Samsung Digimax L85

      Photo Review 8
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      In summary

      Plenty of adjustments and good-looking pictures, but no viewfinder or still picture stabilisation. Chronic lateral chromatic aberration was detected.The chunky, retro-styled body of Samsung’s new Digimax L85 camera contains a larger-than-average 8.1-megapixel CCD plus a Schneider-Kreuznach Varioplan lens with 5x optical zoom. The lens focuses down to 1cm in Macro mode and the L85 offers plenty of manual controls. But there’s no optical viewfinder, which most serious photographers will see as a disadvantage. . . [more]

      Full review

       

      The chunky, retro-styled body of Samsung’s new Digimax L85 camera contains a larger-than-average 8.1-megapixel CCD plus a Schneider-Kreuznach Varioplan lens with 5x optical zoom. The lens focuses down to 1cm in Macro mode and the L85 offers plenty of manual controls. But there’s no optical viewfinder, which most serious photographers will see as a disadvantage.

      Another missing function is image stabilisation for still shots, which would be advantageous at the top zoom setting (which equates to 190mm in 35mm format), where the maximum aperture is f4.4. Although electronic stabilisation is available for movie clips, optical stabilisation would also help to address the lack of low-light shooting aids. With the top ISO setting at only 400, available-light shooting in dim conditions can be a chancy exercise.

      The L85 is slightly awkward to hold, largely because it’s hard to find a comfortable place to grip it with your left hand because the mode dial on the top panel gets in the way. And, although there’s a ridge for your right middle finger on the front panel, the thumb patch on the back is small and awkwardly located. Most control buttons sit on the rear panel, alongside the 2.5-inch LCD. On top are the power button and shutter release plus five tiny speaker outlet holes. The arrow pad is used to navigate the camera’s menu system but also accesses the flash, macro, self-timer and voice recording controls. Four additional buttons control camera settings (aperture and shutter speed), EV compensation and effects, file deletion and playback/print.

      Using the menu system also requires rather more toggling than most photographers would wish, although plenty of actual controls are provided. However, only two metering patterns are provided – and two AF options. A generous selection of in-camera pre-sets is provided, including 11 Scene modes and six colour effect settings. A composite shooting mode lets you combine two, three or four separate shots in a single still frame and four pre-set focus frames allow you to isolate subjects by zooming in slightly and blurring the background (but not by much).

      In camera sharpening adjustment is also available – but there are only three settings (soft, normal and vivid) so we feel this control is best left for post-capture processing. Samsung also provides nine pre-loaded frames that you can superimpose onto your shots – but we doubt you’d be tempted by any of them (see example below).

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      frame

      One interesting feature is support for High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) video, the evolving standard for high-definition TV sets and media-capable computers. It’s more of a novelty than a practical feature at present – and the camera must be linked via the supplied docking station – but it could prove worthwhile in the future. However you’ll need at least a 1GB SD card to take any advantage of the L85’s video capabilities, which are otherwise capable, but unexceptional.

      On initial examination, our test shots looked good, with plenty of detail, a better than average dynamic range and attractive colour rendition. Close-ups were excellent, as shown below.However, Imatest showed the lens suffered from chronic lateral chromatic aberration. The camera also tended to over-sharpen images and both resolution and colour accuracy were slightly below expectations. Shots taken at full digital zoom were too soft to be considered usable. Slight barrel distortion was found with the wide lens position.

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      close-up

      The L85’s auto white balance setting was unable to correct incandescent light casts, but the pre-sets and manual setting produced acceptable colours. Shots taken at night (see below) were colour-accurate and free of stuck pixels and other artefacts. Image noise was visible at ISO 400, although not particularly obvious. The flash performed well at ISO settings of 100 and above, providing enough light to illuminate an average-sized room.

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      lowlight

      Video performance was good with a high-speed SD card, especially at VGA resolution. The movie clip frame stabiliser was reasonably effective and you can merge several video clips onto a single file within the camera. In camera editing also lets you crop out part of a movie clip or capture a still image frame at VGA resolution.

      It took just over two seconds to power-up the camera and capture lag was consistent at 0.8 seconds, reducing to 0.2 seconds with pre-focusing. JPEG shot-to-shot intervals were around two seconds but it took roughly eight seconds to process a TIFF image. Flash shots could be recorded at 3.2-second intervals, while in the burst mode, shots were captured at 1.5-second intervals.
      IMATEST RESULTS

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      Specifications

       

      Image sensor: 7.18 x 5.32 mm CCD with 8.3 million photosites (8.13 megapixels effective)

      Lens: Schneider-Kreuznach Varioplan 7.8-39mm f2.8-4.4 zoom (38-190mm in 35mm format)

      Zoom ratio: 5x optical, up to 8x digital; up to 12x playback zoom

      Image formats: Stills ““ JPEG (Exif 2.2), TIFF; Movies – MPEG-4 (VGA at 30 fps); Voice ““ WAV.

      Shutter speed range: 2-1/2000 second (to 15 seconds in Night mode)

      Focus system/range: TTL AF; range 80 cm to infinity; macro 1-10 cm

      Exposure metering/control: Multi-pattern and spot metering; P, A, S and M shooting modes plus 11 Scene modes

      White balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent (x2), Tungsten, Custom.

      Flash modes/range (ISO auto): Auto, Auto & Red-eye reduction, Fill-in, Slow sync, Flash off; range 0.2-5.0 m.

      ISO range: Auto, ISO 50, 100, 200, 400.

      Sequence shooting:

      Storage Media: 23 MB of internal memory plus SD/MMC slot; internal memory holds 6 high-resolution JPEG images or up to 138 VGA shots.

      Viewfinder: n.a.

      LCD monitor: 2.5-inch colour TFT LCD (230,000 pixels)

      Power supply: SLB1237 rechargeable lithium-ion battery

      Dimensions (wxhxd): 109.2 x 64 x 29 mm

      Weight: Approx. 190 gm (without batteries or card)

       

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      Rating

       

      RRP: $599

      Rating (out of 10):

      • Build: 8.5
      • Ease of use: 8
      • Image quality: 7.5
      • OVERALL: 8

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