pico23
Dec 30, 2010, 10:30 AM
Post #1 of 1
(2046 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 14, 2003
Posts: 2378
|
Thought I'd pass along this camera as an option for those looking for a top end P&S.
Image quality is outstanding, up to ISO 800 it rivals 4/3s, 1600 is highly usable if converting to B&W. And yes, I'm being serious, you can use this compact camera at ISO 800 without worries. The noise in RAW is gritty but not unpleasing. I actually rarely denoise images at that ISO. I don't like shooting color at 1600, but if I had to I could live with it with some noise reduction in post processing. A few years ago the idea of shooting a compact at 800 and getting images you could actually work with was sort of a dream.
The 24-72mm f/1.8-2.3 lens is the fastest on a point and shoot, it also has full manual controls. Fast is great but how good is the lens? Head to head the lens outperformed the LX3s lens in distortion, sharpness, and fringing.
I believe the S90/S95, G11/G12, LX3,Ricoh GRDIII and TL500/EX1 all use the same sensor. .
All in all, great first high end digital compact from Samsung that is significantly more compact than the ILCs or EVILs on the market, but not too far below them in IQ.
I got mine in August for $350 shipped. Really enjoyed having something so compact and (almost) pocketable with great IQ. The almost pocketable is that while it will fit in a jacket pocket or a cargo pocket, or even a front pants pocket, it is a bit heavy because of it's tank like build, but being overbuilt is something that never bothered me!
One caveat for those that care. As with the Canon S90 and G11 NO HD video. I expect the followup to address this, but it wasn't a sticking point for me as I rarely shoot video, and what I do shoot ends up on the web or buried on my HDD, in either case 640x480 is plenty from a still camera with great still IQ.
A few sample shots at various ISOs and focal lengths, exif and noise reduction settings (if any) can be found by clicking the links below:
ISO 800...
http://www.flickr.com/...nvisions/5138043294/
ISO 200...
http://www.flickr.com/...7448/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/...invisions/5184280064
ISO 80...
http://www.flickr.com/...invisions/4988234025
(This post was edited by pico23 on Dec 30, 2010, 10:32 AM)
|
