Samsung MV800 Review

December 5, 2011 | Mark Goldstein | Rating star Rating star Rating star Rating star

Introduction

The Samsung MV800 is a 16.1 megapixel digital compact camera that uniquely features a flip-out touchscreen display which makes it easier to capture self-portraits and extreme low or high angled shots. Measuring just 18.3mm in depth, the MV800 also offers a 5x optical zoom lens with 26mm wide-angle setting and dual image stabilisation, 720p HD video recording at 30 frames-per-second, 3 inch touch-screen LCD, wide range of special effects, and the intelligent Smart Auto feature which automatically adjusts the camera's settings. The Samsung MV800 is available in black, red or white priced at £249.99 / $279.99.

Ease of Use

From the front and in terms of its overall specification, the new Samsung MV800 is very similar to the same company's ST95 model that we recently reviewed. Whereas that camera is firmly in the budget camp, the MV800 is much more of a mid-priced affair. So what could possibly account for the big price difference between the two?

The MV800's unique flip-out screen is the answer. Samsung have been trying to make life easier for regular point-and-shooters for the last few years with their innovative dual-screen cameras, and now the MV800 takes things even further. Essentially the 3-inch screen is hinged on top of the body and can be rotated through 180 degrees, so as well as acting as a normal LCD screen on the rear, it can be rotated to face forward in the same direction as the lens, perfect for self-portraits. The screen can also be positioned to stand the camera up at an angle. Note that it doesn't also swivel sideways, which makes it more difficult to achieve some shooting angles than Samsung suggests, and using it to shoot overhead is also tricky as the onscreen icons and the resulting image aren't automatically rotated.

The MV800 has a 16:9 ratio 3-inch 'Smart Touch' touch screen now occupies almost the entirety of the rear plate, recalling Samsung's wireless, smartphone-inspired SH100 compact in that respect. Height wise it's about the same size as your average business card too, and the MV800 is just 18.3mm 'thick' at its slimmest point, slender dimensions accentuated by the sleek black finish of our review sample. Overall proportions are a manageable 92 x 56.2 x 18.3mm, and it weighs 121g without the card and battery fitted. That's enough to feel reasonably substantive whilst not uncomfortable if transported in the back pocket of your jeans.

Like the ST95, the MV800 has shoehorned in a 5x optical zoom, here starting out a usefully wide angle 26mm (in 35m terms) and running up to 130mm at the telephoto end, with a maximum aperture of f/3.3. Resolution is 16.1 effective megapixels in total from a 16.4MP 1/2.3-inch CCD sensor, while video resolution is fixed at 1280x720 pixels. Whilst that falls short of Full HD, there is at least an HDMI output, alongside the dual USB/AV output in a shared port hidden under a plastic side panel. There's also four slots for the built-in mono speaker.

The Samsung is very well constructed thanks to overall a higher degree of metal in the build than plastic. Without anything approaching a handgrip supplied, we did feel like it could slip from our grasp easily if we were too casual with it. A supportive wrist strap and a plastic stylus for navigating the touch screen icons are helpfully provided in the box. Also included is a cursory quick start pamphlet, with the main instructional 'meat' provided via the full manual on CD ROM only.

Also omitted from the box is a traditional mains charger as such. Instead, as is now becoming more commonplace, a dual-use short USB lead is provided: one end of which slots into the vacant port on the camera, the other end connecting up to a mains adapter plug. Thus the battery is charged in-camera, meaning that even if you were to invest in a spare cell, the MV800 remains out of action each time you want to recharge it.

As with recent Samsung pocket models, the MV800 shoots still and video to microSD card, as favoured by mobile phones. We're not big fans when it comes to microSD's use in cameras due to its very small and fiddly dimensions, meaning it's not only very easy to drop but also to lose when removing it to use in a card reader. The SH100's wireless capabilities made this less of an issue, but the MV800 isn't wireless. Doubtless Samsung is trying to make the transition easier for anyone upgrading from one of its smartphone handsets who conceivably might already own such a miniscule card, but there is certainly space here for a full sized SD/SDHC/SDXC slot to have been provided alongside the battery at the camera's base instead. A paltry 10MB internal capacity is however included.

