Samsung S860 8.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Silver) | 
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| Brand: Samsung
Category: Photography
List Price: $149.95
Buy New: $89.00
You Save: $60.95 (41%)
New (27) Used (1) from $100.60
Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 572
Color: Silver
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
System Memory: 11
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Monitor Size: 240
Optical Zoom: 3
Digital Zoom: 3
Display Size: 2.4
Maximum Focal Length: 18.9
Minimum Focal Length: 6.3
Maximum Resolution: 8.1
Has Red Eye Reduction: Yes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 12 x 10 x 6
MPN: S860Silver
Model: S860Silver
UPC: 044701009108
EAN: 0044701009108
ASIN: B0011ZH0BK
Release Date: February 12, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | 8.1-megapixel resolution for high-quality prints up to 30 x 40 inches | | • | 3x optical zoom; digital image stabilization | | • | Face Detection technology; Self Portrait mode | | • | 2.4-inch LCD screen | | • | Capture images to SD cards; powered by AA alkaline batteries (not included) |
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Product Description
The Samsung S860 is a high-resolution digital camera that is equipped with a true-color filtered 8.1-Megapixel CCD. This allows the Samsung S860 to take detailed photos for printing up to poster size. With the Face Detection AF & AE function, the Samsung S860 enables the user to take better portrait pictures more easily. This function detects faces and automatically focuses on them. The brightness of the faces is adjusted optimally for beautiful portrait pictures. In macro shooting, it is now possible to take clear, natural pictures. Digital Image Stabilization (DIS) technology prevents the degradation of image clarity and color, which is sometimes found in flash photography. With DIS the effects of image blur are reduced in lower light conditions. You can even take well-exposed, sharper pictures in low light conditions without using a flash at all, which guarantees brighter and more natural pictures. The different icons, scene modes and other features are described in simple and easy to understand terms to improve the interaction between the user and camera. ISO - Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1000 Flash Modes - Auto, Auto & Red-eye reduction, Fill-in flash, Slow sync, and Flash off Range - Wide 0.3m - 4.0m and Tele 0.5m - 2.1m (ISO AUTO) Self-timer - 2 seconds and 10 seconds Still Image File Format - JPEG (DCF), EXIF 2.2, and DPOF 1.1 Scene Modes - Children, Landscape, Close-up, Text, Sunset, Dawn, Backlight, Fireworks, Beach & Snow, and Night System Requirements - Pentium II 450MHz (Pentium 800MHz recommended), Windows 98SE, 2000, ME, XP, Vista, Mac OS 9.2, 10.4 or later, 64MB RAM, 200MB free space, USB port, CD-ROM drive, 1024x768 pixels, 16-bit color display compatible monitor, Microsoft DirectX 9.0C Dimensions - Approximately Width 3.66 x Height 2.44 x Depth 1.04 (93x62x26.5mm) Weight - 123 grams
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| Customer Reviews: Read 22 more reviews...
 Excellent price & performance ratio August 18, 2008
Software Professional (San Jose,CA)
I mean what one would expect from camera under $100 clear & excellent picture. Even someone who is professional photographer admit to me that your pics are pretty good (never told him about camera before showing pics). Everyday you can use camera for pics and easy to carry + plus battery life is good. You can take video of pretty good quality for amateurs. Also make sure you get rechargeable batteries which will save money and headache of running out of battery in middle of trip.
A 24 hours a day keep-it-with-you-at-all-times camera August 16, 2008
Rolf Bertram (Holmes Beach, FL USA)
I uploaded a grasshopper photo in the samples gallery for this camera. I was surprised to see it as sharp as the photos from my Digital SLRs, except some minor jpg artifacts in the blurred background. This photo was taken at full superbright Florida daylight, meaning short shutter speed and hight apperture value. This makes shake free images and long depth of field easy, even handheld. The camera was set to macro mode, with is a one-touch button and therefore quickly activated.
For professional photography I use a digital SLR, and I published books on Amazon with images from my digital SLRs. But those cameras are huge and heavy. This tiny samsung, in case logic strechy bag, is as small as a wallet. I used it for family trips, and to copy documents from pinboards. Much faster than writing down, or searching for a copy machine. Press the macro button, click done. Press the view button, zoom button, to check the image sharpness, off, done. For family photography it's great. The skin tones come out natural. For long exposures just find a table, a fence post or use the ground, to hold the camera firmly with one hand, and press the shutter button with the other. Night shots of fireworks with 4 second exposure time are easy this way. Alkalines lasted 100 to 150 pics without flash. A 2GB SD holds almost 500 pics at 8MP.
A little scary is, that the on button is not a slide, but a press for 2 seconds. The lens will zoom out, and if that happens inside a tight camera bag, will the lens mechnism survive this? Also, the camera switches on, whithout lens coming out, if pressing the play button. But it has a auto-off mode.
