"point and shoot" digicam

[Scott]

Ok, so I was out and about taking some pictures when my trusty Canon A70 up and quit on me. It had a long and worthy life, but it is now in my trash bin.

I am looking for a replacement for it, and I came across this today, the Samsung L77:



I think it looks worth consideration, but I wanted to see if there was anything else out there that I might want to go take a look at first. The sales guy told me this camera can take 800 shots between charges, but I did like my old camera because it used easy to get AA batteries instead of a li-ion, but I guess one spare is all I would ever need. I quite liked my Canon, but brand is not all that important. I want it to be able to shoot video clips as well, so a built in mic is a must. Other than that, I am not to picky.

Here are the specs on the L77:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0702/07...samsungl77.asp

Sensor
• 1/2.5 " Type CCD
• 7.4 million pixels total
• 7.1 million effective pixels

Image sizes
• 1024 x 768
• 2592 x 1944
• 2048 x 1536
• 3072 x 1728 (16:9)
• 3072 x 2048 (3:2)
• 3072 x 2304

Movie clips
• 640 x 480 @ 30 / 15fps
• 320 x 240 @ 30 / 15fps

File formats
• JPEG Exif 2.2
• DCF
• DPOF 1.1
• QuickTime MPEG-4

Lens
• 38 - 266mm (35mm equiv)
• 7x optical zoom

Image stabilization No
Conversion lenses No
Digital zoom up to 5x
Focus TTL auto focus

Focus distance
• Normal: 80cm - infinity (wide, 100cm - infinity (tele)
• Macro: 10 cm - 80cm (wide) 100 cm - 150cm ( tele)
• Auto Macro: 10 - infinity (wde) 100 cm - infinity (tele)

Metering
• Multi
• Spot
• Center

ISO sensitivity
• Auto
• ISO 50
• ISO 100
• ISO 200
• ISO 400
• ISO 800
• ISO 1600

Exposure compensation
+/- 2EV in 0.33EV steps

Shuttter speed
1 - 1/1250sec

Aperture
F3.5 - 5.3

Modes
• Program AE
• Auto
• Effect
• EPS
• Scene
• Single
• Continuous
• AEB
• Interval

Scene modes
• Night
• Portrait
• Children
• Landscape
• Text
• Close-up
• Sunset
• Dawn
• Backlight
• Fireworks
• Beach & Snow

White balance
• Auto
• Daylight
• Cloudy
• Fluorescent H
• Fluorescent L
• Tungsten
• Custom

Self timer
2 or 10sec, Double (10sec, 2sec)

Continuous shooting
n/a

Image parameters
• Sharpness: Soft, Normal , Vivid
• Effect: Normal, B&W, Sepia, Red, Blue, Green, Negative. RGB

Flash
• Auto
• Auto & Red-eye reduction
• Fill-in flash
• Slow sync
• Flash off
• Range: 0.2 - 5.1m (wide) 0.4 - 3.3m (tele)

Viewfinder
No

LCD monitor
• 2.5-inch TFT
• 230,000 pixels

Connectivity
• USB 2.0
• Video out

Storage on SD / MMC card compatible

Power
• Rechargeable battery NP-700
• AC Charger

Dimensions 94 x 57 x 21 mm

[Cobol74]

Nikon Coolpix P5000 but then I am a sucker for Nikons.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikonp5000/

Actually, I like this Nikon so much I think I may buy it!

I see you are in Korea, Japanese products out of the question then?

[cvrefugee]

Canon IXUS 75 (SD750 in the U.S.)

[Scott]

Originally Posted by Cobol74

I see you are in Korea, Japanese products out of the question then?

No, I have full access to that stuff as well.

[Cobol74]

OK thanks, the specs on you L77 look OK actually (of course depends upon the price), the only thing is how good are the underlying optics - all the electronics depend upon the lens in the first instance. I have no experience of Samsung cameras as a comparison to Nikons or Canons (my two favourite makes of digicams).
I wondered if Korea tried to avoid importing stuff that they make too, hence my question about Japanese products.

[Scott]

Originally Posted by Cobol74

OK thanks, the specs on you L77 look OK actually (of course depends upon the price), the only thing is how good are the underlying optics - all the electronics depend upon the lens in the first instance. I have no experience of Samsung cameras as a comparison to Nikons or Canons (my two favourite makes of digicams).
I wondered if Korea tried to avoid importing stuff that they make too, hence my question about Japanese products.

There is a bit of a limitation in Korean stores with regards to Japanese products, but I have access to all that stuff thru the Post Exchange on my US Army base.

The L77 is priced at $269 on base, but retails for around $350 from what I can tell. As for the optics, that is my biggest concern as well because the lens never protrudes beyond what you see in the pics, everything is inside the case. That is neat and all, but it makes me wonder about quality. They do claim a 7x optical zoom though, so who knows!

I saw a few demo shots at the store and they looked quite good, I think I am going to go for it. I always have the option to return it if things don't work out.

[napoleondyna]

Originally Posted by cvg

Canon IXUS 75 (SD750 in the U.S.)

FTW

[Speedtouch]

I've got the Samsung L80. I think that these cameras are great. Perfect quality and ease of use. Great point and shooters.

[M3lover]

Originally Posted by napoleondyna

FTW

x 2

[Scott]

I picked up the L77 today... just waiting for my battery to charge up and then I am off to take some pics!

[napoleondyna]

So this thread was pointless then...