Samsung MV800 Samsung MV800
Front Rear

The front of the MV800 is smart in appearance, with the zoom lens dominating proceedings. To its top right is a small self-timer lamp/AF illuminator lamp, and over at the other side of the lens, a narrow lozenge shaped strip housing the built-in flash. The matt surface of our black sample is business-like, and, as noted, there's no handgrip of any sorts to get a purchase at the front, and there's nothing at the rear either. Inevitably perhaps we managed to get occasional instances of visible camera shake when shooting handheld at the maximum telephoto setting.

A press of the small top plate power button and the MV800 powers up ready for the first shot in just under two seconds, which isn't bad at all. The camera's top plate is unfussy, with a slot for the mono microphone, plus - the largest control here - the shutter release button, which is encircled by a manual zoom lever. Cleverly there's a second shutter release on the back of the camera for use when the flip-out screen is in the 180 degree position for self-portraits.

The upshot is that the Samsung MV800's essential physical controls are all within reach of the forefinger or thumb of the right hand; without a second thought just about anyone will be able to pick the MV800 up, take a picture and more or less instantly review it, the camera taking just over a second to commit a full resolution JPEG to memory before the screen clears ready for your next composition. And all without approaching the touch screen if you're not bothered about altering the capture mode, or have previously selected your preferred setting. Novices really don't have to, as Samsung's default Smart Auto setting automatically compares subjects with 16 on-board settings and selects the most appropriate. The only thing that slows down proceedings is a wait of a moment or two while the flash charges if you select that option.

Whilst the left hand flank (viewing the camera from the back) is devoid of any features entirely - apart from two fixing screws - the right hand side of the camera features a small lug for attaching the provided strap plus, just above, a covered slot protecting a means of attaching the supplied USB image transfer/battery recharging cable provided and an HDMI cable (not provided). The base of the camera meanwhile features a slightly off-centre screw thread for affixing the MV800 to a tripod, plus alongside this, a sliding catch opening a compartment that houses the battery and aforementioned microSD card. So far, so straightforward.

The 16:9 aspect ratio touch screen that swallows up all the backplate real estate is the customary 3-inches in size, and like Samsung's SH100 model has taken inspiration from the smartphone market in the way it presents menu settings as fingertip selectable app-like icons. Its manufacturer has christened this the Smart Touch 3.0 User interface.

In review mode the captured image also rotates to display the 'right' way up, whether you're holding the camera on its side, phone style, or horizontally to review or share your pictures. When you're capturing stills the screen image is presented in 4:3 aspect ratio, which means that black bands crop the image left and right. When filming video however, or using a finger to swipe through the app-like icons, the full widescreen can be used.

Samsung MV800 Samsung MV800
Front Rear

The MV800 includes a selection of 'Smart Filter' digital effects among its app-style iconography, including the familiar pinhole camera-like vignetting feature and perspective warping fisheye. A Smart Album feature can also organize pictures by faces as well as by date.

While in normal shooting mode the screen is blank apart from an icon showing the current selected shooting mode, the other icons are summoned up with the press of a 'home' button located in the bottom right hand corner of the backplate, where it's easily overlooked. Press this and the user is given access to five screen's worth of function icons, with 33 options in all.

The initial screen shows the Smart Auto icon witnessed on power up, along with Program mode, Smart Movie, Movie, six option Scene mode (landscape, sunset, dawn, backlight, beach and snow and text), 3D Photo, Live Panorama - hold down the shutter button and sweep the camera across the scene - and Self Shot, which frames your face when rotating the screen to 180 degrees and then counts down from 3 before taking the shot.

Again, as with the SH100, there isn't a dedicated video record button on the MV800, a now expected feature on even the humblest of compacts, a virtual one has been provided instead. Tap the Smart Movie icon and one unexpectedly appears centre bottom of screen, the red button in the midst of a white square subconsciously recalling the Japanese flag, despite Samsung's Korean heritage.

