Small, but Powerful Digital Camera WB2000

Only a few years ago, the performance and various functions were the key to succeeding in the market, but these days, design and mobility should also be considered. The performance gets higher, while the size of the product gets smaller increasing the mobility. Companies will keep trying to please their customers.

The WB2000 from Samsung has both great mobility and performance. Unlike most other digital cameras which happen to be mobile or to have great performance. As the highest Samsung camera from the WB series, it supports differentiated functions such as Panorama and powerful Full HD movie recording.

Like the previous WB1000, it has style and a sensible design. Let’s take a look at the design, functions, and performance, through this review.

Because I review a product that is not an official release, the specifications might be different from the official release.

It is 99.5 x 59 x 21.7 mm and weights 152g, which lets it be very mobile. Normally, a camera with this great of mobility has only a few good functions with a relatively low performance. However, the WB2000 supports perfect manual shooting and great picture/movie quality even with the small size. I think the mobility is the biggest advantage of the WB2000.

The design is so sensible. Different from other chubby and unsophisticated products, it’s quite sharp. Besides, the color and material are also very elegant. @ It’s cybertic, but also classical. The dashboard on the top is good enough to excite the analog emotion.

This is the front of the camera with a 24mm wide angle Schneider approved lens. It is so remarkable! The lens at it’s widest is 24mm, that’s a great wide angle lens compared to the usual 35mm on most digital cameras. Like other products, it’s a protruding type lens and by supporting 5x optical zoom, the angle can be freely adjusted. It supports 24-120mm, so it’s good enough to take wide and middle angle shooting. I think this is the ideal AOV.)

As a high level camera, it supports Dual IS to prevent blurry pictures and by supporting F2.4-5.8, it allows users to secure sufficient shutter speed in a low light condition. Normally, the aperture starts from F3.0 or more. @ Unlike previous cameras supporting the normal CCD, it has a 1/2.4” High Speed CMOS.

For a tighter grip, the grip has been designed to be thicker. Unlike other cameras, my fingers were fixed, so I could take shots more stably. It was not like a DSLR’s grip, but much more satisfactory than other compact cameras which don’t have a grip.

This is the top of the product and the dashboard is located here. It’s not only for design, but also useful to check the battery and memory capacity intuitively. When it comes to normal digital cameras, it was a little inconvenient, because the battery status suddenly decreased. However, the WB2000 minimizes such inconvenience by showing the battery status perfectly.

On the left side, a speaker and stereo microphone is also located. On the right side, a power button (with LED), Shutter button/Zoom lever, and Shooting mode dial. With the shooting mode dial, users can select the mode they want more quickly.

This is the bottom of the product and there’s a mount hole for tripod connection. Battery and SD memory chamber is also located here. It supports up to 8GB of SDHC. Users will not experience a lake of memory capacity. @ It also has 22MB of internal memory. I think it’s for an emergency.

This is the left side of the product, and it has the MicroHDMI port with universal 20 pin port supporting USB and A/Vconnection. It can also be charged through the USB connection. Users don’t need to carry the power adapter to recharge the battery. Just plug it into your computer to rip the photos off and presto it’s charge. Just like an Ipod!

As I expected, the battery didn’t last long for the test. This was a weakness, but by supporting a USB charging function, it wasn’t that bad. By using the external battery pack, I could take shots while it was still recharging. I used to buy a global adapter when I traveled, but when it comes to Samsung products, by having the external battery pack and USB cable, everything is solved.

This is the right side of the product and compared to the left side, it’s very simple.

This is the back of the product and the AMOLED screen is noticeable. It’s 3”, so when taking pictures, reviewing pictures and videos, it was very cool. As we can see from the picture, compared to the LCD, it has a much better viewing angle and vividness. @ There was also less inconvenience caused by sunlight when shooting outdoors.

On the top, unlike other products, a shooting type dial is located (Functions will be handled in the UI part.) and various setting buttons such as menu and recording button on the bottom (A movie recording can be started by using the button without setting the mode.) . @ In order to use the manual function more easily, Smart Dial is installed. Unlike other products having fixed direction button, it has been design as a rotational type, so it can control shutter speed, aperture, exposure, white balance, focus, and color temperature. It’s similar to the mode dial on a DSLR.

