The Samsung ES17 is one of the cheaper entry level digital cameras. It has 12 megapixels and a 3x optical zoom lens. As you would expect at this price point emphasis has been place more on ease of use than features. Compromises to keep the price of the ES17 low include a smaller than standard LCD screen (2.5 inches), a macro mode that needs to be 10cm away from the subject to focus and no image stabilisation. The camera has a standard, rather than High Definition movie mode, but this is a feature you would expect to pay a fair bit more to get your hands on.

To help someone relatively new to photography Samsung has included help text that describe the various camera functions.

This is a very simple digital camera with a low price.

Outdoor 1 (Medium Zoom)
Focusing is well below levels I am used to seeing. This is true right across the photo. If you make smaller, snapshot sized prints this may not be a big issue, but larger prints will start to show the strain.

Outdoor 2 (No Zoom)
Surprisingly this is a sharper effort than my first test shot. The problem you can see here is that some parts of the photo are very dark.

Outdoor 3 (Maximum Zoom)
Sharpness levels are under pressure once more and the definition in this photo suffers. As in my second outdoor shot dark areas around the trees struggle to show very much detail. They also look a lot darker than in pictures taken by most other cameras.

Outdoor 4 (Building)
Once again there is a lack of cutting edge to the sharpness of this scene. Overall I can only give the ES17 around five out of ten for focusing.

Outdoor Portrait
I like this picture. The colours are about right and the ES17 has no problems with focusing.

Indoor Portrait with Flash
This photo is not quite pin sharp. On top of this the light from the flash has not managed to counteract some of the shadows in the shot. This is despite the fact the picture was taken well within the range of the flash unit.

Indoor Portrait without Flash
The ES17 struggles here and produces a blurred photo. This is one of the areas where you will need to accept picture quality is not perfect with a cheaper digital camera.

Colours
The colours produced from this camera and other Samsung digital cameras I have tested recently sit in mid range when it comes to strength. I thought the colours from the ES17 were well balanced.

Macro
If you are able to crop your photo as I have done here the ES17 is capable of a decent macro photo. Macro mode is limited by the fact you need to be at least 10cm away from the subject for the camera to be able to focus.

Noise
Noise is more of an issue with smaller compacts like the ES17. The good news is there is not a lot of evidence of noise in outdoor shots taken in good light.

Overall
Picture quality is not all it could be. Even for a camera in this price bracket I am disappointed.

Shutter response is slow. A single shot took 0.57 seconds and five shots took 15.58 seconds. With flash turned on the times were 1.47 seconds for a single shot and 20.11 seconds for five.

It took 3.87 seconds to turn on the ES17 and take the first picture. This is an area were other cheaper cameras have struggled too.

You can compare this camera to other models by taking a look at the Shutter Lag Comparison Table.

This camera is on the large side for slipping comfortably into most pockets. It has a standard look to it. I found the camera had a very plastic feel and the door to the battery compartment felt breakable.

94.1 x 62.7 x 25.2mm

121g

Two AA batteries are required.

Roughly 11mb of storage has been built into the camera by Samsung. This is enough for about three photos.

Click here to save money on SD cards..

Excellent. There should not be much to trouble anyone with this camera.

Ease of use

Small built in memory - picture quality

Looking at other cameras available for a similar price I like the Canon Powershot A480. I feel it is that bit better all round than the ES17.

The Samsung ES17 is a cheap and cheerful digital camera. Its greatest attractions are its price and the fact it is easy to use. Picture quality is a struggle and you can find better for a similar price.

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Front View

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Back View

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Top View

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Sample Menus

Description:	12 megapixels and a 3x optical zoom lens
Ease of Use:	9
Features:	7
Colour:	8
Macro:	7
Indoors:	6
Value for Money:	7
Style:	7
Movie Mode:	8
Image Quality:	6
Build Quality:	7
Total:	72
Verdict:	This is a simple, straightforward digital camera. It is one of the cheapest models available from a known brand. Picture quality is good enough for snapshots, but there are better cameras around in the same price bracket.
Review Date:	November 2009
Related Pages:	Samsung ES17 Specification Samsung ES17 Sample Images Samsung ES17 Features

	GBP 64.3
	GBP 71
	GBP 72.63
	GBP 75.2
	GBP 75.26
	GBP 75.32
	GBP 79.99
	GBP 79.99
	GBP 87.00
Click a flag for prices from other countries:

Camera	Rating
Canon Powershot A2100 IS	83
Canon Powershot A1100 IS	83
Fuji Finepix J250	82
Fuji Finepix Z35	82
Panasonic DMC LS85	82
Canon Powershot A480	82
Nikon Coolpix L20	81
Nikon Coolpix L19	81

Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.

Samsung ES17