High end digital camera WB1000 review

Prologue

I used the WB1000 for a long time. Most of all, I like the WB1000 providing setting for good picture in various situations, and it’s even precious to me. This is the first review posting for me. I’d like to help you who are looking for a stylish digital camera,

 

1. Features

 

 

Having everything for great pictures!

1. A/S/M mode making pictures free

2. 24mm ultra wide angle lens

3. Incomparable hVGA AMOLED screen

4. Analog Dashboard

5. Great interface, Smart dial

 

Plus,

I. Smart mode taking pictures you want

II. Customizing like DSLR

III. HD quality HD video

2. SPEC

Image Sensor	Type	1/2.33″ (1.09cm) CCD
	Effective Pixel	Approx. 12.2 Mega-pixels
	Total Pixel	Approx. 12.4 Mega-pixels
Lens	Focal Length	Schneider-KREUZNACH f = 4.3 ~ 21.5mm (35mm film equivalent : 24~120 mm)
	F No.	F2.8(W) ~ F5.8(T)
	Digital Zoom	Still Image mode : 1.0X ~ 5.0X Play mode : 1.0X ~ 12.5X (depends on image size)
Image Stabilization	Image Stabilization	Dual IS (OIS + DIS) * OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), DIS (Digital Image Stabilization)
Display	Type	AMOLED
	Feature	3.0" (7.62cm), hVGA+(518,400 dots)
Viewfinder	Viewfinder	N/A
Focusing	Type	TTL Auto Focus (Center AF, Multi AF, Selection AF, Manual Focus)
	Range	Normal : 40cm ~ Infinity (Wide), 80cm ~ Infinity (Tele) Macro : 5cm~40cm (Wide), 50cm ~ 80cm (Tele) Auto Macro : 5cm~Infinity (Wide), 50cm~ Infinity (Tele) Manual : 5cm ~ Infinity (Wide), 50cm ~ Infinity (Tele)
Shutter Speed	Shutter Speed	Auto : 1/8 ~ 1/2000 sec. Program : 1 ~ 1/2000 sec. A/S/M : 16 ~ 1/2,000 sec. Night : 8 ~ 1/2,000 sec. Fireworks : 4 sec.
Exposure	Control	Program AE, Shutter Priority AE, Aperture Priority AE, Manual Exposure
	Metering	Multi, Spot, Center-weighted
	Compensation	±2EV (1/3EV steps)
	ISO Equivalent	Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200(Up to 3M Size)
Flash	Modes	Auto, Auto & Red-eye reduction, Fill-in flash, Slow sync, Flash Off, Red-eye fix
	Range	Wide : 0.3m ~ 5.2m, Tele : 0.5m ~ 2.5m (ISO AUTO) * Flash EVC : ±1EV (1/2 steps)
	Recharging Time	Approx. 5 sec.
Sharpness	Sharpness	5 steps
White Balance	White Balance	Auto WB, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent_H, Fluorescent_L, Tungsten, Custom, K * WB Fine-tuning
Still Image	Shooting	Mode Dial : Smart Auto, Auto, Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, User, Dual IS, Scene, Movie Scene: Beauty Shot, Frame Guide, Night, Portrait, Children, Landscape, Close-up, Text, Sunset, Dawn, Backlight, Firework, Beach & Snow Continuous : Single, Continuous, Motion Capture, AEB Self timer : Off, 10 sec., 2 sec., Double(10 sec., 2 sec.), Motion Timer, Remote Controller
	Effect	Photo Style Selector : Normal, Soft, Vivid, Forest, Retro, Cool, Calm, Classic, Negative, Custom RGB
	Edit	Resize, Rotate, Photo Style Selector, Image Adjust * Photo Style Selector : Normal, Soft, Vivid, Forest, Retro, Cool, Calm, Classic, Negative, Custom RGB * Image Adjust : Off, ACB, Red-eye Fix, Face Retouch, Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Add Noise
Image Play	Image Play	Single image, Thumbnails, Multi Slide show, Movie Clip, Smart Album