Tap the Program mode icon and what could loosely be termed a function toolbar appears on the left hand side of the screen, allowing the control of flash settings - which summons up a virtual but slightly fiddly 'roll bar' with red eye and slow sync featuring alongside fill in, auto, and automatic red eye fix. Focus mode can also be switched in the same manner - though between auto and macro, with no manual option provided here - as can the self timer options be accessed.

At the bottom of the left hand bar is a menu button. Give this a tap with a finger when you're in Program mode and this is where you'll find the ability to control ISO (here ISO80 through ISO3200), incrementally adjust exposure +/- 2EV, control white balance, focus area (centre AF, multi zone AF, smart touch AF or one-touch shooting - the latter as it sounds being the Panasonic-like ability to fire the shutter release by tapping a finger on the screen).

Additionally we get the ability to turn face detection on or off, timer and burst settings, adjust photo size and quality, metering (multi, spot or centre weighted), tweak brightness, contrast and saturation in-camera, optical image stabilizer and 'My screen' mode, which displays all your commonly used settings as on-screen icons, all in one place. It feels like Samsung is giving us a surfeit of riches that most of the point and shoot brigade the camera is obviously aimed at will never use. Still, it makes the camera as future proof as possible and staves off any chance of boredom.

Samsung MV800 Samsung MV800
Memory Card Slot Battery Compartment

The second screen of settings continues the almost exhaustive array of options. The first icon is Picture in Picture, allowing you to insert one image within another, then Magic Frame, offering a plethora of rather wild 'n' wacky options for the kids. Next is My Magic Frame, followed by Funny Face, which as the name suggests allows you to bend, stretch and warp your favorite faces.

Photo Filter is where not only do we once again find a vignetting option, we also get an increasingly ubiquitous miniature mode, soft focus mode and two old film modes, one black and white the other sepia tinted, and both complete with authentic scratches and blemishes like a damaged negative or old movie reel. With a swipe of the finger we get further access to half tone, sketch, fisheye, defog, classic, retro, oil painting, ink painting, cartoon, cross filter and zooming shot digital filter effects. Again more than we expected from this point and shoot option.

Movie Filter is similar albeit reduced (to 11) selection of filters can be applied in movie mode, to include miniature, vignetting, fish eye, half tone and sketch options - which is still pretty cool. Vignetting offers a corner shading vignetting effect to both stills and video - with the ability to further adjust brightness, contrast and the degree/strength of the vignetting via three slider bars.

On the third screen we find the self explanatory Beauty mode, a long term feature of the Samsung range and allowing for a degree of retouching and skin tone alteration, Background Blur which digitally produces a bokeh effect, Night Shot, Close Up Shot and Dual IS options, the latter including true optical image stabilisation.

The fourth of five screens includes Intelligent Portrait, which takes three different pictures of the same scene at the same time from different angles, Auto Zoom Shot which automatically zooms in on a face, Timer Shot, Touch Shot which takes the image simply by touching the screen, and Pose Guide, which shows your subjects how to position themselves for the perfect shot.

The final screen houses Album, Theme Album with Travel, Wedding and Party themes, self-explanatory Slide Show, Photo Editor, in which the image can be cropped and rotated, smart filters can be applied and the brightness, contrast and saturation can be altered, Storyboard Maker, which lets you create storyboards with a choice of layouts and text, Wallpapers for personalising the MV800 with a standard background or your own image, Help and Settings. Delve into any one of these in search of features and, if you don't find what's required, a subsequent press of the 'Home' button acts as a way to return to the main screen.

In playback mode meanwhile, accessed with a press of the familiar playback button located on the backplate, the user is presented with a simple array of options at the left hand side of the screen, with the ability first and foremost to delete unwanted images, followed by the ability to view them as a slideshow with music, then to display the shots as a series of thumbnails. At any time a press of the Home button takes us back to those phone app like shooting options, which makes for straightforward and intuitive operation. Though, as we noted at the outset, the camera can merely be left on its default settings and used as a point and shoot compact pure and simple, without engaging with the touch-screen at all.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 16 megapixel SuperFine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 5.5Mb.

