Samsung ST1000

Is this pioneering compact worth the price tag?

Samsung’s known for its innovative hi-tech creations, and the ST1000 is no exception. Boasting Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, and GPS geo-tagging – this is the first compact to cram in three wireless technologies.

The body itself is as sexy and slim line as any trendy point-and-shoot. Despite being only 19mm thick, it feels solid and assuredly heavy to hold, with a professional metal finish. Inconveniently, the non-protruding lens is placed in the top corner, thus increasing the chances of photographing your index finger

On the reverse, the user is faced with a spectacular 3.5-inch LCD screen with 12.2MP sensor that dominates the back of the camera. The touch-screen interface means buttons are minimal. The power, playback, shutter release, and sliding zoom buttons can all be found on the top plate. However, aside from the lozenge-shaped shutter release, the buttons are so small that they could present a challenge for larger hands.

The menu is responsive and easily accessible with the lightest touch. Manual phobics will be glad to hear that a play with the various on-screen options is enough to get to grips with what’s available. The ability to access Bluetooth means you can transfer images to compatible devices, such as a mobile phone. Also on offer is the geo-tagging ability that locates each of your photos, and could therefore be practical for light packing travellers wanting to keep family up to speed.

A Qwerty keyboard enables you to enter passwords to access wireless internet, and proves very useful for the 21st Century snapper wishing to email photos on the go, or upload directly to Facebook and YouTube. However, the resolution is decreased to 1600x1200 pixels, which is a shame.

Another nifty feature is the Smart Gesture User-Interface that means you can flick through your images with a swipe of your finger, or even by tilting the camera to one side. This is bound to impress, but takes some getting used to and our success rate varied.

Quality-wise, images taken with an ISO of 400 or more become considerably less detailed and speckled with noise, and unsurprisingly1600 and 3200 are unusable. However, if you’re not planning on capturing low-light subjects without a flash, these higher ISO’s won’t be required.

Both the auto and custom white balance options give precise results indoors, whereas the other settings such as ‘Fluorescent’ and ‘Tungsten’ generate a very warm colour temperature. Outdoors, the scene settings similarly yielded some inaccuracies and tended to overexpose. ‘Sunset’ produced an aged appearance, whilst ‘Cloudy’ cast a blue tone over images– even in cloudy conditions.

Unlike its predecessor, the ST1000 doesn’t cater for landscape photographers as the 35-175mm lens hinders wide-angle shots.  Similarly, the 5x optical zoom is disappointing for the price and doesn’t match up to its competitors. On the other hand, portrait enthusiasts will be impressed with the Smart Face Recognition, which can store up to 20 people and adjusts exposure and focus accordingly. The Smile and Blink Detection are effective; setting off the shutter release once the subject flashes their pearly whites. This could prove handy when photographing young children. There’s also a Beauty Shot, which works well to smooth unflattering shadows or spots – this compact could rapidly become a teenager’s best friend.

Additional in-camera editing options are housed in the Photo Style Selector. Here, you can apply colour treatments, such as conventional black and white and sepia tones, as well as creating the appearance of a shallow depth of field. Any alterations made are saved as a separate image, and when you delete photographs – they are helpfully stored in a Recycle Bin.

HD movie recording is available with 1280x720p at 30 fps, but this hasn’t advanced from the ST550. However, as before, it records in H.264 rather than MP4 format, so videographers can capture double the footage for the same memory capacity. Speaking of storage, this model only accepts Micro SD or Micro SDHC cards, which can be fiddly, but easy to come by as they’ll often be lurking in your mobile.

We’re a little disappointed that this new compact doesn’t include the dual LCD screens found on its predecessor. There’s certainly space on the front of the camera, and this extra feature would have firmly cemented the ST1000’s place as the most exciting new gadget. Still, the multi-wireless capabilities should be enough to satisfy Samsung’s target consumer. An innovative little compact fit for stylish, social snappers that want to capture memories, rather than works of art.

Final Verdict Whilst multi-wireless functionality is impressive and a must for gadget lovers; image quality hasn’t advanced enough to warrant the cost. If connectivity isn’t as important, there are better compacts on the market. OVERALL

Jodie’s a fresh face on DP and DCE, armed with a Journalism degree and a long-standing love of both digital and analogue shooting. She’s keen to report back on the latest releases.