Samsung's new compacts in person: front LCDs, GPS and WiFi don't go to waste
By Paul Miller 
posted Aug 13th 2009 12:42PM
posted Aug 13th 2009 12:42PM
posted Aug 13th 2009 12:42PM
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Imagine the fun to be had by holding two facing each other!
omg you just blew my mind dude!!!
Seriously though, that front LCD is pretty sweet, better than the convex "mirror" you get on some cell phones.
i was gonna post that i must have one. now i must have two!
It's a neat idea, but if they just used a backward-facing lens then they could get away with a single LCD.
Both these cameras are very well designed and show up the other vendors. The one issue is can Samsung get their image quality right? Their previous top end cameras have also been very innovative and well constructed, but fallen behind with IQ. Ironically, their Tocco UltraTouch phone offers the best image (and video) quality of any mobile phone out there. So, if that is what Samsung are capable with a humble phone, then they should be able to do wonders with a dedicated digicam.
I can't wait to take the stereotypical heads squished together shot of me and every conceivable thing known to man :P
this is far not as good as the canon swivel LCD on camera like A620, which can be flip to the front or other angle. I just want something like that with similar image quality, waterproof and can do 720p video.
no compass?
Samsung definitely has a winner here. The dual-LCD is super useful for people who want to take pictures of themselves and this feature is frankly overdue. I am sure all the other manufacturers will following this trend and there will be many more dual LCD cameras on the market next year.
- SkratchBoard.com
I agree it's useful, but the same exact functionality(better, actually, in terms of resolution) could have been done with a mirror.
I think it's tacky overkill - mirrors work
Warning: Not suitable for 12 year old girls with myspaces. May cause constant profile picture changes and loss of friends and free time. In rare cases death or serious injury may occur.
If a camera can have built in GPS (even if its simple) than the iPod Touch can have it too, right? :(
clowns are definitely creepy
What am I, a clown? Do I amuse you? How am I Funny?
Seriously, $400 - $500 bucks for a basic camera with a dual LCD? Looks like "Pimp my Camera"
Couldn't this have been done at a lower cost with a mirror? It would also have an infinite resolution. I guess this means you can also have those animations but I don't really see those being useful. Kinda reminds me of that old story where the US spend millions of dollars developing a special pen that could write in 0 gravity and the Russians used a pencil.
...that the americans didn't use because the graphite would be released all over and potentially screw up some essencial electronic device.
Actually just thinking of that LCD feature where the kids can look at an entertaining picture... wouldn't that mean that the kids will forever be looking as if they are staring off the centre of the lens? Strange images may be produces.
Ditto for the knobs who find that their self-portraits will tun into video-conference-like blank stares.
Regarding the WIFI, would be fantastic if you could tether it to your mobile, say using an ad-hoc connection via PDAnet.
meep meep meep mep meep meep
How is GPS useful on a camera?
Geotagging.
way back in the old days of film you could get a date/time stamped on the pic as it was processed so people knew when the pic was taken
now you get not only when but the where broken down to the nearest 10 feet
to some that is useful
to those of us who read engadget it is a MUST HAVE!!!
That's the coolest thing ever and I want it right now! Even though I probably won't use it and I didn't know what it was like 2 minutes ago. God bless America.
"God bless America"
Yes, it definitely needs that. The thing is, She's busy elsewhere, God knows where.
... thanks for ruining my joke Steven.
The problem with GPS is that it does not work well inside, away from windows. The second think is that everyone takes pics at the same places most of the time - at your house, your parents' house, or your friends' house. The 5% of time really traveling is usually done to a destination, like Hawaii, Disney World, San Francisco, etc. Then you just name your entire trip folder with that name.
GPS has never been a big consumer need. It also eats up batteries pretty quickly.
cant u just use a mirror in place of the lcd and save like $50?
Why not keep the LCD and just switch to Geico?
Many people are interested in where they took their pictures to a closer degree than "Hawaii"
Needs a compass too, so you could come back and see the same view again if you wanted.
Yeah, hopefully the image quality will be good. I recently bought a Sammy SL620 and was very disappointed with the image quality on it although I liked the looks and user interface it had.
thats pretty cool, but the tap on and off feature didnt seem to work to responsively, im sure this technology will bee seen much more frequently in the future though, as it seems like a novel idea for travelers and myspacers alike
The only "innovative" feature I see here is bluetooth.
If the TLs had all the great features of CL combined, I'll buy it. The front screen is pretty neat, but I don't really take my pics of myself so its kind of unnecessary to me. If anything, you could just set a timer, remember where the "crosshair" is pointing, and get there before the timer runs out. That way, you take pics of not only yourself but the rest of the background behind you too.
So what kind of storage does these cameras use or have?
The TL225 has some cool features, but the optical zoom is lame... they should've included at least an 8x- 10x zoom. That would've made the camera slightly larger, but so what? More optical zoom is better and worth the increase in size.
But that aside, the question now remains, "How is the picture quality on these cams?"
I love this.
Camwhores rejoice!!!
small but comfortable!