Samsung News Geek

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I will try to stay focused on the WB250F as much as I can. Regardless, I just can't escape from comparing it to its Jelly Bean's friend. So here it goes:
The camera has 8 modes of operation. You can choose them from the physical wheel on the top or via the touchscreen menu. Ill explain each one below.

• Smart Auto - this mode was designed to make it as easy as pressing a button. What it does is it detects and analyses the environment around you. Then it chooses the best options according to that environment. One click and that's it.


• Program - this mode is all about freedom. Here you can adjust everything the way you want it to be. By everything I mean everything: resolution, quality, red-eye prevention, flash options, brightness, timers etc.
  You get the point.


• ASM - now this mode is about priorities. ASM stands for Aperture (priority) , Shutter (priority) and Manual. In Aperture Priority you set the aperture value and the camera calculates the best shutter speed for you. In Shutter Priority its the other way around. If you select the manual option you choose their values, and the camera wont readjust anything.


• Smart - this mode is a bit like the Smart Auto mode. What it does it just lets you choose from different presets (a total of 13). Most of them are easy to guess but Ill write them anyway.
  
  
  
  1. Beauty Face - when you take a photo this option allows you to hide facial imperfections.
     
  
  
  2. Continuous Shot - you can guess this by its name. It takes one photo after another. Im not sure if the number is preset or it shoots until you release the shutter button.
  
  
  3. Landscape - commonly used for ... you guessed it ... landscapes.
  
  
  4. Macro - now this mode is great for flower and insect lovers. Its optimized to take photos of objects at close range.
  
  
  5. Action Freeze - have you ever wanted to catch a train passing ? I have ! This preset is just for that. Train, car, chopper.... It doesn't matter as long as it moves fast.
  
  
  6. Rich tones - imagine a lot of colors. Now imagine you want to capture all of them with maximum diversification. If you are wondering which of all preset to choose. This is the one.
  
  
  7. Panorama - if you haven't used it, it basically captures several shots and combines them into one wide photo. It's cool.
  
  
  8. Waterfall - now this one I really wanted to look up what it does.
     Quote: "Captures scenes with waterfalls" - how convenient :D
  
  
  9. Silhouette - this one is a bit of an abstract one. It is made to take a photo of a person in front of a light source and turn him into a silhouette.
  
  
  10. Sunset - this preset is optimized to capture sunsets with their natural yellows and reds.
  
  
  11. Low Light Shot - this preset I really like. It is made to absorb maximum light of a dark environment. That works by taking several photos with diffident light distribution and combining them to create one optimized shot.
  
  
  12. Fireworks - most commonly used exactly around the 31 of December in ... well ... most countries.
      Tip: You should have some vision of the sky.
  
  
  13. Light Trace - this one is really cool. What it does is it takes a photo with a low shutter value ( which means you can take one photo for 10 seconds or more) in a low light area. Now in those 10 seconds you can use a bright source of light and move it in certain paths in front of the camera. When those 10 pass the Light Trace preset creates an image containing the whole path of the light source. This is commonly used in Light Painting and Light Art Performance Photography.
  
  
  
  


• Best Face - this mode is pretty simple. When you press the shutter button the camera takes five photos. After that it recognizes all faces and extracts them from all five photos. It uses the first one as the main one, then you can select a person's face and choose one of five versions of his face that were taken.


• Extras - there six of those:
  
  
  
  1. Magic Frame - this is almost like a normal frame. The difference is that the frame can be a photo you have taken. When you go to the menu of the magic frame, you can easily select a photo then select the area of that photo in which you want to place the photo you are about to take.
  
  
  2. Split Shot - just like a collage. Capture several photos and just place them the way you want in one collage like photo.
  
  
  3. Motion Photo - this one is for funny animations. You can take several photos of a moving object and then select an area of the image that the animation will occur. Then the camera creates a GIF file and voila.
  
  
  4. Photo Filter - this option has 12 stock filters that you can use to enhance your image. For example: fish-eye, retro, zooming shot etc.
  
  
  5. Movie Filter - similar to the photo filter above but with video of course.
  
  
  6. Photo Editor - here you just edit your photos. I dont have a reason why you should do it on the camera, but it's there why not mentioning it.
  
