Samsung 12MP HZ30W (WB600) 15x SuperZoom Review by ePhotoZine With Rating 8/10

On Jaunary 19 2010, Samsung announced the world's slimmest cameras with 15x zoom and 24mm equivalent wide angle - one of the two even features built-in GPS and a 3-inch AMOLED screen. The Samsung HZ30W (aka WB600) and HZ35W (aka WB650), with the latter being the GPS/AMOLED model. The HZ30W has no GPS unit and comes with a more traditional 3-inch LCD screen. The two cameras are otherwise identical: both features a 12 Megapixels sensors, 24-360mm equivalent Schneider-Kreuznach lenses and 720p HD video recording capabilities. 

Both the Samsung HZ30W and the Samsung HZ35W offer semi-automatic and full manual exposure control, optical image stabilisation and HDMI ports. The HZ30W is currently selling at around $229. Here is the summary of a latest review by ePhotoZine, giving the camera a rating of 8 out of 10:

"With an optical zoom of 15x there's usually a price to pay and in this case it's the wide open aperture coming in at f/3.2 at the wide angle end and f/5.8 at the telephoto end. Shooting towards bright light does produce some flare and against a white sky for high contrast shots there's some chromatic aberration but you really have to go for those extreme circumstances to get it. Given that there's such a long zoom, the quality at the end of it is better than expected, still showing detail, though it isn't actually very fast. There's a good amount of detail at the centre of the lens, though as might be expected, it's softer towards the edges and also, thanks to the colour filter, there's noticeably more detail in green than red or blue. There's also some barrel distortion but for such a wide ranging zoom, it's impressive that it isn't significant. For the target audience, there are no real issues here.

In almost going back to basics, Samsung have addressed some flaws present in the more gadget-orientated devices in their product line. Noise control through the ISO range is good, delivering usable images right to the top end with no colour shifting. The provision of a 24mm wide-angle with the reach of a 15x zoom, backed up by manual controls puts picture-taking onus back on the photographer. Image quality is notably better than some previous Samsung cameras, with good colour performance throughout, and while the metering and focussing might be slight let downs, the WB600 does have great features in a solidly built package. Most of the rivals in this category - Nikon S8000, Canon SX210 IS and plenty of them from other manufacturers, tend to be a slightly thinner and if you want better noise control, then the Canon is the one to go for. As for sharpness, the WB600 is slightly soft, but easily sharpened. It gives as good as it gets and represents a very attractive, well priced, big zoom option."

Nice camera, Ronald L. Hyman - Jan 20 2013
This camera takes very nice pictures and it's easy use. The price was right and i would recommend it for everyday picture taking. As alway's Amazon was a pleasure to deal with....

JUNK!!!, Richard - Aug 04 2012
I have owned two of these cameras. The first one was purchased a little over a year ago and wouldn't work out of the box. It wouldn't zoom in or out and when it did it froze and stopped working . Nothing would correct the problem so I returned it for a replacement. When the replacement arrived it worked OK; seeing very little use until now. Same problem as before; zoom froze in the op...

Takes great pictures, but not at max zoom, W. Reagan - Jun 12 2012
Excellent camera for the price. At standard zoom, the picture quality is top notch and crystal clear. When going to digital zoom and maxed out, quality of very grainy and sometimes not useable. Multitude of settings will keep camera fans happy, but the auto feature does and awesome job. Pictures are easily transferable but you will need a memory card with this, so plan a...

Worked okay for a year then problems, Nick "demon_f16" - Dec 24 2011
Purchased this camera last year (Nov 2010) based upon the favorable reviews. Gave it to my wife for christmas and she has been using it regularly for the last year. It worked good for at least 9-10 months then started to develop minor issues. I used it this fall at my son's basketball game and I had a hard time taking action photos. I tried all the settings and nothing improved th...