Customer Reviews

Samsung NV3 7.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom with Advance Shake Reduction

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is a great great unit. I say unit because it is so much more than a camera. But make no mistake, this is also a great camera. This is my second digital camera and suits my needs perfectly. I was looking for a compact camera with true optical zoom to take on my bike rides. The addition of an MP3 player, personal media player (to play DVDs) , voice recorder and text viewer were nice pluses. Let me first talk about the many camera features since this was the most important to me.

All the controls are logical and easy to use once you get past the initial learning curve. Point and shoot...no problem...turn the dial to the clearly marked green AUTO, press the shutter half way to focus and all the way to shoot....nice picture...rich in colors, clear, focused ...perfect. Need to zoom...press up on the zoom...it automatically stops before the digital zoom. The zoom setting shows on the screen with a slider. Need more zoom...push up again for another 5x digital zoom. I've found the digital zoom to work quite well...nice pictures...not too much noise. Focus is a breeze, there is a nice box in the middle of the screen which turns green and beeps when the camera is in focus. The camera turns on quickly and is ready for another shot shortly after the first....much faster than my other digital camera (HP-R717).

So...you want more control...use the scene mode. Turn the dial to scene and press the OK button ...lots of scene types to choose from (sunset, portrait, landscape...etc. no panorama though). Oh and when you turn the dial, the wheel shows on screen clearly showing you which mode you are in....you don't need to look at the writing on the dial....nice...particularly if you need reading glasses like I do.

Want to get really fancy, try the program mode. In this mode you can try the many "effects" programmed into the camera. These include...composite (select from 4 different types of composite pictures...I like this effect a lot), photo frame (a fanciful set of boarders that can frame your picture ...nice fun), color pallet (change the picture to black and white, sepia, red hue, blue hue, green hue or negative), highlight (sharpen the focus and blur the rest of pre-selected portions of the picture). Or perhaps you want to adjust the exposure...hit the +/- button and change at will. You can also change the RGB balance, ISO from 80 to 1000 or the white balance.

In all camera modes you can select macro or super macro mode. These modes open a whole new world of photography for you, allowing you to get in very close to your subject. Want to take pictures of ants...no problem.

Turn the dial to anti shake mode and take two pictures...one with flash and one without. Both pictures are displayed simultaneously along with a zoomed in view and you can select which one you want to keep. Alternately, you can just take the photo without the flash and see only one picture.

Once your picture is taken it is simple to add a voice comment. You can also zoom in on the picture, crop it and even remove red eye if there is any. The red eye removal works very well most of the time and frankly I haven't seen that this camera generates much to begin with.

So now you've got lots of pictures and want to see a slide show. You can select the interval (1sec, 3sec, 5 sec, 10 sec), transitions and play or repeat play....you can't select the starting photo...all are shown. You can even add music of your choice to the show...turn the dial to MP3 first and a push of the button or two and you are there. Unfortunately the camera doesn't rotate pictures for you automatically and though you can manually rotate them, they don't stay rotated. Not a big issue though.

The flash is a marvel in that it can light up large areas...very powerful. I recently took many outdoor Christmas light pictures and was very pleased with the results. One thing I did notice is occasionally the presence of small white spheres in the picture as a result of the flash hitting dust particles in the air. I actually like the effect of this. It doesn't happen all the time so if you don't like it, you can just retake the picture.

Want to take a movie, turn the magic dial to movie press the shutter once to start and once to stop. You can zoom in and out with ease and it doesn't corrupt the sound. I've only tried the low resolution movie mode but there are also higher resolution modes to choose from. The movies are not bad and the sound pick up is very sensitive.

Uploading pictures is easy. Just plug in the USB cable (which also charges your camera....nice), press the shutter and connection is established. The included computer image manipulation software has many bells and whistles and serves me well. You will be very happy with the quality of the pictures. I've no doubt that other cameras take equally good pictures, but I doubt other cameras have all the features of this one.

OK, now that we've established that this is a capable full featured digital camera lets talk about all the other features.

I've got a 2 gig card loaded with my favorite music. The MP3 mode lets me listen to music either on headphones or through the built in stereo speakers. I have to admit I was skeptical about the speakers before I heard them. I was very pleasantly surprised to find how good and loud they sound. Many different sound stages are included so you can adjust the sound texture to your liking. You can select between random play or repeat play or single play or ...etc. You can organize your music into different folders but it won't traverse folders while in play. This means random play only works within a folder. Of course with enough memory you can combine all your music into one folder as well as keeping it in separate folders, then you can random play from the combined folder for a broad selection of random play.

