Review: Samsung PL10 (CL5) Digital Camera

Following is a user review about Samsung PL10 (CL5) digital camera.

What do you think is the most important thing in digital devices? Personally, I think the first thing is its features and next its design. (First impression is important for both people and digital devices. People usually feel more attracted to someone with good first impression, and they also strongly want to buy the products with good design. That s why product makers consider design as an important factor.)

Samsung PL10 shows what the real design is. Most of compact digital cameras look just cutie and petite, but you can use the word beautiful to describe this one.

Then is it only about design? Or are there more than that? In this review, let s find about PL10 s design, function, and image quality.

Design

Is the built-in accessories, Menual and S/W CD, Adapter, USB Cable , AV Cable, Battery , Strap and Earphones are included(Memory Card and case are sold separately)

It is 92.8x 59.7 x 19.4mm and 120.7g, so it has the best portability. It is small enough to fit into one hand, and light enough to hang around your neck. (Portability is one of the strengths of compact cameras, and its small size and light weight will be very satisfying.)

It is almost needless to say how refined its design looks. It has stylish metal body with hairline process, and La Fleur Pattern that was used in YEPP, maximizing its gorgeous image. (Women colleagues of mine loved it. I strongly recommend it to users who want a cute and pretty digital camera.) Other than pink color in this review, black, silver, red, and purple colors are going to be released.

On the front side, you can see optical 3x zoom lens. (You don’t need to remove lens cover every time. When you turn on the power, the cover opens to each side. Compared to regular protruding type lens, there s less trembling during zooming, resulting in good shot.) It supports 38-114mm in 35mm film equivalent; it might not be satisfying in wide angle shot but ok in regular angle. Like most recent products, start-up time is pretty short. Some of the cameras which take long time for lens to come out, but you can take a picture with it within 2 seconds after you press POWER button.

There s self-timer and assist lamp on the middle of the top and flash for night time and indoors use. (For flash, it supports various modes like auto, red eye reduction, compulsive light, slow syncro, no flash, red eye removal, etc.) As you can see on the sticker on the body, it supports Smart Auto and various face detection functions, and also can be used as a multimedia device.

This is how it looks on the top of the camera, with its model name printed and a speaker for voice and multimedia sound. There s a POWER button on the center (Thanks to BLUE LED, it s easy to be detected at night.) and built-in mike on the side

This is how it looks on the back, with 230,000-pixel 2.7 TFT LCD. (Big screen helps good display of the subject, and its clarity is quite high. But its detailed expression is somewhat poor and downward viewing angle is narrow.)

There s status LED, zoom button, mode, menu button, cross button, play, and Fn button. (The size of buttons is small, but since there’s enough room between them, it s easy to control even with a thumb.) Even when the power is off, if you press and hold the play button, you can appreciate photos or videos directly.

On the bottom of the camera, there’s a mount hole on the center to connect the tripod. On the side, there s battery charging and SD card holder. (Not only SD, it also supports SDHC perfectly. So there will be no shortage of storage space.) It supports up to 196MB memory, so even when the external storage is full, it won t be that uncomfortable.

This is how it looks on the left and right side of the camera, with 20-pin on the top for connecting USB/AV cable and earphone for multimedia functions. (It is a multifunctional connector for transporting data, charging, or OUTPUT.) Also, on the center, there s a hoop for connecting hand strap or necklace.

It is a camera that fits right into one hand, even smaller than premium MP3 or Smart phone. (As I mentioned above, it has excellent protability.)

They’re basic accessories: quick manual, S/W CD, earphone (including cover), USB cable, AV cable, adapter, battery, hand strap, etc.

UI & Function

Its refined and splendid design is so attractive. Now, let s find out about diverse functions through UI.

Mode

PL10 has total eight modes. It has Smart Auto that automatically detects a scene and helps shoot a satisfying picture without extra setting. And there s Program mode, and DIS mode to minimize the camera shakes. Also, if you set conditions through Scene mode, you can take more satisfying pictures. In addition, it offers video recording and multimedia functions.

When setting mode, you will find the icon on the upper left side change according to mode. (In Smart mode, there re 11 modes like Macro, Macro text, White, Landscape, Action, Tripod, Night scene, Night portrait, Backlight, Backlight portrait, and Portrait. It automatically detects the scene and makes settings. It may be called Auto Scene mode.) Depending on mode, it supports different functions. In Smart Auto, you can only control image size, but in Program mode, you can control all the functions manually.

Shooting guide helps beginners to take good shots by displaying how to operate in text and images. And it also supports Scene mode which makes setting according to circumstances, resulting in high quality pictures. (It supports various modes like Night Scene, Portrait, Children, Landscape, Text, Close-up, Sunset, Dawn, Backlight, Firework, Beach/Snow, Frame Guide, and Beauty Shot.)

Beauty Shot makes a normal person into a model. You can control brightness and face retouch in three degrees, (Let s find more about it in test part.)

