A week with the Samsung Galaxy K Zoom: a brief overview of the new smartphone-camera
Smartphones with optical zoom appeared a long time ago, during the reign of the Symbian operating system. It's about the Nokia N93 / N93i and Samsung G810, released in the middle of the "zero". However, no one began to develop this direction: in all the following devices, the developers focused on increasing the number of megapixels. Of course, they also worked on optics, and the image development algorithms improved (which naturally led to an increase in quality), but the notorious megapixels were mainly upgraded. It is, in principle, understandable: in the head of the average consumer, this parameter is associated with the quality of the images, which, of course, is not true.
Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom
In 2013, Samsung suddenly remembered the optical zoom and released the Galaxy S4 Zoom model. This smartphone ... um ... the thing looked like a little, it was more correct to compare it with a digital camera. I would venture to suggest that this piece of engineering art did not have huge sales, since at the start it cost very much for 20 thousand rubles, photographed as a soap dish for 5 thousand rubles, and played poorly on the role of a smartphone.
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A year later, in the summer of 2014, the Samsung Galaxy K Zoom appears on the market. Apparently, Samsung was too often blamed for the fact that the Galaxy S4 Zoom (except for the camera) was much weaker in performance than the Galaxy S4. Therefore, this year's “photofonder” was called the Galaxy K Zoom, so that it is smaller compared to the Galaxy S5. To avoid this, however, will not work: even in the process of developing a new hybrid of a camera and a smartphone, they made it look like a "five" in appearance. In particular, the back panel is the same in design here - it simultaneously resembles adhesive tape and the ceiling in the Zhiguli family of cars from the early 80s. Plus, the software is about the same - I mean the OS version (Android 4.4.2) and the TouchWiz shell.
Samsung Galaxy K Zoom (left) and Samsung Galaxy S5
Here are the main differences between these devices list with explanations.
- Unlike the Galaxy S5, the Galaxy K Zoom does not have a waterproof case. This, of course, a minus. But there is a plus: the microUSB port is not covered with a stub - in the Galaxy S5 it managed to get me in two months of operation by the very fact of its existence.
- The Galaxy K Zoom does not have a fingerprint scanner and pulse meter. Given that the level of implementation of these functions in the Galaxy S5 does not seem high to me, I did not feel much regret because of their absence. And another thing: in the press release accompanying the announcement of the Galaxy K Zoom, it was said about the presence of a certain S Health Lite. Well, I do not know, I have not found anything like this. My device is made for Ukraine, maybe in versions for other regions it is.
- Galaxy K Zoom does not have USB 3.0 support. Sad but not scary.
- The Galaxy K Zoom screen of the previous generation. And this concerns not only the resolution (4.8 inches / 720p versus 5.1 inches / 1080p), but also something else. So, the color profiles available in the Galaxy S5 are not in Zoom, and the picture on the Super AMOLED screen is somewhat acidic. In the Galaxy S5 it is more natural, but if you wish, you can make it much juicier with the help of these very profiles. Plus, the Galaxy K Zoom shows jagged fonts from PenTile. I do not consider myself to be a “PenTile witness sect” (c) Eldar Murtazin, but I cannot warn about this effect. PenTile is also used in the Galaxy S5 screen, but due to Full HD resolution it is not noticeable.
- The Exynos processor in the Galaxy K Zoom is no longer 8- but 6-core. But the scheme is the same - ARM big.LITTLE, that is, two Cortex-A15 cores and four Cortex-A7 cores can work in clusters, but not in parallel. For games, the model fits poorly - due to its weight and thickness, it is not very convenient to keep it horizontal for a long time. At the same time, the performance is slightly inferior to the Samsung Galaxy S5, largely due to the lower screen resolution.
- A battery of 2,430 mAh instead of 2,800. There are a number of tricky features to save energy, including the ability to make the screen black and white. I have a Samsung Galaxy S5 for about a day, although I don’t take a photo of it at all. Meanwhile, the Galaxy K Zoom worked for a day and a half, and I photographed it from the heart. It may be due to a weaker iron, or maybe just the Galaxy S5 has a slightly “podbutiya” battery (I bought the device from my hands, and what the previous owner did to him for two months is God knows).
