Samsung WB550

Full Review

The Samsung WB550 is a pocket digital camera that is fully loaded with features. It has 24mm ultra wide angle lens with 5x optical zoom (dual image stabilized). It also has HD (720p) video recording and still better, there is an HDMI port on the camera to connect camera to connect it to high definition display.
The camera has a simple design, good build and is the smallest camera in the test. Well-placed controls with a mode dial on the top right made it a pleasure to use. One design flaw that we noticed was the placement of the flash just below the shutter button. Thus blocking the flash with our fingers while using it which was invariable and this was a real downer. The rest of the design was good and Samsung’s interface was quite easy to get used to. The WB550 has enough scene modes for various shooting conditions that included Smart Auto, Auto, Program and Manual. The package included one HDMI cable and a battery charger. This is the only camera in this category which came with Li-ion battery.

Overall image quality is impressive with images captured showing warm and rich colors.

The WB550 delivered a good performance across the board. It is responsive and quick to focus. But the shutterlag was more noticeable than with the Canon SX120 IS and Kodak EasyShare Z915. Overall image quality is impressive with images captured showing warm and rich colors. Some may find the colors unnatural but this is more suited for shooting candid moments. The lens showed a slight barrel distortion at the wide end and the purple fringe was a bit more noticeable than the rest in high contrast areas. Dual image stabilization worked pretty well in low lights in capturing sharp images. In low lights, we got acceptable images till ISO 400 without any softening on details and too much noise presence. This is where it scores over the Kodak Z915 and Fuji S1500. Video recorded despite being HD (720p) resolution had poor frame rates but good color saturation.
Priced at Rs.17,990, the Samsung WB550 is a feature rich camera with above par performance in its category.

Bottom Line

A versatile camera with 24mm wide angle and HD video recording capability. The Samsung captured impressive images but is pricey for the features it offers.