Samsung WB550 review

Robust, wide-angle 10x optical zoom compact shooting HD movies

Want the creative freedom of a broad focal range but a camera that can still be secreted about your person? The WB550 12.1 effective megapixel compact is bigger brother to the 10MP WB500 and can be described as a pocket snapshot – but only just. It’s physically larger and boxier than rivals thanks to the internally stacked 10x optical zoom (24-240mm equivalent in 35mm terms), but in fairness provides a more portable solution than a DSLR-styled bridge model with a similar range – and for less of an outlay too.

For a penny shy of £300, users get a camera that’s plastic with chrome metal detailing. It feels reassuringly substantial when gripped, and its larger dimensions in relation to more fashion-orientated 12MP snappers means there’s at least enough of the WB550 to get a firm hold on. That said, the 3-inch, 230k dot LCD ends only a mere couple of millimetres shy of the camera edge, so it quickly gets covered in thumb prints when steadying it with both hands.

Helping also to avoid camera shake is built-in optical image stabilisation that does the trick when shooting at maximum telephoto. If we’ve a gripe to pick with the WB550’s handling it’s that fingers can sometimes stray in front of the flash at the front, plus the ‘command lever’ – used for manually adjusting exposure compensation, white balance or ISO – is small, narrow and digs uncomfortably into the thumb. It’s odd because there’s plenty of surrounding space for a larger control and function buttons. Indeed the WB550 feels like a camera of two halves: large, firm metallic buttons on the top plate, and fiddly, small plastic ones at the rear.

Located with a twist of the mode dial set into the mirrored top plate is Samsung’s take on the intelligent auto modes of the Canon, Panasonic and Sony ranges, here christened ‘Smart Auto’. As with competitors, the camera will theoretically recognise the subject the user is attempting to capture and choose the best suited settings from a choice of 11 pre-programmed modes. This frees up users to concentrate on framing and composition rather than buttons and menus. Go on to take a shot and the screen blanks out momentarily, writing a maximum resolution JPEG memory in a commendable two seconds, with little if any shutter lag.

Also found on the mode dial is a movie option affording the capture of High Definition clips at a top resolution of 1280x720 pixels with stereo sound (though the WB550’s built-in speaker is mono). Samsung claims as unique its ability to pause and re-start the recording of video if desired; useful if you want to self edit. A further addition is a built-in HDMI port for hooking the camera up to an HD telly, alongside regular USB 2.0 and AV out, even if the required cable costs extra. Fortunately the full extent of the zoom can be accessed when shooting movies. There’s a low mechanical buzz when moving through the range, the camera taking three seconds to glide from extreme wide angle to maximum telephoto.

Available in black or grey, the WB550 offers a user-friendly route to taking better portraits via on-board face detection (biasing faces in the frame and adjusting focus and contrast accordingly), blink detection mode (to avoid subjects with eyes closed), smile mode (a picture is taken when a grin is detected) and the Samsung regular of beauty shot mode (skin is re-touched and smoothed to hide any blemishes). Also pitched at the happy snapper is a Frame Guide feature that allows a ‘ghost’ image to be taken of a desired shot that then provides a frame work for whoever might be handed the camera to work to; useful for holiday portraits.

Indeed the name of the Samsung’s game appears to be optimal results with minimum user effort. Pictures are colour rich and well saturated straight out of the camera. While this works well for portraits and landscapes, occasionally results look overly processed. Pixel fringing is also more noticeable in scenes of high contrast. More positively, low light performance up to and including ISO3200 isn’t bad at all, though partly because resolution drops to three megapixels. Otherwise detail begins to soften from ISO800 upwards.

Though the WB550’s £299 suggested price tag pits it against other identical cost premium compacts such as Sony’s touch screen T90 and Panasonic’s FX550, a quick web search picked up e-tailers’ offers as low as £230, which may be enough to tempt purchasers away from flashier rivals. At that price you can’t go wrong.