Samsung WB550 review

At the other end of the shooting spectrum, there's a standard 'program' mode for changing everything except shutter speed and aperture, as well as a full manual option with control of aperture (although there are only four stops to choose from) and shutter speeds from 16 seconds to 1/1,500 of a second. The mode dial also has spots for shooting using both optical and electronic image stabilisation, Samsung's face-smoothing 'beauty shot' portrait mode, and a movie mode capable of high-definition, 1,280x720-pixel clips with use of the zoom while recording. The mic also stays live during video recording. You'll hear the lens motor, but barely, and we'd rather have that than a dead mic.

Average speed and photos
Superzooms -- compact or otherwise -- generally aren't fast performers. The WB550 is no exception, but it's at least on a par with the competition. The camera takes 2.8 seconds to go from off to taking its first shot, but then requires an average wait of just 2.2 seconds between subsequent shots. Turning on the flash slows that time to 3.2 seconds. It takes a reasonable 0.5 seconds to focus and shoot in good light, and this only goes up to 0.7 seconds in dim conditions. The camera's standard continuous drive option is capable of 0.7 frames per second. There's a full-resolution, high-speed continuous-shooting mode, but the LCD goes completely blank while it's in use. In our informal tests, the mode nearly doubled the standard continuous frame rate.

Shooting speed (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Time to first shot

Typical shot-to-shot time

Shutter lag (dim)

Shutter lag (typical)

Kodak EasyShare Z915

1.7 

1.1 

0.6 

0.4 

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H20

2.8 

2.1 

0.7 

0.4 

Samsung WB550

2.8 

2.2 

0.7 

0.5 

Canon PowerShot SX120 IS

2.5 

2.6 

0.7 

0.6 

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ6

2.3 

2.5 

1.1 

0.9 

The WB550's photo quality is fairly mediocre -- it's good for Web use, prints of 4 by 6 inches, and maybe the occasional print of 8 by 10 inches. Like many point-and-shoot cameras, results are at their best when using ISOs below ISO 200. Above that mark, you'll end up with noticeable noise/artefacts and a significant loss of detail, sharpness and colour accuracy. In macro mode, the camera can produce shots with good fine detail and sharpness, but they may look over-sharpened and crunchy. Detail and sharpness aren't good out of macro, and generally appear over-processed when photos are viewed at full size.

There's nearly no barrel distortion at the camera's widest lens position. More noticeable, although barely, is some pincushion distortion when the lens is fully extended. The amount of chromatic aberration in our test shots was well above normal and purple/blue fringing not only made frequent appearances, but was visible even when pictures were viewed at smaller sizes. Overall, colours are pleasing and, in a standard shooting mode, like program or manual, they're reasonably accurate. Exposure is okay, but highlights have a tendency to blow out.

Video quality is generally good, although low-light movies are loaded with noise. This is typical of video from compact cameras, however. We appreciate that the zoom functions while recording and that Samsung chose not to cut the mic -- the lens moves reasonably quietly.

Conclusion
We're sure that some people will be sufficiently thrilled by the Samsung WB550's lens and feature set to overlook its unremarkable photo quality and frequently frustrating menu and control design. But, with similar and generally better options out there from Panasonic, Canon, Sony and Kodak, it's a much tougher sell.

Additional editing by Charles Kloet