I needed a smaller camera to aide me in day to day activities. I have a problem with my memory and beside the standard notepad and pen, I wanted something to take pictures of places I had been and things I saw. Well, bumping into this camera exceeded my expectation to a great degree.
I had been using a very small (cheap $10) snapper for a few weeks, and while it satisfied most of my needs, it fell short in the area of detail, especially taking snaps of text, letters, newspaper ads, TV or computer monitor and so on. So, I knew I needed something better.
I am not sure how the Samsung S860 and I crossed paths, but I got to tell you, it was a fortunate crossing.
The S860 turned out to be a lot more than a simple device for remembering text and the like without having to carry a briefcase full of photocopies. The camera fits nicely in a shirtpocket (along with my 3x5 notepad) but the images it captures are very nice! A week or so ago I decided to put it through the low-light picture taking test. I was quite pleased with the outcome. The camera is not overly heavy, but it is not a piece of fluff either. The weight is very good for holding long exposure shots (even up to a second w/DIS*, if YOU are steady enough) and with the ability to manually set it to ISO 1000, it can take some quite bright images with practically no light at all. In bright daylight, the camera is very nice, faster time between shots.
For folks looking for a nice P&S camera, this one is a camera worth taking a look at. It is nice to have an 8+MP camera in your pocket (for under $100) That will provide nice, sharp, colorful images that can even be printed at quite large sizes.
For folks looking for a nice carry around camera that lets you explore your creative side, this camera comes through with program and manual modes that let you set the mood. It also has a usable DIS (*Digital Image Stabilization) mode for shots in a "bumpy" environment, say shooting from a car and the like (My preffered method of "Drive-by Shooting". To add to the creative capability is the SCENE mode, with I think 11 different settings from twilight to bright beach and snow, and one of my favorite (useful) modes is TEXT! Few cameras offer a text mode, and this one delivers what you expect in this mode. I assume it handles very high contrast situations in this mode... hmmm... maybe something to experiment with later??? This is yet another thing I found to be fun while I got to know this camera. It really does give you the opportunity to explore the different possibilties of picture taking.
Problems:
Not too many problems experienced with this camera. One thing that can be a little testing is... Those low-light pics I mentioned before... the time between shots in low light can be time consuming, sometimes 10 or more seconds. Besides that, the only other comment is the cameras love of batteries! It does chew through those little gems at a pretty good pace. Not surprising considering things like, no optical viewfinder or manual focus or zoom.
These are things that are easy to get accustomed to, and considering that "Brand R" alkaline AA batteries can be had for just over $5 for a 12 pack. you can get a lot of shooting done.
Get one and have fun.
danm @ swcp.com