Tuesday, November 30, 2010

SAMSUNG ES30 UNBOXING & MINI REVIEW!!

Hello folks!!

To those who followed my blog, I used to own a 5MP Polaroid digital camera. That was my first digital camera, and for all intents and purposes was a really good and durable camera. Sadly early on, my little sister needed a camera to document her trips and stuff specially when she’s out of Manila, so I gave her my Polaroid camera.

For months, I had been contemplating on getting a new camera. So for this one, I took time and researched and looked around for a camera that atleast has the following specs:

  • 12 megapixel (my old Polaroid camera only had 5 megapixel resolution, so I’m bumping it up a notch)
  • 3.0” LCD screen (I’d like much more screen space)
  • Optical Zoom (my old Polaroid camera only has digital zoom)
  • Powered by AA rechargeable batteries (I’m not a fan of rechargeable lithium ion battery packs since its hard to find replacements once the model gets phased out)
  • Digital Image Stabilizer/Anti-Shake feature (I have shaky hands so this would help me a lot)

Now I believe these are pretty reasonable features for a camera that’s below Php 6,000 since that’s the only budget I have for a digital camera. Back then, the best camera I can find with those specs in mind was the Nikon Coolpix L22:


nikon_l22_digitalcameras
Priced at Php 6,000 for me back then it seem a better deal. Considering that I saw just how good my GF’s camera was (a Nikon Coolpix L21), I said to myself this seemed a good deal for a camera. Then came this camera:
350_XG5825_0_med_v1_m56577569830938042
Introducing the Samsung ES30. I’ve recently just seen this camera, and I was surprised at the specs of this camera considering its price of just Php 4,990!! Here’s a quick comparison of the these 2 cameras:

 
Nikon Coolpix L22
Samsung ES30
Total Megapixel 12 Megapixels 12 Megapixels
Max Resolution 4000 x 3000 4000 x 3000
Optical Zoom 3x zoom 5x zoom
Digital Zoom 4x zoom 5x zoom
Display LCD size 3.0” LCD 3.0” LCD
Dimensions 3.84 x 2.39 x 1.1 in (98 x 61 x 28 mm) 3.76 x 2.43 x 0.9 in (96 x 62 x 23 mm)
Image Stabilizer Digital Digital
Connectivity USB (2.0), AV connector USB (2.0), AV connector
Price Php 6,000 Php 4,990

Considering the specs alone, I went ahead and got the Samsung ES30 instead of the Nikon Coolpix L22. I’m pretty confident with my choice, since I already had some hands-on with another Samsung digital camera (the one that my father uses) and so far I’m okay with it’s performance. So yesterday, I finally got my funds to get the unit and went to SM Bicutan to get my Samsung ES30.

The folks from Picture City at SM Bicutan (the same shop where I got my GF’s Nikon Coolpix L21 camera) gave me a great package for my Samsung ES30 for only Php 4,990. My camera comes with the following:

  • Camera Pouch
  • 2GB SD card
  • Energizer AA Rechargeable Batteries + Charger pack

Aside from the package, it also comes with 1 year warranty, which is good enough for me. So I went home happily with my brand-spankin-new digicam. ^___^ Here’s a simple unboxing (pics taken from my Nokia C3 camera):
Photo0057Photo0059Photo0060Photo0061Photo0062Photo0063Photo0064Photo0065Photo0066Photo0067Photo0068Photo0070Photo0071Photo0072Photo0073

My initial impression with the camera was its gorgeous. It looks really good and doesn’t feel cheap at all. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to think that this camera only costs less than Php 6,000. Build quality is solid, and the camera feels good in the hand.

