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We clicked with:
Very solid build quality
Genuine macro mode
Quick power up and use
Handy face recognition button
Shots in the dark:
Poor high ISO
Thumb rest an afterthought
Lack of user control in modes
Silly name!
Price Comparison: Samsung L83t
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Samsung has been taking the digital compact market very, very seriously recently. It's elegant cameras in the NV range have given the company a very high profile, but it's perhaps more bread-and-butter products like the Samsung L83t 'Midget Photographer' that mark out the company as a major contender in photography today.
OK, brief personal aside; my late mother was an actress, who appeared in at least one Norman Wisdom film, nine Carry On films and several classic (and not so classic) British TV sit-coms from the 1960s through to the 1990s. If there was a cup of sugar to be borrowed anywhere on telly during that time, my mum was borrowing it. So, a camera known as a 'Midget Photographer' simply sets off my comedy genes. I'll try to stay the right side of political correctness, but holding back the double entendre here feels like I am letting the family down.
The Samsung L83t is a small, light, metal-bodied 8.2MP compact with a 3x optical zoom (equivalent to 38-114mm in old money), face recognition and a 2.5" LCD screen. It also works up to ISO 1,600 and has face recognition, 14 preset modes and Advanced Shake Reduction (actually, just an ISO bump-up), which puts it firmly in the same class as most of its peers. Dig deeper and you find some Midget Gems, like a genuine macro mode (down to 5cm in standard guise, even to 1cm if you try hard), a range of focus settings with a handy top button to switch face recognition on and off and a surprisingly quick and (when you turn the bleeps off!) quiet start-up.
The control surfaces are small, but relatively easy to understand when you get used to them. The Samsung L83t has a zoom button that's a thumb up/down affair, instead of the usual glacial speed side-by-side buttons. Below that are two buttons marked 'M' for Mode and 'E' for Effects. It has the usual raft of modes (including one for food) and a host of effects, some of which fall under the 'fun' setting. The handiest of these is possibly the in-camera split screen.
All the other buttons are standard issue, although the neat blue glow around the power switch on the top (sandwiched between the face detection button and the shutter) is friendly. The camera also handles well and feels reassuringly expensive (even though it's not an expensive product). The only oddity is the thumb rest/strap attachment, which looks as if it was welded on as an afterthought. Those who carry their camera in purse or pocket might find the Samsung L83t will catch cloth.
Images are very good in the main, with bright, zingy colours. It has relatively good noise characteristics, with no great shifts in colour or saturation until you get beyond ISO 400 and noise is relatively in check from ISO 50-200. ISO 400 is usable, as is ISO 800... just. However, it's about average for the price and performance level of the camera.
ISO 400
Keeping at low ISO and using the modes intelligently can return some very fine-detailed images. The wide end of the lens could be wider and the metering doesn't take kindly to lots of sky in the photograph, accenting magenta and cyan in the overcast sky of a November afternoon:
ISO 50
The flash works well for both fill and full flash moments. It has good range and is a useful alternative to ASR. It's clever in that it seldom overexposes the image, but it does seem to deliver even more zingy primary colours, as if concentrating the effect of the regular output.
For many though, the fact that it can take close up images is justification enough. A word of warning, though; the Samsung L83t does not offer much control over the camera in macro mode and disables the flash - if your close up isn't bright enough, it will deploy the ASR, with the attendant drop in image quality. But still, it's more than good enough to spot that a keyboard clean is in order soon.
The camera delivers good, detailed, but not sparkling, mind-blowingly wonderful images. It's well made, even if a few niggles get in the way. The camera springs to life quickly and shutter lag is low - but some operational issues prevent it from being the 'decisive moment' camera. Nevertheless, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts and you can't help liking the Samsung L83t. Now, if only I could find an MG Midget to photograph...
