Samsung EX2 Digital Camera (Black)

Comments about EX2 Digital Camera (Black):

I bought this camera for my Global Marketing Communications department. I had my video and photo people do research on the best small, easy to use camera and they came back with a lot of choices. I wanted a camera that would take great photos without any work on my part; i.e., point and shoot (I take photos of trade show booths, special events, onsite visits, venue exteriors, panoramas, etc.) It was a tough pick, but in the end one review I read made all the difference. The review was by a professional photographer who said he used this camera as the second to his professional camera when scouting and taking other shots. He said picture quality was his primary concern and he was right. This camera takes great pictures in the automatic setting in all circumstances. The only downside I read about and can confirm it that you have to take the camera cover off and on all the time. Still, it was a very small issue when getting such great photos in all settings and light. Lastly, the camera can took great panoramic photos of Yosemite Valley (excellent resolution and color quality) as well as super close ups (of a pine cone where I could see the dust on it when I zoomed in on the photo in Photoshop--Amazing!). If I decide to buy a camera for my personal use, this will be the one.

Comments about EX2 Digital Camera (White):

Wifi capabilities and with its fast lens, I can shoot objects even at very low light and use Remote Viewfinder app. I was serious on getting Pana_DMC_ZS30, but I decided in the end on EX2F. One thing good is that third-party batteries are usable. Good Camera I needed for our coming Europe tour!

Comments about EX2 Digital Camera (Black):

I bought this camera to carry with me on an everyday basis. I have used it to take photos at a Bar Mizvah and an after party for personal use, I also gave photos to the parents and grandparents and they were amazed at the quality. I also teach forensic investigations at a local university which includes several crime scene photography and digital processing courses where the students use the Nikon d3100 and some have purchased the d5100, this camera is good enough to compete with those cameras for crime scene photos. Using the macro mode in the Smart setting produces fantastic macro images, and it is far easier to manipulate for position than are the full body DLSR's. I also like the WI-FI feature which allows you to send your photos directly from the camera. I post photos of my students on our program Facebook site and they love being able show others what they are doing in class with their crime scene tools.

Comments about EX2 Digital Camera (Black):

I was looking for a small camera that gives as many large camera features as possible. For the money the Samsung meets most of my goals it is small and easy to use camera and takes excellent pictures. The zoom length is a little disappointing Samsung could have done more there. I really enjoy the panorama feature the flash is also a little disappointing. I'm able to take excellent close ups and macro pictures. I will not be able to do private investigating snap shots from 1000 yards away but for travel this will more than do the job. Movie mode is easy to get and out unlike most cameras that accidently get into movie mode this one does not have that problem. 20 minute limit on movies I'm not sure why maybe battery life so I would imagine and extra battery would be recommended for travel. I have a D90 and D7000 Nikon which sometimes I feel in some situations to be more trouble than there worth or inappropriate.

Comments about EX2 Digital Camera (Black):

I am a surgeon and I photograph my patients and procedures, so my camera gets a significant daily workout. I had a Nikon Coolpix S10 (actually 2 so I could have a backup) that I had a love/hate relationship with. I loved it because the lens compartment rotated independently from the body/screen and this allowed me to take pictures over the OR table while still being able to see the screen ( and not touch/comtaminate the surgical field). I hated it because the lens mechanism was very sensitive and required several replacements.So, I finally got this camera because it fit my requirements: small enough to fit in the pocket of my scrubs so I won't lose it, a good sensor to allow me to take good pictures regardless of the available light and a rotating screen so I can see what I am shooting in the OR.This camera does that fairly well. The size is good. I don't like having to flip the screen around every time i have to take a picture, but that is becasue I was spoiled by my old camera.I really dislike having to manually pop up the flash every time...this is getting old.Also, I would have liked a more informative quick start guide. It says almost nothing and the rest of the manual is on CD. I know, this is probably routine but I don't sit still that long at a computer, while also having the CD on hand, so I haven't used most of the features of the camera (wi-fi, smart settings etc).So, in summary, it takes decent pictures could be better for my specific use.

Comments about EX2 Digital Camera (Black):

Ordered on 09/05/12 and received from BH on 09/11/12.

After having the EX2F for a little over a week, here are my first impressions.

