WB250F Smart Camera White
At a Glance:
- Built-in Wi-Fi for easy sharing and data transfers
- Captures Full HD Video
- 18x zoom lens provides versatile range
- 3-inch hybrid touch display with easy navigation
- 14.2-megapixel BSI sensor for optimal low-light performance
Product Description
- Take crystal-clear photos and stunning video with the WB250F Smart Camera from Samsung. With features such as a 14.2-megapixel backside-illuminated sensor and an 18x zoom lens, the WB250F gives you the creative freedom to take great photos even in low-light situations. And with built-in Wi-Fi, you can easily and quickly share your best shots.
By C. Bruce
"I must say instead of purchasing from Amazon I couldn't wait and tested out cameras in Best Buy and was completely sold on this camera and paid $20 more +tax. It feels a little on the cheap side? Maybe just because it's light weight which I do like. It was very easy to connect to security enabled wi-fi and send pictures to facebook and email. Some things I believe require you to connect to a computer. The camera is very intuitive and hints automatically pop up on the screen to further explain what a feature can help you with. I have not picked up the manual yet. As another reviewer said the flash is odd but works very well. I think the way the flash is lends me to lean toward that cheap feeling because it seems as though it could be broken easily the way it is attached. However, the camera detects if you open it and then will allow for auto flash when open or flash off if it's closed.
I wondered how point and shoot cameras were going to keep up and this camera is an excellent example. This camera is by far better than any cell phone just with the wide angle and zoom capabilities. With the added sharing, touch screen, and intuitiveness that is integrated it makes it an very neat relatively compact device. It's not as compact as some but way smaller than the larger zoom cameras and is a great compromise.
I have seen a couple cameras with gps and I know one was powered by android. Nice features but I did not see the benefit of having a lot of those features on my camera when I have them on my phone? Also, the price of that camera was significantly more.
Also something to note. This camera actually has a low light sensor that compensates for the light level versus detecting the light level and adjusting the shutter speed. When your shutter speed is slower to allow more light in this gives you more time to move the camera and means image stabilization has more to process. In other words it doesn't work very well. The samsung has a quick shutter speed in low light situations and does a nice job of compensating for the light therefore also making your pictures clearer and brighter. This is from my experience and the BB rep gave me a demonstration of it when I had narrowed my choices between a canon elph with wifi and the samsung."
By John kaufman
"I was planning on purchasing this camera from amazon, but ended up with a good deal on an open box at Best Buy. I've tested the camera out and have to say for what I bought it for it looks excellent.
Photo quality
This was my main consideration when buying a new camera. I have to say that the camera does not disappoint me at all. I've taken indoor low light pics, as well as outdoor pictures of my dogs running around at full speed with only the automatic settings, and the pictures have all come out better than expected. Action shots are frozen and crisp, and close up portraits are significantly better than I expected, not $1200 DLSR quality, but for a sub $200 point and shoot, WAY better than expected - I doubt the average person could tell the difference. The portraits show clear subject, no distortion, excellent color and shallow depth of field just like a DLSR and all on auto settings.
Video Quality
Video quality is good, the 1080p video looks decent - the image stabilization is good but not great. The main drawback is that there is a very noticeable noise picked up by the microphone when zooming. - again for a cheap point and click to use for occasional video the quality is good. To use as a primary video camera and create your next masterpiece, not so good.
One nice thing about video is that you can just press the red video button on the back of the camera to begin recording. You don't have to find a special setting etc... so it's very quick and easy to go into video mode. The other nice thing is that while videoing you can still take pictures with no effect on the video.
Features
The photo features are what you would expect for a camera in this range. It does also have on camera editing, for cropping, "Instagram Like" effects can be carried out in the camera etc...
One very nice feature is the touch screen. I have a Galaxy Note 2 and really like the feature of touching the spot on the screen that I want focused on in camera mode. This camera has the same feature. So if the camera is focusing on something in the foreground or background, you just touch on the subject on your screen and the camera changes focus to the right spot.
Wireless / Remote connection to phone
This is truly the best part of the camera. It has built in wireless connectivity, so you can e-mail photos, upload to facebook, picasa, upload videos to youtube, etc... directly from the camera. No more waiting until you get home and connecting to your computer to do something with the pictures.
The coolest part of this functionality is the connection to your smartphone. Download the samsung app, and you can use your smartphone as the viewfinder and take pictures without using a timer, or touching the camera. This is great for taking pictures of yourself with your kids.. seriously, I have hundreds of pictures of my kids and I am not in any of them because I'm always taking the pictures, I think this will change that.
It also can be used to download pictures from your camera right to your phone so any pics taken on the camera appear in your phone's gallery in seconds. That means you can e-mail, text message, facebook etc... from your phone just like you are used to. I LOVE this!!!
Build Quality
Build quality could be better, but what do you expect at the price point? The only thing I really wish it had that it doesn't and I'm a little disappointed in is the tripod threading is all plastic, instead of metal. I'm worried that using on a tripod will damage the threads and not be able to use a tripod again. I'm also leery of tightening the tripod too firmly because of this.
Conclusion
I was considering buying the Galaxy Camera - but at double the price, I get the similar image quality, it appears to be running android internally although I can't play angry birds on my camera - which for me was not a huge selling point anyways... So considering the price difference, this seemed to be a much better deal for the same basic photo, video, wireless features. It is a very pocketable size, the photo quality is excellent - way better than I expected, and automatically downloading pictures to my phone - and computer wirelessly are exactly what I wanted.
I am happy with the camera so far, but gave it 4 stars because of the following:
- Tripod threads plastic not metal
- Zoom noise during video recording.
- Remote viewfinder app is amazing, but I wish it gave full control over the camera - changing scene modes, burst shots, etc... The feature is great, but could use a little polish."
