I bought a new Samsung SL201 digital camera. This is an excellent camera! And possibly represents the most bang-for-the-buck of any digital camera on the market today! I love mine.
Because I have not owned it for long, I must restrain my comments to areas with which I am familiar.
Yes indeed, the user’s manual is much lacking, however, an updated manual is obtainable from the Samsung site, and proves to be perfectly adequate.
Feature’s I like:
1) One can use the zoom while recording video! - Although Samsung’s firmware will mute the sound during the running of the zoom motor – this is still a welcome improvement over not being able to use the zoom at all!
2) Voice Recorder! Wow, sweet! This is what I love about the digital world. With all of the necessary components already built into most digital cameras, it seems only the designer’s ability to innovate has prevented this feature from being incorporated into most other digital cameras! Hat’s off to Samsung, this is a great feature! But one caveat: In following the instruction manual in a effort to get the voice recorder to operate, I did as prescribed; I “pushed the shutter button” and did not find success. Only by doing a little tinkering, was I able to discover the reason – one must press the shutter button beyond the first detent! (the focus detent) I was only pressing it half-way. And two other problem areas to mention: When powering-up the camera, and entering into “Voice Record Mode” one should wait before activating the recorder. If you start too early, the zoom lens will remain extended during the record session. (Presumable, the camera’s firmware prevents the lens-motor from running once the recorder has started). If you wait (a brief few seconds), the camera will retract its lens – and only then you should start your recording. However, should you forget, you can press the shutter button (which pauses the voice recorder) and then wait that brief few seconds for the lens to retract – then you can restart the recording session by pressing the shutter button again. Samsung should reprogram to cause this retraction before the actual record session starts. Also, stupidly this camera’s firmware will not override the “shutdown” timer while in voice record mode. If, say, your shutdown timer is set to “3 minutes”, the recorder will shut off in 3 minutes. If you expect to make an extended time voice recording, you must first enter the “Settings” menu and switch to “off” the “Power Off” timer. And lastly, (and again stupidly) the firmware keeps the power-LED and the main display burning all throughout the voice recording session! This is really dumb, as it causes the battery to drain faster, and hampers stealthyness during clandestine recording. The recorded is .wav file format – bit rate 88 Kbps, 8 bit, Mono, Sample Rate 11 KHz, Format CCITT u-Law. And I was even able to make a recording on my Windows computer and store it on the camera’s memory card and play it back! It took a little fiddling – I made sure the recording format was compatible with the above specifications, and tried it. It did not show up on the playback menu so I renamed it to be next name in sequence (i.e. gave it name “SDC100nn” where “nn is the next number in the sequence), and that worked! But, the playback volume is very low, and unfortunately there is no external headphone jack - and another stupidity: the speaker is on the front! What unearthly reason is there for this? After all, it is not likely that one will use the speaker without looking at the screen.
3) The supplied charging cable is a dream. Once can only charge the SL201 from a USB port. However, a supplied adapter - of very small dimensions - can be easily installed in any common outlet to provide USB charging power - which is nice should you be away from your computer. The drawback is in having to take the cable with you, and not being able to easily charge a “spare” battery (should you own one). As I did order a spare battery, my plan is to obtain a base charger (if I can find one), and also to obtain an extra camera-to-USB cable (Samsung part number SUC-6C) – I would like to keep one permanently attached to my computer, and one in the car so I can copy pictures onto family and friend’s computers when I visit them.
4) The correct battery type is: SLB-0837(B) - Rechargeable Lithium Ion 800mAh 3.7V. I recommend you purchase a spare. I have read that “A” versions will not fit correctly – but you know how the web – so maybe a camera-shop-guy can say for sure.
I am sorry I have not relayed much about the actual ability of this camera to take pictures. I may be easy to please, but I find it performs as expected, and the pictures look great to me! I bet others will write lots more about this, and I too will be eager to see what they have to say. But for those of you wishing a good point-and-shoot, you can’t go wrong with this bad boy! Samsung SL201gotta love it.
Problems:
Additional observations:
The camera is nice and small, and in the past, other cameras I have owned eventually suffered cosmetically form dented corners. It would seem prudent to encase this camera (or all cameras for that matter) in a rubber bumper-wrap (are you listening Samsung?). The wrap could also serve as an added grip surface. Although I love the camera’s overall layout (controls etc.), it is somewhat difficult to hold and use with one hand. – Samsung has placed a ridge on the camera’s periphery – closest to the shutter button on the camera’s edge to facilitate better gripping, but I feel it is misplaced. It should be situated inboard more – a true thumb-grip on the rear (an inch or so inboard), and finger detents on the front would greatly improve the one-handed picture-taker and is an innovation that would add virtually nothing to the cost of fabrication.
Early production units were shipped without adequate instruction manuals. Visit Samsung’s website to correct this. (Or to read-up on additional features and controls etc.) But even then, one does not see on the specifications (or anyplace I have been able to find) – exactly what the maximum memory capacity supported is. I purchased two SDHC 8 GB sticks for my camera, and they seem to work fine.
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Okay, it is now months later, and I have since gained much experience with this camera, and have the following issues to share:
a. Poor macro focus response – this is particularly disturbing since at first attempt to focus the camera one can see it pass in and then out of excellent focus. So you see, the lens is up to the task, but the control firmware is much lacking. As a work around, I have found I can let the automatic focus do its thing, and then manually move the camera closer and farther away using my own best-judgment to find best focus. This poor macro response is the single worst feature of this camera.
b. Red-eye! Need I say more? It is virtually impossible to snap flash pictures of persons without the monsterfication of the eyeball. I don’t know what solutions are available in other cameras to combat this phenomenon, but whatever it is, it is greatly lacking in this camera.
c. Poor low-light performance. – It may be just me, but in the evening, in low light, I want a camera that can at least equal my own ability to “see”. In my opinion, this camera would benefit from a larger aperture.
Now, having complained about the above three issues, I can say that overall, I am still happy with my camera. It didn’t cost much, and it has provided much bang-for-the-buck. It has held up well, and it takes good pictures, and I feel that even with its drawbacks, it was a very satisfying purchase. Would I buy Samsung again? In a heartbeat, but as one that is hoping to spoil myself, I will pick from the upper end of the offerings. Oh, and all though my two 8 MB memory sticks work, I have come to learn that only 4 MB is actually available. It would have been nice if Samsung had shared that information before I made my purchase.
