Samsung S1050 Review

Click to take a 360-degree QTVR tour of the S1050

The first model we have seen from Samsung in their "Designer Series" of digital models, the S1050 is a point-and-shoot camera with a 10.1 megapixel image sensor, coupled with a super-sharp 5x optical zoom lens.

While ease-of-use was a top priority when designing the S1050, Samsung engineers were equally committed to delivering a comprehensive suite of robust features and technologies in the flagship model of their S Series. With shutter speeds that reach up to an effective 1/2000 sec and an ISO equivalent of 1600, users will be able to take advantage of the S1050's speed and resolution in any situation -- from taking landscape photos at dusk to shooting fast action sports photography. Further ensuring sharp images, Samsung's ASR image stabilization system helps to reduce camera shake and image blur during longer exposures and at times when holding the camera steady is impossible or a tripod is unavailable.

The S1050 also offers Samsung's Intelligent Face Recognition Technology, which detects the subject's face and automatically adjusts auto focus and auto exposure to ensure the best possible image quality in portraits and other shots featuring people. The AF function instantaneously recognizes the faces of up to 9 subjects and accurately focuses on them all. The AE function then takes over, setting the appropriate exposure to ensure the highest image quality.

When enabled, the S1050's Wise Shot feature automatically takes two consecutive pictures in rapid succession - one with ASR enabled and one with the flash - then prompts the user to review both and select their preferred version of the picture.

The S1050's dedicated Effect button lets users quickly access a host of powerful in camera image effects, including conversion to sepia-tone, black-and-white and RGB color effects. Images can be trimmed, resized, and rotated in the camera without the use of a PC and a built-in microphone allows a 10-second voice memo to be attached to any still image. Slide Show automatically scrolls through photos and displays them on the bright 3.0" TFT LCD screen, which uses Samsung's Intelligent LCD technology to automatically detect environmental illumination and adjust LCD brightness for optimal image viewing.

Just as much attention was given to the S1050's Movie mode, which lets users capture video in one of four resolutions, from 160x128 to 800x600, at various frames rates, which are encoded as AVI MPEG-4 video. Just as in still-picture mode, the ASR image stabilization system can be engaged to compensate for unwanted camera movement and subject blur in movie mode.

S1050 Features:

• 10-Megapixel resolution for images up to 3072x2304 pixels
• Samsung SHD 5x optical zoom lens (38-190mm in 35mm equivalent)
• ASR (Anti-Shake Reduction) image stabilization system for blur free photos
• Capture 800x600 MPEG-4 movies w/audio and movie stabilization
• Face Recognition AF & AE system
• Auto, Program, Aperture, Shutter, Manual, ASR, and 11 scene modes
• Voice Recording limited by amount of available memory
• High speed continuous, Wise Shot and Auto Bracketing shooting
• Interval Shooting
• High-quality 3.0-inch color LCD screen with 230K pixels
• Auto Macro as close as 10cm from the lens
• AF assist lamp for low light shooting
• 45MB of internal memory and removable SD/SDHC/MMC/MMCPlus card storage
• Adjustable ISO, white balance, saturation, contrast and sharpening
• Various Color effects for that unique look
• Powered by 2x AA type batteries (2 Alkaline included)
• USB 2.0 (Full speed) Mass Storage and PictBridge compliant

The S1050 is available now, with a street price of US$299.99.

S1050 Specifications