
Played around with the new Samsung Galaxy Camera very briefly at Photokina last week. It’s basically a camera-fied smartphone that doesn’t do voice calling. It does have 3G/4G/Wi-Fi connectivity though, so it’s one of the first — if not the first — compact camera you can add a data plan to.
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Well, that’s one leaked camera certainly didn’t take long to become a reality. Less than half an hour after we shared the first leaked photos of the Samsung Galaxy Camera, the camera was officially announced over in Berlin. Here’s the basic spec lowdown: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, a 16 megapixel 1/2.3″ BSI CMOS sensor, a 21x f/2.8-5.9 23-480mm (35mm equiv.) lens, a 4.8-inch HD LCD screen, a minimal smartphone-esque design, a 1.4Ghz quad core processor, 8GB of internal storage, ISO of up to 3200, and 3G/Wi-Fi or 4G/Wi-Fi.
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Want a phonecamera instead of a cameraphone? It’s something that we were joking around about just months ago, but it might soon become a reality. It has only been two days since rumors of a Samsung Galaxy-based camera emerged, but now photos, specs, and details about the camera have been leaked. Portable gadget blog Pocketnow somehow got its hands on a press kit, revealing details about the compact camera that the web has been itching to find out.
The photograph above confirms what the rumors suggested: that the camera can best be described as a compact camera slapped onto a standard smartphone.
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There’s a fascinating rumor floating around in the gadget world today. Apparently Samsung is planning to introduce a point-and-shoot camera that’s powered by Android OS and based on the popular Galaxy S smartphone. GSMArena, which first published the rumor and created the mockup seen above, reports that the camera will be named the “Samsung Galaxy S camera” (creative, I know). It’s said to feature a giant 4.8-inch screen and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
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A full month late — and right on the heels of Canon’s EOS M announcement — Samsung officially began shipping its entry-level NX1000 mirrorless camera yesterday. The camera, which was supposed to ship sometime in June, comes sporting a 20.3-megapixel APS-C sensor, 3-inch LCD, full 1080p video capability, 8fps continuous shooting, a $700 price tag, and the title of “first compact system camera (CSC) with built-in Wi-Fi” — a title it shares with its more expensive NX brethren.
You can find more details about the camera in the official press release, or get your own in black, pink or white today from B&H Photo and other online retailers. In fact, for a limited time (ending today according to B&H) the NX1000 is actually available for only $650.

It may not have been the best day to release a new compact camera, given that Panasonic announced five of them (if you count superzooms), but Samsung powered through anyway, unveiling its new addition to the compact world: the stylish looking MV900F. Unlike most of the compacts we’ve seen coming our way in the past month, this isn’t a technical powerhouse with a superfast lens or a huge sensor. What the MV900F offers is a bunch of cool, if not a little bit random, features that try to entice the everyday user away from their smartphone. Read more…

As more and more consumers are opting to use their smartphones as their primary camera, manufacturers are moving away from cheapo point-and-shoots and towards beefier compact cameras that offer quality that phones can’t match (yet). Samsung’s new EX2F definitely falls into that category. It’s a high-end compact camera that packs a 12.4MP 1/1.7-inch sensor (the size used by many high-end P&S cameras, but smaller than Sony’s new RX100), a 24-79mm (3.3x) f/1.4 lens, a 3-inch swiveling LCD, ISO of up to 12,800, dual stabilization, a hotshoe mount, RAW and full manual shooting, 1080/30p HD video, and WiFi features.
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Love to zoom? Samsung has launched a new camera for you. The WB100 is a new superzoom camera that features a 16-megapixel sensor and 22.3-579.8mm equivalent lens. Features include dual image stabilization (i.e. both optical and digital), 3D photography, live panorama creation, 720p video recording, ISO 80-1,600 and the option of being powered by either AA batteries of lithium-ion rechargeable ones.
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It’s strange to think that cartography laws could somehow affect the functionality of your camera overseas, but a recent article on Ogle Earth points out that just such a thing has been going on with GPS-enabled cameras as far back as 2010. The whole “investigation” into the matter began with the release of the Panasonic TS4 earlier this year. For some reason the press release cautioned that the GPS in the camera “may not work in China or in the border regions of countries neighboring China.”
But after doing some digging they discovered that these restrictions are not limited to the TS4, nor are they even limited to Panasonic. In fact, many major manufacturers go to great lengths to conceal or toss away the location data captured by GPS-enabled cameras when you’re taking photos in the People’s Republic of China. Read more…

Last year Olympus announced that it would be moving away from DSLRs in favor of mirrorless cameras. Today Samsung revealed that it’s moving towards mirrorless as well, except from compact cameras instead of DSLRs. The company is converting its main Chinese camera plant to manufacture high-end mirrorless cameras rather than the cheap point-and-shoots it has made in the past.
Digital imaging division head Han Myoung-sup told the WSL that Samsung’s “low-end compact camera offerings will gradually be reduced, as we are now concentrating on the mirrorless segment”. Samsung currently holds a 5% market share, and hopes to become the largest mirrorless company by 2015 with a 25% share. Worldwide mirrorless sales are also expected to increase by 60% this year, so Samsung is placing its bets on a hot section of the digital camera market.
(via Wall Street Journal via The Verge)