Samsung i8 8.2 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (White)

This great little camera takes pretty good shots, though there is just a little bit more artifacting going on when I take pictures of text than my old LonicaMinolta Dimage X1.

I paid a little extra to get this camera over the other Samsung 8.1MP camera because of the PMP (portable media player) feature after seeing the onboard demo video, and while it does have a great little screen it doesn't seem to take any kind of standard video (I tried lots of different mpeg4 and mov and avi files and they wouldn't even show up on the menu)you have to use the video converter they supply, which runs on proprietary OS only.

As an MP3 player, it's OK, and it does let you delete a file after you've listened to it (which is a key feature if you listen to podcasts).

There also seems to be no way to charge and listen at the same timethe USB/charge cable and the headphone jack go into the same connector. I guess I'm buying an external battery or two and an offline battery charger.

I bought this camera elsewhere for $99.99 and have been VERY happy with its performance with regards to its camera function. It takes good pictures in both low light and during the day. It has a very convenient size and easily fits in your pocket.

The MP3 and video functions are a nice bonus, but to be honest, I have not had a chance to try them out fully yet.

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Recently there is a trend to make every electronic device into a multifunction device. A cell phone that also plays mp3s and take photos is the most common instance of this, but it appears camera makers are catching on and creating cameras that double as PMPs (Personal Media Players). What's good for the goose...

However, in my mind having a camera on a cell phone is adding a feature to a device you're going to carry around with you anyway. It gives you a functional camera for those times when you don't have your real camera with you. I'm not sure that a camera that doubles as a PMP is really as good a concept because when I bring a camera with me its so that I can capture excellent images, not listen to some music.

In point of fact, the Samsung I8 is primarily a camera, and the PMP features feel a bit tacked on and burdened by confusingly designed menus that are not very intuitive. The camera features are somewhat easier to access, and this a slick, attractively designed camera to be sure.

Thankfully that I8 knows how to be a camera not just a convergence device. The photos that it produces are pretty sharp, and the metering feels pretty spot on in most situations. However the camera is haunted by some serious shutter lag and this is probably the most irritating problem with the camera. It is slow in general: navigating menus is slow, booting up the camera is slow (thanks to the PMP needing to do a database search each time it boots. You cannot turn this off) and taking pictures is slow.

The I8 is just about average. It's more of a gizmo than a camera. If you want a solid camera I suggest getting a Canon Powershot. Their light sensors are among the best. If you want a PMP get a Cowon D2. At this point a camera that doubles as a PMP doesn't get either application quite right.

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ITS SOO CUTE!! :) IF U LIKE CUTE THINGS AND BEING CUTE..GO FOR IT

OV COURSE....I >ONLY< USE THE CAMERA ASPECT OF IT..NOT ALL THE EXTRA CRAP..IF U WANT A GOOD MP3 PLAYER, BUY AN MP3 PLAYER..THATS LIKE GOING TO A BURGER JOINT AND EXPECTING EXCELLENT CHICKEN..NOPE.

BUT IVE HAD IT FOR YEARS AND ITS NOT MESSED UP ONCE

LOVE IT!!

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Photo quality is excellent. The UI, on the other hand, is cumbersome and poorly conceived. Switching from photo to movie, which I do all the time, requires several button presses, with slow UI screen paints in-between each. I get the sense that they tried to give it a flashy UI in order to appeal to the teen demographic, without considering those of us who just take photos and movies and want a snappy response from our device.

Ditto the flash. The flash does not pre-charge, so when you go to take your photo, and press the fire button, nothing will happen for a couple of seconds while the flash charges. Those are a looonnnnnggg couple of seconds too. Nor does the UI respond while this is taking place. Multi-threading, anyone?

(The UI contains a ton of other neat-sounding goodies, like an MP3 player and a travel guide and other hoopla that looks good as bullet points on a sales flyer. Perhaps some people use those, but I didn't and you probably won't either.)

I accepted its shortcomings because the camera has two killer design wins: first, the lens does not extend out of the camera body, which means that it won't get dirt or water in the mechanism and die young; and second, the camera itself is small and has rounded edges, which means it will fit neatly in your pocket. I did indeed carry it in my pocket and whip it out whenever it was needed, and so I have had a happy year of taking great pictures while cursing at the lousy UI.

...until the hardware failed this month. Around my 1500th picture (according to the filenames), a solder terminal inside the camera gave out, taking the red CCD with it. Consequently, the camera sees everything as blue-greenish. I can twist the camera body, and flex its motherboard enough to reestablish the electrical connection to the red CCD, and it will work for a couple of minutes, but this won't last long. (I know it's the CCD and not the viewscreen because picture review always works fine.) They call this situation a "cold solder joint", and it will worsen over time until the camera becomes useless. I may just be unlucky, or maybe this is a demonstration of poor quality control on the Samsung assembly line.