I don't feel like going out carrying a camera!

Following is a user review about Samsung WB500 digital camera.

A camera which I use for business or personal purposes makes me tired to carry. Whenever I go to take pictures I have pains in my shoulders because the camera has stable press body that can run fast and I bear a telephoto lens, standard lens, and strobe on my shoulders. I keep taking photos as the work calls these days, so I don’t feel like going out carrying a camera. I wanted to acquire a taste for photographing over the past several years, but I just mad frantic attempts to get the equipment and I rarely use them personally.

I think the WB500, a camera which I’m going to review is necessary for me. It is a high-performance camera which is placed after DSLR and has various functions, and there are many new parts that I’ve not seen before. After all, it is what I wanted small, but high-performance.

What’s new? Let’s see the characteristics, design, and functions through the review and the quality of photos and videos through a test.

A full kit with various accessories ― a camera, battery, adapter, USB cable, AV cable, hand strap, manual, warranty, S/W CD, etc. ― is basically offered. You can also buy an SD, SDHC, MMC card, remote control, and case if you want.

It’s very easy to carry and take pictures because the camera is 105×61.4×36.5mm and it weighs 216g. Even though it’s not lighter than products with the utmost portability, it was OK with the camera in spite of long hours of shooting. This camera is handy to carry and use at ordinary times unlike DSLR. A light and thin camera is good for portability but sometimes it gives a user trouble in taking a photo. A user who has tremor in their arm like me may have difficulty in shooting if the camera is too light. W500 is not too light or not too heavy, so I was able to take photos without any trouble.

The camera looks good in quality and luxurious the same as previous models do. The body is made of metal and the well-balanced design with straight and curved lines is very stylish. Though the front looks a little bit complex, I think the design is good on the whole. I want to say the picture does not flatter the camera itself.

It’s the front, and you can see various things on it with the lens. Like other Samsung cameras, it has adopted the Schneider lens, and like a normal compact camera, it’s a protruding lens type. (Pushing a power button, lens barrel comes out with opening the lens cap. As a high end product, the booting time was so fast.) On the left top, there’s a flash, so in the night or indoors, you can take pictures without any trouble. You can see AF/Self timer lamp and remote control sensor are installed. @ This supports 24mm wide angle, and unlike other products supporting 35mm, it gives satisfaction with the wide angle. Besides, optical 10x zoom is supported, so in any circumstances, you can take picture with any angle rapidly.

The FOV difference between 100mm and 120mm isn’t big, but between 24mm and 35mm is huge. For me, I use 24-85mm lens, but it’s a 1.5x crop body like other DSLR camera, so when taking wide angle picture, I used to feel some stuffy. For the WB500, the wide angle shot provides users with sufficient merit, I think.

It’s the top of the body, and it’s impressive that it gives a design point using silver color. At the left, a mono speaker is attached, so video and voice recording is easily possible, and at the center, there’s a power button. (Like the picture, LED is installed.)

On the right, there’s a shutter button. (Half shutter is surely supported.) To set an angle simply, the zoom lever is attached. (Since it’s a protruding type, it took a little time, but the zooming speed was quite fast. Optical 10x and digital 5x zoom are supported, so up to 50x zoom is possible to take a picture.) Besides, at the right, there’s a mode dial which can be used on various situations. (Full auto mode, program, and manual mode are basically supported, and Dual IS reducing shake, Beauty shot fixing skin, Night scene, Scene, and Video recording compose the mode.) @ I like that the functions are composed simply not to give any inconvenience to beginners.

It’s the back of the body, and with the 2.7 inch QVGA TFT LCD (230K pixel), you can clear images when playback. (I like there was no delay effect on the screen. The reason I use DSLR is the LCD with no delay, and since the WB500 offered pretty good images, I did a recording work satisfactorily.) On the right top there’s an LED and command lever (Using the command lever, you can adjust exposure, ISO, and white balance. Also, on the Manual mode, F number and shutter speed adjustment is provided.) Fn/Delete, cross, play, and effect button are located. (Pushing the Fn button, the main menu is displayed, so you can set resolution, AF, photometry, ISO, and white balance. Also using the E button, picture style, color, sharpness, contrast, and chroma can be set, and using the cross button, you can not only move menu, but also set instruction/information, macro, flash, and self timer easily.)

It’s the bottom, and on the side, there’s a battery and memory card slot. On the center, there’s a hole for tripod to connect the tripod easily. Using the tripod, more stable shots are possible. @ SDHD is supported (up to 8GB guaranteed), and 32MB internal memory is also supported. I don’t think you feel any problem of memory.

It’s the left side. Universal port for Power, USB/AV cable is provided, and on the side, there’s a strap ring. On the center top, there’s a microphone for voice recording.

It’s the right side, and like I said, there’s a microphone. @ I used to have a trouble when taking a video, because the recorded sound wasn’t large enough to hear. I like that the WB500 has a dual microphone to record large and exact sound.

