Samsung SL820 12MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Dual Image Stabilized Zoom and 3.0 inch LCD (Silver) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I purchased this camera basically based on the review in Engadget of point and shoot cameras. I was replacing a broken Canon TX1 that I had used primarily for 720P video shooting.Video recording was very important.Size was also very important and we were looking at the Canon SD780 IS. My main camera is a Canon Rebel XTi.
Overall I have found this camera to be very good.
+ Takes very good pictures overall
+ Very easy to use
+ Camera has nice smart modes. The kids mode is especially good for me
+ The video quality is great. You can zoom in while shooting video. You cannot do this on the Canon SD780
+ charges via the camera (no need to take out the battery).
- Flash recycling is relatively slow. It's not the world's fastest camera overall.
- The camera is a little heavy. Definitely bigger than the SD780
- Strange proprietary cable (does not use mini USB, etc.)
- Comes with no software
- Comes with no printed manual (just a quick start guide)
Note on Video
Video is shot in MP4 (h.264) format. This makes the videos pretty small, but its hard to work with on a Windows PC. I think Windows 7 will make this work better, but for now it is a problem. My old Canon TX1 shot in MJPEG. This produces bigger files, but it is very easy to work with. The Canon SD780 also uses MP4 as do many other newer cameras (Flip Mino, etc.).
I use Picasa to organize my photos. Picasa would stutter through most of the MP4 videos. I had problems viewing the files in Quicktime as well (on an AMD X2 5000). The videos play fine on the Zune software an also on an Xbox 360.
Overall
I recommend this camera. I was thinking about getting a Flip Mino HD or a Creative Labs Vado. Frankly, I don't see why you would buy a cheap HD camera when you can get this much better camera for not much more. If you need something a little smaller the Canon SD780. But overall, I think the Samsung offers more features in a bigger package for about the same price.

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