Some people (including me) are getting ever so slightly bored with the iPhone and Samsung have been quietly climbing the digital food chain right under Apples noses for some time now.
I’ve been out and about in London taking pictures with the brand new Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom. I’m really impressed, and it’s a noticeable step-up in quality from the usual dodgy camera fitted to most smartphones. In fact it’s so good I think a lot of people could give up their usual digital camera completely and just use this instead for both.
The Galaxy S4 already has a growing legion of loyal fans and this natural extension to an already strong product can only widen the appeal even further. Too be honest I’m not really sure whether to call this device a phone with a camera or a camera with a phone, with the latest Android Operating System 4.2.2 and a 1.5GHz dual-core processor installed, the S4 Zoom is (even without the camera) a lightening quick smartphone.
There are some nice features I’ve not seen before, including a x10 zoom that works like a traditional camera and the ability to be on a phone call, take a picture, send it via MMS and not have to hang up in the process. Especially useful to creatives types who want to share ideas quickly and efficiently, or even if you just want some feedback from a friend about the dress (or Top Hat) you are trying on at the store.
It allows you to bring your friends even closer into your life, and for the huge amount of people who want to do that it can only be a good thing. It has a 4.3-inch super AMOLED touchscreen and the interface is very easy to use, and for the camera it has a cool quick dial system allowing you to select the ideal mode necessary for a shot just be turning the lense.
There are a number of ready made presets, but the difference this time is someone has put a lot of thought into the scenarios and needs of someone taking a picture in a difficult situation (ie most of the time). There is a great low light mode and others range from ‘food’ a macro type setting with vibrant colours, a cool ‘panorama’ option, ‘Rich tone HDR’, ‘action freeze’,’landscape’ and ‘best face’ (where you can pick your fav face from a number of pics and add it to another pic). I used all of these in the 24hrs I had with the camera and would enjoy spending longer really getting to know all the in’s and out’s of the workings.
If you are one of those people who like taking photos but cloud over when words like ‘aperature’ and ‘focal image stabilisation’ are mentioned this product could be just what you are looking for.
It is going to narrow the difference between amateurs and semi-professional photographers and has the potential to bring great photography to the masses without having to put an Instagram filter on it!
According to Samsung the price will be about $100 above the current Galaxy S4. Look out for a more detailed review soon with full specs and information. Plus! another review of the brand new Samsung NX camera I had a chance to try out (and was also launched today).
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