Samsung intros Digimax D103 camera for the UK

Samsung is certainly not hurting for point-and-shoot digital cameras but the company is beefing up its lineup anyway, slipping the Digimax D103 out the door without too much fanfare. This one's apparently exclusive to the U.K. for now, boasting an increasingly common 10 megapixels, along with a 3x optical zoom, and a 2.5-inch LCD on the camera's backside (check out a shot of it after the break). The D103 will also let you take full VGA MPEG-3 video at 30 fps, and will give you ISO settings all the way up to ISO 1000. No word on price, but it appears that it's available now.

[Via Photography Blog]

[Tim Millwood @ Dec 20th 2006 3:21PM]

I work in Currys here in UK, we have 100s of these stacked up in the warehouse!

[L @ Dec 21st 2006 1:20AM]

^ Half price deal down to £150 on boxing day i reckon ;)

[robUx4 @ Dec 21st 2006 2:40AM]

MPEG-3 video ?! I suppose it's not as good as MPEG-4 but better than MPEG-2 :)

[Slingers @ Jan 2nd 2007 6:32PM]

All I can say is ......

DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA - It is not fit for purpose.

I have had two since the 26th December.

The catch is..........

It will not work effectively with any type of disposable batteries.

I even tried Lithium Ion ones and after two shots received the "Low Battery" warning were upon the camera shuts down automatically and the flash would not operate at all.

The first Camera only took 7 non flash shots with the supplied alkaline batteries before it stopped working. In all it went through 3 sets of batteries, all alkaline, to take just 30 photo’s.

After removing the batteries each tested with a full charge on a tester but would still not power the thing.

I have emailed Samsung about this and obtained a suitable bland response which states….
“Disposable batteries don't tend to last long as the camera does use a substantial amount of power, we recommend that one try using a rechargeable battery as they carry a lot more power. The optimum battery to use is a NiMH battery from 2500mAH - 3000mAH.”

While I appreciate their point I do expect it to actually operate with some limited reliability using disposable batteries.

My response was this ….

“….. This Camera is not fit for purpose and as a result I have already returned it to PC World and obtained a full refund. I hope many others do the same.

I am frankly surprised that a large organisation such as Samsung would produce such a poorly thought through piece of technology, I will not be purchasing a Samsung camera again.

This camera should never have been produced with the option of using AA batteries and should have been engineered with some sort of integral rechargeable high capacity nickel metal hydride battery. I have gone back to using my Olympus digital camera which successfully uses this type of technology.”

As you can see I have now returned my second D103 and obtained a full refund and, if you experience the same as me, I would advise you to take it back sooner rather than later. This is hardly a simple point and shoot camera as it is marketed.

[londo @ Jan 30th 2007 8:59AM]

what slingers said and more. and really 'slingers' (pun intended) is all this camera is good for - simply because it just eats batteries and then eats and eats some more, and as a result I agree that it is unfit for purpose.

mine is also headed back to PC World. which is a shame really cos apart from this (serious) issue its a good camera

[JJ @ Jun 14th 2007 12:32PM]

Well I feel the opposite to what has been said earlier. I bought this as part of a bundle with some rechargable batteries. I've taken it on holiday twice, the last time I took over 250 photos both during the day and night and only had to charge the batteries every 3rd night. Disposable batteries are rubbish when it comes to digital cameras - I used to use a Kodak Z740 and when I was in OZ I had exactly the same problem with eating batteries. All I can suggest is if you have a camera that doesn't have a special battery then get rechargable ones (they're cheaper in the long run!!!) Picture quality is very good and for the price I don't think you can go wrong!

[Rajah @ Sep 18th 2007 2:18PM]

I need to buy this camera, I'm looking for a good price and someplace that can ship it to NY.

[Disappointed @ Oct 28th 2007 12:22PM]

Our experience with this camera with 2500 mah batteries uilly charged is that it takes 5 or 6 shots and then says the batteries are dead. The camera setup was set to rechargable batteries in the menu of the camera. Photo quality of the lense appears to be lagging with say regard to the Fuji F10 which is a 6 megapixel camera (which is far sharper). The view screen is reasonably large, but is never bright enough except for on a dull day or indoors. It is being returned to PC World as soon as the receipt can be found for a refund. Nice idea in concept for a camera, but poorly executed in reality. I suggest steering well clear of this camera.