The Samsung MV800 delivers good front to back of frame sharpness for the most part. On occasion though we did witness some loss of definition towards the corners of the frame when shooting at maximum wide angle and slight softness at extreme telephoto setting, plus disappointingly, but unsurprisingly, burnt out highlights when shooting in brighter, sunnier conditions. Inevitably pixel fringing also makes an appearance between areas of high contrast. Colours are on the warm side however, with red, greens and blues particularly flatteringly rendered, and under ideal exterior conditions we were able to get some pleasing results as our sample JPEGs hopefully show.

Similarly, whilst by far from the worst low light performance we've seen, and a broader than expected light sensitivity range selectable from ISO 80 up to maximum ISO 3200, images do start to noticeably deteriorate and lose detail after ISO 400, meaning that at ISO 800 noise and softness are present in equal measure. That said, when selecting the 'night' option from among its pre-optimised selection of scene modes, we were pretty pleased with the end results - which is, as our test shots show, as good, if not better than the results from long-standing photographic brands in its class.

Noise

There are 7 ISO settings available on the Samsung MV800. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting.

ISO 80 (100% Crop)

ISO 100 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 200 (100% Crop)

ISO 400 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 800 (100% Crop)

ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

   

ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

 
 

Focal Range

The Samsung MV800's 5x zoom lens offers a versatile focal range, as illustrated by these examples:

26mm

130mm

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft and ideally benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You can also change the in-camera sharpening level.

Original (100% Crop)

Sharpened (100% Crop)

   

File Quality

The Samsung MV800 has 3 different image quality settings available, with SuperFine being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.

16M SuperFine (6.25Mb) (100% Crop) 16M Fine (3.44Mb) (100% Crop)
   
16M Normal (2.31Mb) (100% Crop)  
 

Chromatic Aberrations

The Samsung MV800 handled chromatic aberrations fairly well during the review, with some purple fringing present around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in the examples below.

Example 1 (100% Crop)

Example 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Samsung MV800 offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 5cms away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro Shot

100% Crop

Flash

The flash settings on the Samsung MV800 are Auto, Auto & Red-eye reduction, Fill-in flash, Slow sync, Flash Off, and Red-eye fix. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (26mm)

Auto - Wide Angle (26mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64
   

Flash Off - Telephoto (130mm)

Auto - Telephoto (130mm)

ISO 64 ISO 64

And here are some portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Auto setting or the Red eye fix option caused any red-eye.

Auto

Auto (100% Crop)
   

Red eye fix

Red eye fix (100% Crop)

Night Shot

The Samsung MV800's maximum shutter speed is 16 seconds in the Night scene mode, which is excellent news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 6 seconds at ISO 80.

Night Shot

Night Shot (100% Crop)

Live Panorama

The MV800's Live Panorama mode shoots either a 2D or 3D panorama image by sweeping the camera either horizontally or vertically.

2D Panorama

 

3D Panorama

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Samsung MV800 camera, which were all taken using the 16 megapixel SuperFine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movie & Video

This is a sample video from the Samsung MV800 camera at the highest quality setting of 1280x720 pixels at 30 frames per second. Please note that this 20 second movie is 23.4Mb in size.

Product Images

Samsung MV800

Front of the Camera

 
Samsung MV800

Front of the Camera / Lens Extended

 
Samsung MV800

Isometric View

 
Samsung MV800

Isometric View

 
Samsung MV800

Isometric View

 
Samsung MV800

Isometric View

 
Samsung MV800

Rear of the Camera

 
Samsung MV800

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

 
Samsung MV800

Rear of the Camera / Shooting Modes

 
Samsung MV800

Rear of the Camera / Turned On

 
Samsung MV800

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

 