These are the main differences, and everything else relates to the camera. Before proceeding to the description of the latter, I note that in nature there are at least two versions of the Samsung Galaxy K Zoom: C115 and C111. The first one is delivered to Russia and supports LTE. The second can be bought in Ukraine, and she is not friendly with LTE. By the way, it’s very difficult to find the Galaxy K Zoom in Ukraine, it’s not in stores, although it’s still possible to order a model in some places. The reasons for this situation are simple: the device is too unusual and at the same time expensive. We need very few people. Serious photographers will never take it because of the photo part that is modest by their standards, and ordinary consumers don't care about zoom. They are generally poorly represent the difference between optical and digital zoom, and if so, then you can treat yourself to a more elegant device from Samsung or another company.
So, about the camera. Samsung brings the following characteristics: 20.7 megapixels, 1 / 2.3 BSI CMOS Sensor, 10x optical zoom, OIS, 24-240 mm, F3.1-6.3. I will not talk about which camera you can buy for 25 thousand rubles instead of Galaxy K Zoom - everything is clear. A smartphone for 25 thousand can also be bought much more serious than the hero of this review. So really, Samsung got a device for very big connoisseurs. Moreover, this very device with comparable (or rather, almost the same) picture quality was simplified compared to the Galaxy S4 Zoom. Namely: they removed the tripod socket from the new model and the ability to zoom using a ring around the lens. Now the last operation can be performed with a volume rocker. Also, as they say, an option, but personally I liked the ring in the Galaxy S4 Zoom, which I used for a couple of days, more.
Among the unpleasant moments, I will single out the absence of a protective shutter: the lens is outside covered with glass; if not to wipe it before shooting, then the picture will turn out, roughly speaking, defective.
From pleasant - the ability to start the camera from the locked state: just press the top of the volume button and the camera key at the same time. This is stated not in all reviews.
The quality of the images can be estimated from examples in this archive (about 300 MB) and several frames below. Not being a professional photographer, even close, I can say the following: The Galaxy K Zoom corresponds to the quality of images with inexpensive “digital cameras” - thousands for 5 rubles, maybe a little more. And in some ways they are noticeably inferior: for example, a xenon flash is rather dim, it is not always possible at night to take the photo with which it was intended.
The list of modes available in the device is as follows:
There is a catalog of ready, we will say so, options. If you download and install such a file, you get a picture with color reproduction, as in the example.
Inconsistent, in general, turned out the smartphone. Yes, unlike the Galaxy S4 Zoom, more like a camera, the Galaxy K Zoom is a smartphone. There is an opinion that this is a kind of "test ground" for Samsung - in order to work out some ideas and, possibly, collect feedback for the future. On the other hand, frantic mobile photographers of the level “I have already learned, than the optical zoom is better than digital,” can pay attention to this model. True, there are very few such people, and it is clearly not worth expecting giant sales to a Korean vendor. Here you would buy such a "pulling"? How much?
Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom
In 2013, Samsung suddenly remembered the optical zoom and released the Galaxy S4 Zoom model. This smartphone ... um ... the thing looked like a little, it was more correct to compare it with a digital camera. I would venture to suggest that this piece of engineering art did not have huge sales, since at the start it cost very much for 20 thousand rubles, photographed as a soap dish for 5 thousand rubles, and played poorly on the role of a smartphone.
')
A year later, in the summer of 2014, the Samsung Galaxy K Zoom appears on the market. Apparently, Samsung was too often blamed for the fact that the Galaxy S4 Zoom (except for the camera) was much weaker in performance than the Galaxy S4. Therefore, this year's “photofonder” was called the Galaxy K Zoom, so that it is smaller compared to the Galaxy S5. To avoid this, however, will not work: even in the process of developing a new hybrid of a camera and a smartphone, they made it look like a "five" in appearance. In particular, the back panel is the same in design here - it simultaneously resembles adhesive tape and the ceiling in the Zhiguli family of cars from the early 80s. Plus, the software is about the same - I mean the OS version (Android 4.4.2) and the TouchWiz shell.
Samsung Galaxy K Zoom (left) and Samsung Galaxy S5
Here are the main differences between these devices list with explanations.
- Unlike the Galaxy S5, the Galaxy K Zoom does not have a waterproof case. This, of course, a minus. But there is a plus: the microUSB port is not covered with a stub - in the Galaxy S5 it managed to get me in two months of operation by the very fact of its existence.
- The Galaxy K Zoom does not have a fingerprint scanner and pulse meter. Given that the level of implementation of these functions in the Galaxy S5 does not seem high to me, I did not feel much regret because of their absence. And another thing: in the press release accompanying the announcement of the Galaxy K Zoom, it was said about the presence of a certain S Health Lite. Well, I do not know, I have not found anything like this. My device is made for Ukraine, maybe in versions for other regions it is.
- Galaxy K Zoom does not have USB 3.0 support. Sad but not scary.
