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Samsung TL500 / EX1

Based on 49 reviews

Excellent:

14
Good:

19
Average:

13
Bad:

3

Pros

Solid design, Highquality flipout LCD, RAW image shooting
The Samsung TL500 has an attractive design and a bright flip-and-twist display.
Excellent dualimage stabilization, Incamera retouching for RAW images, Solid image quality, Beautiful tiltandswivel OLED screen, Ultrawideangle lens with F1.8 maximum aperture.
Vivid AMOLED back screen that also tilts and swivels, bright f/1.8 lens, tank-like strength via solid-feel metal construction, Raw capture, ISO3200 at full (10MP) resolution
Sharp images. Great low light performance. Articulating high-resolution OLED display. Micro-HDMI port.
Ability for a large aperture of f1.8 – Great for indoor situations, Bright, colourful screen, Easy to navigate menu system, Ability to choose some manual settings, Great exterior design, feels sturdy and not cheap, Ability to add on conversion lense
The f/1.8 lens, rear screen, handling
Very fast aperture zoom lens, Construction, Monitor, Positive controls
Good image quality, particularly at lower ISO settings, Extremely bright F1.8-2.4 lens, Useful 24mm equiv. wide angle, High ISO performance good up to ISO 800 (and higher if processed from RAW), Accessible, quick-to-use manual controls, Superb bright, hig
Super-fast F1.8 lens; solid build and design; hi-res swivel display; good picture quality.

Cons

No HD video recording, Mediocre JPEG quality, Slow shooting speeds
Some irritating control placements, inconsistent photo quality, and an uninspiring feature set tarnish the TL500's appeal.
Menu and controls can be unintuitive, Poor video resolution and quality, Battery must be charged in the camera, Macro mode isn't as effective as competing cameras.
Pricey compared to most digital compacts, modest (3x) optical zoom range, standard definition video capture only Product Shots The EX1 is a robustly built, shoot-from-the-hip enthusiasts’ compact that makes the most of Samsung’s electronics h
Bulky. Expensive. No high-definition video capture. Noticeable shutter lag. Proprietary USB port.
Propriety USB cable/charger, Manual settings don’t allow for extreme finetuning of photography (limited values), Need to use a Lens Cap, but it can be attached to minimize loss of it
Lack of HD movie, functions greyed out in some modes
Slow to write Raws amd Super fine JPEGs
Highlight clipping and channel clipping in bright, high-contrast conditions, Unpredictable metering requires regular use of exposure compensation, No control over noise reduction (which is excessive at high ISO settings), Video limited to VGA resolution.
Inaccurate color reproduction on AMOLED display; sluggish performance.

By TechRadar on December 22, 2011

Whereas it used to be the number of pixels by which digital cameras were judged, the emphasis has shifted to how well cameras cope in low light conditions. The Samsung EX1 - known as the TL500 in the US - costs around Â£300 or US $430 and...

60
By TechReviewSource on April 04, 2011

The Samsung TL500 is a 10-megapixel digital camera that has a 3-inch flip-out LCD display and a really solid design. Some of the features include RAW shooting and optical & digital image stabilization, but the camera's image quality is only...

60
By cnet on April 01, 2011

Less than the sum of its parts, the Samsung TL500 is a solid camera, but it just can't keep up with veteran players in the competitive enthusiast compact...

72
By T3 Magazine on March 07, 2011

Lets start with the good, for feature set, performance and price, we believe this Samsung’s most successfully realized digital camera to date – and that includes its forages into DSLRs and compact system cameras. A strong statement to make -...

100
By DigitalVersus on February 17, 2011

As a first attempt at an expert compact, the Samsung EX1 is certainly a success. It's a nice camera to use, with decent performances to match. It does have a few small teething problems, most of which could probably be corrected by a simple firmware...

80
By DigitalCameraReview on February 01, 2011

With great image quality and low light performance, the Samsung TL500 is positioned as a serious threat to G12 and LX5 class...

80
By PCWorld on January 20, 2011

The Samsung TL500 has some drool-worthy specs and shoots great photos, but it stumbles on usability and video quality....

70
By RegHardware on January 14, 2011

Built like you remember the most expensive rangefinder cameras of old, the EX1 is a heavy, armoured beauty in gun metal grey and is the most rugged camera I have picked up. What must have started out as an enthusiast’s retro styled project, must...

70
By Thom Hogan's Nikon Field Guide on January 01, 2011

There's a lot to like in the TL500, though mainly for raw shooters, as the JPEGs are over managed. The controls are recognizable and straightforward. The display is gloriously bright and easy to see, plus the swivel is exceedingly useful (plus it...

67
By EISA on January 01, 2011

The Samsung EX1 is a very solidly built and high-quality compact camera for demanding hobby photographers. The high-quality, super-fast, 24-70mm F1.8-2.4 wide angle zoom lens allows photography in low-light conditions without the photographer having...

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