The feature set, as expected, is pretty amazing. The built-in wifi is definitely one of the awesome aspects (remote viewfinder from smartphone/on the fly transfer to your phone, etc). The way this feature works is by the EX2F turning itself into a wifi hotspot that you connect to from various other devices. This seemed pretty straight forward as far as setup. However, one hickup during this process was that there are two versions of each of the two apps necessary to utilize both of the wifi features for iOS. Not sure whether this is the case for Android. One of them does not work at all and there is no explanation as to which version it is that you need. Sureshot way to fix this problem? Try both and use the one that works. :)

All in all, the two features work well but could definitely be polished up a bit and maybe worked into one app as opposed to having things separated.

Next, the articulating OLED screen is absolutely stunning. Images look great. Refresh rate is good with little to no noticeable lag. Nuff said.

I'm sure the big thing that people are most interested in is the IQ. The first shots taken were all indoor with in your average office lighting. Took some shots with the macro feature and they were absolutely stunning. Shooting a few portraits on the longer end of the zoom were as expected. The shots were all at ISO 800 and showed some noise but were definitely acceptable. Nothing to write home about though. This should not be a surprise as anyone interested in this P&S knows the sensor size and what limitations it inherently has. The lens helps it immensely, but not to the point that some might hope. In the end, a small sensor is a small sensor. I haven't had a chance to test out the competitors (LX7 and RX100). But I would imagine it is probably on par with the LX7 and is a runner up to the RX100 IQ-wise.

Some of the shots taken outside throughout the whole zoom range were all just acceptable. Several shots taken of my wife from the shoulder up at 1.4 didn't provide the type of isolation I had hoped for with that type of aperture. Overall IQ was acceptable. But again, nothing to write home about.

I will update the review as I get more time with it. But the EX2F was purchased primarily for my wife as she wanted something portable to chase the kids around with when I'm at work or away (afraid of my rig). For this purpose, the EX2F is a perfect fit for us. The IQ is pretty good considering the sensor. Macro is very surprising. But don't expect to get DSLR quality as that is not feasible. You may get shots here and there that may be comparable in certain settings. But that will be the extent of it. The strength of this cam is in it's feature set. Anyone who has a wife that takes tons of photos of the family will understand why the wifi features, articulating screen, filter effects, etc are so highly valued. The other two competitors mentioned earlier in the article do not have those features built-in.

Also, bear in mind when deciding to compare this cam to the Sony that it is two completely different types of cameras aimed at different markets. To compare them head to head just isn't logical.

More to come.

Comments about EX2 Digital Camera (Black):

I've had the EX2F for a few days. Bought it because I was very happy with the EX1/TL500 and wanted the next generation. A couple corrections to the B&H description: It does shoot RAW and the fastest manual shutter speed is 1/4000. There is a selectable Neutral Density filter. The "Battery Charger" included is the USB power adapter; the battery must be charged in the camera (and takes up to 4 hours!). Buy a spare battery and get an external charger. I find the indoor-natural light photos to be superior to the TL500 as there is less boost in the midrange for better tonal quality. The camera is very fast. The burst modes are unusual in that they shoot a maximum 10 photos at either 10 fps, 5 fps or 3 fps. Ten full-size pictures in one second! The precapture mode is also 10 fps in which it continuously is shooting when the shutter is halfway down. When you completely press the shutter you get that image and the 9 previous. The panorama mode is a bit disappointing because it is limited to an image height of 1088 pixels when shot horizontally or 1440 when shot vertically. I now shoot the horizontal pans with the camera in portrait in order to get a 1440-pixel height. Samsung says the wifi mode to link with a smart phone or to use a smart phone as a remote are for Android only, but they have issued iPhone versions and they work fine. The remote feature is very cool. The cloud upload only works with Skydrive and photos uploaded photos are reduced to 2 mp size. Email attachments are also reduced in size. Many of the camera's novelty features reduce image size to 5 mp or less. The camera works with Eye-Fi cards. There's a big change in how the menu works. Press the Fn key and most of the adjustable settings for the mode you're in become available. The back wheel is for selecting what you want to adjust and the front wheel makes the adjustment. I'm liking this a lot rather than having to enter the menu. The Smart mode is very smart and worth a look even for modestly skilled photographers. I had a problem updating the firmware. Samsung manual says to use the bundled iLauncher app to download the update to the memory card. This didn't work and I had to remove the battery while the camera was on to unfreeze it. Called Samsung and was instructed to download the update from Samsung's Web site and drag the files to the memory card. This worked (whew!).

