The Samsung i85 has 1/2.5-inch
CCD sensor with an effective pixel count of 8.2 million. The sensor has
a crop factor of about 6x. By comparison, a "full-frame" DSLR
like a Nikon D70 has a crop factor of 1.5x. The rule of thumb is, the
lower the crop factor, the better the image quality--and the more expensive
the camera. The 1/2.5-inch format is a common one for point-and-shoot
cameras like the i85.
This Samsung model powers up relatively rapidly. You can start shooting,
on average, in about a second and a half from the time you press the power
button. You need to remember to hold down the button because a quick press
will have no effect on the camera. Time between highest quality shots
on a fully-charged battery was also good at ±1.7 seconds.
Seven image sizes are supported by the camera, as well as three quality
settings--Superfine, Fine and Normal. Images are stored as JPEG (DCF)
files. Image sizes range from 3264 x 2448 to 1024 x 768 (see specifications
section). Compression ratios in Superfine mode range from 1.6:1 (1024
x 768) to 2.4:1 (3264 x 2448); in Fine mode, 2.5:1 to 3.9:1; and in Normal
mode, 3.2:1 to 5.8:1 (see compression table).
Samsung
i85 File Compression
Image
Size (pixels)
Quality
MP
File Size (MP)
Ratio/1
3264
x
2448
Superfine
7.99
3.39
2.4
3264
x
2176
Superfine
7.10
3.03
2.3
3264
x
1836
Superfine
5.99
2.59
2.3
2592
x
1944
Superfine
5.04
2.19
2.3
2048
x
1536
Superfine
3.15
1.44
2.2
1024
x
768
Superfine
0.79
0.48
1.6
3264
x
2448
Fine
7.99
2.04
3.9
3264
x
2176
Fine
7.10
1.80
3.9
3264
x
1836
Fine
5.99
1.55
3.9
2592
x
1944
Fine
5.04
1.30
3.9
2048
x
1536
Fine
3.15
0.88
3.6
1024
x
768
Fine
0.79
0.31
2.5
3264
x
2448
Normal
7.99
1.38
5.8
3264
x
2176
Normal
7.10
1.25
5.7
3264
x
1836
Normal
5.99
1.08
5.5
2592
x
1944
Normal
5.04
0.95
5.3
2048
x
1536
Normal
3.15
0.62
5.0
1024
x
768
Normal
0.79
0.24
3.2
Most DSCs in this class can shoot video, but most limit their motion
picture captures to two sizes--640 x 480 and 320 x 240. The i85 supports
those sizes, too, as well as 800 x 592. Files sized at 640 x 480 have
a frame rate of 30 and 15 frames per second; 320 x 240, 30 and 15 fps;
and 800 x 592, 20 fps. Video clips are captured in AVI/MPEG-4 format and
sound in WAV. Ten seconds of video at 800 x 592 consumed 2.02MB of disk
space; at 640 x 480, 1.67MB; and at 320 x 240, 853KB.
When displayed on a CRT TV, the 800 x 592 video was good and almost on
a par with a DV-tape-based camcorder. Sound was adequate. Running the
AVI files on a computer with an LCD monitor, though, improved both the
video and sound quality of the video.
During TV playback, the
camera cluttered up the screen with low-res graphics for controlling the
progress of the video--reminders that you can fast-forward through the
clip with the right arrow key, rewind with the left and such. I found
the graphics as annoying as the detritus TV networks have become so fond
of splashing on the screen during their programming.
The i85 has seven user selectable light sensitivity
settings--ISO 80, 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1600. In addition, there is an
auto ISO setting which will automatically choose the light sensitivity for
a shot based on the brightness of the scene. Although some cameras limit
the use of their higher ISO settings to lower resolution images, all of
this DSC's ISO offerings can be used with any size photo taken by the bytecam.
Unlike typical point-and-pop snappers with
a 3x optical zoom, the i85 packs a little more wallop with a Samsung NV
5x optical zoom with a focal length of 6-30mm--the 35mm equivalent of 36-180mm.
Apertures range from F/3.5-3.9 at the wide end of the zoom and F/4.9-8 at
the telephoto end.
The DSC also has a 5x digital zoom, but it has its limitations. It can't
be used in some scene modes--night, children, text, close-up, fireworks
and food--and some shooting modes--face recognition and ASR (Anti-shake
Reduction). Neither can it be used in movie or "fun" effect
modes.
When using the zoom, a bar divided by a line
appears at the top of the unit's LCD. As you zoom in on a subject with the
optical zoom, a blue cursor progresses along the bar. When the cursor passes
the dividing line, the digital zoom is activated and the amount of zoom
being deployed--x1.1, x1.2, etc.--will be displayed beside the bar.
The i85 has a TTL auto focusing system. When
taking a picture, you can lock the focus on a subject by partially depressing
the shutter button. Once the focusing system locks on to the subject, the
focus frame will turn green. In addition, you can receive an aural alert
when the system locks its focus on a subject by turning on the unit's AF
sound feature. What's more, there's an LED at the front of the DSC that
can be used to aid the auto focusing system in low light conditions. Then
you can finish depressing the shutter button to take the shot, or move the
camera to recompose the frame. If the camera can't focus on a subject, the
focus frame will be red.
There are three focusing modes.
· Multi AF. In this mode the camera will establish a focus area
based on all AF points that appear on the monitor.
