Samsung Compact Digital Camera Review – WB150F with WiFi

Samsung Compact Digital Camera Road Test

I recently had the opportunity to have a crack at the Samsung Compact Digital Camera WB150F model. This is something of a new thing for me, because when I made the switch from film to digital, I went straight to buying a Digital SLR camera. I’ve had no regrets about doing this as nothing compares to the SLR speed and image quality that you get from a bigger lens and sensor.

However, the trade off is that you can’t exactly shove it in your pocket if you want to have a big night on the booze so you can remember what the night was like when you wake up in the morning – with or without a stranger in your bed! I normally don’t take the big camera out at night unless I’m wanting to capture something in particular. But according to Murphy’s Law, you are bound to find something interesting to capture when you don’t have your camera on you!

I don’t have a compact digital camera because I lug my SLR Camera everywhere during my travels in a small man bag that doesn’t arouse too much suspicion until I take it out! I must admit, while I like using my SLR, there are some times where I thought it was worth investing in a small compact digital camera. So I was happy when Samung foolishly decided to let me use one!

The Short Attention Span Review for the Time Poor Internet Reader

Anyway, if you need to press the ‘work’ keys (that is, Alt-Tab) so that your boss won’t figure out that you are reading this at work, this is my summary about the Samsung WB150F in dot points:

• Light and easily fits into your pocket
• 18x zoom. Nice and long
• Good image quality in reasonable light conditions
• Good HD video image quality
• Good range of photo filters
• In built Wi-Fi to upload pics (<2mb) to Facebook/Picasa/Photobucket and and low resolution video to YouTube
• Ability to download pics to your computer without a cable
• Reasonably fast shutter time.

Here is the slightly longer review

Expanding on the points above, I thought the image quality was pretty good in reasonable light. As an example, here is a shot I took in full automatic mode.

There are options like aperture or shutter priority, and even full manual – which are functions available on an SLR. You can change the white balance if you want to, but I found that the full automatic option was pretty close to the mark each time. What has annoyed me about other compacts I have used in the past is the painful shutter lag that is associated with small digitals. However, I found that the lag from pressing the shutter to taking the shot was pretty short, so I was happy with the lag time for something this portable.

The camera also has pretty good High Definition video. Here is an example of a quick clip shot in this mode:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdTlxLhr2vY[/youtube]

Anyway, you can only upload low resolution video (video duration less than 30 seconds) from the camera directly to YouTube via Wi-Fi, and it’s not too bad for something you can upload on the spot. Here is an example of a short video clip that I tested and then uploaded directly to YouTube from the camera after connecting to my Wi-Fi at home.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggka1PHFR24[/youtube]

You can use your mobile smart phone as the Wi-Fi hotspot if you really wanted to upload your photos or videos there on the spot. I am still blown away at how much technology has changed in just the last five years. (remember, Wi-Fi is an Australian invention!). As an added bonus, you can download your pics to your computer without a cable if it has Wi Fi capability.

Other features of the WB150F include a wide range of photo filters which are available for HD movies as well. They can be used before or after you take a photo, and Samsung gives you a live view of the effects when you shoot.

Overall, I actually enjoyed using this camera and mucking around with it. It is a good, small lightweight all rounder that will do the job.

There is a heap of other technical stuff the camera can do that I haven’t even tried out yet!

More Samsung Compact Digital Camera Stuff

The bottom line is that the Samsung WB150F is good for what it is – a reasonably priced compact digital camera that will do the job with no fuss. I’ve actually enjoyed using it and didn’t use my SLR for a short time.

For more details and specifications, check out the Samsung website.

Thanks to Samsung for supplying me with a specimen to play around with! Now you just have to figure out the Wifi password!