Samsung i8

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Samsung i-series lineup of cameras has always been fun to use. In the i8, Samsung drops the funky rotating 3-inch touchscreen LCD seen in the i7 for a more traditional 2.7-inch screen. Available in pink, baby blue, black and white, ladies may find the i8 appealing. The i8's in-built PMP (portable media player) functions mean they can leave their MP3 player at home and just bring the camera which pretty much entertains as well as shoots.

Upside

While it may not seem much, those who like to print large pictures will welcome the i8's resolution upgrade to 8.2-megapixel. An increase in maximum ISO sensitivity to 3,200 means you can continue to take pictures in low-light conditions.

If you like to take pictures with special effects, the i8 comes with more then just the normal fare of sepia and black-and-white. There are seven different Photo Style Selectors to choose from--whether you like vivid-looking images or the retro "washed-out" effect, the i8 allows you to achieve them without the need for post-processing on the computer.

The i8 comes in several hues of colors that seems to target ladies.
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Self-portrait artists will find the Self Portrait function something to cheer about. It utilizes Face Detection technology to detect up to three faces and give a "more accurate focus and exposure for your self-portraits", claims Samsung.

We hate it when we have to squint to look at the LCD under the sun and Samsung seems to have noticed that. The new LCD adjusts its brightness according to its surroundings. Under a strong source of light, the LCD will brighten up for easier viewing and vice versa. This could be an energy-saving function, too, especially if you take more shots in dimly lit areas.

Ladies will like the slim form factor of the i8. Measuring less then 20mm in thickness and weighing only 116g (without battery and memory media), this shooter can be easily slipped into a small pouch without the bulge.

If you travel a lot, the i8 will be a useful shooter. It still features the World Tour Guide, a digital companion which you can use to view information of various countries downloaded from the Web. The Text Viewer can be a godsend when you need to read Word documents and there isn't any computer nearby.

Downside

We like to be close to the action but the i8's 3x optical zoom may not let us do that. Furthermore, the lens is 38mm at its widest, with no improvements from that of its predecessor. If you are looking to take group shots or nice wide sceneries, you might have to take a couple of steps back as the 38mm lens might not suffice.

Viewing long videos on the 2.7-inch display may be a strain on the eyes.
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Although it is a PMP, the i8 has only 190MB of internal memory (compared with the i7 which has 450MB), which means you will need to purchase additional memory media for the SDHC/MMC expansion slot if you want to put more songs and/or videos in it.

For those looking to view a lot of videos, the i8's 2.7-inch display may be a bit of a strain on the eyes. We were hoping Samsung would keep the 3-inch screen, considering that the i8 is a media player as well.

Outlook

Although the i8 doesn't come with fancy features, it redeems itself by being more then just a camera. The colors that it is available in and the additional PMP features may make the i8 a hit with the ladies.