Samsung Digimax Pro 815 8MP with a 15x optical zoom with a focal length of 28 to 420mm (35mm equivalent), this means you can shoot from wide angle to telephoto with one lens. Normally it is not possible to incorporate both 28mm wide-angle and 420mm tele-zoom capabilities in a average high-end camera, since they generally only come with a 7 to 8x zoom, With SLR systems, different lenses need to be switched to shoot wide-angle and ultra high zoom pictures, this means carrying lots of equipment, missing some shots due to lens changeover, and buying multiple lenses. The Pro815 has four low-dispersion glass lenses specially manufactured to minimize chromatic aberration that can occur when wide-angle and ultra high zoom are supported at the same time. In addition it employs two aspherical lenses for the correction of spherical aberration and lateral colors for the entire zoom range from wide to tele. This world-renowned Schneider-Kreuznach lens offers outstanding reliability.
The Pro815 is equipped with a high-powered built in flash to let you obtain a perfectly exposed picture even in dark environments. The Pro815 not only has a powerful flash that allows shooting at up to 7.7 meters (wide settings) but can also control an external flash depending on the surrounding exposure environment.
The Pro815 offers comprehensive manual photography features that should meet all the needs of aspiring photographers. Manual exposure (Aperture/Shutter/Manual) and manual focus control features are included as standard. Three rings surrounding the lens controls manual zoom, manual focusing and EV compensation, providing you with the direct control of manual operations. The dual jog system, which is used to control aperture and shutter speed, also delivers precision in manual operation. The camera has various focusing modes including AF Lock, Continuous AF, and Select Area AF. Its direct manual focusing feature lets you switch to manual focusing from AF instantly by turning the manual focus ring. In addition, bracketed shooting is allowed for exposure, focus, and white balance. In particular, which balance is available in Preset, Custom, and Color Temperature Adjust modes. This lets you express colors exactly as you want. Contrast and saturation can also be controlled for creative expression in the depth of color required. The camera support Adobe RGB Color Space as well as an 8-megapixel non-compressed RAW file, making it the perfect choice for enthusiast image output.
Helpful consumer’s review
First, the (now discontinued) Samsung Pro 815 is an outstanding camera. It looks like an SLR, but with the video mode option and it’s incorporation of a fixed telescopic/wide-angle “combo” lens, it appears to be impossible to be using an SLR system (although Samsung seems to claim it as such). So what does this mean? It means if you compare the Samsung Pro 815 to an entry level digital SLR like say the Nikon D40, you’ll find the D40 produces less noisy pictures at high ISO’s (ISO 400 on the D40 seems to have about the same level of noise as ISO 200 on the Pro 815). Also, it will take less effort to get ambient, indoor shots with a true SLR and of course you can change out the lens on all digital SLR’s, the Pro 815’s lens is fixed/not interchangeable.
On the bright side although it’s not a true SLR, the Pro 815 is an excellent camera (see sample photos posted by myself and others) and has received rave reviews from professional photographers even when it was selling for $700+ in 2006. I suppose this is because A. it takes outstanding photos and B. It has an incredible Schneider-KREUZACH combo lens that can handle most photo opportunities without the need to change the lens moving from wide-angle to telescopic. C. It’s packaged with more features than the lower end Nikon and Cannon SLR’s (e.g. 3.5″ LCD on back, waste-level shooting LCD on top, a ton of auto scene selection modes that actually work quite well).
In spite of its mentioned limitations, I love this camera and I doubt I’ll outgrow it. Because of its combo lens it will attract pros, but it’s price point will attract beginners and intermediates. It’s probably the best deal you’ll find on a digital camera.
