Samsung ST5500 Feature Review - Problematic Steps to Internet Camera

Samsung ST5500 Feature Review - Problematic Steps to Internet Camera

Posted on December 22, 2010, Last updated on June 10, 2018 by

Chippy

You'll be surprised to see an image of a digital camera here on Carrypad. Read on to find out why.

In my opinion, digital photos and internet go together like a heavenly marriage.I have been a mobile internet photographer for almost 3 years with my Nokia N82 and a

recent post about Nokia N8

will show you that I intend to keep going. In my search to improve my mobile photo/video blogging capabilities, I came across the Samsung ST5500 camera.

This is a review of this camera's online capabilities against my needs. Again, see

this post

for more information on my needs.

The Samsung ST5500 is a standard compact camera with a 7x optical zoom and a 14.1 mp sensor. Price 200 euros today in Germany (I bought it.) The interesting thing about it is that it operates via a touch user interface (aside from power, playback, shutter and zoom controls) and runs an operating system that has WiFi, BT and DLNA support for sending and receiving data. images with other devices and internet services such as Picasa, Facebook and YouTube.

I won't need to take much of your time today with this mini review because quite frankly this is a device that quite significantly underperforms on its internet features. So much so that I won't need to talk too much about image and video quality.

In theory, you can transfer images via Bluetooth 2.0. Via Wifi, it will connect to the Internet and send images to Picasa, Facebook and videos to YouTube. There is an email function, a camera transfer function to camera and two types of DLNA configuration (server and controller). You can also connect to the Samsung Imaging Service. This all sounds pretty exciting. Here's what Samsung says…

Oh how different the reality is. You can do all of the above but… Bluetooth transfers are reduced to 640x480 (or less for a 16:9 image) and YouTube transfers are limited to 320x240 clips under 30 seconds. All image transfers to Facebook, Picasa and other services are limited to 2Mp.

What a joke. What an absolute joke. It's worse than most camera phones. What I really don't understand is why? Why limit Bluetooth transfers to 640x480. It's not like the bandwidth Bluetooth was going to cost the user a lot of money. Were they designing on a device with BT1.1 maybe? As for the limitations of YouTube, again, what are they thinking? Give the user an option at least for HQ. 480p widescreen video might sound good enough, but really, QVGA in 2010, 2011?

That's not all...

Picasa does not work for me. I recently linked my Picasa account to my Google account and I suspect that the ST5500 cannot handle the update, which is a huge problem. What happens when the Connection APIs change? Will Samsung keep the firmware updated?

Although the ST5500 transfers via Bluetooth to my Samsung Galaxy Tab, it does not work with my netbook. It does not even see my netbook.

Each time you want to transmit via Bluetooth, you must create a passcode. The concept of pairing and trust is not supported.

Passwords are also required every time you log in to a service Given that there is no access security on the phone, this may be a good thing, so Samsung needs to think to a way to speed up this process. A 4-digit lock code as access to all network functions seems easier to me.

The WiFi disconnects after use. This is clearly to save battery, but I think it's possible to have a 15 minute timeout after use. Maybe they are using a high drain WiFi module (maybe old?).

The email function works. It sends 2MP images which actually works quite well for internet use. The problem here is that Samsung signs each photo sent with an advertisement: “Sent via Samsung's ST 5500. Samsung smart cameras.Innovation makes it easier.inch There seems no way to change that.Photos also have to go through Samsung mail servers, as there is no option to define an SMTP mail server.

So as a reminder, the Bluetooth function is pretty much useless. The Wifi function is limited and the messaging service comes with ads. I briefly tested the DLNA service with my Galaxy Tab and couldn't transfer anything or even show in file lists. 100% of this camera's internet sharing features are having issues. I just have to say 'no. It's not for me. These restrictions are not clear. You can find them on page 102 of the PDF manual which is on a CD-ROM with the device!!! (Image in full article on the right.)

Looking at the Nokia N8 today (

I have some sample photos on Flickr

N8 wins this low light short throw test) I realize what an amazing piece of hardware this is, but I really wouldn't mind having the N8 software on this ST5500 hardware. from the compact camera, the image quality isn't bad at all and the software advantage would push the ST5500 into a new category.

Photo and video issues to consider…

No F-stop or shutter speed adjustments. If you like manual control, the ST5500 doesn't give you too much.

No HDMI cable provided. This is the

second time in a week

I've had a product that claims to have HDMI output but doesn't provide a cable in the box. (For comparison, the Nokia N8 comes with both HDMI and USB adapter cables.)

No soft case provided. With the resistive touch screen you need a case although it has to be said that there are few mechanical buttons on this device. That's a good point. A case is always necessary to protect this screen.

The "cradle" is simply a stand, a piece of molded plastic that doesn't really do its job when connected to the relatively heavy USB cable. I wonder why they provided it when the device can stand on its own .

Manual only on CD. Seriously, I only have one PC that has a CDROM drive now and it's in my basement. I rarely use it. I ended up downloading the manual from the site Samsung website.[

Click for English manual in PDF format

] Providing a micro-SD card (not included) with the PDF would have been easier.

After about 2 hours of play, I had a crash. The battery had to be removed

No continuous AF on video

OMG! I'm so stupid. I thought every 200 euro name brand digital camera could handle continuous autofocus in videos. I was wrong. This is a huge challenge for me, someone one that will go from the showroom to a product's USB port. The ST5500 can only handle pre-focus for videos and once you start shooting there's no going back. Even the pause function does not refocus. I'm sure there are many people, just as stupid as me, who will wonder why the close-up of their baby is so blurry!

A defect on the device...

Suspiciously the box was unsealed. Upon booting up the splash screen didn't show up and I was immediately thrown into a German language setup. (I realized after reading the manual there should have been an intro screen with time, date and language choice) and then after taking the first video it became clear. The ST5500 I have is broken .Audio not working on video.All I get is cracking noise.Snogard from Frechen, Koeln You

appear

taking back a defective device and putting it on the shelf for sale. You will pick up the ST5500 tomorrow. Do NOT put it back on the shelf. I note the serial number for reference: 49BICS0Z400063.

Summary

For 200 euros I get much better image quality than the 350 euro Canon S2IS (if I remember correctly) that I bought 3 years ago. It's also much lighter and, assuming that 720p video works, that's a big step up in video quality. In terms of value for money it looks okay but hey, Samsung, you know what? I haven't tested many of them yet. 'other compact cameras and my friends on Twitter tell me there are better optical ones. On top of that, Samsung, you've positioned it as a connected device. It's connected in a very, very limited way to the time when smartphones can share in HD.Samsung, your camera department needs to talk to your smartphone department urgently.

Remember the Archos 605 Wifi? It was one of the first internet-connected media players and it was a step towards the good quality internet media devices that Archos produces today. Like the 605 Wifi, the ST5500 shows that the concept is good and the hardware components are there but a lot of software development work is needed.

We are approaching a time when phones reach the quality of compact cameras and absolutely surpass them in terms of connectivity. The compact camera market must adapt quickly and exploit its position of having quality zoom optics. 'they don't, someone will come along and bite off a huge chunk of the market. Maybe Nokia will reintroduce their

optical focusing lenses

.Maybe Altek already has the right idea…

That's what I'm talking about!

Your thoughts?