Never been a big fan of Samsung cameras (never handled one before this, actually) but the ST50 looked sexy enough to pop my cherry. Measuring 94.2 x 55.7 x 16.6 mm, it’s totally pocketable, with considerably slim lines and decent-enough features for a point-and-click, it’s a hard device to resist.
The back sports a 2.7-inch display, with a decent resolution, good brightness and a tendency to suffer under direct sunlight. Controls, situated to the right of the LCD and up top, are both attractively designed and relatively easy to use. When it comes to form, it’s just one of the nicest-looking cameras I’ve seen, especially with the shiny black panels dominating the unit’s body.
It sports a 3x zoom lens, which is pretty typical for compacts in the same range. Image detail is pretty good with the 12.2 megapixel optics, although exposure seems to be a persistent issue. It tends to lean towards underexposing shots, results that make me want to ditch the portability for a DSLR instead.
Focus isn’t the best, sometimes struggling at closer ranges that I’ve often used similar smaller cameras for without problems. I particularly like the colors of images from the device. Combined with the ability to shoot in a particular color profile, it can turn up some surprising and pleasant results. Noise isn’t a problem until you reach up to ISO400, at which point, it begins to show signs.
It comes with a Smart mode that, given my predilection to using cameras at their simplest possible setting, will probably end up permanently on. This mode automatically scans the scene and selects the best settings. While usually good, it does fudge up occasionally – not frequently enough though to make me give up the convenience. Under Smart mode, it automatically chooses everything including portrait or landscape orientation (which it does get wrong too, at times).
Leave Smart mode and you get a ton of options to play around with, including various auto-detection options, exposure compensation control, metering, auto bracketing, ISO, white balance and a whole lot of other settings I seldom like fiddling with. If I wanted to program shots, I’ll bring a DSLR along, not a point-and-shoot.
Other features include good video capture up to 800 x 592 resolution (with bad audio, I might add), a single external connector (which facilitates data transfer, power charging and AV out) and microSDHC slot.
One factor plays the biggest role when I choose a compact digital camera: ease of use. With the Smart mode and the single connector, the Samsung ST50 is one of the easiest image capture machines I’ve played with in the last year or so. Paired with snazzy looks, we’ve got a pretty good number here – one I wouldn’t hesitate parting with my money to get.
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