Samsung Digimax U-CA 5 Review

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Samsung Digimax U-CA 5 Review

By: Steve's Digicams

Posted 6/15/2005

Click to take a 360° QTVR tour of the Digimax U-CA 5

The Samsung Digimax U-CA 5 is an affordable, palm-sized five-megapixel digital camera that features a 3x optical zoom lens. It's available in three colors: silver, red or blue. The camera is powered by the included Li-ion rechargeable battery pack which can be charged via the AC adapter or with an optional cradle. The compact U-CA 5 is easy to carry around, weighing a little over five ounces with battery and memory card.

The U-CA 5's Auto mode lets anyone use it like a simple point-n-shoot to capture beautiful digital photographs. More advanced users can adjust the ISO sensitivity, the white balance, image sharpness, image size, image quality, exposure compensation, exposure metering mode and color effect. It also features a Night Mode with selectable shutter speeds and apertures. The auto focus system is fast and accurate and in low light conditions it is enhanced by a focus-assist illuminator. The Super Macro mode allows you to focus on objects as close as 5cm from the lens. The 1.8-inch color LCD automatically adjusts to ambient light or can be manually adjusted.

In addition to high resolution still images, the Digimax U-CA 5 also records high quality MPEG-4 format motion video with audio at 640x480 resolution @ 30fps, the length is limited only by the amount of available memory. Movie clips are further enhanced by a movie stabilizer funcion that corrects for lateral and vertical movement caused by hand shake. You can record and attach 10-second voice memos to still images or use the camera as a digital voice recorder with a maximum recording time of one hour. Pictures can be resized or trimmed (cropped) in-camera without need of a PC. Post-capture editing can be done in-camera or with the bundled software.

Images, movies and audio recordings are stored on SD memory cards, the camera comes with a 32MB card. Transfer images, movies and sound clips to your PC quickly via USB 2.0 high- speed connectivity. Printing your photos couldn't be easier thanks to PictBridge direct printing, no computer is needed. Just plug the camera into any compatible printer using the standard USB download cable, select the photos on the color LCD and print!

Digimax U-CA 5 Features:

5-Megapixel resolution for images up to 2592 x 1944 pixels
3x multi-coated zoom lens (38-114mm in 35mm equivalent)
Record 640x480 MPEG-4 movies w/audio to the capacity of the media
Records up to one hour of audio only
Attach 10-sec. audio memos to still images
Auto, Manual, Night Mode, Movie and Voice recording modes
Super Macro focus as close as 5cm from the lens
Adjustable ISO speed, white balance and sharpening
Color effects: B&W, RGB, Sunset, Sepia
1.8-inch color TFT LCD monitor
SD card storage, 32MB card included
USB Mass Storage compliant device
PictBridge direct-USB printing compatible
Li-ion rechargeable battery and AC charger
Camera can also be charged with optional cradle

The Digimax U-CA 5 package includes a luxury carrying pouch, 32MB SD card, driver and application software CD-ROM, rechargeable battery and charger, wrist strap, USB cable, Audio-Video cable, user manual and warranty card. (Bundle may vary depending on sales location.)

Physical Views

The Digimax U-CA5 compared to a standard CD.

The Digimax U-CA5 and the Digimax V700.

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Digimax U-CA 5 Specifications

Image Sensor	1/2.5" CCD, 5.13 Megapixels effective
Recorded Pixels	2592 x 1944 2272 x 1704 2048 x 1536 1600 x 1200 1024 x 768 640 x 480 Movie 640 x 480, 320 x 240 and 160 x 120
Lens	3X zoom, f = 5.8 ~ 17.4mm (35mm film equivalent: 35 ~ 105mm) Aperture: F2.8 ~ F4.8
Digital Zoom	1.0X ~ 5.0X
Focus	TTL auto focus
Focus Range	Normal: 80cm ~ infinity Macro: 5 ~ 80cm (Wide), 50 ~ 80cm (Tele) Auto Macro: 5cm ~ infinity (Wide), 50 ~ infinity (Tele)
ViewFinder	LCD monitor
LCD Monitor	1.8-inch color TFT LCD (118,080 pixels)
Exposure Control	Program AE
Audio Recording	Voice: Maximum 1 hour Voice memo on still image, 10 sec. max.
Exposure Metering	Multi or Spot
Exposure Compensation	+/- 2.0EV in 0.5EV steps
White Balance	Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Tungsten, Custom
Shutter	Mechanical and Electronic shutter 2 ~ 1/2000 sec. (16 seconds ~ 1/2000 Night Mode)
Image Format	Still Image: JPEG(DCF), Exif 2.2 DPOF 1.1, PictBridge 1.0 Movie Clip: MOV(MPEG-4) Voice: WAV
Storage Media	Secure Digital SD (32MB included, up to 1GB guaranteed)
Image Storage (32MB)	2592 : Super fine 11, Fine 21, Normal 33 2248 : Super fine 14, Fine 26, Normal 40 2048 : Super fine 17, Fine 33, Normal 50 1600 : Super fine 30, Fine 51, Normal 75 1024 : Super fine 60, Fine 106, Normal 129 640 : Super fine 121, Fine 165, Normal 202
Shooting Modes	Auto, Manual, Night Mode
Drive Modes	Single, Continuous, Self-timer (10 sec, 2 sec),
ISO Equivalent	Auto, 100, 200, 400
Sharpness	Soft, Normal, Vivid
Color Effect	Normal, B&W, RGB, Negative, Sepia
Date Imprinting	Date & Time, Date, Off
Flash	Auto / Auto & Red - eye reduction / Fill-in flash / Slow sync / Flash off / SF Range: Wide 0.3 ~ 3.0m, Tele 0.5 ~ 2.0m Recharge time approx. 5.5 secs.
Self Timer	2 or 10 sec.
Interfaces	USB 2.0, Audio-Video (NTSC or PAL), DC INput 3.3V
PlayBack	Single image, Thumbnails, Magnified 1.0X ~ 5.0X (depends on image size), Slide show, Movie Clip
Languages	English, Korean, T. Chinese, S. Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Germany, Spanish, French, Italian, Danish, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Portuguese, Thai
OS Compatibility	USB Storage Driver (Windows98 / 98SE / 2000 / ME / XP) Mac OS 9.x or later
Power Source	Included: Rechargeable SLB-1137 Li-ion 3.7v 1130mAh pack Optional: Digimax External Li-ion Battery Pack SBP-3603 Optional: SAC-32 AC adapter
Dimensions (WHD)	4.02 x 2.15 x 1.16 in. 102.2 x 54.7 x 29.6 mm
Weight	4.6 oz / 130.6g (without battery and card)
Package	Luxurious Carrying Pouch, 32MB SD Card, rechargeable battery, Wrist Strap, USB Cable, AV Cable, User Manual, CD-ROM Camera driver, MGI PhotoSuite, Digimax Viewer, DigiStudio, QuickTime.

Specifications are as represented by the manufacturer.

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