The Samsung ES30 sold like hot cakes when X-Cite had a promotional offer for KD. 19.900 (exclusive of memory card). My office colleagues brought a few couple of these cameras using the X-Cite Express Delivery Service. Watching the bug around the office, I decided to make a small review of the camera.
The Samsung ES30 is a compact entry level digital camera. I guess the popularity is because of the low price and with its weight (approx.140 gms). It can easily slip into a shirt pocket. The camera boosts a CCD sensor with 12.21 megapixels and 5x optical (35mm film equivalent: 27 – 135mm) wide angel zoom lens. The Minimum aperture wide is f3.5 and Minimum aperture telephoto is f5.9. The camera has a surprising 3 inch TFT LCD screen; the screen can be viewed clearly even on bright sunlight. The camera support includes built in Program AE selection, Smile and Blink detection for portrait photography, macro support up to 5cm away from the subject, JPEG file format, 640×480 pixel VGA movie resolutions @ 30 fps and ISO rating from Auto to 1600 for low light photography. It supports Video out, Mono Internal speaker and Microphone, USB 2.0 Hi-speed and SD/SDHC memory card. Memory card supports 4GB on SD and 8GB on SDHC.
Available: Black and Silver in kuwait. (It is available in Pink elsewhere)
Includes: 2xAA Battery; Samsung camera pouch
Pros:
Light weight
Large LCD viewfinder
Controls for Metering, Exposure compensation and White balance
Control modes for Fill-in-flash, slow sync and Auto & Red-eye reduction
Cons:
No Manual viewfinder
No Built-in memory
No Image Stabilization
No Aperture and Shutter Speed control
Photo taken at ISO 1600 is with noticeable noise
Verdict:
The camera is good with limited functionality. Ideal as a present for first time camera users. The buttons are slightly fiddly for people with large hands. Don’t expect too much (you get what you buy in this price range), delivers good shots in bright light.
