Tracey Capen
Samsung Digimax 350SE
Samsung's Digimax 350SE has a sturdy, solid feel, and it's simple to use. The zoom, for example, is quiet and smooth and its buttons are large and comfortable under your thumb, making one-handed use easy. A semirigid, clamshell case comes with the camera, giving it an extra measure of protection when you're carrying it around. As you'd expect with a camera in this price range, you can record audio in the unit's movie mode; the Digimax also lets you attach audio notes (of up to 10 seconds) to still images, either when you take the shot or later in playback mode. This could be useful for adding comments about where a picture was taken, for instance.
This is one of the few cameras we've tested that does not have an instant review button. The 350SE displays a quick, 3-second view of your photo on the LCD while it's saving it, but the only way to go back and review the last shot (and possibly delete it immediately) is to switch into playback mode. Battery life was comparatively short: We managed 123 shots before the camera ran out of power--that's about half the average number of photos we've gotten from digital cameras that use four nonrechargeable AA batteries. We have a minor gripe with the placement of the CompactFlash card: It's behind the same door as the batteries, so if you open the door to change memory cards with the battery door facing down, the batteries will fall out.
The 350SE produced rather mediocre test shots. Our model's skin tone was a bit off in shots with both flash and daylight-balanced lighting. On the other hand, it successfully reproduced subtle tonal differences in the red and blue scarves we use in our tests, which other cameras have failed to do. All our test shots tended to be slightly underexposed. Our outdoor test shot produced solid, even-toned blue skies and relatively sharp detail, but it also had a lot of contrast--shadowed areas ended up far too dark.
The rest of the Digimax is standard fare for a 3-megapixel camera under $400--a 3X zoom, basic controls such as flash and self-timer on dedicated buttons, and the basic white-balance and exposure controls. The exposure value (EV) control is buried in the menus. The red-eye reduction flash has a brief delay between the first and second flashes--just enough time for your subject to think you've taken the shot and move.
This model throws in a few extras: The mode dial has a dedicated setting for night scenes, and you can switch between center and center-weighted metering. When the autofocus can't pick the spot you want, you can switch to a simple, three-setting, manual-focus mode. There's also a built-in speaker for playing back audio recordings. (It's surprising how many digital cameras can record sound but can't play it back.) The MGI Photosuite application bundled with the Digimax can sometimes be confusing, but it offers just about everything the average user needs for managing, editing, and sharing photos.
A rather unremarkable digital camera overall, the Digimax 350SE is suitable for simple, point-and-shoot photography, but several other cameras (such as the HP Photosmart 720) are cheaper and take better pictures.| Buying Information |
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