Set to a capture mode, the Samsung
Digimax V700 presents camera settings on the periphery of
the 2-inch LCD monitor. White characters or icons with black
outlines are used, making the information quite legible, even
when the monitor has bright light falling on it.
The menu system is relatively simple and very fast to react
to the controls, making it very quick to use. Each option
is identified by an icon at the top of the screen, and with
text directly below. Then, each option and its settings are
presented on coloured backgrounds, allowing the text to remain
legible when superimposed on the image. Whatever the mode,
an access to the Setup menu is always available, providing
settings for:
File: selects whether images are named sequentially,
or restart at 1 when the memory card has been formatted,
or a new card is used.
Power Off: to choose the delay after which, when
it is inactive, the V700 will power down (1, 3, 5 or 10
minutes).
Format: formats the memory card. This will erase
all images, including those that have been protected.
Date/Time: sets the time and date on the V700,
and allows selecting the format (DD/MM/YY, MM/DD/YY, YY/MM/DD).
Imprint:superimposes the time and date,
or only the date, permanently onto the image.
Sound: serves to adjust the volume of sounds associated
to the operation of the V700 (Low, Medium, High).
AF Lamp: On or Off. Selects whether or not the
focus assistance lamp will come on when the ambient light
is insufficient to guarantee accurate auto focus.
USB: decides whether the USB protocol is Mass Storage
which makes the camera appear as a hard disk to a computer,
or PictBridge which allows connecting the V700 directly
to a PictBridge compatible printer.
LCD: controls the brightness of the monitor (Dark,
Normal, Bright).
Video Out: selects the video out signal (NTSC or
PAL).
Quickview: serves to decide if an image is shown
on the monitor immediately post capture, and for how long
(0.5, 1, 3 seconds or Off)
Reset: returns all camera settings to their defaults.
The manual included with the Digimax V700 is quite thin. While
it is generally well-organized, using tabs that allow accessing
certain topics, and all the camera functions are listed, specifics
are a bit too succinct.
Software
The North American version of the
Samsung Digimax V700 we reviewed included a single CD which
contains: Digimax Viewer 2.1, Digimax Reader
(a text recognition tool), Arcsoft PhotoImpression 4
and a USB driver for older Windows versions.
Once installed, Digimax Viewer detects the presence
of the camera when it is connected to the computer through
USB, and can be used to download images. The program starts
by displaying a browser window that shows the computer's folders
on the left side, and photos as thumbnails at either 1 of
2 different sizes on the right, and with or without information.
The program allows inspecting
an image by double-clicking it, which presents it in another
window at 100%. In addition, right-clicking any thumbnail
makes it possible to display the image's shooting data. Moreover,
images can be re-saved in a variety of formats such as JPEG,
TIFF, PCX or BMP.
Digimax Viewer can also present images as a slide show, and
can be used to print images using any of a wide variety of
presentations and page layouts.
For photo editing Samsung provides
PhotoImpression, a program that offers some advanced
editing functions such as a lasso to select specific image
areas so that editing can be done there to the exclusion of
all others.
Photos can be adjusted for brightness, sharpness, saturation,
colour tone, saturation, and cloning and red-eye correction
are also possible. Finally, text can be added, or borders,
and the program allows working using layers.
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Interface & Software