Here’s some sample shots I got for the camera:
SAM_0004SAM_0020SAM_0022SAM_0023SAM_0024
Pretty good quality IMHO. Just to test how good it is compared to my current Nokia C3’s camera, I’ve made what I call the “Voltron Test” where my test subject is my uber-awesome Voltron toy and take pictures of it then compare the shots taken. Here’s the results:
voltron-test-cel

Picture Taken with the Nokia C3 (using default settings)

voltron-test-sam 

Picture Taken with the Samsung ES30 (using only Smart Auto)

I love how the colors are more vibrant and more better toned on the Samsung ES30, than on my Nokia C3 (well it IS just a camera phone after all). So far so good I’m lovin the results so far. I’ll try to get a similar comparison with the Nikon Coolpix L21 that my GF uses and see how it fares with that camera if ever.

But overall, it’s money well-spent and I’m amazed at the quality I got with my Samsung ES30 considering its price tag. With my new digicam, you can expect better photos in my blog soon (me thinks I’ll have to take pics of my toys again for christmas. Hehehehe).

Photo0074

Definitely one happy camper *iskwik iskwik* XD

16 comments:

  1. Napapadalas ang *skwik* *skwik* ah. Doggie smiled good there :D

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  2. @Stacy:
    Hahahahaha!! I know man. Oh our dog? She's the resident slut/model dog here sa bahay. She's quite smart eh? XD

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  3. Voltron! Defender of the Universe!

    That is one gorgeous camera! I like the fact that it's so slim! My old school cam is bulky. Ang cute din ng pouch ha! And the price, that is one good deal!

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  4. @Lady E:
    GO VOLTRON!! XD That's actually a gift to me for my birthday by my GF Kitten. XD You can simply imagine just how happy I was getting that as a gift. I think I made a blog post about it here...

    As for the camera, yep, it definitely is gorgeous. Even my GF likes how sleek and sexy it is!! To think it is just priced that cheap, I have to say its a STEAL!! XD

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  5. i also bought a new camera... how i wish i can do the voltron test :)

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  6. @Jayz79:
    LOL!! I know man. Sadly not all can do the voltron test coz well... they need Voltron for it. XD

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  7. but i can do the optimus prime test hehehe... although its not as awesome as voltron :P

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  8. @jayz79:
    Actually mas well-known and mas uber awesome si Optimus kesa kay Voltron. May movie nga un eh, si Voltron wala. LOL!! Although... Decepticons ako eh, GO SOUNDWAVE!! \m/

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  9. Dude...i got tis camera a week before...whenever i take a picture i feel something is been missing.compared to the pics by other camera of 10MP it looks not much better...my friends even tell the same..i donno wat s wrong with the settings..can help me out in this? with which settings u took these pics?

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  10. Hi i'm planning to buy that same unit samsung es30..just wanna ask how many shots it could take before the battery drains? because i'm having second thoughts about the battery..

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  11. @Umar:
    Hi!! Sorry I wasn't able to reply immediately as I thought no one was actually reading my blog. LOL!! Anyway, as for the pictures, it takes awhile to get used to it and find the right settings. As for me, I can't tell you an exact setting type, but I usually just set it to Smart Auto and I get the right shots I like.

    @trishtam:
    As for the battery, I'm not too sure. But for me, I'm using rechargeable batteries for my camera. I'm not too sure with the exact number of shots, but my camera was up and running for 2 days of taking random pictures while I was on vacation.

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  12. hey I am planning to by this camera ... Can u tell me the disadvantages if any ... I had a look at kodak C195 its a 14mp cam with the same price tag ... But lol samsung is better can u help mw out with this pls

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  13. play up with the white balance and turn it to manual.it really makes a great difference:)

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  14. @Pranay:
    Sorry for the uber late reply. Work and stuff got in the way of me blogging lately. :( As for my months of experience with this camera, I can safely say it has its ups and downs. But reliability wise, it is a very reliable camera that takes really great shots when needed.

    @archi:
    Really? That's something to work on, although my sister already has my 12MP camera (she's in singapore right now) and she needed a camera, so I gave her mine. :D

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  15. Does your flash prdfuces smoke everytime you use it? Is it normal?

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