Samsung MV800

Front of the Camera

 
Samsung MV800

Front of the Camera

 
Samsung MV800

Rear of the Camera

 
Samsung MV800

Rear of the Camera

 
Samsung MV800

Front of the Camera

 
Samsung MV800

Top of the Camera

 
Samsung MV800

Bottom of the Camera

 
Samsung MV800

Side of the Camera

 
Samsung MV800

Side of the Camera

 
Samsung MV800

Front of the Camera

 
Samsung MV800

Front of the Camera

 
Samsung MV800

Memory Card Slot

 
Samsung MV800

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

If point and shoot's your thing, then you'll be delighted with the new Samsung NV800, which offers by far the most hand-holding features that we've ever seen on a compact camera, coupled with a great touchscreen that largely succeeds in mimicking a smartphone. And that's not even mentioning the unique and very useful flip-out display which makes it easy to take a self-portrait and shoot from more obscure angles. It's not all a bed of roses - the image quality isn't that great, it's a little tricky to shoot from overhead and the price is high for a purely point-and-shoot model, but overall the MV800 is undoubtedly a very easy and surprisingly full-featured camera to use.

In many ways the MV800 is very similar to the much cheaper ST95 model, which at half the price shares the same 5x zoom lens, 16 megapixel sensor and 3 inch touchscreen. If you don't buy into the flip-out screen design and don't mind sacrificing some of the multitude of auto-features, then the ST95 is a much more logical buy. On the other hand, the MV800 is even better suited to beginners with its unique screen and plethora of clever modes and creative effects. It can get a little bit overwhelming at first, with no less than 32 modes, effects and options on offer, but spend a little time exploring and you'll soon find your favourites.

£249.99 / $279.99 is a lot to ask for a compact camera with so-so image quality and only a 5 x zoom lens, so its vital that the MV800 delivers on its main aim of being the ultimate point and shoot. Happily it largely succeeds on that promise, allowing us to recommend the Samsung NV800 as a great social camera with a literal twist.

4 stars

Ratings (out of 5)
Design 4
Features 4.5
Ease-of-use 4.5
Image quality 3.5
Value for money 3.5

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Samsung MV800 from around the web.

whatdigitalcamera.com »

The Samsung MV800 takes a unique approach to compact camera design, offering a rear screen that can be pulled away from the body to aid a range of shooting angles, including self-portraits. Is this just a gimmick or a breakthrough in compact camera design?
Read the full review »

ephotozine.com »

The Samsung MultiView MV800 is a new compact camera with a large touch screen that swivels over the top of the camera and has a rear shutter button giving you the ability to take self portraits and other shots from creative angles. The MV800 is available in black, with red and white versions coming soon, for £199.00.
Read the full review »

Specifications

Image Sensor

Sensor Type CCD
Effective Pixel Approx 16.15 MP
Total Pixel Approx 16.44 MP

Lens

Focal Length 4.7 - 23.5mm (Equivalent to 26 - 130mm in 35mm format)
F No. F3.3 - F5.9
Optical Zoom 5x
Digital Zoom Still Image Mode: 1 - 5x

Image Stabilization

Mode Dual IS (OIS + DIS)

Display

Type TFT LCD
Size 3.0" Wide
Feature 3.0" (7.62cm) 288000 Pixels

Focusing

Type TTL auto focus
Range Normal: 80cm - Infinity(Wide) / 150cm - infinity (Tele) , Macro: 5 - 80cm (Wide) / 100- 150cm (Tele), Auto Macro: 5cm - Infinity (Wide) / 100cm - Infinity (Tele)

Shutter Speed

Auto: 1/8 - 1/2000sec / Program: 1 - 1/2000sec / Night: 16 - 1/2000sec / AEB,continuous: 1/4~1/2000sec

Exposure

Control Program AE
Metering System Centre Weighted / Multi / Spot / Face Detection
Compensation ± 2 EV (1/3 EV Step)
ISO Equivalent Auto / 100 / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600 / 3200

