Customer Reviews

Samsung SL420 10MP Digital Camera with 5x Dual Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Black)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I did a lot of research on digital cameras before settling on this one. I couldn't afford much more than $100, and yet I wanted 10mpx, low noise, long battery life, and good color reproduction and sharpness. This samsung kept recurring in all my queries, and after checking it out, I took a chance that low price didn't always mean low quality--and this time I was very lucky. This is a great camera: easy to learn, easy to use, small enough to easily fit in a purse, yet large enough to fit a man's hand without slipping out accidentally. And I'm very impressed with the quality photos it shoots. I would have liked more manual control, but that would be in another market niche--and this was a unit purchased with my wife in mind. Highly recommend it for people looking for an inexpensive camera which is simple to use, and yet shoots very good photos.

I have really enjoyed this camera for the couple months I have had it. We upgraded from another Samsung camera we have had for about 5 years and loved. I chose this one because I wanted the 5x zoom and we won't be blowing our pictures up, so I didn't need the 12mp. It takes beautiful shots, nice and clear with great color. It also takes suprisingly good video for what it is. You'll need a decent sized SD card for the video, though!

The smart mode is good, but sometimes takes a really long time to take the picture. I have missed a couple of awesome shots of my son (he's 2) because of how long it took to snap the pic. I use the auto or P mode most often now to avoid some of that.

Overall, I highly recommend this little camera. It's been a vast improvement over our old one and we will hopefully have it for a long time!

Pictures and videos have amazing quality. Takes pictures fast and ready to shoot again. The AUTO balance is almost always pirfect. One of the greatest features - can zoom during shooting the video (most of the cameras can't do it).
BUT I was really disappointed when I ran out of memory very quick, because the video was very heavy on megabites - for 2 Gigs it could only record 12 min of video. The pics were ok - the same 3 Megs. So this camera would be perfect for someone who wants to use video just occasionaly and not a lot. Or get 8 or 16 Gig Memory card with it, it would give you about 1-2 hours of video.

This is my first camera ever. I am a novist who learned all this stuff in my research. I spent 2-3 weeks researching cameras. Everyone (my father, friends, co-workers **one girls father is a professional photographer**) told me a Canon was the way to go for its "HIGH" quality and durability. But all my research came back with poor to questionable customer reviews, both on and off Amazon. I also looked at the Fuji, Olympus, Panasonic, Sony, and a few more. Except for ONE Fuji camera (might have been the Fujifilm FinePix J150 or Fujifilm FinePix Z200fd **I forget**), they all had problems. After teaching myself about cameras, I learned that for a point and shoot camera there are 5 things I wanted: Small (so it can fit into my pocket and not be bulky), great to excellent picture quality/clarity, a decent zoom (3x-5x, but preferably nothing less than 4x), quick shots (so that if I am shooting something that moves, its not gone by the time the picture is taken), and very small delays between the ability to take the next picture. Sounds simple enough, right? WRONG! All the camera's in the $100-$300 range (especially the 12MP ones) had problems in many of these categories. Even some of the newest and highly boasted Canon cameras had especially poor picture quality and took up to 7 seconds to snap a photo! I read about frequent camera users who were so disappointed with their Canon PowerShot SD1300IS or Canon PowerShot SD780IS that they reverted back to their older, out dated Canon!

Now, all hail the Samsung SL420!!! I can fit it in the same pocket as my cell phone which is about the same size but a little thinner. If I wanted to, I could even stuff in my iPod Touch and keys. The picture clarity is wonderful. I can see ALL the details. It has a 5x zoom (at very good quality), which beats out the best Canon's below $200 (they are usually 3x or 4x zoom). It takes quick shots so I can catch things that move (yesterday I caught a robin walking in central park). And the delays between shots is 2-3 seconds AT MOST.