Like I mentioned earlier, it has the best mobility. It’s the size of your palm and compared to other small digital devices, it’s not that big

It’s elegant and has a sensible design with great mobility, so it was totally different from entry level devices. Let’s take a look at the functions by UI interface.

The above picture is the main UI and like the previous model EX1, it has the latest UI design. As a manual supported camera, on the lower side of the screen, aperture, shutter speed, and exposure value are displayed and various setting information is also displayed on the side. (Because it has a dashboard, a battery and memory status is not displayed on the screen. As a high end camera, it supports guideline and histogram.)

The direction key supports various functions such as ISO (Up to ISO 3200), display, focus(macro and manual focus), flash settings, and Fn button is also attached on the bottom, so frequently used functions can be set more quickly. (Play and recording button are also set there.)

Through Drive mode dial, like the above pictures, users can set various functions. The menu on the top is about the shooting functions. Like the setting, it supports bracket shooting, (WB, brightness, and photo style are selected from Setting.) self timer (2 or 10 sec) and up to 10 fps high speed shooting is available. It’s very useful to take panorama shots and shots of moving subjects. It also supports pre-capture function which automatically takes shots in a half shutter. It supports high level functions such as high speed continuous shots and pre-capture which were not supported in other cameras. It’s good enough to take shots of sports.

In movie recording mode, by rotating the Drive mode dial, the picture, self timer and FPS setting menu is activated. It supports high speed movie recording in up to 1000 fps. When you want to record more detailed movement, it is very useful. Unlike still images, when it comes to video, you can see the movement perfectly. Check out the test down below.

It supports 8 modes such as Smart Auto automatically recognizing various situations, P/A/S/M mode, Dual IS minimizing hand shake, Scene mode which selects the appropriate scene, and movie mode. I think it’s good for users. It perfectly supports from full auto to full manual.

It supports Smart Auto mode which automatically recognizes scenes. Once you set resolution, the camera optimizes the camera setting, so beginners can also get perfect pictures. (Smart Flash can be set.) @ Although it supports perfect manual mode, but I don’t think users will use it for every situation. For those who want easy and comfortable shooting, Smart Auto mode is perfect.

A (Aperture Priority) /S (Shutter Speed Priority) /M mode. In M mode, ISO also can be manually set. (If you use M mode, I don’t think you can automatically set ISO.) In order to reduce hand blur, Dual IS mode is also supported.

In Scene mode, it supports panorama function which takes several shots and connects them. Like the pictures above, if you keeping pushing the shutter while moving the camera to the side, it takes shots through the high speed continuous shooting, and automatically connects them. Not only a normal panorama shooting, but also it supports Panorama action function which keeps tracking the subject, shoots, and combines them through the moving line.

Here is Beauty shot mode which is Samsung’s users mode favorite scene mode, it also supports various options such as Night scenery, Portrait, Children, and so on.

This is Movie mode and like most other compact digital cameras it supports Full HD movie recording. Not only Smart Scene Recognition, but also OIS can be changed. It’s quite advanced compared to the previous WB1000, so users will be really satisfied with this.

This is the shooting function menu and as a high end product, it supports various high level functions. The WB2000 supports up to 10.2M pixels and various photo sizes can be set. Compared to the WB1000 or other entry level digital cameras, it has low pixel distortion. However, by the EX1, we experienced that the pixels is not proportional to the quality. It has not been tested yet, but I’m expecting it’s going to show better quality than other cameras having 14M or higher pixels.

This is the White Balance menu, its has options like: auto, daylight, cloudy, fluorescent light, tungsten, custom, and color temperature. It supports not only white balance modes for situations, but also more detailed adjustment like DSLRs. If using this for professional purpose, the WB can be set to be more accurate.)

Like other high end cameras, it supports not only JPG, but also RAW format. -2~+2 of exposure compensation is also available. It also supports various Face Recognition settings. Self guide makes a beeping sound when taking a self shot, Smile shot automatically takes a picture when the subject smiles, Blink detection take a second photo if a blink is detected, and Smart Face Recognition prioritizing focus and exposure to the registered faces. And through My Star, faces can be registered and the list of registered faces can also be checked.