Flash

Mode Auto / Red-Eye / Fill-in / Slow Synch / Red-eye Fix
Range Wide: 0.2 - 3.2m, Tele: 0.5 - 1.8m (ISO Auto)
Recharging Time 4sec

White Balance

Mode Auto WB / Cloudy / Custom / Daylight / Fluorescent_H / Fluorescent_L / Tungsten

Still Image

Mode Mode: Smart Auto / Program / Scene / 3D Photo / Live Panorama / Self Shot / Picture in Picture / Magic Frame / Funny Face / Smart Filter / Beauty Shot / Background Blur / Dual IS / Intelligent Portrait / Auto Zoom / Touch Shot / Pose Guide/ Night / Close-up Shot Smart Auto: Portrait / Night Portrait / Backlight Portrait / Macro Portrait / Backlight / Landscape / White / Action / Tripod / Night / Macro / Macro Text / Blue Sky / Sunset Sky / Macro Color / Natural Green, Scene: Landscape / Text / Sunset / Dawn / Backlight / Beach & Snow, Continuous: Single / Continuous / Motion Capture / AEB , Self-Timer: 10sec / 2sec / Double

Image Play

Single Image / Thumbnails / Multi Slide Show with music and effect / Movie Clip / Smart Album / Theme Album

Date Imprinting

Date&Time / Date / Off (User Selectable)

Movie Clip

Recording Voice : Mute, Sound Alive on, Sound Alive off, Recording Time (Max): 20mins Size: 1280 x 720 / 640 x 480 / 320 x 240 (5x Optical Zoom) Frame Rate: 30fps / 15fps
Effect Smart Filter: Miniature / Vignetting / Half Tone Dot / Sketch / Fish-eye / Classic / Retro / Palette Effect 1 / Palette Effect 2 / Palette Effect 3 / Palette Effect 4
Edit Still Image Capture / Time Trimming

Storage

Media Internal Memory : Approximatly 10MB /
External Memory : MicroSD (Upto 2GB) / MicroSDHC (Upto 32GB)
File Format DCF / EXIF 2.21 / DPOF 1.1 / Pictbridge 1.0 Still Image: JPEG(DCF) / MPO / Movie Clip : MP4 (Video: MPEG-4.AVC/H.264, Audio:AAC)
Image Size 16M: 4608 x 3456 / 14MP: 4608 x 3072 / 12 MW: 4608 x 2592 / 10M: 3648 x 2736 / 5M: 2592 x 1944 / 3M: 1984 x 1488 / 2MW: 1920 x 1080 / 1M: 1024 x 768

Interface

Digital Output Connector USB 2.0 (Hi-Speed)
Audio Microphone: Mono /
Internal Speaker: Mono
Video Output AV: NTSC / PAL (User Selectable) HDMI 1.3: NTSC / PAL (User Selectable)
DC Power Input 5V

Power

Power Source Type Rechargeable Battery: BP-70A (3.7 V,740mAh, Min 700mAh) / Connector Type: Micro-USB

Physical Specification

Dimension Dimension (WxHxD) 92 x 56.2 x 18.3mm (without protrusions)
Weight 121g (without Battery and Memory Card)
Operating Temperature 0 - 40 ?
Operating Humidity 5 - 85 %

S/W and PC OS

Bundle PC S/W Built-in PC S/W
Compatible OS Windows XP SP2 / Vista / Windows 7

System Requirement in General

For Macintosh Power Mac G3 or later / Mac OS 10.4 or later / 256MB (Min) RAM (512MB or more Recommended) / 110MB (Min) of available Hard-Disk Space / USB Port / CD-ROM Drive
For Windows PC with Processor Better than Intel Pentium IV 3.2 GHz / AMD Athlon FX 2.6GHz or higher / Windows XP / Vista / 7, 512MB (Min) RAM (1GB or more Recommended) / 250MB of available Hard Disk Space (1GB or more Recommended) / USB Port / CD-ROM Drive / 1024 x 768P / 16bit Colour Display Compatible Monitor (24bit Color Display Recommended) / Microsoft Direct X 9.0c or later

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