Samsung WB5000 - Test Shots - Detail And Lens Performance

A range of general test shots are shown over the next two pages. In some cases, the full size image has been reduced for bandwidth purposes, and a crop taken from the original full resolution image has been placed below it to show the overall image quality. Some other pictures may be clicked to view the original full-size image.

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Here's the usual detail test shot of the West Window of Exeter Cathedral, for you to compare with other cameras. See below for a full res crop, or click to see the whole picture.

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The overall level of detail is very good, but the image is poorly processed and over-sharpened.

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There's no wide-angle distortion, but some of that is due to image processing.

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Centre sharpness is very good.

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Corner sharpness is also very good, with no chromatic aberration.

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10 comments

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Noodles

12:17 AM on 2 March, 2010

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A photograph of children outside a primary school?! How dare you, I'm off to form an angry mob right now! We'll be looking for you outside Exeter Cathedral's West Window tomorrow, complete with flaming torches and misspelt placards..

More seriously though Cliff, are you sure that "Samsung has never made a superzoom camera" before? What about the (quite good) 15X Zoom Pro815 you reviewed in August 2006?

Score:

kai

2:03 AM on 2 March, 2010

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I saw samsung just announced the HZ50W in the PMA 2010 which should be the successor of this model I think.

Terry

4:51 PM on 2 March, 2010

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... err does it have a viewfinder? Another thing it seems there are no super superzooms as image quality is often around the "7" mark...? Going back awhile I remember that fixed focus lenses were considered way better quality than zoom lenses... Nevertheless superzoom cameras are fun and capable of some really good photos.

CliffSmith

3:30 PM on 5 March, 2010

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Noodles - Your memory is clearly better than mine, I'd forgotten all about the Pro815. What a bizarre contraption that was; two LCD monitors, one of them 3.8 inches, a 15x zoom with no stabilisation and the slowest AF ever. Pretty decent picture quality for the time though.

Kai - Yes, you're probably correct. The photos I've seen of the HZ50W do look a lot like the WB5000, and the speed with which Samsung has been updating its camera range recently make it likely that an updated 14MP version will appear soon.

Terry - 3rd paragraph, page 2. It has an electronic viewfinder, although not a particularly good one.

Splogbust

7:14 PM on 5 March, 2010

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Terry - Another thing it seems there are no super superzooms as image quality is often around the "7"

my thougths too, until I remembered this:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/digital-cameras/review/2009/11/26/Fujifilm-FinePix-S200EXR/p1

7:45 PM on 5 March, 2010

@Cliff: Hah, the only reason I remembered it existed was because of it's complete and utter breeze-block like weirdness. Almost bought one once, but ended up being boring and got an S9500 instead..

3:41 PM on 6 March, 2010

Thanks for the link Splogbust... and another thing!... why do electronic "viewfinders" have to be such a shoddy compromise on an instrument where optics take prime place...? A camera is all about the "view" before your eyes surely? I have a superzoom that has an awful electronic viewfinder...

RonRoyce

12:48 AM on 7 March, 2010

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I struggle with the review.

Why award the camera 8/10 overall when the thing that is most important - the image quality - is so poor I wouldn't change my Fuji S602 (now 6 years old) for it as the images look at least as good as the Samsung, if not better!

I can't even understand how it got 7/10 for image quality when the test shots are clearly poor by any standard, especially the ISO tests - mottling at 64ISO???

If that was me it'd be marked down a couple of points on image quality alone and at the price I'd say it was pretty poor value for money.

3:08 PM on 7 March, 2010

The price is very good actually, consider the feature it offers. Many other superzooms are more expensive than this one.

For image quality, I'd mark down one point to 6. but 7 is still fair. We should understand the score is relative. When u look at the score of compact camera, u are comparing to other compact camera. When u look at score of entry-level DSL, U are comparing to other entry-level DSL. as well as superzooms, When u look at the score, it is comparing with other superzooms. The score is not a absolute value for all kinds of camera.

And most superzooms have lower image quality. So the standard is also lower.

11:08 PM on 8 March, 2010

... time to find your 35mm SLRs, buy a roll of film, put your fixed focus 28mm or 50mm on the front and take some quality photos...?!

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