Samsung ST550 Features

The Samsung ST550 is a 12 megapixel digital camera with a 4.6x wide angle lens. The focal length is equivalent to 27 - 124.2mm in 35mm format. 5x digital zoom is available too.

Samsung has equipped the ST550 with a wide range of features. These include a 3.5 inch touch control LCD screen, a second LCD screen on the front of the camera for framing self portraits, a recycle bin, High Definition movies and tilt control.

Basics

Image stabilisation
Self timer 2 or 10 seconds
Face Detection focusing
Special resolution for 6 x 4 inch prints
Special resolution for widescreen television playback
Macro focusing: 3cm
10 second voice memo for still photos
Sound only recording mode
Sensor size: 1/2.33 inches

Adjusting The Image

Before you take a photo there are a number of settings you can change to help you take the photo you want. The adjustments include setting sharpness (Soft+, Soft, Normal, Vivid, Vivid+), contrast (High+, High, Normal, Low, Low+) and Saturation(++, +, Normal, -, -) .

You can also add special effects (Color Filter, Elegant, Add Noise) and select a style (Normal, Soft, Vivid, Forest, Retro, Cool, Calm, Classic, Negative, Custom RGB).

Image Retouching

After a photo has been taken there are a number of adjustments you can make to improve the photo. These are Face Retouch, Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Red Eye Fix and ACB.

LCD (Front and Back)

The LCD screen on the back of the ST550 is 3.5 inches in size. It is touch sensitive. I found the screen to be of excellent quality for viewing. The screen on the front is 1.5 inches in size.

Flash

The flash modes available are Auto, Auto & Red-eye reduction, Fill-in flash, Slow sync, Flash off, Red-eye fix. Flash works to a maximum distance of 3.4m when the zoom is not being used and 2m when zoom is fully extended.

Scene Modes

You can access the following scene modes: Beauty shot, Frame Guide, Portrait, Children, Night, Landscape, Close up Text, Sunset, Dawn, Back Light, Fireworks, Beach and Snow. There is also a smart auto mode. This has settings for Portrait, Night Portrait, Backlight Portrait, Macro Portrait, Backlight, Landscape, White, Action, Tripod, Night, Macro, Macro Text, Blue Sky, Sunset Sky, Natural Portrait and Natural Green.

Movies

The ST550 can shoot High Definition movies. The maximum resolution is 1280 x 720 pixels with a top speed of 30 frames per second. You can zoom in and out while recording the movie.

Advanced Features

Among the more advanced features are:

Shutter Speed Range: 8 - 1/2000 seconds
Maximum Aperture: F3.5(Tele) - F5.9(T)
Exposure Compensation (1/3 EV step, +/-2 EV)
Metering: Multi, Spot, Center Weighted, Face Detection
White Balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent_H, Fluorescent_L, Tungsten, Custom
ISO Sensitivity: Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200