You may have noticed in November that some of the photos in my posts were taken with the Samsung Galaxy Camera. I was given the opportunity through Verizon Wireless’ Philadelphia Tri-State Region team to try out this nifty little guy.
The camera itself is pretty snazzy. It boasts 16-megapixels plus a 21x optical zoom lens with a really attractive 4.8-inch HD Super Clear LCD touch screen.
The camera also has built-in editing tools so you can actually do some editing on the photo right then and there! I messed around with the editing a bit before uploading some of the photos to Instagram, like I did with the below photo of Citrus Poached Salmon with Mustard Sauce (you can see the full post and all of the photos here).
The Samsung Galaxy Camera also has 15 smart modes to help you try to get the best photo you can, but can also be used with manual settings using “Expert Control.” (Some smart modes include: person, landscape, panorama, sunset, fireworks, food, and macro.) Here’s one of the photos I took using the “food” setting — it’s the bacon cooking from my post on Slow Cooker Maple Bourbon Bacon Jam:
What is really special about this camera though is that it actually has an Android Operating System within the device so you can upload photos directly to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! The device is powered by Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE Network, and can also be connected to WiFi.
I absolutely loved this feature and used it quite a bit, mostly through Instagram. I also actually sent all the photos I took straight to my Dropbox instead of plugging the camera into my computer (which you also can do with a provided cord), which I really liked. (Here’s another photo that I uploaded straight from the camera from my post for Caramel Apple Pie; I believe I used the “macro” setting for this photo)
You can also take 1080p HD video. I know I’d use this all the time to take video of my boyfriend at gigs (he’s that cute guy in the lower right hand bar of my blog in case you want to check out his music — wow shameless plug), which I could then upload straight to YouTube; what a time saver that would be!
Because the camera is powered by Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with a 1.4 GHz quad-core processor, you can also download apps to the camera and use it to go online, check your mail or even play some Candy Crush. I didn’t necessarily find this useful (mainly because I take photos in the comfort of my own kitchen and not on the go), but I can imagine being at an event and loving that I have access to my email and social media accounts all on one device so I don’t have to keep pulling out my phone. (I added the writing to the photo after I uploaded it to my computer but I bet that’s something I could have done through the camera if I had downloaded an app… oops)
So after a week of using the camera, I have to say, I did enjoy this sleek new toy. However, my trusty Canon Rebel still takes nicer photos I think, but part of that just might be the learning curve that comes with trying out new equipment. I found the preset for the food setting to be a little too saturated for my tastes (see how… yellow… the pie is?)
But this would be invaluable for event photos. I have taken some truly horrific looking pics through my camera phone at food events. Ugh. I’m embarrassed to even show this to you but…
These are from going to Cochon EPIC. Sigh. I swear these were all beautifully plated and absolutely delicious, but my photos are SO bad. Having a camera with access to Verizon’s LTE 4G Network would have been an awesome upgrade to a standard digital camera as well as to my camera phone, which clearly couldn’t handle the lighting of the event.
Overall, I did enjoy the camera. But with a price point close to what I paid for my Canon (it’s listed at $549.99 last I checked), I think it is a bit too steep to have as my “alternate camera.” So I will have to continue to mutter under my breath when I am out at a food event, a live show, or in front of stunning scenery that I wish I could capture and upload instantly. Many thanks to Verizon Wireless’ Philadelphia Tri-State Region team for the opportunity to check out this cool new product, and boo to you for giving me one more product I wish I owned 🙂
