REVIEWS / POINT AND SHOOT / SAMSUNG INDIA

Samsung Galaxy Camera GC100 Review

11 Dec, 2012, 10:32 am IST | by Anand Tuliani | Point and Shoot

Point and Shoot

Simply put, it's the Samsung Galaxy S II with a huge lens popped in minus support for making calls

Simply put, it's the Samsung Galaxy S II with a huge lens popped in minus support for making calls
The large display is great as a viewfinder and for media playback
The compartment to the left is where the flash resides
Yes, the camera actually obeys your commands!
Scene presets offered in the Smart mode
Virtual dials in the manual and semi-manual modes

PRICE IN INDIA

29,900

TECH2 RATING

6.5

AVERAGE USER RATING

8.0

How we test

CONTACT

Samsung India

 1800 3000 8282, 18002668282

 www.samsung.com

Performance

The Galaxy Camera is as snappy as the Galaxy S III. The Touchwiz UI is butter smooth, without any lag. It’s excellent as a portable media player and mobile Internet device. However, being a digital camera primarily, what’s most important is the quality of photos and videos it captures. For the price at which you can easily buy a DSLR or an enthusiast-class digital camera, it’s very fair to expect a similar level of performance. But the quality of photos this camera took in our tests failed to impress us. They look excellent on the camera’s vibrant display or when scaled to the monitor’s resolution—very good for sharing on social networks or online photo galleries. But the flaws stand out when photos are viewed at full resolution without rescaling. Even at the lowest ISO, the results were grainy and lacked fine details. At ISO 400, the results are as grainy as you’d get with a prosumer camera at ISO 800. And at ISO 800, the photos are blotchy with strong artefacts and colour noise.

ISO 100

ISO 100

 

ISO 400

ISO 400

 

ISO 800

ISO 800

 

ISO 3200

ISO 3200

 

 

The overall quality of photos is similar to what you’d get with an entry-level point and shoot or a high-end smartphone. The quality of video recording was good, but not exceptional—again, the same as what you’d get with a high-end smartphone. You have to pan very gradually to avoid jitter and the picture was a tad noisy.

A 100 percent crop—check out the noise in distant objects at ISO 100

A 100 percent crop—check out the noise in distant objects at ISO 100 - click for full view

 

Looks good due to 30 percent scaling and a bit of sharpening

Looks good due to 30 percent scaling and a bit of sharpening

 

Patchy detailing strikes again!

Patchy detailing strikes again! click for full view

 

Shots taken using filters look good

Shots taken using filters look good

 

 

Verdict and Price in India

No doubt the Samsung Galaxy Camera is an outstanding concept, but the question is, do you need such a smart camera? Or would you be better off with a DSLR or a premium compact or a super-zoom digital camera and still be left with a few thousand bucks!. If you want great-looking photos along with the ability to share them instantly on social networks, you’d be better off with a high-end smartphone, except that you’ll have to compromise on the optical zoom. At least, the smartphone will fit in your pocket and you’ll be able to make calls with it! Considering the feature set, the Galaxy camera isn’t overpriced at Rs 29,900. But from a photographer’s perspective, for whom pristine image quality is paramount, it doesn’t quite make the cut. 

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Performance-Sample shots-Verdict


Tags:

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Would you buy it?




 


How We Test

The Tech2 Labs receives many products every single week and each of them is tested with the utmost care and highest level of objectivity. There’s a constant effort to reduce and totally eliminate subjectivity. Each product is tested according to set test processes so the same test scenario is used.

Verdict
The ratings awarded to a product are derived from a number of tests and calculations, keeping certain important factors in mind. These factors consist of features, performance, quality and value for money. In case of software and some other categories, build quality might be replaced with ease of use or ease of installation. Products are compared with other products in a similar price range or product category.


Features
The features component of the score is rated based on the kind of features present on a particular product. Features are a big part of what people look for when they’re buying a new product such as a phone or a camera.

Performance
The performance score is derived from the benchmarks and tests run on the product. In case of the subjective scores, an average of the scores given by the group of reviewers is considered.

Build Quality
The build quality of a product is important so that it doesn’t fall apart after some use. The build quality scores from the way the product is designed and the kind of materials used in the product.

Value
Value for money comes from the fact that a cheap product is able to provide most of the performance of a higher priced product. Once again, value for money is judged by comparing pricing and performance of products in a particular price range or category. 

There are many other aspects of the product that are looked at such as the bundled software and accessories. All of these scores are aggregated together to form the final score.

What do the ratings mean?

Ratings are simple - higher the score, the better the product. A brief listing of the features and what they mean are given below.

1 - 3

The product is bad in almost every aspect. We strongly advise against purchasing this product.

4 - 6

An average product that isn't the best you can buy, but isn't the worst either.

7 - 8

Product with this rating is highly recommended because it's priced sensibly, has a good set of features and performs well.

9 - 10

Exceptionally excellent product with features and performance unlike any we've seen in the past. A must-have for everyone!

What is the Average User Rating?

We at Tech2 take product reviewing very seriously and every product is tested with the utmost care and level of objectivity. The end user who buys a particular product and uses it over an extended period of time has his own take on a product and there might be nuances that he or she can shed light on. The Average User Rating is present to help readers get the complete picture of how good or bad a product is. The Average User Rating is calculated by averaging the ratings by the thousands of readers visiting Tech2.com every single day. To record your own rating of a product, simply click on the user rating bar. If you disagree with our ratings or our community's product rating, please don't hesitate from voicing your opinion in the comments section below the review.

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