- The Galaxy K Zoom screen of the previous generation. And this concerns not only the resolution (4.8 inches / 720p versus 5.1 inches / 1080p), but also something else. So, the color profiles available in the Galaxy S5 are not in Zoom, and the picture on the Super AMOLED screen is somewhat acidic. In the Galaxy S5 it is more natural, but if you wish, you can make it much juicier with the help of these very profiles. Plus, the Galaxy K Zoom shows jagged fonts from PenTile. I do not consider myself to be a “PenTile witness sect” (c) Eldar Murtazin, but I cannot warn about this effect. PenTile is also used in the Galaxy S5 screen, but due to Full HD resolution it is not noticeable.
- The Exynos processor in the Galaxy K Zoom is no longer 8- but 6-core. But the scheme is the same - ARM big.LITTLE, that is, two Cortex-A15 cores and four Cortex-A7 cores can work in clusters, but not in parallel. For games, the model fits poorly - due to its weight and thickness, it is not very convenient to keep it horizontal for a long time. At the same time, the performance is slightly inferior to the Samsung Galaxy S5, largely due to the lower screen resolution.
- A battery of 2,430 mAh instead of 2,800. There are a number of tricky features to save energy, including the ability to make the screen black and white. I have a Samsung Galaxy S5 for about a day, although I don’t take a photo of it at all. Meanwhile, the Galaxy K Zoom worked for a day and a half, and I photographed it from the heart. It may be due to a weaker iron, or maybe just the Galaxy S5 has a slightly “podbutiya” battery (I bought the device from my hands, and what the previous owner did to him for two months is God knows).
These are the main differences, and everything else relates to the camera. Before proceeding to the description of the latter, I note that in nature there are at least two versions of the Samsung Galaxy K Zoom: C115 and C111. The first one is delivered to Russia and supports LTE. The second can be bought in Ukraine, and she is not friendly with LTE. By the way, it’s very difficult to find the Galaxy K Zoom in Ukraine, it’s not in stores, although it’s still possible to order a model in some places. The reasons for this situation are simple: the device is too unusual and at the same time expensive. We need very few people. Serious photographers will never take it because of the photo part that is modest by their standards, and ordinary consumers don't care about zoom. They are generally poorly represent the difference between optical and digital zoom, and if so, then you can treat yourself to a more elegant device from Samsung or another company.
So, about the camera. Samsung brings the following characteristics: 20.7 megapixels, 1 / 2.3 BSI CMOS Sensor, 10x optical zoom, OIS, 24-240 mm, F3.1-6.3. I will not talk about which camera you can buy for 25 thousand rubles instead of Galaxy K Zoom - everything is clear. A smartphone for 25 thousand can also be bought much more serious than the hero of this review. So really, Samsung got a device for very big connoisseurs. Moreover, this very device with comparable (or rather, almost the same) picture quality was simplified compared to the Galaxy S4 Zoom. Namely: they removed the tripod socket from the new model and the ability to zoom using a ring around the lens. Now the last operation can be performed with a volume rocker. Also, as they say, an option, but personally I liked the ring in the Galaxy S4 Zoom, which I used for a couple of days, more.
Among the unpleasant moments, I will single out the absence of a protective shutter: the lens is outside covered with glass; if not to wipe it before shooting, then the picture will turn out, roughly speaking, defective.
From pleasant - the ability to start the camera from the locked state: just press the top of the volume button and the camera key at the same time. This is stated not in all reviews.
The quality of the images can be estimated from examples in this archive (about 300 MB) and several frames below. Not being a professional photographer, even close, I can say the following: The Galaxy K Zoom corresponds to the quality of images with inexpensive “digital cameras” - thousands for 5 rubles, maybe a little more. And in some ways they are noticeably inferior: for example, a xenon flash is rather dim, it is not always possible at night to take the photo with which it was intended.
The list of modes available in the device is as follows:
There is a catalog of ready, we will say so, options. If you download and install such a file, you get a picture with color reproduction, as in the example.
Inconsistent, in general, turned out the smartphone. Yes, unlike the Galaxy S4 Zoom, more like a camera, the Galaxy K Zoom is a smartphone. There is an opinion that this is a kind of "test ground" for Samsung - in order to work out some ideas and, possibly, collect feedback for the future. On the other hand, frantic mobile photographers of the level “I have already learned, than the optical zoom is better than digital,” can pay attention to this model. True, there are very few such people, and it is clearly not worth expecting giant sales to a Korean vendor. Here you would buy such a "pulling"? How much?
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/231603/
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