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Test photos
On this page we look at some typical shots taken with the Samsung Digimax V50
Downloadable original camera image samples are available from the bottom of this page
The shop front scene above contains shadows and highlights. The Samsung Digimax V50 tended to over expose slightly, so extreme highlights have been sacrificed in favour of shadow detail. The sky has a slight yellow balance too.
In the above village green scene, the lens has been set to maximum wide angle, which is equivalent to a 38mm lens on a 35mm film camera. I'd have liked the lens to go wider than it did as most provide a 35mm wide end and some go as wide as 28mm. Again, you wouldn't want the camera to expose the scene any brighter than it has and possibly a touch less bright.
Now zoomed in to 113mm (equivalent) the scene is darker because the camera's meter is being dictated by the dominant white of the cottages. But with a denser scene there is more latitude for brightness adjustments in Photoshop or similar.
The back-lit scene above has survived the threat of flare well. It's slightly hazy as you would expect, but other cameras faced with the same challenge came off a lot worse. The meter has done a reasonable job of preserving shadow detail too.
With bright direct sunlight shining on the girls, you would expect highlights to be lost and although the V50 can over expose, it's done a reasonable job here.
Now in the shade, there is a cool balance to the picture. Fill-in flash would probably have worked well in this scene.
In the above canal side shot, again the scene could have been recorded less brightly as the dinghy is washed out. As a rule, the V50 behaves rather like slide film, performing best if the camera is set to underexpose slightly where there are bright scenes.
Fringing
Above are two 1:1 (1 image pixel to 1 screen pixel) selections from high contrast images. The window frame, which is to the extreme left of the original image, just shows a touch of purple fringing. The leafless tree branches have acquired a purple tinge, but overall the V50 suppresses undesirable fringing effects quite well.
Flash exposure
In bright sunlight outdoors the V50 can over expose slightly, but indoors with flash the result can be slight underexposure as above. People with large hands may need to double check that when they hold the camera, the flash unit is not partially obstructed.
On a more problematic note, the V50 found it very difficult to lock focus on low contrast targets, like faces, in normally lit indoor situations, even with the AF assist lamp in action.
At fullest wide angle zoom, flash coverage in the corners is not very good.
Night time
This shot of the 2004 Christmas light show in Oxford Street was taken using auto exposure but with -1 EV exposure bias. I found this to be a better solution than the camera's built in night scene mode.
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