Samsung ST5000

The ST5000 is one of Samsung's third-generation touch-screen cameras. After briefly experimenting with touch-sensitive buttons, ever since the NV100 HD, Samsung has been following the more conventional route of the large touch-screen that now replaces almost all controls and buttons. The ST5000 has an interesting set of tech specs too, with a 7x zoom, a 720p HD video mode and a large 14-Megapixel sensor. But was it really worth including all those pixels?

Handling 

The Samsung ST5000 looks pretty good. It has a simple, clean design as the touch-screen replaces the vast majority of physical controls. This really makes the 7x zoom lens stand out too, since it's set into a kind of oversized circular mount on the front of the camera. The finish is excellent and the camera feels sturdy and well made (apart from the connections compartment). Overall, the camera is pleasant to handle. The ST5000's only physical buttons are found on the top edge of the camera, with what's now considered a 'large' zoom control around the shutter-release button, rather than the microscopic zoom lever control that's currently all the rage on other super-stylish cameras. There's also an on/off button and a picture playback button.


There's nothing on the back of the camera apart from the very nice 3.5-inch touch-screen, with a resolution of no less than 1,152,000 pixels. Picture quality on the screen is good and smooth, and viewing angles are wide. In low light, the display becomes a bit more jerky, although this won't stop you lining up shots properly and there's not much noise either. In bright sunlight, it's really not great as the screen looks very shiny. However, it's still probably one of the better camera screens we've seen.

As is all too often the case, the touch-screen interface is a little frustrating. Even digital cameras are now overshadowed by the excellent iPhone interface that many of us are now used to. Nevertheless, the graphic user interface is pleasant and easy to get the hang of. Plus, this camera's touch controls aren't just limited to virtual buttons. In playback mode, you can flick from one photo to another by sliding your finger over the screen, delete a photo by drawing a cross over it, as well as directly select the focus zone on-screen or scroll through shooting options and scene modes by skimming the display with your finger. However, once you've zoomed in on a photo, you can't move around just using your finger, as you have to use the on-screen arrows. Over all, the touch-controls do require more user interaction and more fiddling around than a simple four-way arrow key for selecting the most frequently used settings (white balance, exposure compensations, flash etc.). That means you might find it easier just to leave the ST5000 in automatic mode.

The enormous screen seems quite power hungry as the ST5000's battery life isn't fantastic. In our test we didn't even manage to take 200 photos before it gave up the ghost. As is often the case now, Samsung only supplies a charger that connects to the device's USB port. You can, however, charge your camera from a mains socket or via a computer's USB connection, although the camera can't be used while charging. 

Responsiveness

The ST5000 is a mixed bag: on the one hand, focusing has a jumpy, almost nervous feel to it, whereas start-up and photo-to-photo turnaround are both slow. In fact, it seems like this latest Samsung camera is having trouble handing its 14 million pixels.


Picture quality

Although the Korean manufacturer is constantly improving the design, quality and handling of its cameras with each new range, Samsung does seem to struggle to improve picture quality in its compact cameras. Unfortunately, no major improvements have been made in the ST5000 and its heavyweight electronic noise processing system seems to do more harm than good. At the lowest sensitivity setting, you'll already notice a slight speckling caused by the effects of digital processing, and as the sensitivity increases, smoothing increases markedly. We'd advise you not to go any higher than 400 ISO. Go up to 800 ISO if you must, but if you go any higher than that, the picture quality is totally lost.



The lens seems doesn't quite seem up to scratch either. In wide-angle (31mm), the overall sharpness of the picture is dubious and the edges are noticeably soft. In telephoto, picture sharpness is more uniform across the shot, but the quality still isn't any better. However, the lens doesn't distort the picture too much and the ST5000 generally handles exposure well. The white balance works well outdoors, but photos look too warm (too red/orange) under artificial light e.g. Tungsten lights.


The dual optical and digital stabilisation system does work, but other cameras can do better. Plus, the 5 cm macro mode won't blow you away.

Video 

The ST5000 has a fairly decent 720p HD video mode. Footage is recorded at 30 fps with stereo sound and the optical zoom can also be used, even if sound recording cuts out while you zoom. Picture quality isn't excellent and digital noise becomes highly visible in darker, indoor areas.