Shooting with the Samsung Galaxy Camera

By: Santosh Pavate

Note: The following is a review by Digit and I give full credits to the Digit team.
                             

The Samsung Galaxy Camera is a point-and-shoot camera that runs Android 4.1. It isn't a phone, although it has a microphone and it could run Skype if you really wanted it to.

The first thing to realize: it works like a camera, not like a phone camera. So, you get fast autofocus, 21x optical zoom, no shutter delay, and the ability to focus on pretty much anything.

Coming from a realm of phone cameras and cheap point-and-shoots, the 21x zoom impressed me the most. Take a look at that shot of the street corner, which I took from a 20th-story hotel penthouse, through a window. (It's a foggy day and the photo is through glass, which is why everything looks very pastel.) It's sharp, and it's spy camera-like.

The camera handles backlighting much better than phone cameras do. That photo of Alex and Eugene in the demo room? It would have been so washed out on a phone camera.

The manual and scene settings on the Galaxy Camera are good. There are a bunch of filters; you can pre-enhance colors, or create silhouettes on backlights. But what I liked most was the manual mode, which popped out very clear rings to let me set shutter speed, aperture, exposure compensation and ISO.

The mundanity of the camera experience is what's extraordinary about the Samsung Galaxy Camera. It works just like a camera. But it's a full Jelly Bean tablet. Will that make sense to people? I'm not sure. But I like it.

---

Samsung Galaxy Camera
The Samsung Galaxy Camera looks just like a camera from the front. But turn it around, and it's an Android Jelly Bean-powered tablet.

Samsung Galaxy Camera Distance Shot
I took a shot of some nearby buildings out the window of a 20th-floor hotel penthouse using the Samsung Galaxy Camera. It locked in its autofocus quickly and shot fast.

Samsung Galaxy Camera 21x Zoom

This shot was taken from a 20th-floor hotel penthouse. The Galaxy Camera is a decent superzoom.

Samsung Galaxy Camera Indoor Shot
The Galaxy Camera can handle a wide range of lighting conditions better than smartphone cameras can.

Samsung Galaxy Camera Cityscape
Here's another shot of the foggy cityscape taken with the Galaxy Camera. Please excuse the window haze; I wasn't allowed to take the camera from the room.

Samsung Galaxy Camera Video Modes
There are some interesting modes buried in the Galaxy Camera's menus. For instance, it can take 768x512 video at 120 frames per second.

Samsung Galaxy Camera Photo Modes
The Galaxy Camera has all the usual scene modes you'd expect to see in a camera.

Samsung Galaxy Camera Enhancement Modes
These slightly kooky modes enhance colors or create image effects on your pictures.

Samsung Galaxy Camera Manual Modes
I love how easy it is to manipulate shutter speed and aperture on the Samsung Galaxy Camera.

For more hardware specifications of the Galaxy Camera click here.

Posted in: