Samsung says built-in WiFi makes its latest model a “smart camera.”
The EX2F’s firmware features include email, auto backup, Mobile Link, which “opens doors for connectivity with smartphones, without even having to resize images or video,” and the Remote Viewfinder which uses a smartphone screen to “frame shots from a variety of angles.”
Perhaps more striking is the lens, “the brightest in any compact camera,” according to the company. The lens has a fast f/1.4 aperture at 24mm (and f/2.7 at the 80mm is not all that dull either). It is “approximately four times as bright as a F2.8 camera lens.” The lens unit consists of 11 elements in nine groups, with four aspherical lenses and two high refractive lenses. “Combined, these provide a 20 percent increase in the amount of light on the sensor, a 20 percent increase in image quality, and a 10 percent increase in zoom ratio.”
ISO sensitivity goes up to 12,800, thanks to a 1/1.7-inch 12-megapixel BSI CMOS sensor.
The $549 camera has a 3-inch swiveling display, and provides “full manual control in a strong but lightweight body,” Samsung adds. It is “designed for SLR-owners looking for more portable equipment to capture images spontaneously and subtly and for photographers looking for a step-up in quality from their point-and-shoot while retaining ease-of-use and portability.”
About Paul Worthington