It supports various AF modes, and like previous products, it supports spot, multi, and center metering systems. For more unique photo shooting, it supports a photo style menu.

This is the Smart Filter menu to make pictures more fun and impressive. It consists of Miniature, Vignetting, and Fish eye. (Please check the details in the test part.)

Image Compensation manually setting contrast, sharpness, and saturation, Smart Range compensating the contrast, and various bracket settings are available. PSS BKT takes 9 shots with different atmospheres. WB BKT takes 3 shots with different light source, and exposure BKT takes 3 shots with different exposure settings.

Interval Recording which was supported in camcorders is supported. It’s used to take pictures of things that need long time to record such as the movement of moon or flower blooming. OIS and voice memo/voice recording function are supported.

There’s a separate menu for playing movies.

Let’s talk about the sound settings. Operating volume can be adjusted (3 levels with off).Various booting, shutter, and operating sounds can be selected. AF operation sound can be turned on or off..

This is the screen menu and various languages are supported. It also has a help menu describing the different functions. And for a more accurate angle setting, guide line is also supported. The starting image can be selected, and brightness, quick view timing, and power saving can be set.

Last, let’s take a look at the setting menu. (Like the picture, various functions are supported.)

Date and time can be set, and file numbering and date recording can also be set.

By supporting automatic power off, it allows users to use a battery more efficiently, and video output can also be set. It supports AF assist light, Anynet+, and HDMI resolution setting are available. USB and PC software setting is also supported. Because of the built-in Intelli-Studio, users can use it without any inconvenience.

We’ve checked shooting functions. Let’s take a look at the play function. Like the picture, by pushing the play button, you can easily review images and movies, and by pushing the Fn button, images and/or movies can easily be deleted. When the power is off, by pushing the play button, photos can be played. @ By using DISP button, histogram and shooting information can be confirmed.

Like other previous products, by using the zoom lever, images can be magnified. (After magnified, cutting function can also be applied.) Also if you zoom out various images are displayed, and users can quickly search the images they want.

From the browse screen, by using the menu button, Smart Album can be used. Files can be easily sorted and searched by date, file, color, and face.

This is the Play setting menu and in edit menu, the size of pictures can be changed. Not only the size, but also the cameras starting wallpaper. Picture rotation is also supported. Even after taking pictures, style can be applied and various retouching functions are supported. Like I mentioned earlier, by using Smart Filter, images can be edited. @ It might be not that convenient for those who are used to Photoshop, but very convenient for those who are not used to it.

It supports Multi Slide show, picture selection, effects, interval, and BGM. Through HDMI and TV out cable, it can be connected to a TV. You can see the images on your TV screen.

This is the file management menu. File delete and protection are supported and the face list can be edited, Voice memo, and DPOF. Picture output information is stored in MIDC folder in the memory card and users can select pictures to print out and the number of pictures to be print.

We’ve look at the functions closely. Let’s take a look at the quality of the images and movies through the test shots.

On 35mm equivalent, it supports 24-120mm of AOV. The wide angle was so satisfactory, and the telephoto angle was also good. There was no quality degradation in telephoto angle. Its zoom performance was not as great as other high end cameras supporting ultra zoom, but considering the quality, I think it’s the best AOV.

When the shutter speed was slow because of low light the panorama shots failed to connect accurately, but for normal outdoor shooting, it made perfect panorama pictures.

There are a lot of cameras supporting a normal panorama function. However, the WB2000 supports the Panorama action function for the first time in the world, so it can take the movement of people or objects as panorama. (I think you can see what the function is by looking at the picture. It’s a really interesting function.)

[1000FPS ultra high speed movie recording ]

For movie recording, it supports ultra high speed shooting up to 1000 fps. Because it can perfectly shoot the scene which is impossible to recognize with an eye, it’s very useful. When it comes to ultra high speed shooting, due to the fixed resolution, great quality can’t be expected. Please be noted that.

