Samsung L700

Reviewed July 2007

Image Quality

Compact, light, and more importantly very quick, the Samsung L700 is a discreet companion on outings and walks as it allows capturing fleeting images.

Offering technical specs that seem to be the current standard for small compact cameras, the L700 has the advantage that it does not skimp on some critical items: for instance, it provides a 2.5-inch monitor with a high resolution — 230,000 pixels — which results in a sharp and precise image.

The short zoom of the L700 has a focal length range that covers the equivalent of a 35 to 105 mm on a 35 mm camera. Yet, although the wide angle end is only an average wide angle, images reveal some barrel distortion, particularly when the shot contains linear elements that are close to the edges of the frame. Telephoto shots, on the other hand, reveal no pincushion distortion. Sharpness is even across images, and throughout the focal length range of the zoom, and there is no visible chromatic aberration, even when the subject contains strong contrasts.

Another advantage of the L700 is that its sensitivity range can be used up to 400 ISO outdoors in broad daylight and even up to 800 ISO if necessary. Indeed, noise is effectively absent at 80 and 100 ISO, and only increases marginally in dark or slightly underexposed areas up to 400 ISO.

At 800 ISO, noise becomes visible in areas of uniform colour, but when printed, these images are acceptable up to 10.2 x 7.6 inches (26 x 19.5 cm) at 300 dpi.

At 1600 ISO, noise is very visible, and the sharpness of the image is so limited that it can not produce large size prints. Still, the fact remains that the sensitivity can be increased, without too much of a penalty in noise, to boost the shutter speed when required.

Another area where the L700 stands out in relation to many other compacts is in the choice of compression the user is given: the L700 allows saving all image sizes at any of three compression settings, a rare feature nowadays.

The highest image quality, and the most suitable for large prints, is 7M Super Fine. And, if images are to be printed at a smaller size or used for the web or e-mail only, the other sizes — at the Super Fine quality setting — are quite sufficient.

Regrettably, in our opinion, the compression applied at the Super Fine setting is still a bit too strong as it tends to hover in the 6:1 range with most photos. And, when these photos are inspected on a monitor at 100%, the compression seems to reduce the sharpness of the smaller detail in images.

However, once the images are reduced in size, or printed, the softness in the details that can be seen on a monitor disappears.

As with all compact digital cameras, the L700 is equipped with a small built-in flash. Since the camera has a tendency to select the lowest sensitivity when set to Auto ISO, increasing the effect of the flash by augmenting the sensitivity is best done manually. Nevertheless, the flash is primarily useful to provide fill-in light, and cannot be relied on as the major source of light.

Overall, the Samsung L700 yields very good images, particularly if these are destined to be printed. The L700 reacts quickly to its controls, including its shutter release, and its photos can be printed out to 10.2 x 7.6 inches (26 x 19.5 cm) at 300 dpi easily and with excellent results, placing it on the same footing as most expensive cameras. In fact, the L700 probably has one of the best cost-to-value ratios for cameras currently on the market.