Samsung MV800 Review

Cameras these days come with virtually every feature imaginable - there are models with GPS capabilities, ones that are waterproof, shockproof, are pocket-sized, and the list never ends. Samsung believes that people who like to shoot self portraits need a unique camera and for that very reason, there’s the Samsung dual-view camera. Building up from this concept of photo capture, Samsung has launched the MV800, a multi-view camera, which the company claims that allows one to capture images from virtually every angle by using its flip-out display.

Touchscreen is very responsive

Design and Build Quality
When the Samsung MV800 arrived at our labs, we were pleasantly surprised as to how slim the camera actually was. Dressed in a matte black finsh, this point and shoot looks as stylish, as it is compact. The front of the camera features the lens that occupies a majority of this area. Other design features of the camera at the front include an AF assist as well as an LED flash.

The rear of the camera features the 16:9, 3-inch capacitive LCD touchscreen display that flushes along the body of the camera. Its design is really good, giving it a look of some of the mid to high-end smartphones found in the market these days. There are only two buttons found at the back and these are the home button and the playback button. The buttons look rich and the circular design adds to the class factor of the camera.

Only two buttons at the top along with the zoom rocker

The top of the camera features the shutter release button that is located on the inside of the zoom rocker as well as the power button, which when on is surrounded by an LED indicator. Connectivity options for the camera lie in a bay located at the side of this shooter and they include an HDMI port and a USB port. The battery bay located on the underside of the camera houses the MicroSD card slot as well.

The most interesting design of the camera is its flip out display. The whole screen is able to be tilted out. But, unlike some of the other cameras available in the market, Samsung has located the hinge at the top thereby making it possible to be tilted up and over so that one can easily take self portraits. This can be done by using a second shutter release button located underneath the screen. The other side of the screen has a textured finish keeping in line with the stylish looks of the camera. The hinge feels sturdy and can remain at the position it is left in. This allows it to also be used as a stand, while viewing content from the camera.

The second shutter release button at the back

The camera weighs a little over 130g, battery included, thus making it very light and easy to carry around. Size-wise, this camera is no larger than a business card and one can easily fit it in their pocket and women can carry it around in their purses. Clicking pictures with the right hand is extremely easy because of its light weight and compact form factor. Overall, we were very impressed with the design and build quality of this compact camera.Features

The main feature of this camera is undoubtedly the flip-out display. One can take full advantage of this feature to capture their fun times during group photos that are self shot without worrying about someone being cropped out. The same can be said about taking self shots and with this camera, one does not need to guess and click, but actually view what they are capturing while capturing the image.

Can be used as a stand to view images

Samsung uses a 16.1 megapixel CCD sensor for capturing images with this camera. One can use this to their advantage and print large format pictures, which they have shot. In the days when a majority of the cameras come with high zoom capabilities, the MV800 features a 5x zoom with a focal length of 4.7 - 23.5mm. One may tend to think that this camera's zoom capabilities are not that great given that it is just 5x, but, the fact that Samsung has fitted this and a lot more features, in such a small body is certainly a big deal. The 3-inch capacitive touchscreen is another neat feature found here and from the looks of it, it appears that this is going to be the trend found on compact cameras in the future. Very few brands launch cameras with a touchscreen interface and those that do, usually tend to add a resistive screen as opposed to capacitive. By adding a capacitive screen, one can use it in the same way they use their smartphones by merely swiping and tapping without adding too much pressure to do the same. One also has the ability to click pictures by tapping the screen giving the camera dual shooting abilities.

The interface of the camera is another interesting feature. There are widgets onscreen and everything is accessed using the touchscreen interface. The physical buttons assist in the functionality as one can access these options only after pressing the home button. To navigate through the interface, one has to just swipe left or right and select the option they wish to use. Samsung have made the camera extremely user friendly and one can play with this camera for long amounts of time by simply going through the different features and modes.

Pose guide assists in capturing images

The scene modes and presets in this camera are some of the best features and there are presets, such as Live Panorama, which is a panorama shooting mode, Self Shot where one can shoot images of themselves by flipping open the screen,  picture in picture,  photo filter, vignetting, close-up shot and a whole bunch of others. These presets are quite helpful and one can click creative pictures without the need of any post processing, using Photoshop or any other photo editing tool to help make the image look artistic. Apart from this, there is an onboard photo editor, which makes a slight amount of post processing possible from the camera itself. Apart from this, there is a mode which guides one to click self portraits. This can be useful for snapping pictures to use as profile pictures for social networking sites.

The camera saves images in the JPEG format, which is a standard format for capturing images. These images can be stored on the internal memory, which is just 10 MB or on the microSD card. The camera can support up to 32GB of storage by using a microSD card. The MV800 supports HD video recording at 720p, unlike many cameras in a similar price range that support full HD 1080p video recording.

To sum up this bit, the camera has some pretty neat features that can entertain people for long amounts of time.Performance

The ability to grip the camera easily due to its compact form factor was a major plus point. Shooting images with a single hand is completely possible as it is very light. When the screen is open and while one is clicking self shots, the textured grip helps in handling the camera. Moving on to the interface, the screen is very responsive and we fac,ed no issues with it whatsoever. The screen feels a lot better than some tablets and smartphones available in the market as there is no lag noticed. Apart from this, we tested the camera outdoors, indoors, in a controlled environment as well as tested the different presets available.

ISO sensitivity test

ISO Sensitivity Test
During the ISO sensitivity test, the camera fared well at slow ISO settings, between ISO 80 to ISO 200. An amount of noise begins to creep in the shot at ISO 800 with the image appearing a bit grainy. At ISO 1600, the noise levels rose drastically and at ISO 3200, the image was unusable.Performance Continued

The camera performs well in the outdoors and colours taken in these images appeared accurate. There was a slight amount of colour fringing seen, but it was too negligible to deduct any points from the camera. Indoor pictures shot well and colours and tones appeared natural. However, there was a slight amount of grain in these indoor shots. The camera does well, while capturing pictures in macro mode, but it did have some trouble with focusing. Once the camera adjusts the focus point, the image captures well. The flash of the camera is decent at best and lights up an area of approximately 10 feet.

Macro image

The video recording capabilities of the camera are really good and there were no issues noticed during video recording. The video file size is not very large as well with it recording a 30-second clip in under 20 MB. Playback of the video was smooth and there were no transition issues noticed when moving from dark areas to bright ones. Samsung bundles a 740mAh battery with the camera and the brand rates it at 200 shots.

Up to 180 degrees tilt

Verdict
The Samsung MV800 is available in India at a MOP of Rs.14,000. This camera is a really interesting camera when it comes to its design and features. There are not many cameras in the market, which have an interface, such as this with its responsive touchscreen display. This camera shows that the line between tablets/smartphones and compact cameras is becoming increasingly narrow. The design of this camera is unique to only this model and it serves the purpose for self shots really well. The various filters add to this being a camera that one can use without the need to photo edit to give the images that extra artistic edge. However, this camera will not appeal to enthusiasts as there are no manual or semi manual functions for tweaking the different settings.

If one is looking around for a camera with a touch screen interface for casual use, the MV800 is a sure shot choice.