Samsung ST96 Digital Camera Review

Samsung ST96 Digital Camera Review

The Samsung ST96 was announced in September 2006 along with the WB750. It is available in black with an RRP of £179.99.

Samsung ST96 Features

The ST96 has a 14.5 megapixel BSI CMOS sensor, which Samsung claim will work perfectly in low-light situations as BSI sensors are twice as sensitive as conventional CMOS sensors. There is also a 5x optical zoom lens, which is a 35mm equivalent of 26 - 130mm. Dual Image Stabilization helps prevent shake from ruining your shots with a combination of Optical and Digital Image Stabilization. Smart Auto 2.0 with Smart Flash automatically adjusts the camera settings from 16 photo modes and 4 movie modes to capture the best shot possible with minimal input from the user.

High speed shooting mode lets you shoot pictures at up to 10fps, with slow motion video recording at up to 440 frames per second. Magic Frame offers 12 background templates for you to put your face on to make fun pictures. The ST96 can also shoot panoramic images by pressing the shutter and sweeping the camera, no stitching required, Live Panorama allows you to preview your panorama before you shoot it. Also featuring are Face Detection, Face Recognition and Face Tracking.

Adding to the creativity options is Smart Filter 3.0 which offers Cartoon Filter, Cross Filter, Zooming Shots, Ink Painting, Oil Painting, Half-Tone Dot and many more. The ST96 can even shoot 3D images.

Videos are recorded in full 1080p HD at 30fps and features Creative Movie Maker (which lets you combine stills and videos to create a slide show with a soundtrack) and Dual Capture (capture 10 megapixel images whilst recording full HD videos). The camera can be connected via HDMI to a HDTV.

Key Features

• 14.5 megapixel Samsung BSI CMOS sensor
• Creative Movie Maker
• Dual Capture (Full HD + 10M still)
• Full HD Recording 1080p
• 26mm wide angle lens and 5x optical zoom
• High Speed Shooting (video + still)
• Panorama Shot (Live/Action)
• Magic Frame
• Smart Filter 3.0
• Dual Image Stabilization
• 3D Photo
• Face Detection, Face Recognition, Face Tracking
• Smart Auto 2.0 with Smart Flash

Samsung ST96 Handling

Samsung make some really small compact cameras and the ST96 is no different, making it the perfect size for carrying around in your pocket. It is made of plastic with two tiny feet on the bottom, meaning the camera leans back when placed on a flat surface, useful if you want to set the self timer and get yourself into the shot. The buttons are typical for a compact camera, with a dedicated one for movie recording. The Fn gets you straight to the available settings for the mode you are in, which you cycle through using the d-pad. Samsung have made the menu system clear and simple to understand and navigate.

The camera is ready to take pictures within a couple of seconds of switching on and is quick to focus. Where the camera is really let down is when using the flash. It takes 2 or 3 seconds to charge and is very frustrating when you are trying to capture a shot quickly. The camera impresses in continuous shooting mode, with full-sized images taken during testing at 3, 5 and 10 fps.

Samsung ST96 Performance

The ST96 consistently takes well exposed images with really good colour reproduction. Whether shooting wide or with the lens at its longest length, detail is good in the centre of the images but quite soft in the edges and corners. Generally when shooting with the sun in the shot there isn't any purple fringing but there is occasional lens flare. The lens has a minimum focusing distance of 5cm which is close enough for the camera to be able to take a good macro shot.

Samsung ST96 Lens test images

Wide-angle | 1/180 sec | f/9.4 | 4.7 mm | ISO 100 High-Res	Full optical zoom | 1/750 sec | f/5.9 | 23.5 mm | ISO 100 High-Res
Digital zoom | 1/350 sec | f/5.9 | 23.5 mm | ISO 100 High-Res	Macro | 1/90 sec | f/3.3 | 4.7 mm | ISO 100 High-Res

Noise isn't an issue at ISO 100 but at ISO 200 and ISO 400 there are steady increases in the amount of noise visible. At ISO 800 there is a significant increase in noise and a loss of sharpness in the images. This trend continues through to ISO 1600, but it is only ISO 3200 where there is a big loss in detail and an effect on colour reproduction.

Samsung ST96 ISO test images

ISO 100 | 1/6 sec | f/5.1 | 18.8 mm High-Res	ISO 200 | 1/10 sec | f/5.1 | 18.8 mm High-Res	ISO 400 | 1/20 sec | f/5.1 | 18.8 mm High-Res
ISO 800 | 1/45 sec | f/5.1 | 18.8 mm High-Res	ISO 1600 | 1/90 sec | f/5.1 | 18.8 mm High-Res	ISO 3200 | 1/180 sec | f/5.1 | 18.8 mm High-Res

Landscape mode produces image with excellent greens and blues creating very pleasant looking scenes. Portrait mode is excellent at producing images without red-eye with excellent skin tones. Backlight mode has been used in the of the sculpture, with examples of zooming shot and miniature also shown below.

Samsung ST96 Scene modes

Landscape | 1/750 sec | f/3.5 | 5.5 mm | ISO 100 High-Res	Landscape with building | 1/125 sec | f/9.4 | 4.7 mm | ISO 100 High-Res
Portrait | 1/45 sec | f/4.7 | 9.3 mm | ISO 100 High-Res	Backlighting | 1/250 sec | f/3.5 | 5.5 mm | ISO 100 High-Res
Zooming shot | 1/125 sec | f/9.4 | 4.7 mm | ISO 100 High-Res	Smart filter - miniature | 1/750 sec | f/5.4 | 20.5 mm | ISO 100 High-Res

The ST96 has panoramic mode using a sweeping method, either left, right, up or down. Images produced aren't packed with detail but there isn't any misjoined sections or ghosting.