· Center AF. A focus area will be established in this mode based
on the subject at the center of the LCD.
· Face Recognition AF. You can quickly enter this mode by pressing
the face recognition button at the top of the camera. When you do that,
an icon appears on the LCD to let you know that you're in that mode. Partially
depressing the shutter button wheel displays focusing frames around the
faces in a shot. Up to nine faces can be recognized in a scene. Face recognition
is far from perfect. The technology can be foiled by a person wearing
sunglasses or with some portion of their face hidden. Too little or too
much light on a mug can baffle the mode, too, as well as distance. Maximum
range for face recognition is about 10 feet.
There are also three macro focusing modes.
You can rapidly enter the macro modes by pressing the macro key--six o'clock
on the arrow dial. At the wide end of the zoom, the focusing distance for
the macro mode is 1.9 inches to 2.6 feet; in telephoto, it's 11.8 inches
to 2.6 feet. In Super Macro mode, the focusing range is 0.3 inches to 1.9
inches at the wide end of the lens. There's also an auto macro mode with
a range of 1.9 inches to infinity at the wide end of the zoom and 11.8 inches
to infinity at the telephoto end.
The i85 has two shutter speed modes. Both top out at 1/2000 second, but
normal mode bottoms out at one second and the night option at 16 seconds.
It also has a variety of continuous shooting
modes. When capturing highest quality images--8MP--the DSC shoots at about
0.7 frames per second. Speed increases to six fps for 300KB shots. The unit
also does auto exposure bracketing, where it takes three sequential shots
at different exposures, and flash bracketing, where it will capture two
images successively--one with flash, one without.
In program mode, three metering options are
available.
With the Multi option, the camera divides a scene into multiple regions
and calculates an exposure setting based on the average light in those
regions. However, the overall average is weighted toward the center of
the photograph.
With Spot mode, only light at the center of the shot is metered. That
kind of metering is especially useful when you're trying to shoot a subject
against a bright background.
In Center mode, the camera reaches an exposure
setting by averaging the light in the image area with a bias toward its
reading at the center of the shot.
In addition to the metering options, the exposure of a shot can be altered
through exposure compensation. The i85 allows you to underexpose or overexpose
a shot by ±2 stops in 1/3 increments.
The i85 is powered by a rechargeable lithium ion battery which takes
about two and half hours to charge with the unit turned off.
For still images, the DSC will capture about
230 shots before running out of power. When calculating that 230 shot figure,
Samsung took a shot every 30 seconds and moved the zoom between wide and
tele after every shot. The real world tends to be less methodical. I never
got close to 230 images on a charge. On the first charge, I managed 30 shots
over a five-day period. On a second charge, I captured 40 images over a
five-day period. No doubt the long periods of idleness when the battery
was in the camera and no photos were being taken significantly reduced the
shot-to-battery-life performance of the unit.
In movie mode, it will run for about 110 minutes when capturing 640 x
480 video. Shooting video at the DSC's highest quality--800 x 592--will
drain the battery faster.
You can listen to music on the device for more than seven and half hours
before running out of juice and watch five hours of PMP video before a
recharge.
The i85 has 190MB of internal memory which can be supplemented with SD,
SDHC and MMC plus storage cards. It will also work with the Eye-Fi wireless
networking SD card, but the battery life of the camera takes a big hit
when using the card. As I discovered with other shooters, image files
are transferred seamlessly from the Eye-Fi to the computer, but movie
files are ignored and must be transferred manually through a USB connection
or card reader.
With a 256MB memory card, you can store 49-135 images at 3264 x 2448
pixels; 58-171 images at 3264 x 2176; 71-202 images at 3264 x 1836; 86-220
images at 2592 x 1944; 128-306 images at 2048 x 1536; and 372-600 images
at 1024 x 768. On the same size card, you can store nine minutes, three
seconds of 800 x 592 video; 10 minutes, 31 seconds to 17 minutes, 26 seconds
of 640 x 480 video; and 29 minutes, eight seconds to 54 minutes, 57 seconds
of 320 x 240 video.
Within the camera is software for reading
text files, listening to MP3 files and watching PMP media. Those files ,
however, must be copied to the unit's internal memory before they can viewed
or heard. Additionally, PMP files must be converted by Samsung's PC software
into a useable form before being sent to the camera.
The i85 has a flat flash built into the front
of the unit. The flash range in wide mode is 7.8 inches to 13.1 feet; in
telephoto mode, 9.1 feet. With a freshly charged battery, flash recycle
time was about five seconds.
The flash has six settings.
· Off. The flash will not fire.
· Auto Flash. If the subject or background is dark, the flash will
fire automatically.
· Auto with Red-eye. If the subject or background is dark, the
flash will fire and reduce red-eye automatically.
· Fill in Flash. The flash fires regardless of available light
but the intensity is automatically controlled to suit the prevailing conditions.
· Slow Synchro. This is designed to get a better flash exposure
at a lower shutter speed.
· Red-eye reduction. This condition
caused by a subject looking directly into the flash will be automatically
corrected by the camera when this mode is activated.
Standards supported by the i85 are EXIF 2.2, DPOF, NTSC/PAL, USB 2.0
and PictBridge.
Compare Prices for Samsung Digimax i85 8.2 MP Digital Camera - Red
Characteristics
