Samsung wb150f camera drawing of the start button. What is a Smart Camera? Review of the capabilities of a smart camera using the example of Samsung WB150F. Modes and additional features

The scope of use of wireless technologies has expanded significantly in recent years - gradually migrating from laptops, tablets and smartphones to other, not entirely familiar devices. For example, for cameras. And no matter how unusual it may look, such an expansion of functionality makes sense, because Wi-Fi in a camera is convenient, fast and not too expensive.

Samsung has released three new camera models with a built-in wireless adapter. One of them ended up in our editorial office. In addition to hardware support for Wi-Fi, it has a serious lens with 18x zoom and optical stabilization, a 14.2-megapixel matrix and a bright 3-inch display.

Appearance

High-quality assembly seems to have become Samsung's rule when making mid-budget compacts. It also applies to this model - it won’t hold anything together and won’t wobble. Thanks to the lens being moved close to the side and a small protrusion on the front panel, the camera lies very confidently in the hand. Owners of wide pockets will definitely not have any problems with transportation; for others, I recommend purchasing a handbag or case.

The main controls are located on the top panel: the power button, the zoom lever with the shutter release button and a mechanical mode selector. The latter includes almost all items related to the camera’s operation: automatic Smart mode, program mode, A.S.M, scene programs, digital effects, Wi-Fi menu, settings and video shooting. The combined A.S.M modes (shutter speed and aperture priority, manual) are clearly aimed at infrequent use; further attempts to use them were not very successful, since most of the parameters, after selection, need to be activated and only then configured.

The rear panel buttons are located to the right of the display, next to the four-way joystick. I was pleased with the separate video recording button (with a red dot), which allows you to instantly record a video if a static image cannot convey the plot. The menu is called up by the corresponding button and is unique for each mode. The arrow button returns us to the previous tab or menu, which is especially convenient when using digital effects and changing them. The joystick, in addition to navigating the menu, allows you to quickly change key parameters: screen indicators, flash mode, timer and focus. I use exposure compensation quite often, and its placement on a separate button is sorely missed.

On the bottom edge there is a tripod thread and a battery compartment. Under the locking mechanism is an SD card slot that supports the SDXC standard with storage capacity up to 64 GB. There is also a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 1050 mAh. A full charge was enough for about 400 photos and several short videos with minimal use of the built-in flash (about 20 frames).

In addition to Wi-Fi, there is also a standard wired interface. The micro-USB port is hidden under a plastic cover on the side. It also serves for charging from the included network charger, or from a computer port. This standardization allows the camera to be virtually always available in everyday conditions. The USB port is also combined with an AV signal output, but we couldn’t find a special cable for it in the kit.

Display and menu

Most of the rear panel area is occupied by a 3-inch TFT display. With a resolution of 460 thousand dots, grain is almost invisible, so there is no discomfort when cropping and viewing finished images.

The colors are bright and contrasting, only in direct sunlight the image quality drops slightly. Small viewing angles and reflections from the glossy screen surface caused some inconvenience.

The mode menu is organized in the form of pages with bright splash screens and icons. Navigation is convenient and intuitive; when you pause on an icon, a text prompt about using this function appears.

Matrix

As for the sensor, it measures 1/2.3 inches and consists of 14.2 million effective pixels. The actual image resolution (4320x3240 pixels) will allow you to print fairly large photographs. It should be taken into account that in the original scale the edges of contrasting objects are not clear enough, and some distortions are also noticeable, apparently related to the operation of the digital filtering system.

Original photo and fragment with 100% magnification

Text: Roman Rak
Photo: Oleg Pilipchuk
Especially for www.rozetka.ua

You'll see bigger and clearer with 18x zoom and optical image stabilization. Share your impressions with your loved ones.

According to ZOOM.Cnews readers
Samsung WB150F:

Slow, does not provide good video recording.

CHARACTERISTICS

fast

Provides good video recording

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MAIN TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Dimensions and weight

Weight: 188 g, without batteries Size: 107x60x23 mm

Nutrition

Number of batteries: 1 Battery format: your own

Matrix

Sensitivity: 80 - 3200 ISO, Auto ISO Matrix type: CCD Maximum resolution: 4320 x 3240 Total number of pixels: 16.4 million Number of effective pixels: 14.2 million Crop factor: 5.62 Size: 1/2.3"

Lens

Aperture: F3.2 - F5.8 Focal length (35mm equivalent): 24 - 432mm Optical Zoom: 18x

Functionality

White balance: automatic, manual, from the list Flash: built-in, up to 3.38 m, red-eye reduction Image stabilizer (photo): optical

Other functions and features

Additional information: live panorama Additional features: tripod mount Sales start date: 2012-01-30

