Samsung HZ30W--Perfect carry-along!

Have you ever been in a situation where you wish you had brought along a camera to capture an unusual or once-in-a-lifetime occurance? Most people now own cellphones that have picture (and movie) capabilities built in, but the image quality leaves a lot to be desired. And bringing along a DSLR or a large super-megapixel camera with you all of the time is simply not convenient (driving down to the grocery store or walking the dog). The Samsung HZ30W fills that void very nicely, with suprisingly little tradeoffs.

The Samsungs' specs are very nice-12.1 megapixels with a 15x zoom. But the real deal-maker is the 24mm (35mm camera equivalent) wide angle starting point of that zoom lens. Most point-and-shoots start at 28mm or higher, and that extra area that the 24mm lens can capture makes all the difference in the world. The zoom range is also phenomenal-24mm to 360mm, so you can get very nice panoramic shots (or group photos) as well as zooming in and capturing distant objects. The antishake mechanism is very effective (a must with long focal lengths). Low light and macro capabilities round out the nice features of this camera. I won't bother you with the full list of specifications and picture taking modes (these are available all over the place) but I'll get to the bottom line. Simply put, the photos taken with this camera are superb. Sharp, nicely exposed photographs with rich colors in all but the most extreme conditions (and surprisingly good even then).

I bought this camera because I've owned a Samsung HZ10W (a slightly less endowed sibling) and was simply floored by the photographic results. After giving that particular camera to my daughter, it only made sense to replace it with another Samsung of that particular product line. I have been taking photos for 50 years and have owned very simple and very complex cameras, but I can truly say that this camera is one of very few that makes it pleasurable, convenient and fun to always carry around.

Nice Point and Shoot!!

After being unhappy with my purchase of a Fuji and a Cannon over the last 3 years, I am finally satisfied with this Samsung HZ30W. The other cameras ate batteries and my pictures would be out of focus if someone moved a millimeter during the shot. We missed so many photos of my son growing up because of how blurred the pictures were.

After doing quite a bit of research on point and shoot cameras, the HZ30W rose to the top of my list. I originally was looking at the HZ35W, but found out that the GPS function on the 35W was gimmicky and did not work well. I was delighted to find that the 30W has all of the same features, except the GPS, for a much lower price.

When the camera arrived, I immediately took it out of the box, installed the battery and SD card (SD card is not included), and started taking pictures. I was surprised, and happy, to find that the camera can take excellent photos of people in motion. It just freezes the frame and the result is a perfectly clear action shot. I know that some of you will not be impressed, since most cameras probably do this fairly well, but after my prior experiences, this was a breakthrough moment for me.

The camera has a nice zoom, and with the image stabilization turned on, I can get clear zoom photos even with my shakey hands (and my hands shake more than most). You can even zoom in while taking movies, which a lot of the other cameras that I researched couldn't do.

If I have any complaints, it would be that either the flash is a little weak, or the camera is adjusting improperly for the flash. I find that my lower light, flash pictures come out a little dark. I don't mean to imply that you can't see the subject of the picture, but that the skin tones are darker than they appear in real life. This is not a terrible thing, but I am not a perfectionist when it comes to photos, and many people are. I just want to let you know what you can expect.

I do not use the manual settings, and I have not taken a lot of movies or photos with the camera as of yet. So, my impressions are preliminary and are very much in layman's terms. However, this is the best camera that I have ever had, and I paid a lot less than I did for the supposedly excellent Canon. I would suggest the HZ30W for anyone who needs a point and shoot camera and just wants it to work right out of the box. It will take a little while for me to learn its interface and find out about all of the features available, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this camera to anyone.

Great entry from Samsung

I wanted a superzoom but something compact enough to take along in a belt pouch. The bulky near DSLR superzooms discouraged me from taking the camera with me while out and about. The Samsung with 15X optical is just what I wanted in a package that is reasonably small in size. 12 megapixel is more than adequate. Whats more is this Samsung offers Apeture and Shutter priority in addition to full manual so any experience amateur photographer can get as creative as they wish. In addition, there are many other auto modes and scene-modes to select from. WAY more versatile than the run of the mill point and shoot camera. No point and shoot is good in low light situations and this HZ30 is no exception. Its not worse that the others but its no better either. In good light however the colors are vivid and sharp. Macro works great and videos are very impressive. I read other reviews that suggested the menus are difficult to navigate but I found them easy once I understood the Samsung logic. Only dislike so far after a couple of hours of experimentation is when you have the lens extended and you place the camera on a flat surface to use the self timer, the camera isn't that stable. I wish the base provided a flatter, more stable bottom.

Overall, I compared this camera closely to the Nikon S8100, Canon SX130 and Sony H55. Of the four, I think the Nikon may be the most superior but at over $100 more? I dont think so. Do not discount Samsung digitals because they are new to cameras. They are an electronic force and have produced a line of cameras that is extremely competitive in terms of image quality, price and performance.

All-in-all this is a great camera for the money!

This is a great camera. I've owned it for about 4 weeks. The quality of the pictures is wonderful. The 15x optical zoom works just as described. When zoomed in all the way, it can be a little blurry at times, but I expected that. The 720p video recording is convenient. The camera has a recording button to quickly change from picture taking to video recording, to catch a quick moment you don't want to miss. The camera is somewhat compact. A lot of people are picky about the lens sticking out so much when it is switched on, but I don't mind, because it doesn't matter! Camera has many manual features (I haven't played around with all of them). Most digital cameras now a days have the 3" LCD screen, but this camera has the brightest I've seen. Even in bright sunlight, the screen stands out. Samsung is probably not the first brand you would think of when digital cameras come to mind, but I believe this is a great camera for your money. I personally haven't found a camera that has the 12Mp and 15x optical zoom capability for under $200 besides this HZ30W. I highly recommend it.

Ease of use

I enjoy this camera very much. Once I got used to it it became very easy to use. It has so many features that us ametures become overwhelmed with the choices. I finally settled down and tried new techniques a little at a time and find the camera is very user freindly. It takes beautiful Pictures. I found that if you take video it is best to do so with the camera mode on video rather than on the photo mode since the video comes out with a blue tint when not in video mode. I chose this camera over others because I liked the wide angle lens with the 15x optical zoom. For us novice cameramen it gives us a wide range of use. It may not be the best camera around but for the price and the features it is very close.