Samsung announces new camcorders and DualView cameras

At this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Samsung has announced several interesting new camcorders and cameras. These devices, with features and capabilities geared towards different segments of the consumer market join Samsung's comprehensive lineup of photographic tools.

Samsung SMX-F50/F53/F54 Camcorders
The SMX-F50 series are lightweight, compact camcorders for families on a budget. These devices use a 1/6 inch CCD sensor and are capable of producing H.264 high quality formatted videos (standard definition). Among their features are 65x intelligent zoom technology, Smart Auto, a bright 2.7-inch diameter LCD, digital image stabilization, face detection, a USB port, SD memory, a record/pause function and smart background music (SBM), which automatically lowers the volume of background music when speech is detected.

Samsung SMX-F50

With 16 GB of flash memory or memory card, they have a continuous recording time of up to 6 hours and 20 minutes, which is 1.5 times longer than most camcorders. They come in four colors, black, silver red and blue. The SMX-F50 series will be available in February at prices starting at $199.

Samsung HMX-H300/H303/H304/H305 Camcorders
The HMX-H300 series are intended to be the "ultimate" family camcorders. They employ a 1/4.1 inch, 5.1 megapixel back-illuminated CMOS sensor, for better low-light recording, and can record HD video in a resolution as high as 1920 x 1080. The devices include a 35x optical zoom lens, optical image stabilization, face detection, Smart Auto, interfaces for USB, composite and HDMI, record/pause and a 3.0-inch touch screen LCD.

Samsung HMX-H300

They also have a still-picture function so users can capture 4.9 megapixel still images without the need for a second camera. They can continuously record up to 4 hours and 10 minutes of HD video. The cameras, which come in black, red and silver, will be available in February at prices starting at $399.

Samsung Full HD HMX-P300 and HMX-P100 Camcorders
These are Samsung's latest HD "point-and-share" camcorders, which are small, modestly-priced devices designed to make it easy for those who enjoy taking videos on the go and sharing them with friends and family as well as uploading them to websites. Both camcorders feature a 1/3.2 inch back-illuminated CMOS sensor (8 megapixels for the P300 and 5 for the P100) for improved low-light recording. They can record HD video in a resolution as high as 1920 x 1080 30p. They also contain Smart Auto, face detection, USB and HDMI interfaces, digital image stabilization, record/pause, a rotating LCD (3.0-inch touch screen for the P300, 2.7-inch screen for the P100) and a microSD memory card slot. They can also take still images.

Videos can be designated so they will immediately be uploaded to different websites once the camcorder is connected to the computer. The camcorders will come in a variety of colors, including black, pink, blue, silver and white. The P300 will be available in March at a price of $199. The P100 will be available in February at a price of $149.

Samsung DualView ST700, PL170, PL120
Samsung has introduced its newest DualView digital cameras, which have an LCD in the front of the camera, as well as in the rear, to enable users to take self-portraits. All three cameras have 16.1 megapixel sensors, a 5x optical zoom, a very wide-angle view of 26mm (35mm film camera equivalent), HD movie recording, optical image stabilization (ST700 and PL170), face detection, and Smart Auto.

The ST700 features a 1.8-inch front display and a 3.0-inch rear display that uses touch screen technology. The PL170 and PL120 have displays of 1.5-inches in the front while the PL170's rear display is 3.0-inches and the PL120's rear display is 2.7-inches. The cameras will be available in March at a price of $279.99 for the ST700, $199.99 for the PL170 and $149.99 for the PL120.

Samsung WB210, PL210
The WB210 and PL210 are Samsung's newest pocket-sized ultrazooms - small, slim cameras with long zoom lenses. These 14.1 megapixel cameras have wide-angle lenses - 24mm for the WB210 and 27mm for the PL210 (35mm film camera equivalent). In addition, the WB210 has an optional 21mm wide-angle lens which is ideal for extremely wide shots. The WB210 has a 12x optical zoom while the PL210 has a 10x optical zoom. The WB210 comes with a very large 3.5-inch touch screen LCD while the PL210 has a 3.0-inch LCD. Both cameras include optical image stabilization, face detection, Smart Auto and HD movie capability. They will be available in February at prices of $279.99 for the WB210 and $199.99 for the PL210.