Samsung DualView TL225 / ST550 Digital Camera

Product Description

Samsung proudly introduces a new milestone in digital camera technology. The 12.2 Megapixel Dual LCD Digital Camera with a 1.5″ front LCD screen, a revolutionary feature in the industry, lets you take part in capturing the moment like never before. The Samsung Dual LCD Digital Camera lets you see every scene in a completely new and exciting way. Just use the front LCD screen, and set up the perfect shot with you in it, time after time. A host of top-ranked features and technologies, from the lens to the user interface, turns this camera into a true must-have. And the small, handheld size makes it easy to take it with you everywhere you go. The Schneider lens optics with 4.6x Zoom lets you get up close on almost any subject 27mm Wide Angle lens captures even more of the moment Countdown timer – Use it to coordinate any shot perfectly Child mode – Keep small children’s attention, with a built-in animation Front and Back LCD Screens – Get out from behind the camera and get in the shot Perfectly framing yourself is quick and easy Never miss being in a once-in-a-lifetime moment Rear Touch Screen LCD – Scroll quickly through all menus Easily access your photo library Haptic vibration response registers your choices Gesture UI is a revolutionary new way to view and sort through menus and options Smart Auto – Automatically senses picture conditions, and adjusts for the perfect shot Optimizes shot regardless of poor lighting 14 different preset modes, for a variety of settings Parameters can also be bypassed for manual control

Customer Reviews

AMAZING LITTLE CAMERA!!!!
Update to my Update: Amazon would not allow me to post the link of the detailed review of this product on this review page, however they did allow me to post the link (to the review) in the comment section (comments are located to the right of the screen at the very end of my review, click on comments and I have the link to the review pasted, 10th post down).

UPDATE: I found an EXTREMELY detailed review of this Camera (one of the only one’s out there at the moment), probably one of the more detailed reviews I have seen for a camera. Included with this review is everything you will ever need to know about this camera, explained in extreme detail, very well written! Simply copy and paste, Enjoy….

BTW, the reviewer below (V.Bank) should have done his worked with this camera a tad bit more, I find his review shabby at best, and does this camera little to no justice with the little time he has spent with it. The review I posted above debunks half the things V.Bank stated in his review! You are not going to find a camera with all the features this one offers for [...] bucks, it’s just not gonna happen! Also, saying that it will be easy to loose the Micro-SD card is ridiculous considering most all Micr-SD cards are now sold with the adapter included. The adapter is actually an actual size SD card that the Micro SD card slides into. When taking my Micro-SD card out I immediately place it in the adapter, place it in its case and into my camera bag. I don’t see it being any harder to loose then a regular SD card, considering that’s exactly what the adapter is, an SD card! As long as you are responsible you should have no problems.

I am still working with this Cam daily and am finding new modes and features on it everytime I use it, it’s a blast, I am in LOVE!
…………………………………………….

I have still yet to figure out why people like Daniel (Below my review) post reviews before even handling the camera?!!! How can someone have the nerve to post a “Star” review on something they have yet to operate, let alone turn on? What he did was like me giving a taste-test review on a food product without ever tasting it!

N-E-Ways

I (Finally) received the Camera this morning (Sat) and it has more then exceeded my expectations! I am having even more fun with the TL225 then I was with the TL220! The screen is larger, the higher resolution shows big-time, and the video’s I have shot just look awesome on my 46″ HDTV!

Samsung with the new Micro card is looking ahead IMO. This translates to more flexibility in using your new microSD card for not just only the camera, but also your other mobile devices. I LOVE this Idea as now I can swap the Micro SD from my camera to phone and have one memory card that does it all without the need of buying separate storage devices. I am very very pleased with this! I second this quote I’ve seen in a review on a UK site…

“Nonetheless, the other oddity (albeit a good one) is the use of microSD cards instead of the usual SD card format. Think of the use you can get out of the microSD card across all your other mobile devices, and you’ll get our point.”

The pictures are crystal clear when posted on my HDTV, detailed with little to no noticeable noise at low ISO. Pictures anywhere above ISO 400 (400 is fine) begin to show noticeable noise, but that is to be expected with any and every P&S on the market with a 1/2.33 sensor size (with exception of Sony’s new Exmor R sensor they are incorporating in there new line of cameras, this new sensor uses a back-light within camera to reduce noise at high ISO by feeding light to the sensor for great night shots without the use of stabilizing support).

Night shots are WONDERFUL with the TL225 considering the camera is well stabilized on a platform or mini tripod, absolutely breathtaking images!

With this said I will be updating this review within the week to give a full blow-out review! Until then, you can read a quick review I posted about 4 days ago on a couple other sites regarding my time spent with the TL220 at Best Buy (BTW, the TL225 does have the 14 modes of screen select the TL220 has, not the 16 as Samsung led me to believe from there UK site, don’t understand why the did this. I am a tad disappointed the TL225 does not have “Action” shooting mode, but no biggy, there are ways around it)…

“I went to Best Buy yesterday and played around with the TL225 (st500 and st550 in Europe and Asia, and is the same cam as the TL225, just less features) for over an hour (no kidding, an employee told me to “Just buy the thing already”lol), and I can not express how much I LOVE this thing!

I have never had so much fun playing around with a camera before! It is sooo user friendly, I picked it up and knew everything within a couple of minutes!

The Pictures it took where pretty good, it didn’t do so well with close moving subjects, much blurr, but still pics where clear and the colors where vibrant. I found a Korean site to where a gentleman who bought this Cam posted a TON of Pic’s, they all looked wonderful as-well. He also stated that this was a “Very Very good Cam”.