Added BONUSES: The camera is well constructed and I don't expect it to break on impact (sorry, but I wont be testing this out for you). Samsung (although not known for cameras) is still a quality name in electronics. Considering that this is a camera and not a video recorder, you can still shoot video with fantastic quality, and yes you can zoom in and out while using the video function. The camera is so easy to use. I read about people giving this camera to their elderly, technologically deficient parents, and it really is as simple to use as they say. I haven't changed a single setting. The camera's Smart photo technology automatically selects the best settings for the environment your in. I can even get great pictures in the pitch black dark (excellent flash). The charger cord is short (about 1.5ft), but you can leave the rechargeable battery in the camera. You just attach one end of the cord into the available slot in the camera and the other end of the cord into your computer (USB port) OR the convertible wall charger that comes with the camera. However, you cant download pictures using this cord. All of this by the way for the low, low price of $120, far cheaper than the `finest' Canon camera's. I will note right now that the reason why I didn't go for the previously mentioned Fuji camera is because it was about $30 more expensive, had fewer customer reviews (so it was more difficult to verify its quality), and I liked the Samsung brand better. On the downside, the camera does not come with its own memory card (you will have to buy this separately), but I read it can take exactly 2 photo's without one.

Two more things to note for novists: First, a camera's megapixel (MP) capacity determines how high the quality for the photo will be. Also, the more MP, the larger your photo's can be when developed. Think of your flat screen TV. Those are usually rated these days using 720MP or 1080MP. Many people out there are all about the 12MP camera technology, which is why they wouldn't even look at this 10MP Samsung camera. I say, get over yourself. For the most part, the ONLY benefit of 12MP technology is turning a photo into a giant poster. Otherwise (and I spoke to a few people at Target, Best Buy, Radio Shack, and Kmart about this), if you have no intentions of hanging posters of yourself on your wall, then any camera that does 8MP or greater is MORE THAN suitable for taking high quality photos that can fit large picture frames. Remember, people have been taking wonderful pictures without 12MP technology for decades. You don't need it. Second, for my memory card I got the SanDisk Extreme III 4 GB Class 6 SDHC Flash Memory Card SDSDRX3-4096-A21. My research indicated that fast memory cards are important to decrease the shot time between photos because of the time (transfer rate) it takes for the camera to save the picture onto the memory card. I also read that it decreases the download time of photos onto your computer, but this wasn't important to me. Regardless, I decided that I would not want to ruin this fast shot camera by giving it a poor, slow memory card. A Class 6 (that's suppose to indicate its speed) memory card is the best you can get right now. I also read that with 4GB (there is an equivalent 8GB and maybe 16GB) you can shoot around 800-1000+ photos or about 10-12+ minutes of video (you should do more research on its video capacity if this is important to you). This is more than enough space for my purposes and the Amazon price of $24 is a better price than other web site or store offers (I have no affiliation with Amazon. I'm just telling you how it is to help you out.). As expected, the memory card has worked wonderfully.

I have a 10 megapixel SLR (major brand) but wanted a small camera to carry in my pocket, that was inexpensive, and would produce satisfying images. I took a chance on this one and am astounded at the quality of the images it produces. It's not quite as capable as a full scale DSLR and has the annnoying shutter lag of this type of camera, but it's quick in good light. It's harder to hold steady than a DSLR but that's just because of the smallness of it. The battery seems to hold up well and is easy to recharge. I like it!

Love this little camera. Takes clear pics and pretty good video. Many options within the camera to adjust your pics (color saturation, different exposure settings, face retouching & etc) For the price, you can't go wrong.

looks good, simple, and seems well constructed so you feel like you own something that is of high quality and worth. it is easy to navigate and operate. must get, and it is very affordable.