Voice Recording	Voice Recording	Voice Recording (max. 10 hours) Voice Memo in Still Image (max. 10 sec.) With Stereo Recording
Date Imprinting	Date Imprinting	Date&Time, Date, Off (user selectable)
Movie Clip	Recording	Movie Size : 1280×720 High Quality, 1280×720 Standard Quality, 640×480, 320×240 * Frame rate : 60 fps at a selected size(320x240), 30 fps, 15 fps * Format : H.264 (Max. Recording time : 20min.) * Streo recording with volume control, mute during zoom operation * 5X Optical Zoom at 1280×720 (f = 24 ~ 120 mm), 3.4X Optical Zoom at 640×480, 320×240 (f = 35 ~ 120 mm) * Voice(On/Off), OIS(On/Off)
	Effect	Photo Style Selector : Normal, Soft, Vivid, Forest, Retro, Cool, Calm, Classic, Negative, Custom RGB
	Edit	Pause during recording, Still Image Capture, Time Trimming
Storage	Media	Internal memory: Approx. 76MB External memory: SD Card(up to 4GB guaranteed) MMC plus(up to 2GB guaranteed,4bit 20MHz) SDHC (up to 8GB guaranteed)
	File Format	Still Image : JPEG (DCF), EXIF 2.21, DPOF 1.1, PictBridge 1.0 Movie Clip : MP4(H.264) Audio : WAV
	Image Size	12M : 4000×3000 pixels, 10MP : 3984×2656 pixels 9MW : 3968×2232 pixels 9M 1:1 : 2976×2976 pixels 8M : 3264×2448 pixels 5M : 2592×1944 pixels 3M : 2048×1536 pixels 2MW : 1920×1080 pixels 1M : 1024×768 pixels
Interface	Digital output connector	USB 2.0
	Audio	Microphone : Stereo Internal Speaker : Mono
	Video Out	AV : NTSC, PAL (user selectable) HDMI 1.2 : NTSC, PAL (user selectable)
	DC power input	4.4V
	Cradle	N/A
Power Source	Power Source	Rechargeable battery : SLB-11A (1,130mAh) Connector Type : 34pin Adaptor : SAC-48, USB/Charging Cable : CB34U05, AV Cable : SCC-AV34 Cradle : SCC-HD2
Physical Specification	Dimensions (WxHxD)	97 × 61 × 21mm
	Weight	160g (except for a battery)
	Operating Temperature	0 ~ 40°C
	Operating Humidity	5 ~ 85%
Software	Software	Samsung Master, Quick Time Player 7.5, Adobe Reader
System Requirement	For Windows	PC with processor better than PentiumⅢ 500MHz (PentiumⅢ 800MHz recommended) Windows 2000/XP/Vista 250MB of available hard-disk space (Over 1GB recommend) Minimum 256MB RAM (Over 512MB recommended) USB port CD-ROM drive 1024×768 pixels, 16-bit color display compatible monitor(24-bit color display recommended) Microsoft DirectX 9.0C or later
	For Macintosh	Power Mac G3 or later Mac OS 10.3 or higher Minimum 256MB RAM 110MB of available hard-disk space USB port CD-ROM drive
System requirements for 720P H.264 Movie	For Windows	Intel Pentium 4, 3.2GHz or higher / AMD Athlin 64FX, 2.6GHz or higher Windows XP service pack2 / Vista Minimum 512MB RAM (1GB and above recommended) 64MB or greater video card (nVIDIA Geforce 7600GT or higher / ATI X1600 series or higher recommended)
	For Macintosh	1.8GHz Power Mac G5 or 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo or faster Macintosh computer At least 256MB of RAM 64MB or greater video card

3. Why WB1000 / Main function

 

Lens

The most important thing of digital cameras is the lens performance. The WB1000 has F2.8[W]-5.8[T], and has great image quality using the Schneider lens. Especially, the 24mm ultra wide angle is suitable to get all angles when taking pictures. When taking a traveling picture, there’s no cut for building or scenery, and it’s also good for portrait shots.

