The quality of images shot with the TL34 were
a mixed bag. Outdoor performance was better than indoor performance. Shooting
with the built-in flash yielded a variety of results from good images to
ones that were washed out. Noise was a problem with indoor photos as well
as with images captured at light sensitivity settings over 400.
Aperture: F/5.0 Shutter Speed: 1/200 second ISO: 80
Outdoors, this Samsung model took sharp
photographs that were properly exposed and had good color fidelity.
Aperture: F/7.3 Shutter Speed: 1/125 second ISO: 80
Indoors shots with the TL34 were inconsistent,
but more consistent results can be obtained without a flash--if light sensitivity
settings can be kept relatively low. One way to do that is to shoot at lower
shutter speeds. This camera's image stabilization system makes that possible.
Aperture: F/2.8 Shutter Speed: 1/20 second ISO: 200
While the performance of this DSC's built-in
flash was checkered, one area where it did a consistently good job was in
fill-light situations. In the photo below, the faces of the subjects would
have been underexposed because of the lighting from the window behind them,
but the unit's flash corrected that situation.
Aperture: F/3.7 Shutter Speed: 1/125 second ISO: 80
Although the TL34's exposure system
performed well in many lighting situations, it was sometimes handy to bracket
an exposure. This DSC has an auto bracketing feature that allows that to
be done by simply holding the shutter button down until the three shots
in the bracket are captured.
Aperture: F/2.8 Shutter Speed: 1/30 second ISO: 100
Aperture: F/2.8 Shutter Speed: 1/50 second ISO: 100
Aperture: F/2.8 Shutter Speed: 1/60 second ISO: 100
The TL34 has a number of scene modes that optimize
the camera's settings for certain photographic situations, like the shooting
of food in the photo below.
Aperture: F/2.8 Shutter Speed: 1/50 second ISO: 100
More and more ultracompacts like the TL34 are
make wide-angle zooms part of their repertoire. The trend is definitely
beneficial to shutterbugs because it permits them to add more drama to their
snaps, especially their landscape shots.
Aperture: F/7.3 Shutter Speed: 1/200 second ISO: 80
Although this Samsung model has a light sensitivity
range of ISO 80-3200, shots in the upper ISO settings were unacceptably
noisy for most purposes.
Aperture: F/2.8 Shutter Speed: 1/250 second ISO: 80
Aperture: F/2.8 Shutter Speed: 1/250 second ISO: 80
Aperture: F/7.3 Shutter Speed: 1/2000 second ISO: 3200
The TL34 can shoot High Definition video, but
I found this feature problematic. Uploading HD video to the Web (see clip
below) greatly improves the online experience. Editing the HD files on a
computer, though, was baffling. Not even Samsung's own software would display
the files correctly. And while the files could be viewed in QuickTime for
Windows, they could not be imported into iMovie HD or iMovie '08 on a MacBook.
Image Quality
