Does photography attract the depressed or is it the quest for an unattainable perfection that depresses? Especially compacts, it's like companies aren't even trying to innovate, and it gets boring and frustrating. To be fair, the MV800's color profile is fine for landscapes and other still-life scenes. Plenty of casual photographers seem to prefer a slightly oversaturated quality in their shots, since it makes the sky bluer, the grass greener, and flowers more vibrant. But it does wreak havoc on skin tones, which is problematic in a camera marketed for its self-portraiture abilities. The in-camera editing suite covers most of the basics—crops, rotation, contrast, brightness, and red-eye correction. It has one of the best effects modes we've ever seen on a camera, but they can't be applied after a shot has already been taken. The fourth of five screens includes Intelligent Portrait, which takes three different pictures of the same scene at the same time from different angles, Auto Zoom Shot which automatically zooms in on a face, Timer Shot, Touch Shot which takes the image simply by touching the screen, and Pose Guide, which shows your subjects how to position themselves for the perfect shot.

One of the bigger selling points about the MV800 are the 14 individual digital filter effects. Here’s the ‘Miniaturisation’ one in action. Even when subjects aren’t ready for their close-up, the MV900F has a range of functions to easily create professional beauty shots. With Samsung’s new Beauty Palette feature, users can choose from ten different make-up options to smooth, brighten and add color to profile shots directly in the camera. No computer needed – all the editing is done using the intuitive touch screen display. Designed for All Lighting Conditions it's nice that companies seem to be using brighter lenses now...but so are phone companies. compacts need to have bigger sensors to differentiate themselves. half-baked wifi, a billion scene modes that are worse than the apps out there, etc...aren't going to cut it anymore. From the front and in terms of its overall specification, the new Samsung MV800 is very similar to the same company's ST95 model that we recently reviewed. Whereas that camera is firmly in the budget camp, the MV800 is much more of a mid-priced affair. So what could possibly account for the big price difference between the two?

The big talking point here, of course, is the flip-up screen. This rotates through 180-degrees, allowing you to stand in front of the camera and see what’s in-frame. Of course, you can also use it to take low- or high-angled shots with an on-board gyroscope ensuring that the image is always displayed the right way up. x 3456 / 14MP: 4608 x 3072 / 12 MW: 4608 x 2592 / 10M: 3648 x 2736 / 5M: 2592 x 1944 / 3M: 1984 x 1488 / 2MW: 1920 x 1080 / 1M: 1024 x 768

It also applies obvious sharpening, especially at the wide angle. The 4.5mm crops below look blurry, particularly on the right side of the frame. But the MV800 adds a dark line where the sharp edge should be, which improves the contrast from a regular viewing distance, and fools image-testing software into thinking that the edge is actually well defined. To be fair, most cameras do this to a certain degree, and the MV800 is far from the most egregious example we've seen. RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J.,July 18, 2012 –Samsung Electronics America Inc., a market leader and award-winning innovator in consumer electronics, today announced the availability of the MV900F, the latest digital camera to join the company’s Wi-Fi enabled SMART line-up. Following the success of Samsung’s MV800, the MV900F also features Samsung’s innovative 180-degree MultiView display, making it easy to capture and share creative self-portraits from any angle. The MV900F’s shooting flexibility does not end with its rotating display. With Samsung’s unique Gesture Shot, which uses motion-sensing technology, users can zoom and snap a photo with simple hand motions from across the room. In many ways the MV800 is very similar to the much cheaper ST95 model, which at half the price shares the same 5x zoom lens, 16 megapixel sensor and 3 inch touchscreen. If you don't buy into the flip-out screen design and don't mind sacrificing some of the multitude of auto-features, then the ST95 is a much more logical buy. On the other hand, the MV800 is even better suited to beginners with its unique screen and plethora of clever modes and creative effects. It can get a little bit overwhelming at first, with no less than 32 modes, effects and options on offer, but spend a little time exploring and you'll soon find your favourites.How to Video for Samsung Camera. Find more about 'How to use Smart Touch 3.0 User Interface on Samsung MV800 MultiView Camera?' with Samsung Support For a 720p high-def shooter, the MV800's sharpness is acceptable. It's no surprise that it finishes behind both 1080p shooters in our comparison group, the ELPH 500 HS and category-leading Tryx, though it is sharper than the PL120. More on how we test video sharpness. The MV800's interface is that camera's greatest asset—just a charm to use—but it's the ELPH 500's biggest flaw. The resistive touchscreen is clunky and unresponsive, which is especially problematic for a camera with manual controls that plenty of users will want to access. Auto: 1/8 - 1/2000sec / Program: 1 - 1/2000sec / Night: 16 - 1/2000sec / AEB,continuous: 1/4~1/2000sec Exposure Control comparison_bars title="Video Color Score Comparison", attribute="Video Color Score", xLabel="Video Color Score"}} Video Sharpness

The ‘Funny Face’ mode is laughably bad, although in this particular example it’s also an improvement. It's worth noting that the MV800's color scores are in the same ballpark as many point-and-shoots' standard color settings; those cameras just also have several other color profiles, at least one of which is usually much more accurate than the default modes. Noise

Samsung MultiView MV800 Sample Photos

Like any touchscreen, the MV800's LCD occasionally misfired or didn't trigger at all, but this is one of the smoother, more efficient implementations we've seen on a camera. It works almost as well as a phone's screen, which is a lot more than we can say about most touch-based cameras. However, the ELPH 500 is a much better picture-taker. It has a wide-open f/2.0 lens, which helps out real-world low-light performance quite a bit. Its lab scores are great. The only category where it comes up short is distortion, which is unsurprising for a camera with a 24mm equivalent wide-angle setting. The front of the camera is adorned with a 5x Schneider zoom that offers a 35mm focal range equivalent of 26-130mm, with a maximum aperture of f/3.3 at 26mm rising to f/5.9 at 130mm. The camera sports dual Image Stabilisation that uses a combination of sensor shift and ISO raising to ensure images are kept free of blur. Speaking of sensitivity, this extends from a baseline ISO 100 up to a maximum ISO 3200. With a whopping 15 built-in effects, the MV800 has the most in-depth effects mode we've ever seen on a camera. Our scoring rubric doesn't even allow us to award as many points as we think this camera deserves for these fun extras.