

Ergonomics

The control pad buttons are lined across the body curvature beside the LCD screen, with an ok button at the centre. Scattered around the control dial, are the menu, video playback and function buttons arranged in the dot-triangle form. Also, there is a video recording button at the far right corner of the LCD screen, slightly popping out of the curvature making an out-dent. At the top of the camera, there is a wide array of chunky controls sprinkled across the chromium plate, that adds glamour & style to the camera. Starting at the left, it includes a twin set of holes meant for stereo sound recording system and an indented power button located between them, which glows dazzling blue when turned on. Just to the right of it, is the scene mode selection dial control, followed by the tele-wide angle zoom control switch. Moving to the front of the camera, we see a thick chromium plated circular strip surrounding a plastic shutter acting as the lens cover, when not in use. There is a small port hole beside the lens cover, that houses the AF assist/self timer lamp, and a 9 hole microphone indentation placed at the bottom beside the lens cover. Due to the wide circumference of the large lens while on operation, the built-in flash unit has been moved to the right corner on the front face of the camera. Finally, exploring the bottom face of the camera, we find a tripod mount porthole located at the centre and a latch door controlled battery/memory card compartment located right next to it. Although, the navigation controls and camera controls are intuitively organized for quick access, the menu system could have been much more simple for the first time user. Most options are not easily revealed at first glance, unless the user is prepared to delve deeper exploring the various manual and program settings.

Features and functionality

Samsung WB600 provides a wide-array of shooting modes and scene selection modes, with the use of a single dial control. They are as follows:

1) Dual Image Stabilization mode which includes optical and ISO boosting digital image stabilization.

2) Beauty shot mode which comes in handy for removing inherent spots and blemishes while processing the subject's face during a snapshot.

3) Scene selection mode which allows the user to select the type of scene, based on the shooting scenario and ambient conditions. For example: 'Night', 'Portrait', 'Children', 'Landscape', 'sunset', 'dawn' and 'backlight'.

4) Movie mode which allows the user to capture videos in 720p HD at a maximum resolution of 1280x720 running at 30fps. For a non-HD video, the user can capture videos at lower resolutions like 640x480 or 320x240 running at 15fps (by reducing the frame rates using the “Fn” button at the rear of the camera)

5) Smart Auto mode which automatically optimizes the camera settings and selects the most appropriate scene mode for reproducing high quality & crisp images. This mode mirrors the functionality of intelligent auto mode adopted by the likes of Panasonic, Sony and Canon on their digital cameras.

6) Auto mode allows the user to take snapshots with the factory default settings or the basic settings predefined on the camera. This mode is most suitable for close range shots in good lighting conditions, as it does not require tinkering with the settings.

7) Program mode allows the user to fine tune the preset basic settings to enhance image sharpness and focus.

8) ASM (Aperture Shutter Manual) mode is meant for the expert users to tinker with the aperture size, shutter speed and manual mode settings.

In addition, it has a tele-wide control switch at the top of the camera, that hardly takes about 5 seconds to switch the mode of transition from tele to wide functionality. The 4-way operational control pad is located right next to the LCD screen at the rear of the camera, which controls the navigation and special functions such as flash (on/off), timer (Off, 2 secs, 10 secs, motion timer), macro and display mode (basic, detailed photo information, full photographic information). The basic mode only displays the battery life status and the number of snaps that can be taken before the memory becomes full. The detailed and full photographic mode show the status of special functions like flash, timer, macro, image stabilization etc. It is to be noted that Smart Auto mode disables access to various fine settings like ISO, EV, white balance, face detection and Smart FR, as these settings are automatically controlled by the camera in this mode of operation.

Flash settings:( Off, Red-Eye fix, Slow Sync, Fill in, Red-Eye, Auto)

Red-Eye fix - used to remove red eye from the subject's photo.

Slow sync - used to illuminate both the subject and the background uniformly.

Fill in - activates always flash on.

Red-Eye - reduces red-eye effect

Auto - automatically chooses the appropriate flash settings based on ambient light conditions

Timer settings: (Off, 2secs, 10secs, motion timer)

The timer can be set to open the shutter after 2 seconds, 10 seconds or after specific period of time when the subject has ceased to move (say after 6 seconds).

Macro settings: ( Off, Macro, Normal(AF))

The macro setting can be set to off, for taking long range shots or set to on for close range shots within 80 cm distance from the reference subject or set to Normal (Auto Focus) for shots taken beyond 80cm distance from the reference subject.

Bundled accessories

One battery, 1GB microSD memory card, one strap, one USB/power adapter cable and one AV cable.