Samsung TL 500 / EX1 review

[Epimetheus]

Our family cam (Canon S90) went broken for the second time so I replaced it with this Samsung and wrote few of my first impressions with few pictures here:

http://markuspuustinen.com/blog/201...msung-ex1-best-point-and-shoot-camera-so-far/

 

[shenkerian]

Hi, thanks for the review.

Could you comment on how the autofocus and the shutter lag compare to the S90's? The Samsung looks great on paper, but I'm curious about its responsiveness.

Also, is the rear dial click-stopped, or is it free-spinning like the S90's?

 

[amateriat]

This camera is quite intriguing (and your assessment of your twice-broken Canon S90 rather troubling). I'll want to check the Samsung out further.

The two potential deal-breakers are (1) no apparent Mac OS X support (at least, not yet), and (2) a proprietary RAW format. The former problem, I'm told, is simply a logistical issue with Samsung; the software for X supposedly exists, but isn't available for download just yet. The RAW issue is just silly and unnecessary. Yes, of course, I can just shoot JPEG and not worry my head off about this stuff (film is still my primary medium, with digital as a convenient adjunct), but if the thing can shoot RAW, it would be nice to occasionally use it when I see fit to, and not have to jump through flaming hoops to work with the files.


- Barrett

 

[Epimetheus]

Hi, thanks for the review.

Could you comment on how the autofocus and the shutter lag compare to the S90's? The Samsung looks great on paper, but I'm curious about its responsiveness.

Also, is the rear dial click-stopped, or is it free-spinning like the S90's?

I feel the autofocus speed and shutter lag is about the same. I haven't notice any difference.

Rear dial on Samsung has click stops and is of much better quality than Canon.

 

[gavinlg]

I love your rant about viewfinders on compacts. I couldn't agree more.

 

[Avotius]

It is amazing how I could not disagree with you more on just about every point in your review.

BTW, go try a Ricoh GR1 or Contax T2-3 and tell us again that you cant put a decent viewfinder in a pocketable camera. Companies did it for a decade and they just dont care anymore, it is not impossible to do.

 

[shenkerian]

Thanks, great to hear about the rear dial. One more question if you don't mind - does the camera remember your last focal length when you turn it on? It'd be nice to attach a 35mm or 50mm viewfinder and forget about zooming most of the time.

Amateriat, my thoughts on OS X are to just shoot RAW+JPEG for now, and then manipulate the RAW once Aperture supports it. Do you think it's too risky to assume Apple will eventually support it?

Avotius, I'm not sure that's a fair comparison. I love my T3, but it hasn't got a 3x zoom range and still needs two sets of framelines. Even an M's viewfinder wouldn't work with continuous zoom.

 

[Epimetheus]

Thanks, great to hear about the rear dial. One more question if you don't mind - does the camera remember your last focal length when you turn it on? It'd be nice to attach a 35mm or 50mm viewfinder and forget about zooming most of the time.

Unfortunately it doesn't remember last focal length used. I would have liked that feature as well.

 

[amateriat]

It is amazing how I could not disagree with you more on just about every point in your review.

BTW, go try a Ricoh GR1 or Contax T2-3 and tell us again that you cant put a decent viewfinder in a pocketable camera. Companies did it for a decade and they just dont care anymore, it is not impossible to do.

Seconded.

I have both a GR-1 and Contax Tvs. Both are compact, and both have outstanding VFs. It's not a question of whether or not a good VF can be applied to a compact digicam, but whether anyone cares to bother. It matters to me, because I much prefer a good VF to any sort of rear screen. Yes, the VFs on virtually all non-SLR digicams truly bite. It just doesn't follow that a properly-designed VF is undesirable.


- Barrett

 

[amateriat]

Amateriat, my thoughts on OS X are to just shoot RAW+JPEG for now, and then manipulate the RAW once Aperture supports it. Do you think it's too risky to assume Apple will eventually support it?

I imagine either Aperture or Lightroom (or both) will eventually support the TL-500, but given the camera's perceived target demographic, I think it's in Samsung's interest that it be offered with at least basic support for both major platforms. (Using open-standards RAW would be even better, but I suppose that's asking way too much.)

Avotius, I'm not sure that's a fair comparison. I love my T3, but it hasn't got a 3x zoom range and still needs two sets of framelines. Even an M's viewfinder wouldn't work with continuous zoom.

True for the T3, perhaps, but the Tvs managed a 2x zoom with a clever (and tech-heavy) VF arrangement. Mind you, the Tvs was silly-expensive at the time of its release, but the point is that it was produced.

Perhaps, given the incredibly short lifespan (market-wise and otherwise) of most digital cameras, the perception among manufacturers may be that the VF issue with small digicams is simply not worth the bother. Of course, this is why I keep shooting with the Contax (and Ricoh, once it gets fixed).