For video recording, it supports up to 800x 592 resolution (but in 800x 592, it is fixed to 20fps), and maximum speed of 30fps. It will be good enough to take simple snap shots. (Besides, it also supports extra image stabilization function like DIS mode in taking photos.)

PL10 can be also used as multimedia devices like MP3P or PMP. That is, it can be used for music, video clips, and text. The photo above shows performing of MP3 function. You can see that it plays MP3 files in external memory perfectly well. (Using Fn button, EQ setting is possible. It is very impressive that it supports various EQ including SRS. Also, you can easily control lock and volume easily.) You can play former files using menu, set repetition and background screen (basic screen or custom-made), do slide show, and check DRM information.

You can watch video clips using PMP function. (Since it doesn t support regular Codec, so you need encoding by installing Samsung Converter which is included in S/W CD.) The photo above shows the performance of Samsung Converter program. It supports addition of subtitle, and you can control resolution (640x 480, 320x 240) and frame setting.

I could check that videos, converted by Samsung Converter and stored in the external memory, playing clearly. (After converting it to 640x 480, 30fps and I could play it clearly without delay. Of course it is not as good as MP3 or PMP machines, but it is good enough to be utilized.) Through menu, playing former files, searching section, and displaying play can be done.

It also supports text viewer. Like the photo shows, it supports both English and Korean, and also auto scroll and background music functions.

Shooting Option

Frequently used functions don t have to be accessed through MENU. (You can directly go into them using cross button.) You can decide whether you want to see shooting information or not. And you can also decide on Self-timer. (It supports 2 sec/10 sec self-timer, double timer that takes shot in 10 seconds and 12 seconds for better result, and motion timer that detects the movement 6 seconds after pressing shutter and takes a shot when motion stops.) There s also Macro for close-up shot, flash (auto, red eye reduction, compulsory light, slow syncro, no light, and red eye removal) for indoor or night shot. Also you can quickly select frequently used functions using Fn button.

Shooting Function

If you select Program mode, you can manually select functions related to photos. (In the photo above, you can see that lots of functions are offered.)

You can adjust exposure from -2 to +2, and various white balance functions are offered. In addition, it supports up to 3200 ISO, so you can take pictures without flash even in dark places. There s also ACB function that adjusts the difference between dark and bright areas. (ISO will be analyzed in detail in test part.) There s AEB function that takes three successive shots in different exposure. (normal exposure, over exposure, low exposure)

Samsung Digital Imaging has been strong in taking portrait shots, and it supports various face detection functions. There re Regular mode that detects faces and automatically controls focus and exposure, Self Guide that helps taking self-shots by making beeping sound when detecting faces, Smile shot that detects smiley face and automatically takes a shot, and Blink detection that takes two successive shots when detecting blinking. (Plus, it is noticeable that it supports Smart Face detection function that adjusts focus and exposure based on registered faces.)

It supports 9 mega high-resolution shot, many photo sizes, and three types of image quality setting. (Considering image capacity and quality, you may select image size and quality.) It supports high resolution, so it is also good for printing out, not only for web use.

It supports multi-split and spot AF as well as AF. Also it supports regular shooting, successive shooting, and motion capture. In addition, you can take unique pictures by photo style setting, and adjust contrast, sharpness, and saturation.

You can record voice up to 10 seconds to the taken picture. And if there s enough space left, you can record sound as long as for 10 hours. (It can be used as a voice recorder.)

Sound

This is what sound setting menu looks like. You can select volume for operating sound (in three levels, or off), and it supports start-up sound, shutter sound, and operating sound. Also, you can activate/deactivate AF sound, and select beeping sound for Self Guide.

Screen

This is what screen menu setting looks like. It supports many languages and has instructional function of displaying options and explanations. (It is very useful for beginners to learn about functions.) Also, you can select image that is displayed when you turn the camera on. (Users can freely register images.) Plus, you can select screen brightness, preview time, and power-saving mode. (When you set power-saving mode, LCD turns off, LED blinks, and it goes into saving mode if the camera doesn t work for a while.)

Option

From the setting menu that controls the overall functions, you can see that it supports various functions.

It supports the format of memory or reset of the machine. If you enter date and time, you can display it while shooting. Also, worldwide time zone can be set, and you can select file numbering way. And it supports auto power off, video output, activation of AF assist light, and various USB connecting ways.

Play Option

If you press play button on the back of the camera, you can check photos, video clips, and voices. (Even when the machine is turned off you can check them by pressing the play button.) While you play a video clip, you can pause and capture a screen by pressing cross button. Also, you can check Exif info of photos using cross button.

It supports image magnifying function, so you can check the photos in detail. You can also cut out the image when you magnify it. As you can see from the picture above, it offers 20 thumbnails so you can easily select a photo you want.

It supports five types of photo arrangement system. You can categorize under dates, file forms, and colors, so it is easy to spot the pictures or videos even among lots of them.

