The
Samsung i85 is a slim digital camera with a twist. Not only does it capture
8.2 megapixel images and high quality video at 800 x 592 pixels, but it's
also an MP3 music player. At 3.8-by-2.44-by-0.81 inches, the unit fits
comfortably in a shirt pocket and at 5.6 ounces, it does so with very
little sag.
At the front of the camera, there's a microphone, the autofocus/self-timer
lamp and a built-in flat flash unit. With the self-timer set for 10 seconds,
its lamp will blink at one second intervals for eight seconds and for
the last two seconds, it will blink quickly at quarter-second intervals.
When the timer is set for two seconds, it will blink for the entire time
period at quarter-second intervals. In duplicate mode, the DSC will take
one picture in about 10 seconds and
automatically take another about two seconds after that.
Beside the flash is the unit's Samsung NV lens. The 5x optical zoom lens
is flat and doesn't protrude from the camera. A built-in lens cover closes
when you turn off the camera and opens when you turn it on.
On top of the unit, there’s a speaker,
power button and shutter release. The power button is slightly recessed
to prevent the camera from being accidentally turned on or off. Moreover,
the button has to be held down for a fraction of a second before the snapper
will power up. The shutter release is shaped like a small lozenge making
it easy to distinguish from the power button by touch alone.
At the top
of the camera's back, there's a bevel with controls for toggling face
recognition mode;
accessing the DSC's scene, shooting and multimedia modes; and entering
playback mode. Icons are stamped on the buttons to identify their function.
Below the bevel at the back of the camera, is its three-inch LCD monitor
with a resolution of 230,000 pixels. The display is sharp and is bright
enough to be used outdoors in direct sunlight. At low temperatures,
Samsung cautions, it may take longer than normal to power up and its
colors may be different from the subjects in the shot. In addition,
when changing the composition of a shot some "ghosting" may
appear on the screen.
Beside the
top right of the LCD display, is a bar for controlling the unit's zoom
lens. Depressing the left end of the bar zooms in on the subject; depressing
the right end zooms out. Most of the time the zoom was responsive to its
controls, but on a number of occasions when attempting to zoom in on a
subject nothing happened. On those occasions, the zoom started working
again after a brief time lapse--five to 15 seconds. I couldn't determine
the source of these delays.
Below the zoom control, there are two side-by-side buttons. One
of the tabs, Fn, gives you quick access to commonly used settings such
as photo size, quality, sequential shooting options, metering, ISO values,
white balance settings and exposure compensation values. In playback mode,
the Fn key permits you to delete a single images from the camera.
Beside the Fn button is an effects key. It lets you change
the color of images, create color masks for black-and-white photos, alter
the color saturation of a snapshot or apply "fun" effects to
a photo, such as picture frames or cartoon speech bubbles.
Below the Fn and E keys is the circular arrow pad. It's
used for navigating on the camera's LCD screen. In addition to performing
cursor key functions, each arrow button provides quick access to commonly
used tasks in shooting mode. For example, the button at 12 o'clock toggles
between displaying and hiding information on the DSC's display. The button
at three o'clock pages to the unit's self timer options; the one at six
o'clock pages through macro options; and the one at nine o'clock moves
through the snapper's flash choices.
In playback mode, the nine
o'clock and three o'clock keys are used to move forward and backward through
photos stored in the camera, and the 12 o'clock key toggles between showing
and hiding information about a photo appearing on the LCD.
When
playing multimedia, the six o'clock key will toggle between playing and
pausing the media.
At the center of the arrow pad is a Menu/OK key. Pressing
the key in either playback or shooting mode will transport you into the
camera's menu system. When you select a menu item, pressing the key will
activate it.
On the right side of the DSC is a mount for the camera strap
included with the unit and a compartment for its earphone jack.
A quarter-inch tripod mount can be found
at the bottom of the camera along with a proprietary input/output port
and a compartment for the battery and memory card. The unit comes with
190 megabytes of internal memory which can be supplemented with optional
SD/SDHC or MMC Plus cards.
Insertion of the camera's lithium ion rechargeable battery is less than
intuitive. Without referring to the product's documentation, it took me
several tries to get the battery properly seated in the camera. The battery
can be recharged through a proprietary USB cable included with the unit.
The cable can be plugged into the USB port of a computer or into a custom
AC adapter packaged with the product.
As is characteristics of cameras that are this size, its controls are small,
but the generous spacing between the buttons makes them easy to access
even with meaty masculine fingers.
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Ergonomics
