Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

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.

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)...

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!

I purchased this camera 2 months ago, and couldn't be happier. It takes beautiful pictures, is very easy to operate, and the videos it takes are great too. Nice zoom-in features. I like the small size, and it fits in your hand quite well. I love how it doesn't eat up battery life. I bought some Energizer rechargeable (2500 mAh)batteries, and I can play with this camera almost all day and still have battery life for the next day without recharging. I took some extreme close ups of some small flowers, and the crystal clear details are amazing. It also is problem free, quick and simple when transfering your pictures to your computer. I can't think of anything negative to say about this camera. A true bargain for it's price, considering it's superb performance and features.

I've never owned a digital camera, so it took a long time reading reviews for various cameras in this price range until I came upon this camera. Even though there were only a few reviews, it sounded like it would be a good camera for my needs. I wanted something at least 4 or 5 MP; big LCD screen; video with sound; optical zoom; lots of features. Needless to say, this fit the bill perfectly! I won a brand new one on eBay for only $125. It just arrived the other day, and I've been testing out all of the features. The night mode feature is really cool. If you use it while taking a picture of something that's moving, it has some weird effects. The different color modes are also fun (b&w, sepia, red, green, blue, negative, etc.), as are the frames. The macro feature is awesome! I don't have a steady hand, so I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get any clear pictures in this mode. I tried it out on some flowers, and the pictures came out so beautifully! I also used the 'children' mode on my cats, and was able to capture some great pictures. Another thing that I like playing around with is the manual mode. You can do slow flash, and set it up to 8 seconds, I believe. With that setting, if you point the camera on one object (say, a person) for half of the time, and then point it on another (a background) you get a cool ghostly effect!

The only negative thing I'd have to say is that it does eat up batteries really quickly, so you either have to carry a lot of extras on hand, or get rechargeable batteries.

Other than that, this is a fantastic camera...especially for the price! :)

Good camera for the most part. I had alot of problems with it at first due to the batteries I was using, they were rechargable, but were old. Once I got some new rechargable batteries, though, it worked just fine. Don't buy this if you plan on taking alot of pictures without flash, because they almost always turn out blurry without flash, no matter how steady your hand is. When it's low on batteries, it freezes up, and you have to take the batteries out to get it to turn off. There is no sound while you zoom in while making a video, but after you're done zooming it is fine. I don't recommend using the software that comes with the product; just plug it in and wait for the Camera Wizard to appear. Has decent editing features, such as changing the color of the picture [black and white, sepia, red, green, blue, and negative], allows you to highlight certain areas of the picture you are taking, and has 9 different photo frames you can choose from. You can also resize, rotate, and do slideshows. You can also record audio without video, and also add audio to pictures. Overall, it's a pretty great camera. I recommend it if you have amazing rechargable batteries!

I got this camera a couple of weeks ago. I'm a teen, and my mom made me spend my own money for the camera and the rechargeable batteries. So I needed something affordable, but well worth my money!!!! After spending days and days of researching, with absolutely NO help from any siblings or parents, I decided to get this camera. I urge you to see the pictures other members of Amazon have uploaded, to see the great clarity you get with these pictures.
I bought the camera with rechargeable batteries from the Sam's Club, for an approximate total of $185. Not bad at all!!!
Of course, as soon as I got home, I (carefully) tore open the box and all of the wrappings, put in the batteries that came with the camera, loaded the memory card, and started snapping away. The pictures were amazingly clear. They were crisp and full of detail. After playing around with it, I realized that with low battery, the pictures got blurry. The flash was necessary to keep the picture from going blurry. This was annoying, but then I decided to try the "Auto" mode, and it was much better! The manual mode is also great. I could take a picture of my fan on "high", and it looks like the fan is stopped!!

The frames are so much fun, as are the different colors, such as sepia, black and white, red, green, blue, and negative.

All in all, this is a GREAT camera. Well-worth the money!!! It's extremely simple to use, and gets amazing pictures. The blurriness (with low battery) gets slightly annoying, but with just a few minutes of playing around with the camera, it was fixed.

The one HUGE downside to this camera: I can't figure out how to get the memory chip out!! But I'm fine for now, until I upgrade to a bigger size.


Buy this camera! It's awesome.

..opened the box about 2 hours ago ..ordered (standard shipping, from amazon) on Fri, arrived on Tue ..you guys are great!
..I got this as a replacement/upgrade camera and Christmas gift for my 14-year-old godchild but, (of course) I had to check it out ..make sure it works and everything, right?
..ten minutes after opening the box I was uploading a picture to my online photo-sharing site ..it's that easy to use!
..I won't bother with technical stuff, that's covered in previous reviews and the manufacturer's notes, but here are just a few observations:

1. it looks cool!
2. it feels good in the hand: solid, with some weight to it (it's a bit small for myself, but should be great for my teen god-daughter)
3. controls are logically placed, easy to reach and to understand (I didn't get as far as the instruction manual) and the digital display is concise, intelligible and is huge for such a small camera
4. the zoom is located perfectly and is easy to use (I like the zoom's digital display too)
5. the photos are large, crisp, colorful ..wonderful, actually
6. I didn't load the software, but my computer and photo-editing software recognized the camera and I had no difficulties downloading the photos

..but, it's a gift and I (reluctantly) had to put it back in the box ..maybe if I give it to her early, she'll let me use it ..ya think?

I just bought this camera two days ago. I got it for $148. SO far the camera is awesome. There weren't too many reviews for it when I was researching, but I like. I have not owned a digital camera before, so I don't know what to compare it to but it is awesome. The screen is really big and clear.

I bought this camera for my 9yr old son because of the price (less than $100)and it turned out to be better than any of the canon digitals I have owned. I learned log ago to use rechargeable batteries, so I wouldn't let any posts regarding battery drain sway you from a purchase. My son has autism and gives this camera a workout. It's taken plenty of abuse and up to 500 pictures per week for the past six months. The video and lighting modes are incredible too, I get a lot more "keepers" out of this inexpensive camera than any I digital I have owned to date.