Panoramic | 1/180 sec | f/9.4 | 4.7 mm | ISO 100

The auto white-balance (AWB) setting gives good results, under our incandescent lighting there is a slight orange cast in the image, with the incandescent preset actually giving us a better image. Under the fluorescent lighting there is very little difference whether using the AWB or fluorescent presets.

Samsung ST96 White-balance test images

AWB preset - incandescent lighting | 1/10 sec | f/4.2 | 7.8 mm | ISO 100 High-Res	Incandescent preset - incandescent lighting | 1/10 sec | f/4.2 | 7.8 mm | ISO 100 High-Res
AWB preset - fluorescent lighting | 1/4 sec | f/4.2 | 7.8 mm | ISO 100 High-Res	Fluorescent lighting - fluorescent preset | 1/4 sec | f/4.2 | 7.8 mm | ISO 100 High-Res

The ST96 comes with Samsung's new Smart Filter 3.0 mode which has some filters previously seen on Samsung compacts and some interesting new ones such as cartoon mode, examples of which can be seen below.

Samsung ST96 Digital filters

Smart filter - normal | 1/15 sec | f/4.4 | 15.3 mm | ISO 400 High-Res	Smart filter - vignetting | 1/15 sec | f/4.4 | 15.3 mm | ISO 400 High-Res	Smart filter - soft focus | 1/15 sec | f/4.4 | 15.3 mm | ISO 400 High-Res
Smart filter - old film | 1/15 sec | f/4.4 | 15.3 mm | ISO 400 High-Res	Smart filter - half tone dot | 1/15 sec | f/4.4 | 15.3 mm | ISO 400 High-Res	Smart filter - sketch | 1/15 sec | f/4.4 | 15.3 mm | ISO 400 High-Res
Smart filter - fisheye | 1/15 sec | f/4.4 | 15.3 mm | ISO 400 High-Res	Smart filter - classic | 1/15 sec | f/4.4 | 15.3 mm | ISO 400 High-Res	Smart filter - retro | 1/15 sec | f/4.4 | 15.3 mm | ISO 400 High-Res
Smart filter - oil painting | 1/15 sec | f/4.4 | 15.3 mm | ISO 400 High-Res	Smart filter - cartoon | 1/15 sec | f/4.4 | 15.3 mm | ISO 400 High-Res	Smart filter - ink painting | 1/15 sec | f/4.4 | 15.3 mm | ISO 400 High-Res

Value For Money The Samsung ST96 is currently priced at £179.99. There are plenty of cameras with a similar specification available at varying prices such as the Olympus VG-130 at £68.00, Pentax Optio S1 at £78.00, Nikon Coolpix S3100 at £79.00, Fujifilm FinePix Z90 at £89.95, Canon Powershot A3200 IS at £109.00, Samsung SH100 at £144.00 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX70 at £148.99.

Samsung ST96 Verdict

The ST96 impresses with good colour reproduction, full 1080p HD video recording and its smart filters. If you are using the flash a lot you'll soon get quite annoyed by how long it takes to charge and the camera is currently highly priced in a competitive market, with many cameras with a similar specification available for less. But it should not be forgotten that this is a very small camera, therefore easy to carry around, takes good panoramics and offers full sized images at 10fps in continuous shooting mode.

Samsung ST96 Pros

Panoramics taken using sweeping method
Interesting range of filters
Full 1080p HD video recording
Images can be taken during video recording
Impressive high-speed shooting
Excellent colour reproduction
Very small body

Samsung ST96 Cons

Flash takes ages to charge
Current price is high

FEATURES
HANDLING
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
OVERALL

Samsung ST96 Specifications

Lens
	Max Aperture	f/3.3 - f/5.9
	35mm equivalent	26mm - 130mm
	Optical Zoom	5x
Image Sensor
	CCD pixels	14.5Mp (Megapixels)
	Pixels (W)	4320
	Pixels (H)	3240
	Sensor Type	CMOS
	Sensor Size	1/2.3 inch
	Aspect Ratio	4:3 16:9
LCD Monitor
	LCD Monitor	2.7in
	Screen resolution	230,000 dots
	Touch Screen	No
Focusing
	Min Focus	5cm
	Focusing modes	Autofocus
Exposure Control
	Shutter speeds shortest	1/2000sec
	Shutter speeds longest	8sec
	Exp modes	Program
	Metering	Centre-weighted Multi Pattern Spot
	ISO sensitivity	100 - 3200
	White balance	Auto Manual Outdoors/Daylight Cloudy Incandescent Fluorescent
	Exposure Comp	+/-2
Shooting Options
	Continuous shooting	No Data
Video
	Movie mode	Yes
	Video Resolution	1920x1080 1280x720 720p 640x480 VGA
	Video FPS	30
	Stereo Sound	No
	Optical Zoom	Yes
Other Features
	Image Stabilisation	Yes
Interface
	HDMI	Yes
	USB	USB 2
	Wi-Fi	No
Storage
	Card Type
	File Type	JPG
Power Source
	Battery Type	Rechargeable Battery: BP-70A (3.7V, 740mAh, Min 700mAh)
	CIPA Rating	No Data
Box Contents
	Box Contents	Camera, AC adapter/ USB cable, Rechargeable battery, Strap, User Manual, CD-ROM, Quick Start Guide
Dimensions
	Weight	110g
	Width	90mm
	Height	55mm
	Depth	18.7mm

Buy Online

• Buy Samsung ST96 Digital Camera - Black (14MP, 5x Optical Zoom) 2.7 inch LCD from Amazon.co.uk for £179.99

Posted in: Camera,Digital Photography,Samsung