Shooting modes

Timer: yes Macro photography: yes Shooting speed: 5 frames/sec

Viewfinder and LCD screen

LCD screen: 460,000 dots, 3 inches Viewfinder: no Using the screen as a viewfinder: yes

Exposition

Shutter speed: 16 - 1/2000 s Manual shutter speed and aperture adjustment: yes Exposure compensation: +/- 2 EV in 1/3-stop increments Exposure metering: multi-zone, center-weighted, spot Automatic exposure processing: shutter-priority, aperture-priority Exposure bracketing: There is

Focusing

Face focusing: yes Autofocus illumination: yes Minimum shooting distance: 0.05 m Autofocus type: contrast

Memory and interfaces

Interfaces: USB 2.0, video, audio, Wi-Fi Built-in memory capacity: 18 MB Memory card type: SD, SDHC, SDXC Image formats: JPEG

Video and audio recording

Maximum frame rate when shooting HD video: 25/30 fps at a resolution of 1280x720 Video recording: yes Maximum video resolution: 1280x720 Optical Zoom when recording video: yes Audio recording: yes Maximum frame rate of video: 30 fps

The user interface is a little unusual. The menu entry key located on the rear panel does not call up the main menu, but a contextual one. While the system settings menu is located on the shooting mode selector. You have to get used to such an organization, but in the end it turns out that it is extremely convenient to work - the menu in any of the modes is not overloaded with various subsections. However, there are also disadvantages - the response to key presses is not instantaneous and there is a slight lag, although no slowdowns in animation or interface signatures were noticed during the testing period.

Impressions from work

The time it took to turn on and prepare the camera for use was extremely inconsistent. Usually, you had to wait no more than one and a half seconds to take the first frame, but sometimes the delay reached 3-4 seconds. According to our methodology, it is not the average or best result that is taken into account, but the worst result. In general, here the camera is inferior to many analogues. The lens also turned out to be slow: the zoom speed does not depend on the direction of movement and is 3 seconds from lock to lock. When you press the zoom control lever halfway, the zoom speed is halved to six seconds. It is also worth noting that the change in focal length occurs unevenly, with slight jerks, which are especially noticeable in the middle of the range.

But the setting of autofocus zones pleasantly surprises. The following modes are provided: central zone, multi-zone mode, manual zone selection, and focus tracking. The latter mode works very well - the automation is able to fix an object even on a low-contrast background and hold it when moving quickly. There is a face detection mode, where would we be without it? In addition, in the settings you can create a list of favorite faces, for each of which you can create up to five pictures with different facial expressions, which allows the camera to more accurately identify them in the future. Competing cameras can take no more than three photos for each face, and in this case the recognition accuracy will be lower. There is no blink detection or automatic smile detection in the Samsung WB150F. Not a big loss.

Focusing operation has three modes: automatic, macro and manual. When manually pointing the screen, the central area of ​​the frame is enlarged. However, there is one very controversial point - the image is not transmitted directly from the sensor, it undergoes software processing and interpolation, so the enlarged focusing area is a little blurry and it is not so easy to navigate around it. The focusing scale is short, the distances are not marked on the graduation, and each time manual focusing is activated, the control is located strictly in the center of the range. It would be much more convenient if the camera remembered the last value set. But this is not all the disadvantages - the slider goes from edge to edge in 10 seconds, which is quite slow.

Exposure metering works in three familiar modes: matrix, center-weighted and spot. The Samsung WB150F camera does not have any additional software processing that formally expands the dynamic range. However, the dynamic range is already quite wide. By the standards of inexpensive ultrasonics, of course. There is no HDR mode in the camera - it is difficult to organize when using CCD matrices. Although we remember timid attempts to enable HDR support in Olympus cameras with CCD matrices, the need to shoot from a tripod killed the entire value of the mode. Well, with a tripod, as you understand, a photo with an extended dynamic range can be taken without using a special mode in the camera.

The inscription on the camera “Full Manual Mode” is not empty words, because in addition to fully automatic and program modes, there are shutter priority, aperture priority and even fully manual modes. Of course, it is also possible to introduce exposure compensation in the range from -2 to +2 in steps of 1/3 EV. In natural light, exposure metering often does its job perfectly, but when shooting heavily shaded objects, and especially when using long focal lengths, the automatic system sins by violently brightening the shadows, resulting in the picture being noticeably overexposed.

In general, you have to use exposure compensation in difficult lighting conditions. In laboratory shooting conditions, the automation turned out to be quite accurate. When illuminated with incandescent lamps, the error does not exceed -0.17 steps, and when using fluorescent lamps, it does not exceed -0.09 steps. A very good result, even if you do not take into account the low cost of the camera.

