Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom Review

Is the Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom of a smartphone like any other, which only has a better camera on board? Or is it with this unit rather a digital camera that comes up in addition to the functions of a smartphone? We believe the latter.

Because the Galaxy S4 Zoom has all the ingredients that you would expect from a modern compact camera: A 10-fold zoom or about the possibility of manual and semi-automatic exposure control. Even a flash and a tripod thread it has on board.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom – Ergonomics and Craftsmanship.

Every thing has its two sides. This is literally for the Galaxy S4 Zoom Camera Smartphone. From behind, it presents itself as a traditional smartphone, whose back is occupied almost entirely by a 4.3-inch display. Considering the Galaxy, S4 contrast from the front, it looks like a flawless digital camera. The front is dominated by a lush zoom lens, which luckily very far collapses when not in use.

Even the neatly shaped handle so you will not find on a smartphone, but probably at a digital camera. Slightly irritated at most, as the lush front is calculated. For this, the Galaxy S4 is very slim. It fits easily into your pocket. There it carries a weight of around 200 grams not particularly on the Galaxy S4 zoom so you can take at any time.

As usual, with the Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom is dressed in a smooth plastic casing. It looks good on him, especially in white – but alternatively, it is also available in black. What looks nice need not automatically to be practical. This is unfortunately also true for the Galaxy S4 zoom when it is used as a camera: The plastic cover is so smooth that the smartphone can hardly hold securely with one hand.

And because the body is so slim, it is easy not to pack firmly – as well as the handle is of little help. Handling is also complicated by the fact that the Galaxy S4 zoom brings very few dedicated controls on the camera. There is just a classic triggers, and a zoom ring on the lens – that’s it for Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom already. All other functions are accessed via the touch screen.

In itself, this is still not the end – would not the thumb of the right hand inevitably tap the screen or (even worse) on the back button, if you hold the Galaxy S4 push on the handle. As soon as you touch the back button, the camera app is terminated, the zoom lens is purring along and the Galaxy S4 is again a smartphone.

Back to the camera it works comparably simple – just hold down the trigger and for a moment the lens moves out again. But it goes a good second until everything is done and signaled the Galaxy S4 Zoom recording.

Does the ergonomics of the housing so open some wishes that know measured on a digital camera to enjoy a huge display. It is thanks to AMOLED technology is a very rich color viewfinder and also get an insight of the side still good. In really bright conditions the range of display brightness not – in the bright sunlight can make it something barely.

Also disturbing that the display reflects strong – ever since then the photographer sees his own likeness instead of the viewfinder image. After all, the Galaxy S4 Zoom has a tripod socket on board and a small flash. As the storage medium, it takes on micro-SD cards with a maximum capacity of 64 gigabytes.

Unlike a digital camera, waived the Galaxy S4 zoom on a classic camera menu. Like any smart phone, it is just consistently aligned to the operation via finger and gesture’s prediction. So it is superimposed on the viewfinder depending upon the recording mode with different touch areas that lead to further functions.

In the design of the controls and input fields, Samsung has given a lot of effort – about classic controls simulated. This approach works, after a short training time can be the Galaxy S4 zoom can be smoothly and accurately configure – and despite its considerable functionality.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom – Equipment

The exterior of the Galaxy S4 zoom cannot quite decide between smartphone and camera, so that makes one look at the equipment list very quickly that the absorption features are prominent.

The camera offers basically everything you would expect from any compact camera today too – maybe even a bit more. This first of a Scene Auto Selector, which decreases the photographer of any decision about the appropriate camera settings.

Only the flash and self-timer can be switched on or off in full automatic mode. Who wants more control over the result, in Smart mode selects the specific scene mode that matches the scene.

With Smart Auto, the camera of the Galaxy S4 Zoom offers a smart pre-selection. It presents three design programs that might fit the scenery. The final decision is left up to the photographer.

The automatics are far beyond what is customary today in a compact camera. There are, for example, a program which reproduces a portion of the receptacle as a film – so formed easily animated picture.

Or the camera appears superimposed a rapid series of shots, then emerge photos with motion studies. There is a best-shot automatic that shoots a series of photos from which you can then select the best image.

Also a HDR function, Samsung has thought she hides under the insightful little program called ” color fill “. A Panorama Assist is also on board. Although it cannot accommodate a wide pan in one go by, but lead a very graphic for taking the pictures.

Flaw here is that the image height of the panoramic shot is less than 500 pixels – this might be enough for the web, but for the large-scale expression of the recordings are clearly too small.

For experienced photographers, who face the automatic functions skeptical principle, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom keeps the expert mode ready. Here you will find a classic automatic program and the possibility of manual exposure control.

