Samsung WB500 Review

#1 Martin Petrásek

I am satisfied with this camera and it is good quality for low price. Last years working on Canon profi cameras but, but this is for my holiday making pictures/video good enought.

Dont use 10 Mpix resolution, because the quality stops at 5 MPix. Camera works like 5 Mpix.

Here is my testing video from Paris trip:

http://vimeo.com/5709024

12:15 pm - Tuesday, August 4, 2009

#2 Don Nugent

The Samsung HZ-10W indicates that it can be remote controlled by a optional remote, but I have not been able to determine how to order one.  It is stated that the remote is a optional accessory in the owners booklet.  The remote is not listed on the Samsung website.  I would like to use the remote to make short personal interviews.  Samsung should please let camera owners but a remote from dealers selling the camera or at least order it from the Samsung website.

6:55 pm - Wednesday, August 19, 2009

#3 Jimmy

Dont buy this camera.

There are many, many better cameras on the market. The fact is that this camera simply doesnt have the functionality (can barely change any settings - the ones you can change are extremely limited) that you would expect from a camera at this price - it is a lower priced camera in a higher priced body.

The software that they provide, “Samsung Master”, also is not compatible with MP4 (the file type of the video), which means that it is impossible to edit video without first converting to AVI format, which means you have to buy the “update” for Quicktime which is used by the camera default to play the MP4 files on your PC.

I regret buying this but was stupid enough to get the box damaged and cant take it back. Anyone else thinking of getting into photography and buying this, seriously think again. Try one of the better brands i.e. Canon, etc… and you will get better value for money.

11:13 pm - Tuesday, September 8, 2009

#4 Maria

i have to agree with jimmy. this camera is crap
i paid 240 dollars for this crapy camera not worth 100 bucks
im done with samsung. this is the 3rd samsung and im return and not buying more samsung ever !
good job i send this piece of crap back.
and now i just luck and its gone so much down ! even 169 dollars its expensive so dont buy this .
i just got a cheap kodak for 100 dollars and it does a much better job then this samsung.
jimmy sell your in ebay honey you cant keep this crapy cAMERA.
GOOD LUCK

12:18 am - Thursday, September 24, 2009

#5 Ionut

Hmm
I find it a good camera.

You guys should get to now first how to use the camera then , comment on a product…

It make grat pictures and it is a setting for almost every situation you encounter…

the HD video is as well great , making super movies , not to speak about 24 mm lens , beautiful..

So learn the settings , play whit it till you learn this camera triks and then post a comment.

8:22 pm - Friday, November 27, 2009

#6 lauren

Really good camera, and I completely agree with the above comment.

This camera does exactly what it says it’s going to do. Not misleading, and definitely well worth the money.

And the 24mm lens is amazing, gives a deeper perspective to your picture. Everything you need!

7:55 pm - Friday, December 11, 2009

#7 buy r4 ds

This camera is great only used a few times so far but excellent on close ups but also good on lanscapes. It starts up quickly, the autofocus and zooming speed are fine. The LCD at 2.7” is really clear and crisp. With the Schneider lens which has 24mm wide-240mm tele angle you can get so much in the picture. With incredible 10x Optical Zoom you can get any person/item as close up you want….

9:42 am - Tuesday, January 26, 2010

#8 Craig

Whilst I wouldn’t rave about this camera, it is by no means as bad as a couple of people above are making out. Yes, the noise reduction algorithm is rather aggressive - smearing out noise so much it may impinge on some fine detail towards the horizon - but this is only apparent at 100% crops.

For non-professional use this camera will produce very good quality prints.

The camera also has a full Manual mode - so I’m not sure why people are claiming it does not offer full control. I’ve held a couple in my hand, and for me the lens housing has a tiny amount of ‘play’ in it (you can feel it subtly shift as you rotate the camera in your hand) but other than that I am happy with it.

12:41 am - Thursday, February 11, 2010

#9 Tom

I bought this cam used for only 130 bucks, because I wanted a cam for carrying araound all the time. My Nikon D700 and D90 are simply to heavy for the pocket. Until now I’ve shot more than 200 pictures and dozens of videos and can conclude that the Samsung is worth every penny, even if I paid the full price. Image quality is realy very good, if you manage to keep the ISO low, i.e. between 80 and 250. Noise and especially noise reduction is absolutely unacceptable at higher ISOs, even at 400 ISO. My wifes Canon Ixis 100 performs much better at high ISOs and my broken Fuji F30 was another category in tis regard anyway. Thanks to the very good image stabilization you’ll hardly need ISOs higher than 400, even in very bad lightning conditions. Colors are natural and well saturated and can be adjusted to match everyones taste. Handling is somewhat unusual but I’ve managed to learn all the possible adjustments within one hour. What amazed me the most, was the capability of the cam to zoom and focus while filming. The video feature of my Nikon D90 is a joke by comparison and the quality of the 720p-movies is not better, in spite of the much larger sensor. All in all a very capable compact, for the price I’ve paid a give-away.

8:07 pm - Saturday, March 6, 2010