The white balance settings have the following presets: sunny, cloudy, and also a couple of options for fluorescent lamps. Fine adjustment is not provided, but in addition to automatic there is also a manual mode, as well as manual selection of color temperature. In the latter case, unfortunately, it was not without its drawbacks. Firstly, the range is limited to values ​​of 3000-10000 K, while a lot of energy-saving lamps with a color temperature of 2200-2600 K are available for sale. Automation cannot cope with them, and there are no suitable presets. Secondly, the disadvantage of manually selecting color temperature is the same as in the case of the manual focus jackal - there is no memory of the last set value, so every time you enter manual adjustment, the slider ends up strictly in the center (6100 K), and dragging it in 100K increments from 6100 It takes 10 seconds to reach the extreme positions. The only good news is that in natural and simple artificial lighting the automation works well.

To assess the correctness of automatic determination of white balance, the Colorchecker 24 table was used. The selected sources of constant light were fluorescent lamps with a color temperature of 6400 K, as well as illuminators with incandescent lamps. The test results are shown below.

Problem solved

Advantages: - metal case (only plastic on top, due to the built-in antenna) - wi-fi and a pack of supported services for uploading photos - the included software on the disk is not even needed, when you first connect the camera it is detected as a flash drive and as a regular CD-ROM , which contains the installer for the viewer-editor-updater. an additional backup server can be installed automatically, but this requires an Internet connection (and 33MB of traffic). - manual modes with shutter speeds of up to 8 seconds - "intelligent zoom" mode, which quite neatly reduces the resolution so as not to use digital zoom as much as possible. - during the day, at maximum zoom, the stabilizer works very well, but of course it doesn’t produce miracles. Disadvantages: - software *only* for Windows, local backup server and a simple parody of Picasa. There’s not even a “make it beautiful” button, but there is a built-in face search, which found forty different people in a series of forty photos with the same person. - using the included software you can’t configure anything in the device itself, so to try out the wireless capabilities you’ll have to spend a long time and patiently tormenting the joystick for entering letters and numbers. - only SkyDrive is supported as an online backup. I don’t even consider other services due to their small size; they can only be used by compressing photos to 2MP (fortunately, this can be done automatically). - additional wi-fi services *only* for your own (Samsung) smartphones and something for apples. all I settled on in terms of using wi-fi was: backing up to my native tool instead of connecting a wire and sending 2-3 photos via soap (this is 15-20MB, many mails no longer pass through). - 6-7Mb/sec when copying over a wire - this is simply ridiculous in the 21st century. - 500-900Kb/sec over wi-fi - it’s not even funny anymore. the device has a built-in DNLA server (can broadcast to a local network), but this speed is not enough even to view videos it has shot; it buffers for 3-4 seconds every 10-15 seconds. Looking at photos turns into torture. - smooth zoom adjustment is possible only up to 8x, followed by 2-3 noticeable jerks up to the extreme 18x. between these 2-3 positions the focus cannot catch on anything at all. - in the “night” mode at maximum zoom, for some reason it shines with autofocus and never turns off the flash. - does not remember a number of settings for the next frame, all the time you have to navigate through an illogical menu and set everything again. This especially kills when shooting with a timer, although it is placed on a hot button. - in manual focus mode, an enlarged part of the center is displayed. in full screen. by doubling the screen pixels. With this smear, you can only focus manually to infinity. Comment: impressions based on the latest firmware at the moment. general comment: the device is a brake. It takes a long time to turn on, takes a long time to focus, charges the flash for 2-3 seconds after half-pressing the shutter button. I repeat - *after* pressing, and not *before*. You must first wait for focusing, then wait for the flash to charge, then make sure that the subject has not left the frame and only after that you can shoot. Moreover, the screen itself introduces a delay; looking at it, we look into the recent past, just like into the starry sky. in modes without flash or with manual settings, this problem practically disappears. Just yesterday, my wife needed about three dozen pictures in Smart mode to get a normal, unblurred picture of a child on a swing, then a telephone consultation followed on switching the camera to manual mode with manual focusing, then everything worked out the second time. (at the same time, the child got tired of swinging, and the wife almost froze to the metal body;) I won’t write about the quality, the pictures are already posted everywhere. but in the end I can recommend not this model, but the WB-150, without F in the name and without wi-fi under the hood. a thousand less and you can close your eyes to a lot.

Review of a high-tech compact with built-in Wi-Fi module

With this camera, you can take superb 14.2 MP photos and upload them to social networks without using a computer.

Design

Samsung WB150F was first presented at CES 2012, held earlier this year in Las Vegas.

