Samsung Digimax S500 5.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Silver)

by Samsung

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.8 x 1.3 x 2.4 inches ; 4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000DZDLYE
• Item model number: S500
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,906 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

Color: Silver

From the Manufacturer

The five megapixel S500 is a full featured digital camera designed to deliver maximum value, style and performance for digital photographers of all skill and experience levels. Offering features useful to the entire family, the camera offers a crystal-clear 2.4-inch LCD and a 3x optical zoom in both still and movie modes. In addition to its optical zoom, the S500 provides a 5x digital zoom, achieving a total zoom of 15x when used together.

For recording movies while on the go, the S500 supports MJPEG video recording, enabling users to take advantage of the 3x optical zoom even while in the movie recording mode. This model also features robust movie clip editing functions, which allow users to be more creative with their images than ever before. For example, "S" series owners can select and save a portion of a movie clip during playback and/or select part of a movie clip to be saved as a still image. All of this can be done right on the camera, without the aid of a computer or third party editing software. Also included is Samsung's unique successive video function that allows shooters to pause and resume video recording at any time and merge multiple video files into one single file.

For crystal-clear images under many lighting conditions, the S500 features seven scene modes including: Landscape, Close-Up, Sunset, Dawn, Backlight, Fireworks, and Beach & Snow. And, for the ultimate in creative control the camera also features a Special Effects Hot Key, putting several special effects at the user's fingertips. These effects include: Color Effect, offering a variety of colors, including black and white, sepia, blue, red, green or Negative depending on your photographic settings; Highlight, which keeps the subject in sharp focus while putting the rest of the image into soft focus; Photo Frame, allowing the shooter to choose from nine different types of photo frames to shoot their subjects in; and Composite Shot that allows the user to take two to four images and save them into a single file.

For further convenience, all Samsung digital still cameras feature a built-in image editing function allowing users to edit a variety of images without the use of a PC. The Trimming function can be used to cut an undesired part of an image and save only the required part. When short of memory, shooters can use the Resizing function to recover some of the memory space, by resizing and saving images in a smaller size. The Rotating function allows users to rotate an image in the desired direction and save it.

To ensure the clarity of images regardless of shooting range, the Auto Macro function automatically adjusts shooting distance and focus. By using the macro button, users can set the camera to automatically adjust distance and focus from between 5 centimeters to infinity.

Equipped with 16 MB of built-in memory, the S500 allows shooters to save pictures without a memory card while the Copy to Card function allows users to seamlessly transfer images saved in the internal memory to external memory. The camera also includes various useful functions such as voice recording for up to one hour, voice memo for adding a short voice message to a picture and "One-Touch Playback" for instant playback of a picture even when the power is off.

Product Description

Samsung Digimax S500 5.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Silver)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

86 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First Day with My Camera, April 18, 2006

By 

Zarjay (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Samsung Digimax S500 5.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Black) (Electronics)

My Samsung Digimax S500 camera arrived this morning, and I've been spending the entire day testing it out.

I've never owned a good digital camera before (my previous cameras were all $20-or-less cameras of poor quality), and so far, I'm glad that I chose this camera to be my first. It has an attractive design, is easy to hold, and is easy to use.

This morning, I quickly opened the box and inserted the batteries that came with it, wanting impatiently to test out the camera. I took a few pictures of myself, which came out disappointingly blurry. I realized that my arm was too unsteady when I took the picture, and after switching the camera mode from "auto" to "children," I solved my blurriness problem. (The "children" mode is meant for taking pictures of moving objects.)

I spent a few minutes figuring out the controls, which weren't too difficult to get used to. The user's manual was explanative enough for me to understand any features I wasn't too sure on, such as how the different modes worked and how to get the flash working.

At the highest setting (5MP with Super Fine Quality), I was only able to take about 6 pictures total. After inserting my 128MB SD memory card, however, that count increased to 46. I was tempted to insert my 1GB SD memory card, but my 128MB card is sufficient enough for my needs. Unless I wanted to store hundreds of pictures or capture nearly an hour of video, I don't need to use my 1GB card.

