By Leonard Goh
26/05/2008
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/digitalcameras/0,39005881,42628286p,00.htm

At the front line of Samsung's NV series is the NV24HD. Unveiled at CES earlier in the US, it is one of the first few cameras that boasts HD-quality video-recording capability. But this shooter touts more than just gadgetry features--it has a 24mm ultra-wide-angle lens, too. This puts the point-and-shoot in the lead of wide-angle digicams that could soon be a standard for others to follow.

Design

With the glossy black piano finish on the top of the camera and a stylized matt-black chassis, the design looks minimalist and exudes a classy air fit for a fashionista.

The body is slightly raised on the right side and has a thin rubber strip running down to offer an even better grip.

While most other camera manufacturers opt to relegate the functions to the menu and keep the layout fuss-free, Samsung decided to put not one, but two dials on the top of the camera. The left dial is a Photo Style selector, while the right dial switches between different shooting modes. We think this implementation is pretty well done as we could easily change and achieve different pictures effects without having to sift through the menus.

There are no AV or USB connectors on this shooter, but rather there is a proprietary port found on the bottom of the camera. We guess it is for easy access, otherwise the port would have been covered. However, in humid countries, this may pose to be a problem as moisture and metal components just don't mix well.

With the appropriate cables, this port can stream data to your PC, display images on the TV and even charge the battery. Typically, digital cameras are packaged with a separate battery chargers so if you have more than one juice pack, one can recharge while you shoot with the other. But for the NV24HD, the camera is used to charge the battery. Although you can snap while the camera is charging, you can't go far when it's tethered to the power point.

Features

Encased within the NV24HD is a 24mm lens which makes this shooter one of the widest we've tested. Compared to the conventional digicam which has only a 35mm lens, the extra view we got on the Samsung point-and-shoot was a refreshing change. Although Samsung is leading the wide-angle war with this 24mm compact, Panasonic is offering more choices, with three of its cameras (namely the Lumix DMC-FX36, FX520 and TZ15) sporting 25mm lenses.

We guess it's the slim design that is hindering the zoom range of the NV24HD. It zooms from 24mm to 86.5mm (35mm equivalent) which, if you're looking for a camera to take portraits or sceneries, should suffice. But for avid shutterbugs, the 3.6x zoom may not be enough and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ15 with 10x optical zoom may fit the bill better.

The other selling point of the NV24HD is its ability to capture 720p HD-quality videos. For those in the know, the pixel dimension for a 720p video is 1,280 x 720, which is about twice as large as clips captured on conventional cameras. Also, audio is recorded in stereo instead of mono, and this will give a better aural experience to go with the high-def recording. The maximum recording time is 25 minutes (with stereo sound) and we guess for a clip this long, you'll need at least a 4GB flash card.

By purchasing an optional HDMI cradle and plugging it to a compatible Samsung HDTV, the Korean firm claims that you can use the TV remote to control the playback of the pictures or video from the camera.

We like the Photo Style selector which is the dial on the top left side of the camera. By rotating it, the color cast on the image changes from Normal to Vivid (more vibrant colors), Retro (slighty washed out hues with yellow cast), Forest (enhanced green) and Cool (enhanced blue), among others. This is a quick way to apply some creativity to your shots and we certainly did have fun with it and liked the results.

Unlike normal TFT LCD, the screen found on the NV24HD is Samsung's self-developed AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic LED). It promises a better refresh rate, brighter display and improved viewing angles. Indeed, even when the camera was held to the side of our eyes or above our heads, we could still see the frame clearly. However, it can be slightly larger--the 2.5-inch LCD is a bit small compared with other shooters which tout 2.7- or 3-inch screen.

Advanced photographers will be glad to know that Samsung has included a full manual mode for the NV24HD. Selection of shutter speed and aperture settings is done via the Smart Touch interface, which comprises two rows of buttons along the right side and bottom of the screen. By sliding your finger across it, you can select different shutter speeds and apertures. In other modes, the innovative interface also allows you to navigate the camera's menu. Although it took us a while to get used to the interface, it was quite intuitive once we got the hang of it.

The shooter comes with 16MB of internal memory, which is good for only approximately seven shots at optimum settings. But you can expand the storage space via an SD or SDHC card which is recommended if you are going to capture HD videos as it takes up a hefty bit of memory.

Performance

Face detection was quick to recognize our faces and also tracked our profiles as we moved around the frame. Samsung claims its Smile Shutter (which can be found in Scene mode) will snap a shot whenever the shooter detects a smile. We put it to the test and had to smile quite a while before the camera took a shot.

In the class of ultra-wide-angle cameras, the NV24HD is quite a speedy shooter. It clocked 1.6 seconds to startup, which was slightly faster than the FX36 (which took 1.73 seconds). The time to first shot took 2.5 seconds, which is typical of point-and-shoot units. The shutter lag measured 0.15 second--quite fast compared to its competition.

On a full charge, we managed to squeeze about 200 shots and a couple of HD videos from the Lithium-ion battery before it went flat.

Image Quality

If there is one thing we liked about the image quality from the NV24HD, it would be that Samsung did a very good job on suppressing the digital artifacts. Some people might find that done too well, since small amounts of details got smeared even at low ISO. However, if you don't make large prints, it won't show up much. In our Lab test, noise showed up only at ISO 800 and got more prominent at ISO 1,600 and above.

There was slight purple fringing, and at 24mm, the lens displayed a fair bit of barrel distortion as well. But given that it is the first attempt from Samsung for an ultra-wide-angle, it was a pretty decent effort.

Night shots were quite spectacular, especially with the 24mm lens. Do find a flat surface to place the camera on or use a tripod as the shutter speed can sometimes go beyond 1 second. We advise using the Night mode, but go ahead and make use of Manual mode if you are confident.

At S$599, the NV24HD is priced similar to its closest competitor, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX36. However, the latter doesn't provide full manual control, something which budding photographers may want to try. Nonetheless, these two slim, fashionable shooters should go well with ladies who are looking for a point-and-shoot to bring on a night's out.