You can see this is a palm sized small product. Buttons are composed to control them with one hand. The grip isn’t that bad, even though it’s not as good as DSLR. (Of course, you can take a picture with one hand, but with 2 hands, it’s more stable to take a picture.)

Comparison with digital devices such as cell phone and MP3P. There’s a little difference in thickness, but no difference in size.

Various accessories such as instruction, warranty, S/W CD, strap, AV cable, USB cable, and power adaptor are provides. (Like the picture, the power adaptor is a USB cable connection type. It can be conveniently used for MP3P and electronic dictionary which are charged only through USB.)

We’ve looked at the design and features. Now, let’s take a look at what functions are supported. (As a product which took much time to develop, there are a lot of new functions. I think you can feel big difference from other low-mid range compact cameras.)

Because the size of the mode dial, users who are not used to device control will feel some inconvenience, I think. However, like the picture, every time you change the mode dial, the status is displayed on the screen and giving information for the function, so it’s easy to use it. (Whenever my mother touches the mode dial, she has worried, and I think she will like it, if I buy her the WB500.)

Picture setting

Let’s check out functions and settings supported when taking a picture. Turing on the camera and setting the shot mode, like the picture above, detailed information is displayed on the screen. (On the both side and top, set functions are displayed with icons and words. You can intuitively check what mode you are in.)When pushing the half-shutter, focus region is displayed, and once the focus is set, it changes to green with beep sound, so you can take good pictures.

It’s the setting menu by pushing the Fn button, and resolution setting is possible (Like on the specification, it supports various resolutions. Max. 3648×2736 is possible, so not only for normal snap pictures, but also for professional, this can be used. Wide resolution is also supported.) And depending on the situation, various focus region setting is possible. (With the most frequent center AF, multi AF and selection AF are supported.)

For more professional shot, 3 kinds of photometry are provided (Multi, center focus, and spot focus), and various ways of shots are provided such as Normal, Continuous, high speed which takes 1.5 shots per second when pushing the shutter, AEB taking continuously with standard exposure and 1/3EV exposure, and motion captures which takes 6 shots per sec for up to 5 seconds.

Up to ISO 3200 is supported (It’s impressive that it supports wide range of ISO as much as DSLR. We are going to look at noise status by each ISO at the test.) For exact color expression, white balance is supported. (Like other products, it has Auto/Sunlight/Cloudy/Fluorescent H/Fluorescent L/ Light bulb, and custom white balance.

As a brand new product, the face detection function is supported. When this function is activated, it automatically detects faces of human and sets the focus. (Up to 10 people can be recognized, and if there are more, focus sets on closer people.) If the self guide is set, it automatically detects faces, and beep sound and icon are activated to help self shot. And without pushing the shutter button, it recognizes smiling faces and shots as a smile shot function, and blink detection function is to take 3 consecutive shots when it recognizes the blinking. @ Various face detection menus are supported, and even the beauty shot mode is featured. If you take human pictures a lot, it’s useful.

By pushing the E button, you can give various effects on images. In the picture style menu, various modes are supported such as soft, vivid, and forest. Through the color menu, black and white/sepia/red/green/blue/light and shade reversion/user color are possible to set. Also supporting Sharpness, Contrast, and Chroma set, users can take a picture with their style more easily. (Various effects can be set, so you don’t need any other editing program.)

Pushing the menu button, various setting menus are displayed. The picture above is the shot menu, and command lever function assignment is possible (Among Exposure, ISO, and White balance, one of them can be set.) Flash light radiation, resolution (Super fine, Fine, and Normal are supported, and you can select it by memory capacity or importance.) OIS, voice memo, and voice recording is also supported. @ It’s possible to put voice memo on the picture (Up to 10 sec), and record voice for up to 10 hours.

@ Each mode has different shot menus. For the beauty shot, skin brightness and skin compensation menus are provided, and for the scene, various modes can be selected.

It’s the sound setting menu. Volume change and sound selection for starting, shutter, and AF sound are possible, and AF sound can be mute. (Where silence is need, all sounds can be mute. And the self guide set is also possible. (When recognizing the face, it makes beep sound.)

It’s the screen setting menu. As a global product, various languages (25 languages) are supported, and guide line on the screen can be selected. Also, date and time can be set, and starting image, 3 levels of brightness, time set for watching, and economic power consumption are provided.

It’s the setting menu supporting format and initialization, and it includes the waste bin function, so like a PC, deleted pictures in the big can be recovered. You can name file names, and date-time display, auto power set, video output, AF, and USB function settings are provided.

Video setting

Let’s look at the video function. Through the mode dial, selecting the video, at the center below, ‘Standby’ is displayed, and pushing the shutter button, a video recording is started. (Selecting the video mode and pushing the shutter button, a video is recorded. It’s easy for beginners to use it without trouble.)

