Samsung L83T Review

The ultra-compact Samsung L83T combines a eight megapixel CCD imager and a Samsung NV-branded 3x optical zoom lens with a fairly standard 38 - 114mm equivalent focal range. The lens is internal, and capable of focusing as close as 1cm (~0.4 in.) in Super Macro mode. For framing images, the L83T forgoes any form of optical viewfinder - increasingly rare on small digital cameras these days - in favor of a large, high resolution 2.5" LCD display with 230,000 pixels.

The Samsung L83T has 14 scene modes to help beginners achieve the results they're looking for without the need to comprehend shutter speeds, apertures and the like. The L83T's Face Detection feature detects up to nine faces and automatically adjusts auto focus and auto exposure to ensure better focus and image quality in portraits and other shots featuring people. Seven white balance settings are available including an auto mode, five presets and the ability to measure a custom white balance. ISO sensitivity is controlled automatically or manually, ranging from 50 to 1600. The Samsung L83T also offers a movie mode, capturing clips at up to 800 x 592 pixel resolution with audio, using MPEG-4 compression. And yes, optical zoom is supported while recording movies.

Images are stored on Secure Digital / MultiMediaCards as well as the newer SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) cards, or in 19MB of internal memory. The Samsung L83T offers USB 2.0 High-Speed computer connectivity and power comes from a proprietary Lithium Ion battery. The L83T comes bundled with Digimax Master software.

The Samsung L83T will ship mid August, at a suggested price of US$279.