Jonathan Takiff: Season's gadgets

BABE MAGNET: We're hearing buzz about digital cameras going "bye-bye" (the newly discontinued Flip camcorder line being a sore case in point) because people are content taking digital stills and video with . Yet a dedicated digi-camera with the right features set still deserves attention.

Take, please, the Samsung DualView ultracompact series, boasting a second LCD screen on the front that displays whatever is being captured by the lens. In effect, that second screen serves as a mirror for the subject - great for attracting a baby's attention. A front screen's also good for getting a glum teen or grown-up to perk up, after noting, "Eew, I look awful!" Or to help the shooter get properly framed in an arms-length self-portrait.

The latest Samsung ST700 Dual View ($199 after savings at Best Buy) also boasts a super-high-resolution 16 megapixel image-capturing chip, five-power optical zoom (far better than the digital zooms in phones), image stabilization, special effects and intuitive touch-screen control.

THE "NO-BRAINER" BACKUP: For all those who do use an iPhone (3G, 3Gs, 4) or current (fifth) generation iPod touch as their preferred digital shooter, there's a handy-dandy item to back up your images and contact list. It's the Iomega SuperHero Backup & Charger ($69.99 at Target and www.iomega.com). Download the free Iomega SuperHero app to the Apple. Whenever you dock the product in the spiffy Iomega base, your contacts and still photos (not videos) are automatically saved to a 4GB SD card while the device recharges.

Of course, these same (and more) backup burdens can be achieved by connecting to a computer. But Iomega's solution requires zero thought or effort.

KINDLE WITH BENEFITS: What's the difference between a conventional Kindle eReader tablet with Wi-Fi and the new Kindle with Special Offers? The latter costs $25 less (a mere $114) but is "ad-supported." Instead of delivering an opening screen image of a famous author, you might see a monochrome advertisement for a new car, bank card or skin cream.

Get Your Tots to Flash a Grin with Samsung’s New Camera Animations

It’s not always easy to get kids to flash a smile or pay attention to the camera, especially when you’re all huddled together flashing wacky faces or flaunting formal poses waiting for the flash to go off. The photographer begins the inevitable countdown: “3, 2, 1…”
And it is that exact moment that Junior decides he wants to pull your hair or scream for ice cream or look the other way as the picture gets snapped.
 
Read more : http://technabob.com/blog/2011/05/30/samsung-camera-animation/

Samsung ST700 – Modify Movies for Your Children!

Samsung has developed a creative solution to avoid those distracted children’s photos this summer. For all those parents who return from a trip with photos of their youngsters looking the other way, Samsung has developed a range of animation features which are available on its unique 2View compact cameras.

“Children Mode” is one of the most beloved functions among the 2View camera users. It is especially beloved by the users with children who know that Children Mode” is successful in getting their child’s attention while taking pictures.

We are certain that your children will fall in love with “Pororo”, the little penguin wearing orange-rimmed goggles, when they see the Pororo animation on the ST700’s front LCD. Do you think you need more various animations? Do you want to make your own film, which will appear on front LCD while using Children Mode? The ST700 makes it possible!
● Download animations by using Intelli-studio.

1. After inserting an external microSD card into the camera, connect it to the PC.

2. Turn it on and then run the “Intelli-studio” program.

3. The ‘Download Animation’ message box will appear. Click on the “Yes” button.

4. You can find thumbnail images for animations you wish to download.
* If you place the mouse cursor over the thumbnail image, you can preview the animation’s contents.

5. Click on the desired animation and it will be saved automatically.

● Download animations from the Samsung homepage

1. You can find eight kinds of animation files that are possible to download from the Samsung homepage.

* To download the animations, simply click the images below.

* To download the animations from homepage, please click here.

2. Download and save animation files on the root “MISC” folder of the microSD memory.(You can create the “MISC” folder by yourself or it can be created automatically after turning it on. External microSD card needed.)

3. Animation files are limited up to 8. (Nine each including the internal default one each.)

To see how Children Mode works, click here.

Do you want to make your own animations for Children mode? It is possible with the ST700! Your children will love seeing their parents with the camera that makes them smile. Simply film a short movie with the front LCD size (200X176), then save the movie as ‘front animation.’ If you want to download your video file on Children Mode, convert the file to a F.LCD-sized file format using Intelli- studio.

● Set your own movie on Children Mode.

1. Select the “Movie” icon on your camera’s home screen.

2. Menu button – Movie Size – Front LCD size (220X176).

3. Record the movie you want. It only records up to 30 seconds.

4. After filming it, select the “Children” icon on your camera’s home screen.

5. Menu – Select Front Animation – Movie

6. Select the movie you have taken.

7. The movie will appear on the front LCD automatically.

* After the update is complete, the animation files will be automatically deleted from the memory card, depending on your camera’s firmware. In the future, if you wish to update the animation again, you should ensure that all old animation files have been deleted from the memory card. You can update your camera’s firmware to ensure that all animation files are deleted automatically.

* Ensure that the battery is fully charged before the update.

* Do not attempt to remove the battery or turn off the camera during the update.

