Samsung GALAXY Camera runs on full Android Jelly Bean 4.1 OS on 4.8 responsive screen
Morning folks, today I showed the new Samsung GALAXY Camera officially
known as the EK-GC100. This “wow” 16 megapixel 21X optical zoom camera deserves
as much praise and recognition as any new cutting edge product to roll out this
year, and more. Check out my demo video on today’s GlobalTV Monday Morning News: http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/video/tech+untangled/video.html?v=2312240896&p=1&s=dd#themorningnews/video
Why? Because not only is it a great digital camera with
oodles of features for better and more fun photography, but because the camera
is built on the latest complete Google Android Jelly Bean 4.1 OS. It actually
runs better than on any other 4.1 OS device I have seen, including a vertical
and horizontal view of the home screen which looks impressive on the large touch
screen.
The GALAXY Camera also has 3G+ Wi-Fi connectivity and comes
unlocked, so you can run any SIM card worldwide, nice if you travel and want to
avoid costly roaming data charges.
Now you have more than 600,000 Android apps at your disposal
meshed with a quality digital camera.
I have been using the GALAXY Camera for the past week and I
must say it looks and walks the walk. It’s solidly built with minimalist
buttons. Not as small as most point-and-shoot cameras, something you quickly forget
once you look at the 4.8”(121.2mm)HD Super ClearTouch Display. Every
picture you shoot looks like an album print, letting you compose better and
simply enjoy your pictures instantly.
It comes with well thought out still and movie editing
software and sports a simple intuitive menu that smartly expands to detailed functions.
The Photo Wizard for example has 35 editing tools from simple colour changes to
twirls, beauty and airbrush modes.
Hard work and a light moment for aspiring figure skater Ella, 10.
There are three modes to shoot with: auto, smart and expert,
the later taking advantage of the entire screen for rotating large circular
onscreen dials for exposure compensation, ISO, shutter, aperture and mode.
There simply is not picture impossible to shoot with this camera.
I loved the continuous frame mode, shooting 20 frames in
less than five seconds. Not just great for sports photography but handy when
shooting at slow shutter speeds. The photo of the fish tank was taken 1/30
second with only several frames turning out sharp…but I got my picture! When
viewing pictures onscreen you can quickly play a sequence of those 20 frames
(maximum). You can also have three quick frames taken on auto exposure
bracketing mode.
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The quad processing power on the GALAXY Camera impresses on
any shooting. You can continue shooting in less than one second after a 20
second burst (full quality) and the smart mode shoot settings can out-speed the
best Photoshop user. Shutter lag is higher than the best point-and-shoot traditional cameras, but you can make up for that is Smart Best Shot mode or continuous shooting mode.
Waterfall setting in Smart Camera mode
Paper Artist renders incredible drawing/painting variations to
your photos while Voice Command recognizes verbal commands, like “cheese” for
taking pictures automatically.
Smart mode for example has 15 shooting scenes, one of which,
Best Face, shoots multiple frames of a group allowing you to pick and choose
the best faces from each frame and creating a new frame. Switching to Fall and
Light Trace produce extraordinary photos as does the Night mode for sharp and
noise-clean photos of skylines. Beauty Face mode gently removes the deepest
lines on a face, without affecting the surrounding scenery…as does the progressively
continuous wrinkle removing filters in Portrait editing mode. Yes, it has
red-eye removal too.
Santa and friend at 21X zoom, 1/60 sec ISO 800
Sharing with the GALAXY Camera comes natural, with in-house
connectivity with other Samsung products, like Buddy Photo Share (bumping the
camera against newer devices like the S3 and Note 2 to transfer a photo and
Share Shot with five other devices nearby the moment a picture is taken using
Wi-Fi Direct. But you can also easily share pictures via Bluetooth, ChatON, any
online eMail, Gmail, Facebook, Google+, Group Cast, Instagram, and Picasa.
It has a built-in flash, headphone jack and naturally, a tripod
threaded connection. Motion, GPS and Bluetooth is also there.
Underwater Dance
Mary graciously gets a digital Galaxy Camera makeover from left: Normal Setting, Beauty Smart Mode while shooting and after edit in-camera Photo Wizard Portrait Airbrush, Dark Corner Frame …fabulous!
4 GB of built-in memory will get you started, but once you
get into full HD movie mode (you can zoom, autofocus and shoot full size stills
at the same time) you will need additional micro-SD memory, preferably class 10
for best performance. I used a 32 GB Kingston micro-SD Class 10 for flawless
recording. Battery life in camera mode, at best can record about 350 photos 30 of them with flash) so a full charge can get you through most of the day with an hour’s of email and some browsing. But continuous use, at an all day event will only give you several hours, the price for a huge screen. If you use smart power modes, like turning off antennas while shooting, you get longer battery life.
“Say Cheese” The GALAXY Camera is responsive, capturing fleeting moments like Eleni and Gianni
My wish list for the ultimate perfect device killer GALAXY
Camera version 2.0: an external microphone functionality with the headphone
jack, keep full quality 16 MP size on edited copies of onboard photos, instead
of the now reduced size, a face camera and oh yes…a cellphone voice
functionality!
Natural vivid colour flowers at Edmonton Muttart Conservatory in Edmonton go Pop Art
A Christmas Reflection at the Edmonton Muttart Conservatory
The GALAXY Camera is a Samsung technology showpiece, a bit
niche, but hey…it’s a mini full-function Android tablet and awesome digital
camera…the ultimate imaging connector.
It will be available starting today at
Black’s Photography Stores, TELUS online and The Samsung Store at Metrotown Mall in
Burnaby, B.C. for $599
http://www.samsung.com/ca/galaxycamera/
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