Pushing the Fn button, function setting is possible. It supports resolution setting, and frame is also can be set. (Even though it’s a digital camera, we can find out this is great for video recording. 720p HD video with 30 fps is perfectly supported, clean video can be recorded.) @H.264 format has been applied, so compared with MPEG-4 or MJPEG, it takes twice more time with high quality.

Like the photo shot menu, it supports various photometry and separate IS function. On top of that, various white balance settings is possible, and using the E button, various style of videos can be recorded.

Play setting

Recorded pictures or videos can be watched with the push button on the back. (Various Exif information of recorded images can be confirmed, and for recorded videos, pause screen capture is possible.)

When playing is activated, rotating the zoom lever to left, thumbnails are displayed (up to 20 on a screen to find pictures you want.) Rotating it to right, image magnification is provided.

You can delete recorded videos easily. Also, since smart album function is provided, sorting and searching are possible. Not only normal files (Picture, Video, Voice), but also date (Day, Week), and color sorting is possible.

Using the E button, major setting is possible.) For recorded images, resolution is adjustable (But changing from low to high is impossible, and for video, it’s not supported.) Rotating is also possible. And after taking picture, various effects can be applied. Through the image compensation function, ACB, red-eye elimination, skin compensation, brightness, contrast, and Chroma settings are possible. The noise effect function is also provided.

It’s the configuration menu, and you can see various functions on the slide show. (Through the slide show, images to play can be selected, and various types of images with background music can be set to be played. Also, time interval and BGM are also adjustable.)

It’s the play menu, and putting a voice memo on the still image is possible, and image protection from deleting is possible. Also delete function is provided. Through the output information by DPOF, selective image printing is possible, and quantity is also selectable (But this can be used with the printer supporting the DPOF.), Images stored in the internal memory can easily be copied to a memory card.

Sound, screen, and setting menu are the same as the picture and video.

We’ve checked the various functions of the WB500. Let’s find out the quality of the images through the test shot.

As a 24mm wide angle product, spacious shot is possible (With my camera starting from 35mm, unfortunately I wasn’t able to make this wide angle. Supporting 10x optical zoom, it covers tele angle sufficiently, so I want to give perfect score for the focus distance.) And I took picture in the night with ISO 800, and there was no big problem due to noise. (Of course, for high quality images, the tripod is necessary, but with the Dual IS, it was possible without the tripod.)

Color expression is also enough. Even though it was indoor shot with various lights, the white balance exactly fit, and unlike other mid-low range products, colors are expressed vividly and clearly.

As you can see with the pictures above, the image quality is enough to use in the normal life. (It has more than 10M pixel, so it’s more than enough to be used for Web.)

Using the E button, various effects can be applied to images. Like pictures above, different atmospheres of pictures can easily be taken, and special effects such as reversion or black and white can be set.

Sharpness, Chroma, and Contrast are perfectly supported, so color and feeling of materials can be expressed with more detail.

It’s the test for noise by each ISO. Up to 800, it can be used without much trouble, I think. (To use for webl, ISO 1600 can be used without big trouble. But for 3200, the resolution is restricted, and there’s a lot of noise, so I recommend not use it, unless it’s a special situation.

For a compact camera, design and function are important to select a product, not like image quality or fast control for DSLR. (No matter how great a compact camera is, it’s almost impossible to show better quality than DSLR. The success of compact cameras depends on design, convenience, and various functions, I think.) For this sense, the WB500 I’ve reviewed is a well made compact digital camera. Not only 24mm wide angle which I’ve not seen from other cameras, but also 10x optical zoom lens, guarantee perfect shots. Through the video recording function supporting the H.264, it can record 720p high quality videos, and with ISO up to 3200 and Dual IS, in the night, it can take pictures without much inconvenience. Various effects like the Photoshop are also impressive, and I like the file restoring function with the trash bin. (Various functions are supported, and the easy interface which considers beginners is also satisfactory.) And this is also optimized for human shots. The beauty shot making 10 years younger, face recognition, smile shot, and blinking detection functions are provided, and the self shot guide function is also very convenient. (Most of the time, with a compact digital camera, people take human pictures. Using the WB500, I think you will experience fun, convenience and quality which haven’t experienced from other models.) I was satisfied with hardware, specification, and functions. However, is this limit for a compact camera? Unlike other convenient auto functions, the manual mode wasn’t that satisfactory. (Although I started reviewing this after reading the manual 2 times, on the M mode, adjusting the aperture and shutter speed was very difficult, and overall exposure setting wasn’t easy. I think consideration for users who are used to manual shot like me was a little insufficient.) I can’t stop smiling when thinking of recorded beauty shot images. (That means it was so marvelous.) Do you want to take a picture easily and conveniently? Then, I’d like to say the WB500 is the answer. This has so many strong points such as Wide FOV 24~240mm, Dual IS, and this will satisfy you much, I think.

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