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Photograph: Rick Rizner
Samsung Digimax i5 Silver Digital Camera
Pricing
Latest Price: $229.99
- Spec Navigator
- Digital Format
- Display
- Exposure
- Image Processor
- Included Hardware
- Included Software
- Lens
- Shutter
- Storage
- LCD Screen
- Exposure Controls
- Dimensions
- Power
- Flash
- Lens Features
- Connectivity
- Other Features
Image Processor
| Number of image sensor pixels | 5.2 megapixels |
| Image sensor | CCD |
| Maximum horizontal image resolution | 2592 |
| Maximum vertical image resolution | 1944 |
| Image sensor quantity | 1 |
| Image format | JPEG |
| White balance | 0 |
Included Software
| Included Software |
|
Lens
| Accessory Lens | 0 |
| Lens Model | 3X Samsung SHD Lens |
| Telephoto Aperture Maximum | 4.5 mm |
| Wide-Angle Aperture Maximum | 3.5 mm |
Exposure Controls
| Maximum shutter speed | 2000 |
| Minimum shutter speed | 1 |
| Bulb setting | 0 |
| ISO equivalencies |
|
| Exposure settings | 0 |
| Exposure compensation range | 0 |
| Number of scene modes | 11 |
- Lab Tested
- How We Test Cameras »
Pros
Small and portable
Cons
Short battery life
Inferior photo quality
Bottom Line
Small, portable Digimax i5 suffers from short battery life and low photo quality compared with other cameras' photos.
Samsung Digimax i5
Digimax i5 Silver Digital Camera Review, by Richard Baguley November 22, 2005
The Digimax i5 is one of the smallest digital cameras we've seen; it's no bigger than pack of cards and would easily fit into a shirt or trouser pocket. But its images lack sharpness, and it omits features that all but the newest of photographers will need.
What the $350 Digimax i5 does have is a 3X optical zoom, a 2.5-inch LCD screen that is easily viewable in daylight, and a sliding cover that protects the small lens. There's also a dock that holds the camera while it is connected to the PC: That's a much more elegant solution than having cables running everywhere. The camera is also available in four case colors--silver, gray, black, and red.
The thin profile of the Digimax i5 makes it somewhat awkward to hold in one hand--there's little for the fingers to grip. But it is usable; the index finger falls naturally onto the shutter button and the thumb onto the zoom control. For anything else, though, you'll probably need to use two hands, and this includes changing modes. Although you can access the on-screen menu with a mode button just below the zoom control, you then have to use the directional pad to move through the options. Those with small hands might be able to reach the pad with the thumb of the hand that's holding the camera, but it's far more comfortable to use both hands.
Another drawback is that shutter lag was somewhat longer than in most recent point-and-shoot cameras we've tested. At between a half-second and a second, it's long enough that you could miss shots.
The i5 has 11 scene modes and a confusingly named manual mode. I say confusingly because it's too limited to be a true manual mode (you can't control the aperture or shutter speed). The camera also has no aperture- or shutter-priority mode and no white-balance settings; you have to rely on the automatic settings.
The Digimax i5 stores photos on an SD Card or in the internal memory of the camera. Although the camera doesn't include an SD Card, it does come with 50MB of internal memory--much more than we usually see, and enough to hold 20 images at the highest resolution. That's reassuring if you fill up your card on a trip and don't have a spare.
While we were impressed with both the colors and the accurate exposure of the photos that the Digimax i5 took, we were much less impressed with their sharpness. The images had a fuzziness and a lack of detail that became very evident when we enlarged them. They look acceptable in prints of 4 by 6 inches and smaller, but any larger than that and you can see how fine details are indistinct and blurry. The small flash simply isn't up to the job; it failed to illuminate anything more than a few feet away; and since the flash is right next to the lens, the images were very prone to red-eye. This can, of course, be fairly easily fixed in most image editing programs, but it is best not to have the problem in the first place. There is a red-eye reduction mode.
The battery life was also below par. The small 760-mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery lasted a disappointing 160 shots snapped over 87 minutes; that's the lowest number of any point-and-shoot camera we've tested recently. Cameras like the Canon Exilim EX-Z750 (which is not much bigger, but lasted for 446 shots) have shown that small cameras needn't have short battery lives.
The software bundle is somewhat lackluster: You get Samsung's Digimax viewer (which allows basic editing), ArcSoft's PhotoImpression 4 (a no-frills image editing program), and Digimax Reader (an optical character recognition package that can convert images of characters into text).
Upshot: Although the Digimax i5 is very small and portable, its image sharpness problems and short battery life will discourage all but the most ardent fans of tiny cameras.