Comments about EX2 Digital Camera (Black):

I bought this camera for my Global Marketing Communications department. I had my video and photo people do research on the best small, easy to use camera and they came back with a lot of choices. I wanted a camera that would take great photos without any work on my part; i.e., point and shoot (I take photos of trade show booths, special events, onsite visits, venue exteriors, panoramas, etc.) It was a tough pick, but in the end one review I read made all the difference. The review was by a professional photographer who said he used this camera as the second to his professional camera when scouting and taking other shots. He said picture quality was his primary concern and he was right. This camera takes great pictures in the automatic setting in all circumstances. The only downside I read about and can confirm it that you have to take the camera cover off and on all the time. Still, it was a very small issue when getting such great photos in all settings and light. Lastly, the camera can took great panoramic photos of Yosemite Valley (excellent resolution and color quality) as well as super close ups (of a pine cone where I could see the dust on it when I zoomed in on the photo in Photoshop--Amazing!). If I decide to buy a camera for my personal use, this will be the one.

Comments about EX2 Digital Camera (White):

Wifi capabilities and with its fast lens, I can shoot objects even at very low light and use Remote Viewfinder app. I was serious on getting Pana_DMC_ZS30, but I decided in the end on EX2F. One thing good is that third-party batteries are usable. Good Camera I needed for our coming Europe tour!

Comments about EX2 Digital Camera (Black):

I bought this camera to carry with me on an everyday basis. I have used it to take photos at a Bar Mizvah and an after party for personal use, I also gave photos to the parents and grandparents and they were amazed at the quality. I also teach forensic investigations at a local university which includes several crime scene photography and digital processing courses where the students use the Nikon d3100 and some have purchased the d5100, this camera is good enough to compete with those cameras for crime scene photos. Using the macro mode in the Smart setting produces fantastic macro images, and it is far easier to manipulate for position than are the full body DLSR's. I also like the WI-FI feature which allows you to send your photos directly from the camera. I post photos of my students on our program Facebook site and they love being able show others what they are doing in class with their crime scene tools.

Comments about EX2 Digital Camera (Black):

I was looking for a small camera that gives as many large camera features as possible. For the money the Samsung meets most of my goals it is small and easy to use camera and takes excellent pictures. The zoom length is a little disappointing Samsung could have done more there. I really enjoy the panorama feature the flash is also a little disappointing. I'm able to take excellent close ups and macro pictures. I will not be able to do private investigating snap shots from 1000 yards away but for travel this will more than do the job. Movie mode is easy to get and out unlike most cameras that accidently get into movie mode this one does not have that problem. 20 minute limit on movies I'm not sure why maybe battery life so I would imagine and extra battery would be recommended for travel. I have a D90 and D7000 Nikon which sometimes I feel in some situations to be more trouble than there worth or inappropriate.

Comments about EX2 Digital Camera (Black):

I am a surgeon and I photograph my patients and procedures, so my camera gets a significant daily workout. I had a Nikon Coolpix S10 (actually 2 so I could have a backup) that I had a love/hate relationship with. I loved it because the lens compartment rotated independently from the body/screen and this allowed me to take pictures over the OR table while still being able to see the screen ( and not touch/comtaminate the surgical field). I hated it because the lens mechanism was very sensitive and required several replacements.So, I finally got this camera because it fit my requirements: small enough to fit in the pocket of my scrubs so I won't lose it, a good sensor to allow me to take good pictures regardless of the available light and a rotating screen so I can see what I am shooting in the OR.This camera does that fairly well. The size is good. I don't like having to flip the screen around every time i have to take a picture, but that is becasue I was spoiled by my old camera.I really dislike having to manually pop up the flash every time...this is getting old.Also, I would have liked a more informative quick start guide. It says almost nothing and the rest of the manual is on CD. I know, this is probably routine but I don't sit still that long at a computer, while also having the CD on hand, so I haven't used most of the features of the camera (wi-fi, smart settings etc).So, in summary, it takes decent pictures could be better for my specific use.

Comments about EX2 Digital Camera (Black):

Ordered on 09/05/12 and received from BH on 09/11/12.

After having the EX2F for a little over a week, here are my first impressions.