 

 

24mm wide angle lens can take famous buildings without cutting.

(Especially, if you consider trip to Europe, you should select a digital camera having wide angle such as the WB1000.

 

AMOLED

Different from other digital cameras, the WB1000 has adopted the AMOLED for the first time. The AMOLEDS shows incomparably great color and clean image, so it’s called ‘Display of dream’. From any angle, there’s no difference of light and darkness, and under the sunlight, you can see the screen, so it’s the best screen.

 

 

AMOLED screen showing a vivid picture under the sunglight. Everyone will like this.

 

Manual shot mode A/S/M

It’s the representative function of the WB1000, using the smart dial, you can adjust iris and shutter speed to take pictures. You can freely adjust out focusing and exposure, so you can get pictures you want. It’s useful for those who want to learn pictures with manual shot function like DSLR and want to have a sub camera.

 

 

Picture taken In the dark place on the shutter speed mode with exact exposure

 

Smart Dial

Setting shots by rotating a dial is another advantage of the WB1000. Almost all settings can be done by rotating the dial such as shutter speed, iris, white balance, and focus region. When setting the M mode using iris and shutter speed as a fully manual set, the convenience of the smart dial is more outstanding. Easy and fast setting is possible, so it helps take good pictures.

 

 

Fast setting by using the smart dial is so effective.

 

Great high ISO noise reduction (High ISO test)

Even though it’s a 12.2M pixels camera, the WB1000 has relatively stable high ISO noise. The noise reduction as an advantage of Samsung cameras gets better with the WB1000. There’s no noise from ISO80~400, and ISO 800 shows great quality. There’s some noise on ISO 1600, but not as much as other cameras, and it’s good enough to upload on the web site after resizing.

 

High ISO picture gallery

 

 

ISO 800, there’s no noise.

 

 

ISO1600, it’s surprising that it takes the detail as it is.

 

 

ISO1600, the atmosphere is rather cool.

 

 

ISO1600, this can be the best of all compact cameras in the high ISO shot.

 

 

ISO1600, it also has great color expression.

 

HD video recording function

The video quality of the WB1000 using H.264 codec is as great as some handy camcorder. This can take an HD video for 20 minutes at 30 fps, and by adopting the H.264 format, it can record the best quality video with a small capacity. When recoding, if you are zooming, the sound is not recorded, but it’s good enough to take life with high quality videos.

 

4. Sample pictures / Gallery

 

-The market in Venezia-

-The texture is quite good..-

-Image quality in tele angle is great.-

-Rialto Bridge..-

-Calle Noris street..-

-Basilica San Marco..-

-Palazzo Ducale..-

-Laughing, bread..-

-Beautiful Gondola..-

-Notre-Dame.. The flowers in the park near..-

 

(All pictures were not compensated, but resized.)

 

5. Design

 

Sensible and stylish design

The appearance of the WB1000 is outstanding with metallic and luxurious design. Adding the rubber grip on the front, this looks better. On the whole, the color and design are mixed well.

 

 

Rubber grip showing luxurious design and stable grip

 

Analog dashboard (Finishing the design of the WB1000)

The dashboard showing the status of memory and battery is the second face of the WB1000. As a unique design, I saw people were so wondering when they saw this.

 

Neat design finishing... 

By putting the smart dial, buttons were minimized at the back. The neat whole composition is noticeable.

 

 

Wonderful quality AMOLED and rotating Smart dial

 

Precious digital camera WB1000 for digital camera mania

 

 

Epilogue

The WB1000 will be a great gift looking for a high performance and good design camera. The general resolution of the camera is really good, and there’s rarely chromatism on the lens. 12.2M pixels shows the real value for high ISO pictures, and the screen of AMOLED deserves to be loved by digital camera mania. Except the weakness stopping voice recording while zooming, the HD video recording function is much more useful than any other cameras. And the manual shot function is good for beginners and users who want to know more about pictures.