Richard Baguley
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PCWorld Lab Results
- Rating Breakdown
-
73
-
61
-
72
- See Complete Lab Results »
Performance Comparison with Similar Cameras
73
80
75
78
Performance
| Battery Life (minutes) | 86.5 |
| Battery Life Score | Poor |
| Image Quality Score | Very Good |
| Image Quality, Color | 73.2 |
| Image Quality, Distortion | 39.7 |
| Image Quality, Exposure | 71.6 |
| Image Quality, Exposure--Flash | 51.9 |
| Image Quality, Exposure--Normal | 80 |
| Image Quality, Overall | 63.1 |
| Image Quality, Sharpness | 32.4 |
| Number of Batteries | 1 |
| Number of Shots | 160 |
User Reviews
Review Now! Already own it? Tell us What You Think
User Reviews From Around the Web
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Reviewed by: salil
Strengths: Only sleek looks,small fits in breast pocket!!
Weaknesses: Poor picture quality.
Overall: Compared to most its other competitor products, the digimax i5 has an noticeable inferior quality pictures.The repeatability is also not quite good.Campare pictures taken in the same conditions by digimax and any of its rivals,the difference is strikingly evident.Its okay for just a casual buy when only the small size matters,not the quality...well sorry I am not too happy!!The prices indicate it all ;they are down by 30 % in six months! What I mean is that you will get the pictures of course but I ain't happy with the quality !
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Reviewed by: bomb0425
Strengths: very stylish, easy to use, great picture quality
Weaknesses: none so far
Overall: this is a very impressive camera from samsung. very simple to use, pretty slim and small so it is easy to carry around, and most of all, the quality of picture is awesome. Highly recommended!
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Reviewed by: KarenLW
Strengths: Wide range of features, can zoom during video mode, MPEG4 video, design, menu system. Manual controls.
Weaknesses: Picture quality is a little soft
Overall: I bought this camera as a small 'point and shoot' model to supplement my larger Sony DSCH1 and I'm delighted with it. It is smaller than anticipated, very slim with a solid construction in a stainless steel case with, unlike many of its rivals, a robust battery/memory card cover which isn't going to fall apart. The 2.5" LCD is a delight with a much higher resolution than most and is so easy to use. The menu system is very different to other cameras I've used but within a few days it soon becomes second nature and only then do the vast array of features and options become apparent - there are loads of settings to be scrolled through and a small 'M' button which allows the user to toggle rapidly between Auto, Manual and video modes to allow fast switching between shooting a video, then a few still pics and then back to video again - ideal for a one-off event you don't want to miss. The Auto mode produces excellent results while the Manual mode allows control of almost everything and this is the only camera I've found in its class to offer control over shutter speeds - even allowing up to 16 seconds to capture the tumble of a waterfall or slow exposure of festive Christmas lights. The macro facility is equally amazing and works right down to just 1cm. As for the video mode which also has an image stabiliser, this camera uses MPEG-4 offering huge compression so that a video clip uses only a few megabytes. This was one of the factors which sold the camera to me - my Sony models will hold only about 12 minutes of video on a 1GB card whereas the Samsung shot about 40 minutes and 100 pics with still loads of room left for more. Another feature is the ability to use the zoom on video clips which, at present, I'm sure is unique to Samsung. Similarly, the video recording can also be paused then resumed to produce longer clips including different scenes without having to make a series of individual clips then spend hours at the PC trying to link them all together! My only very slight niggle is that the picture quality isn't quite as crisp and sharp as my Sony cameras but this is due to the lens design and is common to all of the slim compacts. Setting the camera to 'normal' rather than 'vivid' sharpness and 'superfine' mode produces the best results and any sharpening can be increased using photo editing software. However, the quality is still good and is only a very minor niggle which many snapshotters wouldn't notice. Certainly, outdoor shots in bright light are excellent and noise-free. I would recommend this camera to anyone looking for a small, compact, 'go-anywhere' camera - either a complete novice for whom the Auto mode will produce excellent results, or someone who likes to have some control over manual functions.
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Reviewed by: rukewlguy
Strengths: Slim, Wide LCD screen, design
Weaknesses: no zoom!
Overall: I have received this camera as my birthday gift couple monthes ago. This is my first Samsung camera. I have used this camera in many places, and whenever I use it, this camera drew many people's attention. Why? I think it's the designs. I have taken about 3,000 to 4,000 shots with this camera. Some shots taken didn't come out right (low light environment) however, I don't think my canon would have give me a good picture either in such environment. The image quality and battery life is pretty good. This is a recommended camera for young professionals who casually take photographs.
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