WB850f Photo's

nice! seems to do pretty well. unfortunately its high ISO (400 and above) gets a little painterly, although in bright light it seems to be much less an issue.

and it goes to f2.8? i assumed it was a typical f3.5 or something, nice

They look pretty good. It is amazing how they are putting this sort of zoom into these tiny cameras which was bridge territory a couple of years ago. The camera seems a pretty handy tool. What was the screen visibilty like in bright sunlight?

I presume you are pleased with it.

don444 wrote:

Finally got to a stable wifi site to post images from my new WB850....most were taken with smart setting and dual image stabilization "on"......if anyone has requests for other settings I'll try my best to capture and reply.....

jj74e wrote:

nice! seems to do pretty well. unfortunately its high ISO (400 and above) gets a little painterly, although in bright light it seems to be much less an issue.

and it goes to f2.8? i assumed it was a typical f3.5 or something, nice

Not bad, I'm just a little concerned about the handling of the interior scene with the white walls. I'm thinking about a small pocketable zoom since my HX9V has been usurped by my wife.

But at nearly €400, I'm not sure.
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Tomorrow may be too late.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7467981@N05/

Really nice shots don444, they serve both to illustrate the camera's ability and some good subject choices.

I was impressed with the restuarant shot at 400 iso - the camera resisted the tendency to blow the highlights and although shadow detail shows noise, it is exactly what one can expect from this grade of sensor. Furthermore, it went down to f2.8 so it makes best use of aperture.

The shot of the interior white walls (circular space with smallish windows) actually was impressive - I could see gradations of white shading on those walls - the DR of the sensor looks better than average for this type of camera.

The lens is also impressively sharp but some full zoom images would be very useful to see.

There is just one image I dont understand - the one of the doors and handles - it is listed at 800 iso at 1/10 sec yet looks like it was taken in bright light.

Is the exif correct and did you do it handheld? If you did then the stabilization function is also very good.

I looked at this camera in a shop yesterday and handled it - it is a solid metal case but two things struck me as stupid styling design limitations - firstly the battery was very small - along with GPS on, I doubt that one will get more than 150 shots max, if you are lucky, out of it, and secondly, the pop up flash is where you would hold the camera and is ridiculously small, to boot. It's tele range is listed in the specs as around 3 meters and that's really not much at all considering the fantastic long end.

But it is the promise of the 23mm wide-angle that really appeals to me - this camera is vastly cheaper than a wide angle lens for my DSLR and looks like a viable option to cart around with the DSLR for those wide angle shots I'd like to do.

Good luck with it - it looks like a winner in spite of the design issues.
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jamesza

Thanks for all the feedback....

To answer some of the questions, all the photos were shot handheld with no flash. The screen is very impressive in sunlight, I leave the setting on auto for brightness. With the GPS on, I've taken over 100 shots over 8 hours and the battery meter, if it's correct, still shows full....not the stock battery however. On the "door handle" shot...I may have used HDR mode can't remember.

I'll try and get some full zoom shots today and post if wifi is available.....

For auto the metering is very impressive. I find compacts now often need to be turned down at least 2/3 if you want to see the clouds in the sky. I have a Canon SX130 which I often have to have at -1 to get a balanced exposure in bright conditions. I also have a Olympus SZ30-MR which also always over exposes. I have just taken a picture out of my back door mainly of the bushes in my back garden with the latter camera with only a small amount of sky and it needs a full -1 to get a proper blue sky. In auto mode the sky is completely blown out.

Have they used the new type amoled screen with no air space like in the NX20. Up to now I have not been too impressed with AMOLED outdoors so it is good that you have had no problems.

Thanks for showing the pictures. The first one looks like it focused on the near roofs rather than the clock tower.

don444 wrote:

Thanks for all the feedback....

To answer some of the questions, all the photos were shot handheld with no flash. The screen is very impressive in sunlight, I leave the setting on auto for brightness. With the GPS on, I've taken over 100 shots over 8 hours and the battery meter, if it's correct, still shows full....not the stock battery however. On the "door handle" shot...I may have used HDR mode can't remember.

I'll try and get some full zoom shots today and post if wifi is available.....

Three other shots...first two show zoom capabilities.... handheld....no tripod.....last one is macro shot.

I am suprised that this appears to be the first time you have used the in camera charging after posting all this as a supposed camera fault. There is also a possibly that no name batteries may damage the camera or charger, have you checked the voltages out on the unbranded batteries? Samsung batteries are not enormously expensive so why risk a £300 camera for the sake of 2 £18 or cheaper batteries in UK terms? It just does not make sense.

I think you really need to prove the kit through standard procedures before calling foul on the kit. Charge the Samsung battery first for 2 hours and see how it lasts. Use the supplied charger rather than a PC which will take longer.

One thing I have read on the forums is that many third party chargers are only 2 pin which means they have no overheating detection. I know from experience that Samsung do not seem to supply seperate chargers which is a nuisance so they do force people to go third party.

performancepixel wrote:

Here are some shots with this camera. I bought it for the trip I am on and I am pleased with the images and camera other than the battery issues I have encountered. I have the 1050mah Samsung battery and two noname 1330mah batteries. Using a digipower Samsung charger the batteries show fully charged when inserted, but when I use them in the camera they start showing depleted very quickly like 10 minutes for one of the 1330mah. And the Samsung battery is about the same. So tonight I am trying to charge them with the camera and a USB cable. Here are the samples.

850

I will try to report on the charging with camera if I can keep Internet access.

Tim

Thanks for sharing a nice variety of images. They look good for a compact. I'm not WiFi literate, but I think Samsung has identified an excellent niche in which to lead.

In camera charging is a nuisance I agree. I hope it does work in the camera. Sorry to put another dampener but the 30% higher milli amp batteries will generate more total heat charging in the camera and you will be likely be going outside design specs.

I would like to get one of these WB850's but the lack of an official 3 pin charger does put me off and running the lottery of getting a third party charger of unknown specs is always disconcerting. I was put off when someone posted that the lack of a heat sensing pin contact meant the batteries could actually explode in the charger. Attached is an interesting link

http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/10588/why-we-have-3-pins-on-some-batteries

I had a WB5500 once and they actually showed a seperate charger in the manual but with no part numbel. I did a great deal of searching and never found it. I just do not think it ever existed.

Has anyone ever found an official stand alone charger or at least a branded functioning 3 pin charger for a slb-10a?

performancepixel wrote:

I am not crying foul yet, my friend. Only saying what I am experiencing. The camera kit I bought did not come with a samsung charger. Only a USB cable for charging. I went with the higher mah batteries without really giving any consideration damaging the camera. Given the Samsung battery is giving the same results, my suspicion is the charger and hopefully not the camera. I have not experienced any such problems with other cameras/batteries or with my years of RC. I figured I would screw it up with European power conversion. We will see how today's shooting goes.

Thanks Loring. Cannot find it in 4mysamsung.co.uk or Samsung UK but it is useful to have the part number.

Loring von Palleske wrote:

Here - let me look that up for you...

http://www.samsung.com/ca/consumer/camera-camcorder/compact-cameras/compact-accessories/EA-BC1UA5

If you guys are looking for accessories - feel free to try the samsung site, you may be surprised!