Samsung WP10: thin and waterproof

Samsung WP10

Samsung was one of the few camera manufacturers not to include a waterproof compact in its 2009 range.  That gap has now been closed with the WP10, a little gem that's just 2 cm thick, and, if the specs are to be believed, fairly modest compared to some other recent launches.

It's waterproof to depths of up to three metres, but that's it.  Some of Samsung's rivals have followed the lead set by Olympus' Tough range, producing cameras that can resist being dropped, extreme cold and sometimes even being crushed.  Samsung has made do with basic waterproofing the WP10, though, whose main selling point is how thin it is.

The lens as a 5x zoom, but there's no news on its 35 mm equivalent focal lengths.  However, because we know its actual focal lengths (6.3-31.5 mm) and the size of the sensor--it's a 12 Megapixel CCD, so almost certainly 1/2.3''--we've workout that they will probably be 35-175 mm.  That leaves us disappointed the lack of a decent wide-angle.  Worse, it has digital 'stabilisation', which is annoying on a lens that can't do any better than f/3.6.

At the back, a perfectly ordinary 2.7'', 230 000 pixel screen is another disappointment: Samsung is the specialist when it comes to OLED displays for digital cameras, and it would have been a great way to stand out in what is becoming a very crowded part of the market.

As a result, unless Samsung prices the WP10 very aggressively (and we're not yet sure how much t will cost), it's going to struggle to rival the Olympus Mju Digital Tough 3000, which has much more going for it and costs less that £200 …

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