The feature set, as expected, is pretty amazing. The built-in wifi is definitely one of the awesome aspects (remote viewfinder from smartphone/on the fly transfer to your phone, etc). The way this feature works is by the EX2F turning itself into a wifi hotspot that you connect to from various other devices. This seemed pretty straight forward as far as setup. However, one hickup during this process was that there are two versions of each of the two apps necessary to utilize both of the wifi features for iOS. Not sure whether this is the case for Android. One of them does not work at all and there is no explanation as to which version it is that you need. Sureshot way to fix this problem? Try both and use the one that works. :)

All in all, the two features work well but could definitely be polished up a bit and maybe worked into one app as opposed to having things separated.

Next, the articulating OLED screen is absolutely stunning. Images look great. Refresh rate is good with little to no noticeable lag. Nuff said.

I'm sure the big thing that people are most interested in is the IQ. The first shots taken were all indoor with in your average office lighting. Took some shots with the macro feature and they were absolutely stunning. Shooting a few portraits on the longer end of the zoom were as expected. The shots were all at ISO 800 and showed some noise but were definitely acceptable. Nothing to write home about though. This should not be a surprise as anyone interested in this P&S knows the sensor size and what limitations it inherently has. The lens helps it immensely, but not to the point that some might hope. In the end, a small sensor is a small sensor. I haven't had a chance to test out the competitors (LX7 and RX100). But I would imagine it is probably on par with the LX7 and is a runner up to the RX100 IQ-wise.

Some of the shots taken outside throughout the whole zoom range were all just acceptable. Several shots taken of my wife from the shoulder up at 1.4 didn't provide the type of isolation I had hoped for with that type of aperture. Overall IQ was acceptable. But again, nothing to write home about.

I will update the review as I get more time with it. But the EX2F was purchased primarily for my wife as she wanted something portable to chase the kids around with when I'm at work or away (afraid of my rig). For this purpose, the EX2F is a perfect fit for us. The IQ is pretty good considering the sensor. Macro is very surprising. But don't expect to get DSLR quality as that is not feasible. You may get shots here and there that may be comparable in certain settings. But that will be the extent of it. The strength of this cam is in it's feature set. Anyone who has a wife that takes tons of photos of the family will understand why the wifi features, articulating screen, filter effects, etc are so highly valued. The other two competitors mentioned earlier in the article do not have those features built-in.

Also, bear in mind when deciding to compare this cam to the Sony that it is two completely different types of cameras aimed at different markets. To compare them head to head just isn't logical.

More to come.

Comments about EX2 Digital Camera (Black):

I've had the EX2F for a few days. Bought it because I was very happy with the EX1/TL500 and wanted the next generation. A couple corrections to the B&H description: It does shoot RAW and the fastest manual shutter speed is 1/4000. There is a selectable Neutral Density filter. The "Battery Charger" included is the USB power adapter; the battery must be charged in the camera (and takes up to 4 hours!). Buy a spare battery and get an external charger. I find the indoor-natural light photos to be superior to the TL500 as there is less boost in the midrange for better tonal quality. The camera is very fast. The burst modes are unusual in that they shoot a maximum 10 photos at either 10 fps, 5 fps or 3 fps. Ten full-size pictures in one second! The precapture mode is also 10 fps in which it continuously is shooting when the shutter is halfway down. When you completely press the shutter you get that image and the 9 previous. The panorama mode is a bit disappointing because it is limited to an image height of 1088 pixels when shot horizontally or 1440 when shot vertically. I now shoot the horizontal pans with the camera in portrait in order to get a 1440-pixel height. Samsung says the wifi mode to link with a smart phone or to use a smart phone as a remote are for Android only, but they have issued iPhone versions and they work fine. The remote feature is very cool. The cloud upload only works with Skydrive and photos uploaded photos are reduced to 2 mp size. Email attachments are also reduced in size. Many of the camera's novelty features reduce image size to 5 mp or less. The camera works with Eye-Fi cards. There's a big change in how the menu works. Press the Fn key and most of the adjustable settings for the mode you're in become available. The back wheel is for selecting what you want to adjust and the front wheel makes the adjustment. I'm liking this a lot rather than having to enter the menu. The Smart mode is very smart and worth a look even for modestly skilled photographers. I had a problem updating the firmware. Samsung manual says to use the bundled iLauncher app to download the update to the memory card. This didn't work and I had to remove the battery while the camera was on to unfreeze it. Called Samsung and was instructed to download the update from Samsung's Web site and drag the files to the memory card. This worked (whew!).