- Barrett

 

[oftheherd]

I love your rant about viewfinders on compacts. I couldn't agree more.

Everyone is different. I very much dislike P&S without a viewfinder. Sony did it well with their very pocketable DSC W50. It was also easy to fix when I damaged the screen in my jeans pocket.

EDIT: Do appreciate your review though. Thanks.

 

[viggi]

I picked up my Samsung EX1 from PC World (UK) yesterday. They weren't exactly flaunting it - two forlorn boxes hidden under the display cabinet. I normally walk around with Hexar AF or Olympus 35RC. Meaning that I have no real digicam reference points (I do have Nikon D50 though).

The Oly isn't very... ergonomical... but it is chunky enough to slot nicely into my palm. I like shooting with it. I'm going to spend the day walking about with the Samsung, see how I like shooting with it. I'm having a hard time so far with the rear screen. I'd like a viewfinder and just close the lcd (it flips out and rotates). OK, when you want to take photographs, almost any camera will do. But most of us here have an interest in the tools, how they are to use, how they feel, how they help you snap (or make you 'snap'!). Samsung is well built but I'd like a smaller screen, with just aperture, shutter reading, something which shows focal length and focus distance, and a nice viewfinder. A bit like the Hexar AF. Alas, I knew that before so i'm going to give it a bit of time. Need to get off the cheap Fuji film dependency.

 

[Epimetheus]

Marketing of the Samsung has been very poor. It is surprising that there are no real reviews of it even though it has been in stores for a while. They should send it out to bloggers and market the hell out of it. It deserves it.

 

[totifoto]

Great pix!

 

[shenkerian]

I've been trying one out myself, and will be using it quite a bit today. I do like the feel of it, although it's a little bigger than I'd expected. I still wish that it remembered your last focal length, and that it had a stepped zoom setting. But I didn't consider that it wouldn't show your current focal length at all, so using an auxiliary viewfinder will be pretty difficult.

By the way, Samsung released a firmware update for it this week. For the US, you can find it here:
http://www.samsung.com/us/support/d..._mdl_name=SAMSUNG+TL500&prd_ia_sub_class_cd=P

 

[viggi]

Thanks for the firmware update link.

I shot with the ex1 quite a bit today. I soon got used to gripping it (yes, the camera is a bit bigger than I expected but it is solid and nice). The thumb just fits under the top wheel, between all the buttons, and my middle finger cradles the front grip, maybe the tip of my ring finger as well. I used it in aperture priority, sometimes fully manual (when I thought it was exposing too much for the shadows in a mixed scene), some indoors shot, where I quickly shifted between iso settings (not on auto). So definitely getting used to the feel. As for the picture quality - need more time to experiment. It is nice, works very well in darker conditions, but I felt it missed the focus on some occasion. Maybe I needed to up the shutter speed.

 

[vdonovan]

Those are great pictures, a pleasure to look at. It just to prove again: it's not the photographer, it's the camera.

 

[semilog]

It is amazing how I could not disagree with you more on just about every point in your review.

BTW, go try a Ricoh GR1 or Contax T2-3 and tell us again that you cant put a decent viewfinder in a pocketable camera. Companies did it for a decade and they just dont care anymore, it is not impossible to do.

I disagree. I love my GR-1 because of the results it produces but I would not call that VF "decent." would call it "barely adequate." (Heck, I think the VF on the Contax G2 is "only slightly better than adequate." The M6 is adequate, the M6 0.85 is good, the M3 is superior.)

Vs. the GR-1, I strongly preferred composing with the WYSIWYG 100% coverage of the LCD screen on my G9, before the latter camera died. The reasons to use the GR-1 are: (1) it takes film; and (2) it has a great lens and good controls. The VF is not on that list.

This Samsung looks really interesting.

 

[dazedgonebye]

Now see...here I was, all but ready to buy a Samsung HZ35W as a new family snap shot camera and now I see this.
It wouldn't be as good for snaps since the zoom is so limited (school events and such) but damn, f1.8!

 

[amateriat]

semilog: I think we'll have to agree to disagree about the GR-1 VF. 🙂

At least the TL-500 has a hot shoe where an auxiliary VF could be used, so it's not all a lost cause. Looking at the multiple contacts in that shoe, I'd be a bit surprised if Samsung doesn't have an EVF of some sort up their sleeve. Thiis, of course, would push me some distance closer to buying one. ('Specially if they get some Mac action going...word has it that it's happening.)

Then, too, my Olympus C-8080 is going gangbusters, and I don't have to do headstands to handle RAW files (ACR in Adobe CS2 works like a champ).

Shadow and Sun, Son, June 2010

(Technical: Olympus C-8080)


- Barrett