Review: Samsung S1050 digital camera

Samsung’s S1050 joins the growing throng of compact digital cameras where the battle is being shifted away from megapixels and towards speed in low light.

As such, it boasts an ISO rating of 1600, which is becoming pretty common on camera of this size. It still packs 10.1 megapixels in on its tiny 1/1.8in image sensor, combining this with a 5x optical zoom (38-190mm 35mm film equivalent) and a large 3in colour LCD monitor on its rear, which is used for both reviewing pictures and as the viewfinder.

Despite the protruding lens, the camera is just about small enough to slip into a pocket and has a robust feel. It comes with an extensive PDF user manual, but for anyone who feels reading it would be a biological insult, the S1050 is easy to use.

The various features are operated by a simple scroll wheel and a few buttons on the rear. The zoom is an up/down thumb wheel and defied our first impression that it would be uncomfortable to use.

Of particular note on this well-priced camera is its face detection. It requires both eyes to be looking at the lens, but was extremely responsive at both wide-angle and full optical zoom, quickly picking up any movement.

It also comes with an anti-shake facility, but this won’t mean pin sharp pictures when the light is too low. In this mode the camera is slow to use, as it requires in-camera processing.

When used indoors, focusing could sometimes be problematic when secured on a tripod. It expected the flash to be on or the ISO to be at 800 or 1600, which takes away some creative control. At these high ISO settings, images were noisy; this was particularly acute when the camera was at full zoom.

In light good enough for lower ISO 80, 100 and 200 settings image quality was good – pictures were sharp and colours life-like.

The Samsung S1050 will best suit those who want to point and shoot, using it mostly on the auto or scenic settings, when the camera can take over the controls, leaving you just to frame the shot.

See also:

Review: Canon Digital Ixus 950 IS digital camera

An ultra-compact camera with cutting-edge features  03 Aug 2007

Review: Nikon D40x digital camera

The usability and features of the D40 enter the 10 megapixel market  03 Jul 2007

Review: Nikon Coolpix S200 digital camera

Super-slim and shiny, this tiny digicam offers a well-balanced set of features  12 Jun 2007

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