Not only Precapture, but also 10 continuous shots per sec is supported. The above picture was a GIF made by the images taken by 10 continuous shot function, and it worked perfectly.

It supports 5cm Macro shooting.

This is the test of the Dual IS mode. I could see the difference from the normal mode and the Dual IS being used. The performance of IS function was good enough to satisfy me. @ When it comes to Dual IS mode, it not only activates the IS function, but also increases the ISO to secure the shutter speed. If you want to take shots without blurry pictures in a low light condition, I’d like to recommend the WB2000.

This is testing the noise in high ISO. There was no color noise. There was no smearing effect either. ISO 3200 was not that bad. After resizing, they can be used for web sites. It was very satisfactory.

Since the WB2000 supports various white balance settings, it can accurately express colors under any circumstances. White balance detailed adjustment and color temperature setting are also available. For professional shooting which need accurate color expression, these kinds of settings are very useful.

As a brand new product, it supports Smart Filter function. If you like unique pictures, it will be very satisfactory.

They are pictures taken with Photo Style, and it supports various modes. Like the WB, this also has quite big differences between modes. If you like to take shots with unique colors or atmospheres, this will be very useful.

This is testing Smart Range compensating the different of Contrast, and the difference of the results was noticeable. The result of Smart Range wasn’t that great. I think it should be used when it’s necessary.

[SAMSUNG WB2000 MOVIE SAMPLE 1]

[SAMSUNG WB2000 MOVIE SAMPLE 2]

[SAMSUNG WB2000 MOVIE SAMPLE 3]

The WB2000 supports Full HD movie recording. Compared to normal HD movies, it shows incomparably greater vividness and because it supports 30 fps, it can be used for various purposes. I don’t think you need to buy a camcorder any more. It shows better quality than a entry level camcorder. Also the 5x optical zoom and OIS help you record great movies.

Like other previous high class cameras, it has HDMI port, so it can easily be connected to a digital TV via TV-OUT cable from the above picture and it worked perfectly. @ It supports Micro HDMI port. Please check that when purchasing a cable.

It’s playing pictures and movies. The Full HD movies were played vividly, and when watching the slideshow, it worked smoothly. (Not only HDMI, but also a normal A/V connection are supported, I could see the recorded movies on any TV without any inconvenience.

It has built-in Intelli-Studio 2.0. It supports general file management function and editing functions for images and movies. It’s great because users don’t have to install it. By connecting the EX1 to a PC using USB cable included, the program is automatically activated. (This is for PC only)

Recorded movies can be simply uploaded on YouTube, Flickr, and Facebook. Once having an ID, you can easily upload your videos on the web.

It supports not only JPEG, but also RAW, and for easy image editing, Samsung RAW converter 3 is included. Raw files are different from JPEG files, RAW can be edited more, even though the size is quite big.

[Design and Operating video of Samsung WB2000]

I’d like to define this product as ‘Small, but powerful digital camera’. It has a stylish design and great mobility. It also has various functions and powerful performance as one of the WB series. By supporting the differentiated movie recording function, it’s like a 2 for 1 deal..

The biggest advantage of this product is its various functions. It supports not only the functions Samsung has always supported, but also other high level functions such as high speed continuous shooting, precapture, panorama action, Full HD movie recording, and 1000 fps ultra high speed movie recording. With these functions, it can be used for various purposes.

It supports the 24mm ultra wide angle with optical 5x zoom, so it’s good enough for telephoto angle shooting, and by supporting perfect manual function, users can take the pictures they intended. The weather wasn’t nice on the test day, but through IS and manual function, I could process the test without any inconvenience. Those who used various manual functions like me will be able to use the WB2000 conveniently.

The design is so elegant. Especially, the analog dashboard was so impressive. The great mobility is also the strength of the WB2000. It has endless list of strengths such as the AMOLED screen, HDMI, Intelli-Studio, various face recognition functions, and so on. However, the insufficient battery is a weakness. An additional battery is necessary.

It was not as great as the EX1, but it is a real high end camera. I’d like to strongly recommend this camera to those who want the mobility of compact camera, but the various functions and powerful performance of high end camera.

[480FPS ultra high speed movie recording ]