Like ST10, it also supports Smart Face detection function. (It detects frequently appearing faces and saves them on DB and then adjusts AF and AE accordingly. Also, you can manually register a face, too.) Smart Face detection: It is Samsung s exclusive face detection function that saves up to 10 faces on memory, analyzes the shooting frequency, and prioritizes the faces for detection/shooting so that it can produce more dynamic result.

There’s editing function in setting menu of play function. You can change image size (but not from small to big), and it offers various rotating functions. Also, after taking pictures, you can apply photo style effect and image editing functions like ACB, red eye removal, brightness, contrast, saturation, face retouch, and noise effect.

Through the play menu, you can select photo, decide on effect, interval, and background music for multi slide show function. (It s not like monotonous slide show but more dynamic one. If you use TV-OUT function, it ll be more satisfying.) Please take a close look at it in the video preview.

Through file management, you can delete, protect files, leave voice memo, DPOF (By saving image output info on memory card MIDC folder, you can easily select photos and decide on how many to print.), and copy. (It has recycle bin so you can easily restore the data you accidentally deleted.) Smart Face detection mentioned earlier includes manual face registration.

TEST

We ve looked into design and functions of the camera. Now let s see how well it takes photos and actually check the performance of various functions.

It is taken in widest angle and maximum zoom. (I didn t use digital zoom due to the decrease of image quality.) It supports 38-114mm in 35mm film equivalent. So it was ok for regular or zoom-in shots. But in wide angle, it felt somewhat narrow. (Compared to regular compact cameras, it s fairly ok. But it might disappoint users you want a digital camera with wide angle.)

This is taken under Smart Auto mode that automatically detects shooting environment and optimizes the setting. Unlike products from other brands with which you should adjust brightness and macro, you don t need to do extra operation with this one. (Smart Auto mode will be perfect for users who feel awkward or troublesome to operate every setting.)

In Scene mode, it supports Beauty shot for good portrait shots. The image above is the result of Beauty shot test. You can see that skin looks clearer and exposure is optimized for the subject. (Every time I test this, I feel amazed.)

It supports Smile shot function that automatically takes shot of smiley face. Also, its Blink detection function works perfectly to takes successive shots when it detects blinking. In addition, there s Self Guide function that helps perfect self-shot by making beeping sound when face detected. (I ll deal with face detection related functions in video review. Please refer to it.)

PL10 s vivid color expression was very impressive to me. As you can see form the image above, it expresses colors very strongly, almost too much. If you ve been disappointed with dim colors form cheap products, you ll like it. (It s so strong that you can t sometimes quite figure it out on LCD.)

Super Macro function was also very impressive. The photo above was taken with Super Macro. Even though I placed the subject right in front of the camera, it has accurate focus and exposure. (Of course it cannot be compared to DSLR s macro lens, but it will be satisfying enough for really close shots.)

This is the result of DIS mode test. Although I resized them, those two pictures look quite different. (It is true that it is not as good as OIS, but it can be utilized depending on situation.)

I also tested the noise in each ISO. In ISO 1600, it lost some details, but not as much noise appears as expected. But in ISO 3200, it shows poor details and apparent noise. But there s no color change and no resolution limit like former models, so it will be used well for web use.

Unlike the original image that showed much noise difference, it didn t seem much different after resizing to 600px. (It is as good as to be called high sensitivity and low noise. You can get satisfying pictures without flash in indoor or night shots.)

I was taking pictures when sun sets, so I couldn t retain good shutter speed, but there weren t many unstable photos. (Most of the time, I used Smart Auto mode.) Unlike what I checked from LCD, focus looked quite accurate and color expression was outstanding. Plus, it offers satisfying grip. It s small but fits right in hand, so I didn t feel uncomfortable after long hours of shooting.

Movie Preview

[Video clip for Samsung Digital Imaging PL10 design & operation]

Epilogue

Unlike the products before, its strengths and weaknesses were pretty clear. (Compared to high-end products, it doesn t support many advanced functions, so it was hard to do recording test. But its design and portability was highly praised by my friends.)

The biggest strength of PL10 is stylish design. Eye catching color, La Fleur pattern, and hair-lined metal body realize Beautifulness that other digital devices can never show. (PL10 seems to be more of a digital camera for women, not that it s not for men. It s just it put much effort in its design.)

Vivid color expression was also satisfying to me, and I could easily take pictures under any circumstance thanks to Smart Auto mode. There rarely was noise in high-sensitivity shot, and its multimedia functions are also huge merits.

However, LCD quality was not so satisfying and viewing angle wasn t that great either. So I had to move several times during the test. (The most disappointing factor in PL10 is its angle. Maximum angle is still narrow, and its 3x optical zoom is not enough to shoot a far-away subject.)

During the outdoor test, many people were looking at PL10. (In the past when I was out with other products, nobody really paid attention, so I was surprised with all the attention this time.) I d like to strongly recommend this to users who want stylish design, good image quality, high portability, and easy operation.

This review represents the sole opinion of their individual authors and NOTEFORUM and don’t express the opinion of Samsung Digital Imaging Co., Ltd., Samsungimaging.net or the opinion of any affiliates unless specifically marked as such.
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