Customer Reviews

Samsung SL-310W 13.6MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Silver)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I considered all of the reviews by 'experts' on various product review sites and Consumer Reports. This camera was consistently rated highly. So were most of the Canon cameras, which are rated even higher.

However, if you look carefully at the reviews (especially Consumer Reports), you will see that the overall rating is heavily influenced by things such as ease of operation, features, etc. Yet, they mostly say this Samsung had the single advantage of superior picture quality.

I decided to forgo the other aspects of the reviews and get maximum picture quality. To me, the reason to use a camera is to get a good picture. I am not disappointed. I am not a camera buff and find this camera easy to use with more features than I'll ever use on a regular basis. Oh; and the picture quality is truly excellent - just what a camera should do.

This camera combined the advantages of excellent pictures, lots of features and low price in a pocket-size package. The 28 mm equivalent zoom lens offers a wider than normal range for such small cameras. Small videos were easy to take for web applicatons like You-Tube.

Included software did a good job for picture editing, but video editing capability was minimal. The only weakness I encountered was low sound level during video recording (required being very close to the person speaking). On the other hand, my SLR doesn't offer any video recording.

Picture quality has been similar to my SLR in most situations, but I will use the smaller camera more often since it is easier to carry.

The bottom line: I would definitely buy this camera again.

First consider that I'm upgrading from a 7+ year old Sony Cyber-shot that performed admirably over the years. My wife and I finally agreed to buy a new camera and after a lot of research on [..] we chose this one. We bought it along with an 8 GB memory card and are very pleased with it. You have to read the instructions pretty thoroughly to make sure you understand all the settings, features, etc. but once you get it going it works great. There is no view finder, just a screen, but we've not been hindered by this one bit.

From the 8th January 2009. This Camera worked for two weeks Then the Thing stopped Working I sent it at my Expense to Berry pro Camera. When It Returned it worked very nice until the 10th of May in Beijing it started to go bad. you turned it on and the lens came out juddered a bit then shut down with no pictures I tried charging the battery before I used it, that got me three pictures of The Great Wall of China I would not Buy Again !!

Anyone who did not like this camera either dropped it a few times, or left it in a hot car for a month... For the price of this camera, you will NOT find a better model out there. The picture quality is the best I have seen on an ordinary digital camera, and I am VERY picky about clarity. I researched this model extensively before I bought it, and yes there are similarly priced cameras with slightly better features - albeit worse image quality. Considering that most digital cameras under $350-$500 have HORRID image quality, one can deal with the fact that it doesn't have every bell or whistle. If you buy this camera, and you regret it, you are a fool. Heck, read Consumer reports, if you do you will notice that it is the ONLY camera under $400 that has the Excellent rating for image quality.... life's too important to remember it through fuzzy pictures.

This camera takes excellent pictures. It is build for home and novice photographers, but offers enough options and a high enough resolution to be a great "on-the-go" camera for professional photographers as well. I love the form factor and it has very good image stabilization. I have actually used this to replace my 3 year old video camera as well, because of the great video quality. For anyone looking at this camera, I have two words. Buy It!

I love this camera. It's compact and very easy to use. The pictures are of great quality and won't miss any details. For many weeks, I was shopping for a more than a good camera, comparing all different brands and prices and I'm glad I was able to find this Samsung for such a great price $137.43... This camera takes great quality pictures compared to the best brands (sony, kodak, etc.) Samsung products are really good and have become my favorite brand, specially because I don't need to spend a lot of money to get great quality products. I have purchase several electronics of this brand and I'm very satisfied with this purchase too. Another great Samsun item to add to my collection...

I purchased this camera for three reasons: Great customer reviews, Quality Photos, and Cheap Price. It caught my eye earlier when it was the only subcompact camera Consumer Reports gave and Excellent rating for image quality. This camera takes GREAT pictures and the 13.6 megapixels allows you to zoom in on a photo 4 to 5 times before it shows any signs of pixelation. Stunning quality on large prints. The 'children' setting works well for moving shots but Duel Image Stablization setting has a long shutter time. It works well in low light but you do have to hold the camera very still. The flash is deceptively bright and room filling and the red-eye feature works well. Battery life seems good and recharging is easy via USB or AC Power.
The negatives are poor video quality. I got the best results at 640 x 480 at 30 frames per second but it's not much better than cell phone quality. If you zoom while videoing, the sound cuts out. I don't know why, just weird! Poor lighting and movement don't work to well with this camera(but using the 'children' setting with a flash helped conciderably).
This is a Great Little Pocket Camera for photos.

Camera is wonderful! Lots of features, very good when you zoom in. Fits in the hand nicely.

This is a pretty good camera for the price. By now it has been replaced by other models. I see it as overall an indicator of good quality delivered by Samsung, compared to some other manufacturers. This is also based on my experience with Samsung cell phones, which I find pretty good. Picture quality is great, as long as there is plenty of light. In low light this camera suffers, though the flash works well. It is also pretty slow to take shots, more so in low light, so I get poor results trying to capture anything moving. In low light there can be a delay of 3 seconds between when you press the button and when the shutter clicks. It does not turn on and take pictures in your pocket like some I have owned. I have shot some primitive videos with it: resolution is poor. Sound is poor with the tiny microphone, and if in a very quiet environment, the recording will include the noise of the camera itself, probably the auto-focus running. It will serve for basic video memories, if you have nothing better. I find the build quality pretty good, it seems to stand up to some abuse. There are some bad reviews on here, of owners who have had it die early on. I consider that just a normal part of gadgets: even the best gadgets are going to have a percentage of failure. Fortunately for me, this camera has been solid for the two years I've had it.