Taking my digital camera out for a walk around the city was a fun experience. After uploading the pictures to my computer and witnessing the great quality of the pictures I had taken, I was convinced that I had bought the right camera.

The LCD screen is much darker in daylight than it is indoors, and so the display fooled me into thinking some of my pictures were too dark when I took them. After viewing them on my computer, I realized that the quality of the pictures was better and brighter than what I had thought when viewing them from the LCD screen.

After about 4-5 hours of usage, I noticed the battery started to get low, which means I'll need to replace the batteries soon. I recommend buying rechargeable batteries, or else you'll most likely be buying AA batteries frequently if you like taking lots of pictures.

I noticed many extra features the camera has, including its special effects and its various scene modes. I haven't experimented with these features yet, because I'm comfortable with just using the "auto," "children," and "manual" modes.

Since I've never owned a decent camera before, I was afraid that the controls might be too confusing, but that thankfully wasn't the case. Pressing the lightning bolt arrow next to the Menu/OK button toggles what type of flash I want, and the top 'W' and 'T' buttons let me zoom in or out to my liking. I click the button next to the "trash can" symbol to delete pictures, and I press the 'E' button if I want to use some extra effects. The controls seem pretty self-explanatory.

In order to upload the camera's pictures onto my computer, I had to install the software on the CD included with the camera. The installation process didn't take very long, and the CD even comes with its own software for viewing photos (Digimax Master 1.0). I haven't used it, though, because all I need to do is plug in the camera using the included USB cable and copy the pictures from the camera onto my computer. The computer recognizes the camera as a "removable drive" (my computer recognizes my camera as the F: drive), and after opening the "DCIM" folder, I can view and upload all the pictures I've taken.

I'm currently satisfied with this camera, although since I've had this camera for only a day, I can't say anything about how this camera will perform in the long run or if there are any problems that might occur after long-term usage. I can definitely say, however, that I'm satisfied with the picture quality and the camera's performance and ease of use. I'd recommend this camera to anyone who wanted to easily take and upload high quality pictures to his/her computer.

It nicely fits in your pocket, has more settings than you need, and has an SD slot for you to expand its memory capabilities. I recommend buying a 128MB SD card if you're a modest photographer, or a 512MB one if you want the extra space. A 1GB might be going a little overboard, but it's nice to think of how many pictures and video you could store on it. Keep in mind, however, that flash memory will wear out over time. I don't know the actual life of an SD memory card, but I would assume that the card would start to wear out after about 60,000 read/write cycles. So flash memory may last for a long time, but don't expect your 1GB memory card to last you a lifetime.

In conclusion, this is a wonderful digital camera, and I am a happy customer.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars packs a punch for the price..., April 20, 2006

By 

Diverse (Cincinnati, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Samsung Digimax S500 5.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Silver) (Electronics)

I recently purchased the S500 and am a satisfied customer. It has a beautiful LCD screen, the optical zoom is top notch and even the quality of the movie mode is great by most standards. Picture quality is amazing, and it doesn't take a professional to figure it all out. Just point and click. At a price tag of $180, you can't really ask for more... the sound quality while shooting in movie mode is not the prettiest but what would you expect from a digital camera. Also, plan on buying rechargable batteries otherwise your going to make Duracell very rich. (as if thier not rich enough)...

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great little snapshot camera for the money, September 12, 2006

By 

Reader0111 "Spence Newman" (Fullerton, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Samsung Digimax S500 5.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Black) (Electronics)

Don't know what the low raters were doing with their cameras or perhaps they just got bad ones.

I've been looking for a small camera that had two things! 1) 640x480 Video at 30fps & sound and 2) cheap!

This camera is used mostly outside but also inside. All small digital cameras have difficulty with flash that won't reach. Outdoor photos are always great (in good sun) and indoor pictures are great as long as you remember that the little flash does not go to the far side of the cathedral! If you need that kind of photograph then buy a camera that has a connection for external flash.

I'm using this camera for field work and Geocaching. I'm delighted with the quality of the photos and movies. It's not built like a Nikon but if you take care of your stuff you will probably be happy with this little camera!

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