Samsung L210 Digital Camera Author:  Kali DeArmit Date:  2008.11.30 Topic:  Cameras Provider:  Samsung Camera Manufacturer:  Samsung Camera

Samsung L210 Digital Camera

Scene Mode

One of the few non-user friendly features of the Samsung L210 is the process of choosing which "scene" you would like to shoot in. Most quick snap cameras have the dial on the top of camera allowing you to easily choose which scene you want. For the L210, however, you must turn the dial to "scene" and then click "Menu" scroll down to "Scene" and then choose your option. There are 11 scene modes in total, 10 under the menu and one (Portrait) in the top dial. My personal favorite scene mode is the Portrait mode. Unlike anything I have ever come across, the L210 actually caters to today's "Myspace photo opportunity" generation. By using the Face Detection feature as well as the Portrait mode, you will never take a bad photo again. Now when you take a picture of you and your best friend, your camera will actually beep when it has recognized both faces are in line with the camera lens. The camera can recognize up to three faces in this mode and will beep once all three are in focus. This is a neat feature that definitely places the Samsung L210 ahead of the pack.

One "scene" that I have seen on many other point and shoot cameras is the option of "Sports" to capture the fast moving objects. The L210, however, does not have this scene. To compensate, however, the user has the capability to alter the ISO. In order to change the ISO the camera must either be on Program (P) or Manual (M), click the "Fn" button and scroll up and down. Be careful, however, the higher the ISO the more noise that will be present in your photos. This may be tricky for the first time digital camera user. In the testing section of this review, I will compare Samsung's images of each scene with my own. Below is a list of all of the Scenes offered in the Samsung L210.

Advanced Movie Mode

In my opinion, one of the best and most used features of today's digital cameras is the ability to record movies. Samsung has realized this fact and has implemented the ability to record with MPEG-4 SVGA Quality resolution. The L210 pretty much has "camcorder-like" abilities thanks to the 3x optical zoom and the awesome resolution at 800x 592 (20 fps). Compared to other digital cameras, the L210 utilizes the MPEG-4 format which is the high-compression high quality image format which can film three to four times longer than other digital cameras. The Samsung L210 is definitely on top of its game by recording in SVGA, the image is not only wider but noticeably more clear.

In addition to the top of the line recording abilities, you can also record with or without sound. Not to mention there are also embedded movie editing features, such as still image capturing and the ability to pause during recordings. Unlike other cameras, you can record video up to two hours. Below is a short video that I made to test out the zoom feature and the clarity of the video. The only thing that I have to note was that it is very difficult to zoom in and out slowly. I am sure, however, that it just takes practice!

Battery Life

The Samsung L210 contains a SLB-10A 3.7V Lithium-ion rechargeable battery. The battery charges while in the camera, and takes a total of 120 minutes to complete. As previously stated there is an AC adapter and a USB charger. The USB charger is convenient because you can transfer photos while charging your camera, it will however, take twice as long to charge the camera through your PC. The following chart was provided by Samsung:

Now that you have seen all of the new and fun features of the Samsung L210, let's check out some real life photos and see how they measure up in our testing section!