One strange effect happened, when the batteries were low, but still working witout flash. When activating the flash, the camera switched off without pulling the lens in! Well, switching it on and off again pulled the lens in. Anyway, makes sense to always have an extra set of fresh batteries.
Using Lightroom to pull shadows or squeeze highlights is pretty much not of much use. This camera optimizes the image already pretty much to the maximum possible. And the dynamic resolution is just not there for further such editing. Be it due to sensor or A/D or jpg noise.
I personally print from this camera 2 prints on one 4x6, so each print is 3x4", which matches the aspect ratio of the sensor, and also at this small size pretty much all images, handheld or not, are sharp.
Following is a link to my book about Suntan adjustment in Lightroom and Photoshop. This of cause only works when using Digital SLRs:
Suntan: Skin Tone Color Adjustments in Lightroom and Photoshop
Nice Camera August 12, 2008
Andrea Rodriguez (Dominican Republic)
Very nice Camera. Nice Photos. 1 Problem: Batteries drain quickly (Alkaline). Ill buy Li-on to check.
Good Buy! August 12, 2008
claudia (florida)
I purchased this camera for 89.99 at an electronics store so I mainly chose it for the value and the color. The one I have is a bright fuschia. The pictures are awesome! For once I do not have red eye in every picture. The one thing that I liked more about my old cheap Concord is that I found that the menus are much simpler but it may be because I was used to them. This camera has the same menus Ive seen other people have, like the Kodak easy share and many other ones. The pictures are very clear and I don't know how I dealt with not having face recognition at all. Hopefully I don't break this camera.
 spotty performer . . . August 11, 2008
trebe
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Samsung S860 is a low priced camera that is can produce clear images with vibrant colors, however results can be uneven and unsatisfactory. Obtaining decent results, may require that you take some time to explore the camera's capabilities.
Ideally, when set in auto mode, a camera should provide reliable results with a minimum amount of fuss and adjustment. At this, the Samsung receives low marks. In auto mode, I found that the camera's autofocus sometimes has issues. It is very annoying to focus on the subject, lock on, and press the shutter button, only to have the camera fail to fire. This seems to happen more often than average with the S860. The results are a little better, using `Multi AF' instead of `Center AF', but in this mode the camera can have problems with selecting the proper subject or focus area. ISO is automatically set by the camera according to the lighting conditions. Unfortunately, in low light situations, ISO is often set too low, resulting in blurry images. Also annoying, is that the flash function defaults to red eye reduction mode. So if you were in autoflash, or flash off mode when you turned the camera off, it will reset to red eye reduction the next time it is turned on. Being in red eye mode is not the best place to be, if you want to take a photo quickly.
Auto mode may be suitable for outdoor situations with good lighting, but the best option for normal use is probably `P' (Program) mode. ISO, white balance, sharpness and image quality can be adjusted in this mode. The flash setting when the camera comes on is the same as when it was last turned off. The focusing issues remain, but adjusting the ISO does improve the results. However, when ISO is set to 800 or above, the camera takes 4 or 5 seconds to save the file to memory, and the noise in the images often increases significantly.
In Manual mode your options are limited. While a standard range of shutter speeds is available, only two aperture settings F2.8 and F8.4 can be selected. The camera has many other modes and features, including macro and face detection. The camera is capable of producing movies that are of acceptable quality, and you can get about half an hour of recording time on a 4GB card.
The mode selection dial located on the top of the camera is too loose, and prone to being accidentally rotated (a small piece of adhesive tape is my simple solution). Being familiar with Canon and Fuji cameras, I found the design and operation of the menu and settings not especially convenient to navigate. The 2.4" LCD is clear, and has good visibility in a bright light, though it is very prone to smudging. Useful information like battery level, memory level, ISO, flash setting, metering mode and face recognition function can be displayed.
As with many other cameras, the zoom function is controlled by a toggling button, located at the top right corner, on the rear of the camera. If the zoom control was located by the shutter button, it would be much easier to operate the camera using one hand. It can be done, but is a bit awkward attempting this with the S860. The wrist strap could really use a locking ring. It is a very small thing that could go a long way, if it keeps you from dropping your camera even once.
The camera has a USB connection, but is not recognized by a PC. Rather than loading in Samsung's software, you can use a card reader to download images. The S860 uses AA batteries. Setting the camera in powersaver mode helps to increase battery life, but carrying spares is highly recommended. Because it uses AA batteries, the camera isn't super thin, but having a readily available power source can be very convenient. There is a quick start pamphlet, but no printed manual included. Samsung has a manual in PDF format available at their website.
This is not a glowing review, but I already have several SLR's and point and shoots, and the S860 has enough good points, for me to decide to keep it as a walk around camera. Even at the most basic mode, performance could definitely be better, but you do get a lot of features at a low price level. As with any camera, it really depends on what is important to you, and how you like the results. Feel is important as well, so getting one in your hands and trying it out, is always recommended.
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