And now it can be found on the shelves of electronics stores. The new product has many features, which we will discuss in this review, and we will start traditionally with the design of the model.

The camera is housed in a compact and fairly lightweight body. Its weight excluding memory card and battery is 188.2 g, and its maximum thickness is 32.2 mm.

The model is made in a black case made of metal and plastic, and the coating does not leave fingerprints and has a barely perceptible texture.

Ergonomics

The battery and memory card compartment is located on the bottom panel and is closed with a plastic cover.

On the front of the body you will see a fairly massive, although not very protruding lens. All controls are located at the top of the case and to the right of the display.

At the top end there is a shutter button combined with a zoom control, a shooting mode dial and a power button, and on the back there are keys for working with the menu, viewing and deleting captured content, as well as controlling video recording.

The Samsung WB150F body has only one connector - micro USB, which is used both to connect the camera to a computer and to broadcast images to a TV screen.

The 3-inch display with high contrast and automatic brightness adjustment is great for viewing photos even in bright ambient light. The screen resolution is 460,000 pixels, and the picture on it looks clear and detailed.

The camera only comes with a wall charger and a USB cable, but you may also need an A/V cable and a protective case or case.

Control

The camera turned out to be extremely easy to use.

The user has several shooting modes to choose from, including intelligent Smart. By focusing on the subject, the camera will analyze the elements of the composition and select one of 16 preset modes that is optimal for the given frame. As a result, you don’t have to constantly turn the shooting mode dial, and to get a high-quality photo you only need to focus and release the shutter.

For experienced photographers, there is a program mode with the ability to manually select various shooting parameters, but shutter priority and aperture priority modes are also available, as well as a fully manual mode for users who want complete control of the shooting process.

To get an original photo without processing on a computer, we recommend using a set of photo filters, and to correct already taken photos, the camera provides a simple photo editor. With the latter, you can change brightness, contrast, saturation, and even retouch faces.

Examples of photos:

Functionality

Compact dimensions did not prevent the Samsung WB150F from being equipped with an excellent Schneider-KREUZNACH lens with 18x zoom and optical image stabilization.

In wide-angle mode, the camera allows you to shoot panoramas or buildings without moving too far from them.

Zooming and focusing is very fast, and the stabilizer works effectively even at maximum zoom. The minimum focal length is 5 cm, and the shutter speed varies from 1/2000 to 16 seconds.

Examples of photos:

The camera has a 14.2 megapixel sensor that allows you to shoot with a maximum resolution of 4320 x 3240 pixels. The model cannot record video in Full HD format, but even with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels and a frequency of 30 frames per second, the videos look great.

To store content, there is 18 MB of internal memory, which is enough for several pictures in case you forget to install a memory card. The model supports SD, SDHC and SDXC cards with a capacity of up to 64 GB, and this is already enough not to worry about regular synchronization with a computer.

The most interesting detail of the Samsung WB150F is the built-in Wi-Fi module, which significantly expands the functionality of the device.

By connecting the camera to a wireless network, you can upload photos to social services Facebook, Picasa and Photobucket or upload videos to YouTube without using a computer.

Another useful option is sending content via email. You only need to indicate the sender and recipient addresses.

To go completely wire-free, the Samsung WB150F offers automatic data backup. Once you activate it, you don’t have to connect the camera to your computer at all.

It is also possible to store data on a cloud service, and using the TV Link function you can view content on the TV screen, broadcasting data over a Wi-Fi network.

Impression

Samsung WB150F is a compact, inexpensive and very interesting camera with 18x optics and a huge range of useful features.

With its help, you can get a high-quality photo without delving into the theory of photography and edit it without using a computer, and the presence of a built-in Wi-Fi module allows you to share your impressions on the go by uploading content to social networks.

Examples of photos:

Advantages: Built-in Wi-Fi module, a large number of shooting modes, 18x optics with image stabilization

Flaws: Not found

Grade: 5

Specifications:

• Model
• Weight 188 g
• Dimensions 10.65 x 5.99 x 3.22 cm
• Matrix 1/2.3" CCD, 14.2 MP
• Maximum image resolution 4320 x 3240 pixels
• Photosensitivity ISO 80/100/200/400/800/1600/3200
• Lens Schneider-KREUZNACH f = 4 - 72 mm (24 - 432 mm in 35 mm equivalent), F3.2 - 5.8
• Zoom optical - 18x
• Image format JPEG
• Video format MP4
• Display 3" (460,000 pixels)
• Image Stabilizer optic
• Memory 18 MB, SD/SDHC/SDXC cards
• Interface USB 2.0, Wi-Fi
• Audio and video output NTSC/PAL
• Nutrition Li-Ion, 1050 mAh