My favorite feature that sent me over the top was the “Beauty Shot” mode and front LCD feature! I have scars on my face due to acne (pretty bad scaring), and I went into Best Buy looking greasy and very sweaty (just got off of work). The pictures I took of myself in Beauty Shot mode made me look like a Model!!! I am not kidding, my face went from greasy and nasty in regular pics I was taking of myself, to looking like I belonged on a runway for a photo-shoot once in Beauty Mode!!! I was SHOCKED at how perfectly complected my face looked, you could not see one acne scar or blemish, it was amazing! I did not expect this feature to work so well!!!

I took probably 80 or so pic’s of myself, I absolutely love the front screen! Yes, I took pics of myself before, but only for web-sites a forum purposes. With this, it was a BLAST!!! I had so much fun with this camera, I did not expect myself to care to much for the front screen, but I will be using it all the time once I pick-up this cam!!

All I was looking for was a decent point and shoot that had great HD video and good quality Pic’s for vacationing, and playing with this cam for as long as I did sent me over the edge with all the features it has, I REALLY LOVE IT! I would like to note that my fiance owns the Nikon D90 and I use it often, so I have some decent knowledge on how pictures should look. I also own my share of P&S cams.

The girl at Best Buy told me they Sold Out right away and have the cam on back-order, and that she hears nothing but good things about it (she is actually going to school for photography and said she thinks the cam is a really good buy, and she was not saying this because she works there, I have known her for atleast a year already (from Best Buy) so we are more friends then me being just a customer to her.

I also tested the HD video and it was WONDERFUL! Someone posted 3 test vids on YouTube using the tl220, the new compression format makes it look like HD even when choosing not to watch in HD! Never seen such great quality Vid before in a camera!!! It is also REALLY REALLY cool how you can Pause when recording, and then resume play when you decide to, this way all recordings are on the same file. You can also edit the vid in camera by trimming the vid, meaning takeout parts you don’t want and keep what you do want.

I will be getting the TL225 instead of the TL220. It has a bigger screen, metal back instead of the Tl220’s plastic back, HDMI inputs (for viewing your Pics and Vid on an HD TV) that the TL220 does not have. The TL225 also wieghs a half-ounce more then the TL220 due to the choice of displays. One more thing to note is that the TL220 3.0-inch LCD screen resolution has 230,000 dots, while the TL225 has much much higher resolution at 1,152,000 dots on it’s 3.5-inch LCD, the highest ever resolution on a Point and Shoot Camera (for you newbies the higher the resolution the clearer the screen will be and you will be able to see more detail on whatever it is you are taking a picture of). To me, the extra $50 for the TL225 is well worth it if you can afford it.

Note that both Cams (TL220 and TL225) look identical other then the back screen being bigger on the TL225, and the colors they come in. I do wish the TL225 came in Red and Blue, but the orange will have to do for me. I will also be posting this same review for the TL220 for people looking to get that since that’s the actual Cam that I toyed with.

I have done sooo much research on these cams in the past 2 weeks it is ridiculous!!lol I will give a more extensive review once I have this puppy to play with for longer then just a couple of hours.

All I have to say is I LOVE THIS CAM and can’t wait to get it, it def exceeded my expectations thus far! ”

I didn’t have any inconvenience to carry this, because of the size 99.8×59.8×18.6mm and the weight 165.7g. (Certainly, it’s a little bigger and heavier than other ST series, so I couldn’t be satisfied with the portability for 100%. However, with a little more weight, I could take more stable shots than before.)

The design of the product is so satisfactory, and I think this is one of the best design cameras among all Samsung digital Imaging cameras which I’ve reviewed so far. The wide screen to minimize the button part is so outstanding, and the high-glossy UV coating for sensible and elegant feeling is also very satisfactory. (There’s no extra part, and it’s so sharp and neat product. If you think the design is important for a digital camera, I strongly recommend this product.)

It’s the front of the body. It has 27~124.2mm (There’s no problem to take wide and standard angle shots. I think it’s a quite ideal angle.) Schneider protruding optical zoom lens(4.6x), and it supports F3.5(W)~5.9(T). (It’s quite different from the WB series having F2.8.) @Not only does it support 12.2M pixels, but also it has Dual IS function, so you can take satisfactory pictures any time.There’s a flash on the left top, and on the lens side, there’s AF&Self timer lamp. It also has the front display (World’s first), so perfect self shot is possible. (It’s totally different from a convex lens or face recognition. You can take a self shot with looking at your face, so the picture is much more satisfactory.) @It supports the Smart gesture UI, so tapping on the front LCD, it  is automatically activated.

As the first product of Samsung digital imaging at the second half of the year, strong and unique functions were so impressive. (While testing, I was quite surprised. I could see they’ve tried much for all day long to be a leader of the digital camera market.

As a stylish series, the ST550(TL225) has elegant design enough to appeal anywhere. It could have been better if it had been smaller, but I could be satisfied with the large and vivid touch screen. Through the more advanced smart auto mode, satisfactory shots could be made under any circumstances, and as a high range product, this supports the OIS, I could take shots without hand blur even though I have some tremor of the hand.

through the funny animation, it was easy to take a picture of children. (Not only that. It also supports other various functions such as Viewing guide, Shutter info, and function info.)

On top of that, the smart gesture UI function was also quite satisfactory. Through the motion recognition sensor, it’s possible to set the camera through movement. (Especially, turning the front display on by tapping it is still miraculous.)

That it doesn’t’ support manual function is a little unsatisfactory, but I could feel satisfaction from most of the tests. I’d like to recommend this product to those who take a lot of self shots, beginners, and users who want elegant design and good quality of pictures.