“We are very proud of the animations available to our customers, as they add to the sense of fun that is a big part of the 2View photography experience, putting artistic capabilities in the hands of our customers,” Mr. SS Park, senior vice president, sales and marketing, Digital Imaging Business, Samsung Electronics, commented. “The accessibility of the animations for users was a priority for Samsung that is why we’ve ensured they’re easily downloadable from our website, to provide a truly connected service to every customer. The animations are designed to be as engaging as possible for children and, combined with the high image quality, they add up to a premium compact camera package that allows our customers to capture special moments with their families.”

Samsung’s New ST93 Combines Stylish Design and High Performance Features

ST93 balances sleek design with Dual IS and 5x
Optical Zoom for a market-leading photography experience

Read more:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/1104/11042010samsungst93.asp

Samsung Forum 2011 - Q10 camcorder, NX System Lenses, NX11, SH100, ST700 and more

New camcorder for left and right handed (Q10), NX System Lenses, NX11, and compact cameras SH100, ST700. And of course Smart Touch 3.0 control system. Enjoy.

Discover the hidden 1.8” Dual LCD Samsung ST100

Mirrorless and hybrid cameras are becoming the leading cameras in the market today. But, DSLR cameras still have value, as well as compact digital cameras are also doing okay in the market.

When it comes to Samsung, they have released cameras such as NX series (Mirrorless), GX series (DSLR), and compact digital cameras (ST/WB series), and today I’m going to take a look at the ST100 which is a compact digital camera.

▲ Appearance / Design

It comes in 2 colors purple and black, and has a shiny body. It is 100x60x20mm and weighs 135g. (Not including the battery and memory card)

The lens is the famous Schneider 6.3-31.5mm (35-175mm on 35mm equivalent) of focal length and F3.6-4.8. It’s an inner zoom type and supports 5x digital zoom.

It’s a dual LCD camera with a 1.8” LCD on the front. It’s a specialized camera for self shots. For your information, it supports couple/jump/smile shot modes which are taken automatically.

On the back, it has the 3.5” wide touch screen LCD like previous models.

The sides are finished in a smooth curved line and on the right side, there’s a strap ring.

On the top, it has F.LCD/Power/Shutter/Zoom/Play buttons, and the F.LCD button is to activate the front LCD. For your information, by tapping the front LCD, the front LCD can be turned on as well.

On the bottom, it has a battery/memory card chamber, recharge/data cable connection port, and tripod connection port. The battery is 3.7V 740mAh Li-Ion and MicroSD is used as the memory card.

In design, it’s like a normal digital camera, but it’s more specialized for self shots with the dual LCD.

▲ UI/Menu

The basic UI and menu are the same as the previous cameras.

All of the functions are operated by touch and by selecting the left upper side, the screen mode can be selected. Through the mode button, the menu such as size/filter/ISO/color can be set.

The menu is also very similar to other ST series. The menu also changes with the shooting mode.

The mode can change to Smart Auto/Movie/Program mode by rotating the motion recognition button located on the right center.

The overall menu and UI lay outs are the same as the previous ST series and all the menus are operated by touch. (Or motion recognition)

▲ Screen Size

The Samsung ST100 has a 1/2.3” CCD and 14.48M pixels (14.2M effective pixels). 3 kinds of screen ratio modes are supported and the general 4:3 ratio supports 6 sizes such as1M/3M/5M/8M/12M/14M.

It also supports 16:9 2M/10M and DSLR 3:2 12M.

It supports 5x zoom and the pictures below are the maximum wide angle and maximum telephoto angle images.

Maximum wide angle photo (Upper) by the ST100

Maximum telephoto angle photo (Lower) by the ST100

▲ Center / Corner quality and ISO

Compared with the center quality, the corner quality is a little insufficient.

<Center/Corner quality of the Samsung ST100>

From ISO 400, I started to notice noise. Other digital cameras normally have noise from ISO 400.

<Images of the ST100 by different ISO>

The quality is not that great, but like a normal digital camera.

▲ Additional functions

Samsung ST series supports various additional functions, and these functions allows a lot of ease of use for users. Face recognition also worked well.

<Face Recognition function of the ST100>

Scene mode consists of various modes such as Beauty Shot/Frame Guide/Night Scenery/Portrait/Macro/Text/Backlight. According to the current scene, users can select the proper scene mode.

Sometimes, it’s a little too difficult to choose the appropriate scene, and because ISO/Shutter speed/Aperture is fixed in the different modes I had to experiment a bit to get what I wanted.

<Scene modes of the Samsung ST100 – Night Scenery (Left) vs Firework (Right)>

Smart Filter is my favorite function. It consists of Miniature, Vignetting, Fish eye 1 & 2, Defog, and Sketch. The Functions gave me pictures a lot of personality.

<Smart Filter of the ST100 – Miniature Filter>

<Smart Filter of the ST100 – Vignetting Filter>

<Smart Filter of the ST100 – Fish eye 1 (left) and Fish eye 2 (Right) Filter>

<Smart Filter of the ST100 – Sketch Filter>

We’ve looked at the ST100 with the 1.8” dual LCD from Samsung. This cameras great for the Myspace style photos with it’s front LCD. So for the ladies and gents that like to take great self shots for their personal blogs and post this is a great camera to look at. And damn it makes you look good. Especially the Smart Filters, allowing each picture to really feel unique.

Below are the resized sample shots without any alterations. Thank you.