Samsung PL20 Point & Shoot Camera (Silver)

As a perfect tool to help you effortlessly capture and hold on to those fond memories is the entry-level PL20 point and shoot digital camera from Samsung. With its collection of smart functions and creative features, this very capable compact and affordable camera with its ability to capture high quality images in a variety of shooting modes is perfect for everyday use. Featuring a Samsung wide angle lens with a focal length of 4.9 -24.5 mm or a 35 mm equivalent of 27 – 135 mm, the PL20 is capable of a very useful 5x optical zoom. This zooming ability combines well with the camera’s CCD Image Sensor that lets you capture images at an amazing 14.2 megapixels.

Sporting a sleek and sturdy design, the Samsung PL20 has an extremely lightweight body that weighs only 103 g excluding the battery and memory card. This reduced weight and compact body helps make the PL20 a highly portable digital camera that is easy to carry around on all your travels and special occasions.

This very simplistic point and shoot camera not only has the ability to capture high quality images, but also the ability to record HD 720p videos with or without an audio track. These recorded images and videos can be viewed on the PL20’s 2.7 inch TFT LCD screen that possesses a display resolution of 230,000 dots. Since the Samsung PL20 doesn’t feature an optical viewfinder, this 2.7 inch LCD display acts as its live viewfinder while operating in the shooting mode.

Battery and Storage

The PL20 gets its operational power from a Samsung BP-70A rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which powers the camera up to 220 shots on a single full charge. These captured images are saved in the JPEG (DCF) format while the videos are recorded in the AVI(MJPEG) file format. The saved media files are stored on the camera’s memory device which is in the form of an SD, SDHC or SDXC memory card.

These files on the memory card can easily be transferred to an external device like a PC or a laptop by using the camera’s high-speed USB digital interface. The presence of an AV out with user selectable PAL or NTSC output signals lets you connect directly and view all your images and videos on a standard definition television.

Performance

The aperture refers to the size of the opening in the lens which controls the amount of light that falls on the image sensor, which on the PL20 ranges from f/3.5 - f/5.9. The camera’s autofocus function has a normal focussing range of from 80 cm (Wide) and 100 cm (Tele) to infinity. It also has a macro focus range of 5 cm to 80 cm (Wide) and 100 cm to 150 cm (Tele).

The ISO speed or the light sensitivity of the PL20 ranges from ISO 80 to a maximum of ISO 1600. The variety of shutter speeds available on this camera has a highest of 1/2000 sec and a lowest of 8 sec. This Samsung digital camera further increases its low light image capturing capability with a highly efficient built-in flash unit that has an operational range of 0.2 m – 2.68 m (Wide), 0.5 m – 1.59 m (Tele) on auto ISO.

Features

The presence of pre-set white balancing modes along with a number of shooting modes let you capture images in a variety of image temperature and colour tones. This Samsung PL20 has the ability to record 1280 x 720 resolution at up to 30 fps with the help of an inbuilt microphone that picks up clear mono audio.

The camera also uses the digital image stabilizer which makes sure that the captured images and videos appear sharp by eliminating any camera shake while capturing. The presence of face detection technology helps to automatically detect, focus and optimize the settings to achieve the maximum clarity of faces within the frame. The camera’s built-in flash features Red Eye Reduction which helps capture clear and undisturbed images, irrespective of the available light.

With a self-timer options that operates on a 2 or 10 sec delay with the help of the Face Detection and Red Eye Reduction, the Samsung PL20 provides you with trouble-free self-portraits and group shots. The availability of PictBridge technology allows you to connect the camera directly to a printer without a PC, enabling easy direct photo printing.