First, let me say that I'm moderately clueless when it comes to any type of electronics. I was looking for a camera that was an easy point and shoot without a lot of complicated features....I won't use them and I didn't want to pay for them. One of the main uses for this camera will be trying to get pictures of the dogs at the animal shelter so they can be posted on our website; that's almost as tricky as getting pictures of moving children! I originally ordered a Panasonic Lumix from another site, and while it is a perfectly nice camera, it was loaded with features and wasn't right for me. THIS little camera, however, is absolutely perfect! It takes relatively quick pics, and while it comes with a number of features, this camera is so self explanatory (it has a very easy to use photo guide right in the camera) that I didn't even have to read the book to get a basic sense of what it offers and how to use it (I will if I want a more detailed explanation). Overall, I couldn't be happier with this camera. I am not intimidated with it at all :) If you're looking for an easy to use, simple digital camera, this is the one. It might be even more awesome than I give it credit for, but since my needs are rather simplistic, I haven't explored it in depth. First impression, LOVE IT.

I'm upgrading from a 5 yr old 5mp Vivatar which has been a great camera. At first I purchased a 10 mp Kodak, I luvd it cuz it was a pretty blu and really thin, unfortunately the photos wer inferior to my Vivitar. I read a review on this Samsung and the reviewer said upon opening the box he was unimpressed cuz it was so plain looking, but he gave it a high review for picture quality and features and said it was the perfect camera for a novice. That statement botherd me but hey, I am a novice, and he was obviously a SLR guy. Wen I removed mine from the box I was impressed how simple but gorgeous it is. Dull black finish in the front but a high gloss in back. The 2.7" LCD is nice and bright. I luv that it has a rechargable battery and u can use either the USB or plug it into a wall socket included for fast charging. Soon I was out in my front and back yard snapping photos and some short video clips. Its a great feature that u can just plug in the usb cable and download all ur videos and photos without removing the SD card. The photos wer spectacular even with the 5mp zoom. I cud def see the dif between my 5mp and this camera. Even the videos were way better with nice colors and sound.I was less impressed with indoor photos, however after trying dif settings I got som spectacular indoor shots. The camera is about 3/4" thick, my Vivitar was about 1 1/4" and heavy. The Samsung fits nicely in my shirt pocket, and its light. Another thing I luv about it is that it powers on quickly ready for action way faster than my Vivitar. I dont use the software, I like to just drag and drop my photos into dif folders by date or event, the PC reconizes the device immediately. I purchased a 4gig and 8gig SDHC card and I have several 1 and 2 gig. I still havnt tried out all the features but I will. My experience with digital cameras is limited but I find this unit to be a gorgeous quality high tech unit that will keep me satisfied for yrs. UPDATE: I have had this camera for 6 months now and luv it even more. The battery life is incredible and I have never ran out of juice. I have taken a few thousand photos now and am still amazed at the quality. My 8GB card I took on a 4 month vacation and took hundreds of photos and a dozen short video clips, one was 30 minutes long, and it was still not full. Being able to crop my photos onboard is really awesome.The slide show with music is nice. I have had a few blurry pics but I think its cuz Im in too big of a hurry to snap, its important to hold the shutter down half way for a half second till u hear the beep. Im really impressed w the video quality nice colors and no jerky just smooth action. I wanted to get my wife one but she likes her pretty 2 yr old 5mp kodak, But her batteries are always dead, I carry my camera around for weeks b4 charging all the while snapping many photos. I wud like to check out the Cannon but so far this little gem does it for me.

Bought this camera for my mother for Christmas. She had an older point and shoot (Canon) that wasn't getting it done for her. She would try to take pictures of the grand-kids and they would be gone before the picture took. We got her this camera and it works flawlessly. Quick pictures, convienent settings, great quality photos, rechargeable battery and charger. Nice. Small, yet functional, easy to set up and use. With my mother, is has to be easy to use and not require many steps, she is not really electronics "savvy." This camera is exactly what she needs, great pricing and simple to use. You get a nice point and shoot camera thats functional for a good price. You want really high quality pictures with tons of options, get a SLR. You want conveinence and good price in a small yet sturdy package, get this camera.