One wonders where the development in technology will take the photographic world, but it seems as if Samsung is going to be right at the sharp end of it all with three new cameras. One in particular looks as though it was designed with Thai ladies in mind. This was the MV800, which has Dual-View.
This is a 3 inch capacitive LCD touchscreen that flips out to let you shoot at just about any angle, even if you are in front of the lens instead of behind it. The LCD screen actually flips all the way back around to face the photographer. All Thai ladies love taking images of their own selves, and fit the Narcissus label completely.
Samsung has included its Smart Touch 3.0 interface which makes navigating camera settings much easier for anyone who isn’t fully aware of the numerous settings available. The Live Panorama function lets you take super wide shots to capture the entire scene and then previewing that scene on the LCD. Certainly a great feature, and this is still a point and shoot remember.
The MV800 also comes with Magic Frame (a collection of background templates), Smart Filter (a set of artistic affects like “Watercolor finish”), and Funny Faces (a way to stretch and manipulate faces by tapping and dragging across the LCD). It even comes with its own Photo Editor that lets you edit and rotate photos straight from the camera.
The basics on the MV800 are:
16.1 megapixels (more than Canon’s new point and shooters)
5x Optical Zoom
26 mm wide-angle lens
Full HD video capture
3-inch capacitive flip-out LCD touchscreen
The second camera is called the NX200, and is the next step from a plain point and shoot but going almost towards a full Digital SLR. Samsung calls it the “compact systems” category. Along with this, the NX200 boasts 20 megapixels.
The NX200 incorporates a number of features already described in the MV800 – like Smart Filter, Magic Frame, and the Live Panorama mode – but also brings some new features as well.
The first is that it supports Samsung’s i-Function 2.0 lenses, which basically gives the user control over settings (ISO, white balance, shutter speed, aperture, and exposure value) through the lens rather than the camera itself. That means you never actually have to look away from the shot while you adjust. New lenses for the i-Function system include 18-200 mm zoom, 16 mm very wide angle, 60 mm and 85 mm focal lengths, as well as the standard 18-55 mm zoom.
Specifications for the NX200 are:
20.3 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor
18-55 mm zoom lens kit
3-inch LCD touch screen
High-speed continuous shooting (up to 7 fps)
100 msec Advanced Auto Focus
Wide ISO range (100-12,800)
Full HD video capture (1920×1080/30p)
The third camera released is the Samsung WB750. This camera has Samsung’s longest zoom offering in a compact camera at 18x optical (and 24x Smart Zoom). This camera allows you to take 10 megapixel shots while shooting 1080 p video which Samsung calls their Dual Capture technology. However, I am not so sure that this feature would be such as to make me want a WB750 for myself.
It also comes with the same Smart Filter, Magic Frame, and Live Panorama features on the other two cameras, but takes that a step further. The WB750 has two other Panorama modes – Action Panorama and 3D Panorama. Action Panorama lets you take a shot of a moving person on a static background, which captures movement within a still image. 3D Panorama does just what you’d expect: shoots panoramic images in 3D.
Another feature, Smart Auto 2.0 helps you get the settings right when you aren’t quite sure what to do, but the WB750 also allows for a good deal of creative control. Manual, Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority settings are all included.
The specifications of the WB750 are:
12.5-megapixel BSI (back-side illuminated) CMOS sensor
18x optical zoom, 24x Smart Zoom
3-inch LCD screen
10 fps burst mode
1080p HD video capture (with dual-capture)
Creative Movie Maker – lets you edit video and arrange clips straight from the LCD.
Obviously not in Thailand – yet, but just as obviously well worth your investigating.
