Smart Camera

Electronic devices now are being billed as “smart” and digital cameras are no exception. Some current models have touch LCD screens, plus an all-in-one mobile app. With a touch LCD, you can “touch type” like on a tablet or smart phone to edit, email or upload to other devices and/or social media.

This new camera is a SMART one with these features (and more).

I purchased it model thanks largely to the enthusiastic recommendation of a good friend who had just bought one. The camera has multiple Wi-Fi capabilities — from automatically sending photos to a smart phone while you're shooting to backing up to cloud storage or e-mailing photos straight from the camera. We don’t have smart phones and I haven’t backed up to a cloud (only my PC), BUT that emailing feature is FUN.
WHY a new camera?

My “brand loyalty” to Canon products was “atta here” after my 2 Canon digital ELPH cameras developed the same problem. A small dot was visible on the LCD and in images when the lens was zoomed beyond 4X, maybe caused by bad pixels (?).  Canon tech support said to send the camera to their repair facility. The resulting “diagnosis” was that the models were not were repairable. I was offered the chance to buy a refurbished unit with a 3-month warranty.
Time for a change. The new camera came with an extended warranty bringing it to 15 months. 
The Samsung WB250F is small at 2.4 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches and under 7 ounces. Its 18X zoom covers a 24-432mm (35mm equivalent) field of view. It has a 14 MP backside-illuminated (BSI) CMOS sensor.  From OFF to first shot takes 1.5 seconds, shot-to-shot time is about 1 second.  Unlike other cameras, the flash doesn’t release on its own, you press the flash button on top to use it. The flash can be angled for bounced flash photography.

This Samsung camera has features I haven’t even tried yet, but there’s still time before our anniversary road trip in late Sept.

The Best Face feature automatically selects the best facial expressions from a burst shot of 5 frames. You then can pick the best face and it will be seamlessly combined into one photo. Here’s my self-portrait taken sitting on the front porch,hand-holding the camera.
SplitShot lets you take images side-by-side which are then combined into a single image like these examples:

One feature on my “to do” list, lets me control the camera remotely from an iPad using AutoShare. Turning this feature on wirelessly pairs the camera with a smart phone or tablet. Then, every shot taken will be immediately sent from the camera to the device for  upload on the go or to be viewed on a larger screen.

So far, the camera has proven quite capable; these images were taken with it.