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Can easily replace most basic P&S (point-and-shoot) Cameras

Started Dec 22, 2014 | User reviews
LuFra72 Regular Member • Posts: 117
Can easily replace most basic P&S (point-and-shoot) Cameras
1

I really had no intention of upgrading my Galaxy S3, which I was completely happy with up until 3 months ago, when it died after I accidentally damaged it. I didn't think the camera on the S3 was anything special, and I had read that some users of the S4 were disappointed with the S5. I didn't have high expectations for it, really. After playing with the camera and various apps on the S5, my opinion of it has changed quite a bit.

The camera on the S5 will not replace my DSLR; I don't think mobile devices are there yet (likely due to the limited real estate on phones for camera sensors). However, when you put this up against a typical $100 P&S camera, you can begin to appreciate it more.

Device manufacturers are able to come up with their own software to control the cameras in their devices for the Android platform, and I really like what Samsung has done with the S5. The stock camera app gives you the ability to toggle some advanced settings such as ISO, metering, picture stabilization, face detection, HDR and more. They also added a "Modes" feature that includes a Panorama builder, a "beauty face" mode for taking selfies and a "virtual tour" mode that creates a video of stitched "walk through" images that might come in handy for realtors. I've only played around with this mode a couple of times and the results weren't as seamless as I thought they would be, but it would totally do the trick if you wanted to for example, show a relative how to access the water heater in your home when you're away.

Samsung has included a photo editor called "Studio", which has many of the usual suspects you would find in a full-featured photo editor. The app is simple to use, yet powerful; I find it very easy to edit images and make them look better than the original snaps very easily. Still, I've been looking at many of the popular camera apps and have found that the four or five that I've installed work great on this phone (I wanted to limit my review to the stock software that comes with the phone, and I'm sure others will have their app preferences anyway).

Overall, I don't see me leaving my DSLR and lenses at home while away on vacation, but as a fun P&S camera, the S5 delivers.

 LuFra72's gear list:LuFra72's gear list
Canon EOS 600D Canon EF 50mm F1.8 II Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO DG Macro Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM | C Canon EF-S 10-18mm F4.5–5.6 IS STM +3 more
Samsung Galaxy S5
5.1 screen • 16 megapixels (rear) • 2 megapixels (front)
Announced: Feb 24, 2014
LuFra72's score
5.0
Average community score
4.8
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