In Expert, Mode also face detection can be configured to switch the exposure on various procedures, set the ISO sensitivity manually as well as sharpness, color saturation, etc. of the internal Samsung Galaxy S4 Set Zoom image processing – to name just a few. The Galaxy S4 Zoom Bracketing even takes on, but fixed with three pictures at a given distance. There has far-reaching adjustments for white balance.

Zoomed S4 zoom with a control ring around the lens with the Galaxy. In photographs that work well, the desired zoom level can be controlled very fine. When shooting movies but you missed then but a classic rocker zoom by. The zoom ring can hardly move without the camera is shaking. Since the optical image stabilizer does not help with the Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom can also come up. Know apart from the video capabilities to convince.

During the film shoot, almost all recording functions are available out there shooting in photo-Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom. Video records the Galaxy S4 zoom with a maximum at full HD resolution on (ie 1,920 x 1,080 pixels) at 30 frames per second. And so the video clips with the Galaxy S4 can zoom quite impressive.

Generously, the Galaxy S4 zoom shows at the possibilities for manipulating: You can change the brightness and color saturation or alienate the picture with one of the numerous effects. Even a small video editor has the S4 zoom on board. If that is not enough:

The S4 zoom is indeed a classic smartphone with the Android operating system. Should a photo-or post-processing function is missing, there is certainly an appropriate app from Google Play, which closes the gap quickly.

Of these opportunities to extend the functionality of conventional digital camera owners can only dream of. Even if it comes to pass photos quickly, the S4 Zoom plays its strengths of smartphones: photographs by e-mail, post on a social network or upload to Dropbox – there also is barely keeping a classic digital camera.

Image quality and functional features of the Galaxy S4 zoom can compete with a conventional compact camera so well. But what about the image quality? Samsung squeezes around 16 megapixels on a 1/2 3-inch sensor. For a compact digital camera just home cooking – so that the image sensor is considerably larger than usual for a smartphone. The first shots in daylight seemed quite promising. Ultimately, only hard facts make an unbiased statement about the image quality.

As you would expect with the Galaxy S4 zoom in view of the small sensor, the image quality depends strongly on the ambient light, or the resulting ISO numbers. The signal to noise ratio goes up to ISO 400 along the critical level of 35 dB at higher ISO settings.

It falls into the red zone. That noise up to ISO 400 so just is not an issue, is mainly the merit of noise reduction. She takes such a powerful, that it is already 100. The texture sharpness decreases rapidly beyond the base sensitivity of ISO. The higher the sensitivity, the more detailed the poorer recordings.

This cannot be pinned down only by measurement, but also very well seen from the test shots from the lab (download the test images, see related links at the end of the article). The image processing of the Galaxy S4 zoom try to work against something by sharpens very strong. But the details that are lost once, cannot subsequently reproduce.

And as the strong sharpening mainly leads to very pronounced brightness contrast seems at edges. Which are not only clearly visible, but are reflected in the laboratory to measure in a fairly high artifact rate down.

Impressive is the input dynamic range of the Galaxy S4 zoom. The camera processes to ISO 400 provides a dynamic range of ten f-stops – that is impressive! The color reproduction is OK. The phone is quite natural colors again. The white balance is very accurate. The lens can unfortunately not in all respects Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom said. While it boasts a virtually distortion-free picture, but the resolution is not quite as convincing.

With Approximately 37 line pairs per millimeter (lp / mm) it triggers properly in the center on silent, but the resolution decreases towards the margins by around a third. This loss of resolution is Already visible under Circumstances in print. So this Applies to color fringing on contrast edges – They are very strong at the edges of the images.

Is the bottom line? The picture quality of the Samsung Galaxy S4 is Roughly at the level of an average compact camera. Up to ISO 400, the images in full resolution are useful. The light fades, and there are higher ISO numbers needed to lose the images visible on detail and image noise. Scaled down to web resolution, but so you can show photos that have arisen at ISO 3,200.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom – Conclusion

Looking at the Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom only as a digital camera, it shines with a good equipment – especially the 10x zoom knew in daily practice photo to the gallery. The operation takes some getting used to, but works well after a short training period.

The case follows the dictates of the smartphone. The handling of the camera is less successful. One of the criticisms included the long pause for thought, which the S4 Zoom allows himself until the camera is ready to go.

The picture quality is fine for a compact camera, can shoot up to ISO 400 with the smartphone camera printing in large formats. One does not take a digital camera to the scale but the usual smartphone cameras. It outperforms the Galaxy S4 zoom all.

So who has been frequently additionally plugged to the mobile phone or smartphone a compact camera can let the S4 with the zoom safely at home. But then one must live with the fact that the Galaxy S4 push something comes hulking as a phone – but it works.