So there you are riding along on your bike, listening to your favorite music and you feel the urge to snap a quick picture....just push the shutter and snap it without missing a beat. You won't have all the features and options available for taking the picture but big deal. If you want it all just turn the dial to the picture mode of your choice and snap away....turn it back to MP3 and start listening to the same music selection...very easy. Pausing and skipping music are also easy, requiring only one button push.

You're stuck in an airport or car and need entertainment....turn the dial to PMP and watch your favorite DVD movie. This requires a bit of preparation in that you first need to convert your DVD to and AVI file format (there are many software packages on the internet that do this). Then convert the AVI to a format the NV3 can play using the included Digimax converter. A full DVD shrinks to about 200meg or so...way cool. I've got several stored on my 2 gig card.

So there you have it, a truly versatile camera/entertainment center. You will find new ways and opportunities to use this unit's many features. I love it and so will you.

Very good picture quality. Very small and easy to carry around. The mp3 quality is good and even the speakers do a decent job considering the size of the device. A few minor complaints. The flash in auto mode flashes twice so your unaware subject will move after the first one and ruin the photograph. There is no problem with the other modes. Beware if you have a mac. I haven't been able to figure out how to put video on the thing which is not what I really bought it for so who cares. The mp3 function works fine with a mac and uploading pictures is no problem through iPhoto. In conclusion: A great little camera that is perfect for going out and decent for mp3's (great value for the money by the way). Video format needs to be reworked for mac but should work well with Windows.

After reading all the reviews and comments on the web, I went for it and I'm very happy with it. OK, maybe it's not in the very topmost notch for pic quality compared to bigger pricier cams but at 7.2mp, and in this small size, the pic quality is right up there... According to most of the testimony on the web it's as good or better than others in it's class.
Everything works as advertised. Video & sound totally in sync... mp3 playback excellent with earbuds provided. Experiment with the 7 modes (jazz, classical, etc.) to find your preference... they really make a big difference. Text function works fine. Once you get past the initial learning curve, all the functions are sensible and intuitive. Hint: If it seems to be hung up, just flick the main thumb dial to the next mode and back again... that'll clear any hang-ups! I've had no real problems up and downloading anything once I figured it out. Create 3 files on your k-disk: mp3, PMP, and TEXT... and fill them accordingly... it'll work out fine.
I have a 2 gig card and haven't had any problems yet but Samsung only guarantees it with 1 gig... You might want to start with 1-gig, and after awhile if you find you want more space, just get another 1-gig card... that could be an alternative way to go. But I haven't seen any evidence on the web of people having problems with 2-gig... so... it's your call. One reviewer here complained about the automatically-charging-while-cabled-to-your-PC issue... I'm not an expert but from what I've researched this is NOT problematic because a lithium-ion battery(which the NV3 has)apparently doesn't have the charging-memory difficulties that the (older) ni-cads do. So, in fact, the automatic-charging seems to be a GOOD thing!
It's rugged. I've dropped/slammed mine a few times with no problems(use the wrist strap!). If you like multifunction gizmos, you won't be disappointed. It's the future now. Looks classy and sharp. Works great. (I carry mine in my pocket in a little form-fitting cloth bag I made in 20 minutes.) If you're asking me... it's very cool, highly portable (small, 5 oz.)and well worth the money especially if you're on the go a lot and like to have a good-quality cam and music with you most of the time. It also sports a decent-quality built-in mic which can record long audio segments in WAV files which line up in order in the memory just as the pics do... this is a very useful function to have along with you too!

This little camera is great at capturing the wonderful moments of my little boy growing up. I love that I can carry it in my pocket or purse and will never miss anything. The video quality is awesome too! I agree with the PP that the flash can mess up some pictures as the subjects move after the first flash, but it's a minor glitch.
I'm so happy with this camera. I've really enjoyed the Red-eye reduction mode on the camera. Makes for editing a lot quicker.

Well....this was my first camera ever and I do attest accurately that the advertisement holds VERY TRUE for most of the features. The picture quality is fantastic, the special editing the camera is capable of (built-in templates), and the different modes that the camera can be positioned to take photos.

One weakness I do want to point out is that it could be hard to determine which mode to take the appropriate picture in (outdoors, bad lighting etc). Therefore, I STRONGLY urge you to read the instructions which state, "Please experiment with this camera before taking photos" (basically I paraphrased it).

