Although digital photography and digital cameras have been around for quite some time, the constant evolution of this technology has managed to lure professionals, amateurs and hobbyists, who are eager for new and updated tools. The sleek and compact 12.2 Megapixel Samsung ST550 is big on innovation and surprise features, and is also quite reasonably priced.
12.2 Megapixel Samsung ST550 Camera
First Impression:
Samsung ST550 - Front Look
Dressed in black, with a bright reddish-orange strip running along one side, the design of the Samsung ST550 is visually appealing. The front of the camera is clutterfree, sporting only the basics — a neatly placed Schneider Kreuznach lens, flash, a tiny AF-assist lamp and an unassuming 1.5- inch front-facing LCD screen. The width of the camera is ideally structured to fit one’s grip while taking photographs. However, the small and flat power button can be inconvenient to operate. One needs to consciously ensure that it is depressed adequately to power on the camera. The zoom button takes a while to get used to, but once you are familiar with its range, it is fairly easy to manage. As the user interface is entirely touch-based, you may find yourself backtracking a lot. The rear screen is entirely touchscreen, and is prone to fingerprints and smudges. However, the extremely responsive haptic feedback is a pleasure, and can be customized to suit one’s comfort level.
Samsung ST550 - Rear Look
Features and Performance :
Dual LCDs:
A simple yet brilliant idea that the Samsung ST550 boasts, is its innovative dual LCD feature. The rear of the camera holds the main 3.5-inch touchscreen display, while the front sports a 1.5-inch TFT LCD. Though the front screen may seem frivolous initially, its worth is realized when taking self portraits or when using the timer.
3.5 Wide Dual Touch LCD
Modes:
Though the camera is far from those preferred by professionals or even serious amateur photographers, the Samsung ST550 provides a variety of picture-taking modes to choose from.
Auto, Smart Auto and Dual IS:
The Auto mode, as the name suggests, is perfect for quick and convenient snapshots, as it automatically adjusts flash, focus and other settings. Smart Auto is a step above and recognizes the scene, adjusting the settings accordingly; for example, it will automatically provide face detection features and accordingly adjust the focus for the snapshot. Dual image stabilization (DIS) mode combines digital and optical image stabilization to produce clear and blur-free images.
Scene mode:
This mode provides an array of scenes with pre-defined settings for different situations; dawn, sunset, close-up photography, portrait, backlit objects, and beach among others. Two of the scenes worth mentioning are the beauty shot mode and the children mode. The beauty shot mode is great for producing images that are refined and blemish-free. This saves additional time spent on doing touch-ups in Photoshop. One drawback in the beauty shot mode is the amount of time the Samsung ST550 takes to process and display the shot (around 5-8 seconds). The children mode is perfect for taking photographs of restless children as it displays animated cartoon on the front-facing LCD in order to capture a child’s attention. A clever feature indeed.
Scene mode - Samsung ST550
Program:
The program mode offers manual control of some advance features such as ISO levels, exposure time, white balance adjustment, and setting the area of focus, among others. This mode is ideal for photographers who prefer more control over the creative process of photography Once again; the paucity of advance customization options will not impress serious photographers.
Movie:
The Samsung ST550 provides three video resolutions; 1 280×720, 640×480 and 320×240 pixels — with the option of high- definition video capture at the highest available resolution. Video frame rate can be set to 1 5fps or 3Ofps. The built-in memory, however, is barely suitable for recording even 50 seconds of HD 720p video, thus making the purchase of an external memory imperative. The HD video clips lack the pristine quality that is generally expected from HD videos, but come quite close.
Face detection:
Apart from the normal mode, which automatically detects faces and sets appropriate focus points, the Samsung ST550 also provides smile detection and blink detection. The front screen feature goes a step further and displays a countdown before releasing the shutter.
Drive and zoom:
The drive feature allows users to specify the number of pictures to be taken with a single shutter press; it also provides the option to snap continuous pictures. The drive feature of the Samsung ST550 was extensively tested at Spider labs, where we snapped continuous pictures with minimal pauses, stopping only when the internal memory was exhausted. The camera handled the load quite well. Additionally, Samsung ST550 has an optical zoom of 4.6X, and also provides a digital zoom range of 4.7X to 5X However, as with many other digital cameras, the results of the digital zoom were unsatisfactory.
Editing:
The ST550 offers a decent array of photo editing features; from basic options such as rotation and size reduction to advanced features such as adjusting the sharpness and saturation of the picture. Its photo-style selector lets you create specific moods by applying effects such as retro, classic, soft and vivid etcetera. Users can even set the RGB level values of the picture. Other editing options include portrait effects like red-eye fix, mosaic, and background-blur effects.
Image and video quality:
Though the Samsung ST550 produces above-average photographic quality, image noise is a significant problem in low-light situations. Results for outdoor shots were excellent as the camera managed to capture minute details such as dust particles and shadows, low-light shots were still crisp as a result of the Auto mode’s stellar ability to adjust flash settings and white balance for quality results.
Sample Image Taken by Samsung ST550 Camera
Macro mode performance is immaculate, allowing you to physically get as close as five centimeters from the subject. Its performance can be gauged by the fact that straight lines showed no distortion and tiny bubbles of froth were captured vividly. However, it should be noted that macro shot images turned out to be much better when close-up photography was chosen within the Scene mode.
The camera’s OIS works quite well to stabilize shaky motions for good photo and video quality. A noticeable glitch was the imbalance of white and mid levels when shooting pictures under the default settings.
Drawbacks:
The poor battery life of Samsung ST550 is a major drawback, the battery gets depleted after four to five hours of extensive use and a full charge takes a couple of hours to complete. Lastly, its Gesture UI feature gets quite annoying with the camera triggering off an action at the slightest shake of the hand.
The Final Word
Priced at a retail value of $220 (as stated by a Samsung representative), the Samsung ST550 provides sufficient value for money. With excellent response to touch, a variety of photography modes and a neat front-facing LCD for well thought out functions, the Samsung ST550 certainly scores quite well on almost all fronts. However, a spare battery and an external memory card are necessary in case of extensive photo sessions. All in all, it is a great camera if you love taking self-portraits and want a camera that not only provides decent image and video quality, but also tacks on many fun and innovative features.
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