  


• Wi-Fi - I was waiting to get to this one. This is where we have to be careful when judging. The Galaxy Camera has 3G and Wi-Fi with all sorts of sharing and backup tools provided from Android. The WB250F on the other hand is a bit limited. Before I begin with its connectivity features, I what to let in this conversation the Samsung Smart Camera App. It can be found both for Android devices and iOS devices. Essentially the app lets you remotely control or Share Photos with your Smart Camera. But that's later. Now let's review the features of the camera itself:
  
  
  
  • Mobile link - essentially this option allows you to transfer files via Wi-Fi between two devices. You turn on this mode and you enter the Samsung Smart Camera App on your device and the phone should find the camera and pair with it.
  
  
  • Remote Viewfinder - this mode allows you to use your phone as a shutter button. The Samsung Smart Camera App connects to the camera and shows the view of the camera. Then you can zoom in or out and take a picture with the camera through the Samsung Smart Camera App.
  
  
  • Auto Backup - this is fairly simple you install a special software Samsung gives you and you can connect your camera to your PC via USB or wirelessly and backup your photos.
  
  
  • Email - when you select this the device will try to connect to a recent device when it does you can write your email and attach your photos.
  
  
  • SNS & Cloud - when go into this one you are asked to enter a web site. The Camera searches for that website and asks you for you to login. When you do you can upload your files to the Cloud system you have chosen.
  
  
  • AllShare Play - using this feature you can connect and stream to another AllShare device in the area, or upload your files to an AllShare storage device.
  
  
  
  


• Settings - there is just no point of getting through. They are the usual time, date, screen brightness, sounds etc.

Here are some demonstrations of the camera.

And a few words about the specs:

• Image sensor - its a 1/2.33" (approx 7.67 mm) BSI CMOS sensor with a total of 16.4 mega-pixels 14.2 of which are effective.


• Lens - Samsung Lens f = 4.0-72.0 mm (35 mm film equivalent: 24-432 mm)


• Zoom - clear x18


• Display - a 3.0" (75.0mm) TFT LCD touchscreen with 460K colors.


• Focus - its a TTL (which includes Tracking Auto Focus ( AF ), Face Detection AF, Touch AF, Center AF) and Manual Focus.


• Shutter speeds - in automatic mode its 1/8 - 1/2,000 sec. In program mode its 1 - 1/2,000 sec. In manual mode its 16 - 1/2,000 sec.


• Exposure - compensation 2 EV ( or 1/3 EV a Step ). The ISO ranges from 100 - 3200


• Shake reduction - OIS ( Optical Image Stabilization )


• Flash - it has several modes you can use it in ( Automatic, Red-eye Fix , Fill-in, Slow Sync, Red-eye). Recharge time approximately 4 seconds.


• Internal Storage - In most cases the internal memory is about 10MB.


• External Storage - normal SD up to 2 GB, SDHC up to 32 GB, and SHXC up to 64 GB.


• File Formats - Images are JPEGs with EXIF data. Movie Clips are in MP4 ( a combination of MPEG-4.AVC/H.264 Video and AAC Audio)


• Image Resolutions - range from 1024 X 768 to 4320 X 3240 pixels


• Video Resolutions - range from 240 WEB to 1920 X 1080 Full HD


• Wireless - Wireless Connectivity, AllShare Play, SNS & Cloud, S / W Upgrade Notifier, Facebook, Weibo and Email


• Outputs & inputs - micro USB 2.0 output, mono internal speaker, mono internal microphone. The charging input is a DC 5.0V.


• Battery - a Lithium-ion 1,030 mAh model SLB-10A.


• Dimensions - 4.18" x 2.43" x 0.85" ( 106.05 x 61.65 x 21.65 mm ).


• Weight - 6.49 oz which is about 184 grams ( without the battery though )

A few more details. The temperature of the environment that the camera can operate into is about 0-40 C which is
32-104 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale. The humidity range that the camera can operate is from 5 to 85 %.

I will recall the introduction. This lens I wrote because the price of the WB250F is half the price of the Galaxy Camera. Now should you buy it? A more appropriate question is do you need it?

If youre new to photography and have some $250 bucks to spend. You can try it out. It will be good for you because you have the freedom between manual and automatic modes. Just to feel free to experiment. Also you can pair it with your phone and you can be pretty productive and fast. Let's not forget the design...
It can fit pretty well as a family camera and everyday life as a hole.

But it's obviously not for professional use.

I want to give credit to SamsungBE for the beautiful photos, and Samsung Imagining for the videos.

I hope you enjoyed the review ! :)