Other than that, this camera rocks!!! Advantages outweigh the disadvantages by far.

Ok if you know your way around a camera and are looking for nice slim shot camera just to have around. Then this is a great camera. I have a very nice digital SLR camera but i really wanted something that i could just take with me. I will admit that the auto setting are not the best you can get, but it will get the job done. However if you switch the camera over to Program mode you have a whole bunch of settings to choose from. I am very impressed with what this little camera can do. It has by far the most advanced setting of any slim shot camera i have used. As for the 7.2 MP, you never really need to push this camera to do that, your pictures will probably turn out alot better if you use 6 MP settings. Just because it might speed up the shutter time and processing time. I am really a fan of long-exposer pictures, but i find myself in situation where i want to take the picture but i didnt bring my huge camera bag. This little camera can take these sorts of pictures. Just put in the night shot setting and push the +/- button and the setting will come up and your good to go. Findiing your way around this camera was quite easy. There are not a lot of buttons so a few hours of experimenting and you will have it down. Dont bother reading the manual is doesnt really help. As for the PMP in the camera, it is a nice touch. Although if you have a Apple computer putting movies on the camera will take a little work, but it can be done. Putting text files on it couldnt be easier just save the file as a TXT and throw it on your camera and again you will be good to go. Since I have a Mac i definetly use itunes but most of my music is protected and in mp4 format. This camera will not play mp4's, just mp3. Again all it takes is a little work and you can get those song on to your camera. Just find a converter and convert the song you want and put them in a different file on you computer just to have. I would have gave this camera a 3 but the advanced feature and easy learning curve really jumped it up a point. I love this camera and it will serve well for anyone. Dont be worried that the PMP features have taken away from the quality of the camera. It feels as if this camera has been cut out of solid block of metal. One last note, just becareful of shooting, although it have a very nice lens, it is also sensitive at time to movements, but it is not bad compared to many other cameras. All of them have this problems so dont let this scare you off. Just have the right settings and this problem will be corrected. I love it. I love it. I love it. Samsung is headed in the right direction with the slim shot camera market. Also check out the NV7 and NV10 if you want that extra boost in lens quality and functionality.

I have gone through 4 digital cameras in the past 2 years. 2 Canon's, a Kodak, and Panasonic. A friend recently purchased the Samsung and I was amazed with it's features and most of all the quality of photos & video. I bought one immediately and I have never been happier with a camera. Its easy to use & learn. Its loaded with so many cool features you wont want to put it down. An awesome & attractive camera at an amazing price! Highly recommended!

I have this camera for about 4 months now and the pictures it takes are really great, much sharper and much nicer colors then my previos Casio Exilim. Nevertheless, it became defect without reason (date and time periodically resets, which is really bad if you rename your pictures using this information, to sort them with your friends), and I tried the online help. The online website is pretty poor, first of all you have to know that you won't find any information on the samsung homepage, but on one called samsungcamera. Then, you don't get the downloads you need, and setting up an customer request works doesn't work with all browsers nor every time. Even worse, you get an answer but cannot read it, as it doesn't accept your login information. The telefon-support then treated me like a stupid fool, not even listening to what was wrong with the product. I will send it back to amazon, they can do with it whatever they want...

Overall: Very good product with very a very good picture quality, but the worst support, online as well as on the phone, that I have ever seen.

This is a nice camera but the sony's anti shaking is too much better. The mp3 player is a nice feature but by the end of the day I still use my Ipod instead.

I had never purchased a digital camera before, and I have been very pleased with this one's performance, so far. It is very easy to use and pretty unintimidating. My reccomendation, to you, is that you set it to "auto" for any casual photography (that was what was suggested to me by the camera salesman, and he was right!). Also, this camera has great settings that you can set up, once you have set your dial to "scene." There are various different shooting settings, depending on what kind of light you are photographing your subject in (backlighting, fireworks, snow, etc.). This is a fun camera to play with, too. I have shot numerous short films and they upload very easily to your computer. The Samsung is compatible with, both, PCs and MACs. Also, the shutter is very sensitve and protects the lense from any dust particles. In fact, in the event that there is dust, the camera will prompt you to turn the camera off, then on. Once you have shut the camera off, take a dry lense cleaning cloth and gently wipe the lense service, using short, soft strokes. The problem should be resolved. *two thumbs up*