Samsung WB150 Compact Digital Camera - White (14.1MP, 18x Optical Zoom) 3.0 inch LCD

This is a brilliant little camera. It 'does the job' and it does it well. It has all the manual controls if you want them but it is also a 'point and shoot' camera at its best. It is extremely user-friendly and easy to navigate, unlike some cameras whose functions lie hidden deep in menus. It has some quirky little features which I knew nothing about when i bought it but it is great fun to use and the picture quality is superb. I call it my 'handbag camera' and always carry it with me. I have found it especially good in poor light (set on auto) with very little picture 'noise'. I have owned several cameras, both compact and bridge, and this really is up there. I have bought a second one for a Christmas present for my husband. An excellent camera for the price.

I purchased the WB150 because it boasts that it has manual controls with Aperture and Shutter Priority modes. If you know a little about photography, you'll know that you can decrease depth of field by opening the Aperture to it's maximum (setting the camera to it's lowest aperture number). This is good for portraits because you can set the background to blurry and keep a face nice and sharp and have it stand out. This feature can lend itself to creativity on many levels..Unfortunately, the lens only allows for an aperture of about 3.2 which doesn't offer a great deal of flexibility. The aperture really should open to about 2.5 to allow for more creative control. It's good if the person you're photographing has a building that's 20 feet behind them, but as soon as you try to be crafty and make a background blurry that's 5 or 6 feet away, the effect is mostly lost. So although it's marketed as a small compact with manual controls, you'll find that if you're an aspiring photographer who's been itching to try manual features, you'll be a little bit let down.The manual focus feature is probably the least desirable feature the camera has. To set manual focus, you suddenly enter into this really odd overly blown up pixelated image that darts around really badly. You use the left and right buttons to focus in and out of the desired focal point. As far as I can tell, you can't really determine anything useful using this process at all.There are some other minor negatives that are worth making note of. the picture pre-sets aren't as good as you'll find on some other cameras.. a good portion of them are novelties all very similar to each other and are kinda boring. This is my camera with a "panoramic" function which is pretty cool though sometimes a little tricky to get right. Also, I got the white version because in the past all the Samsung cameras have always been a brushed aluminium body that looks great. Unfortunately, the Samsung WB150 is made from very cheap white plastic. Is it the same plastic they use to make plastic milk jugs? I'll never know. I do admit that I enjoy impressing people with my selection of gear. But this will impress no one at all. It's not sexy at all. It does look a little tacky and cheap. So that basic aesthetic value was a let down for me. I'd suggest that you stick to the black one which probably looks ok.Overall though, I'd confess that it does take beautiful photographs and it has pop up help icons that tell you everything you need to know about the current screen and settings. The video, though only 780p is really sharp with good contrast and colour saturation. The camera doesn't have an HDMI port, so if you wish to view the pictures on tv, you'll need a tv that can accept SDHC cards.Although it didn't meet my expectations on some levels, it is still a really good lightweight camera and worth the hundred pounds asking price.I'm already thinking of selling it though and going with my original hunch and getting the Samsung NX100 with the optional 30mm pancake lens. It has an incredible short depth of field with the ability to manually focus by turning the lens like a regular DSLR. That's great for photographing faces and it's close to a professional grade camera.If you find my review to be helpful, please indicate by pressing the button! Cheers!!

This is a great little camera with amazing zoom ! picture quality is excellent and it is extremely easy to use.Nice compact size with good battery life.Have used this a number of times now and am more impressed each time i use it with the exceptional quality and clarity of photo's.Only down side is it sometimes is a little slow when taking photo's indoors and need flash but that may just be me having it on wrong setting!Close up photo's are fantastic and would certainly not hesitate to recommend this if like me you are after a quick and easy to use camera that not only feels good but is easy to use !The optical zoom is fantastic and at this price ( £99 ) is an absolute bargain, i have paid well over £300 for a compact Z100 camera when they first came out and this is far superior both in picture quality and price.Well worth purchasing.

As with any electronic gadget, a basic rule applies: Features, Cheap, Good - Pick any two.The Samsung WB150 has a ton of great features (including a full manual mode) and is quite cheap at around 100 quid. But is it any good? In a word: No.But here's the long story based on my personal experience.Design and build:The WB150 looks really good, especially in white. It is quite compact, and its almost amazing how they managed to fit an 18x zoom lens in such a small package. The microUSB port on the side is protected by a plastic flap which looks quite durable. The ring fitted around the lens however is purely cosmetic, and doesn't serve any purpose.Handling and Usability:This is where the problem starts. While the shutter and zoom buttons are decent enough, a vast majority of features - including the full manual mode - requires you to use the terribly designed, flat, four way controller that's reminiscent of Samsung's feature phones from the mid 2000s. It is flat, tiny and difficult to press accurately - there were countless times when I wanted to activate the macro (press-down) and ended up activating the self-timer (press-left) instead.The standard turn dial on top puts all three manual modes A, S and M on the same turn, requiring the user to further select the mode using the D-pad below. That, coupled with the clunky UI and childish sounds (seriously, I wonder who comes up with Samsung's soundboard, pre-school children?) leaves you with a very poorly usable camera in hand.Shooting modes and features:This is where the WB150 shines - offering numerous shooting modes including Shutter and Aperture priority and full manual (which, due to the unfortunately designed buttons, are a pain to use).The first is "Smart Auto" which is like most auto modes where the user just has to point and shoot and the camera does the rest. It works for most casual shooting (a.k.a Tourist Mode) where you just snap a pic and move on to the next monument.The WB150 however, assumes the user in this mode is a complete idiot incapable of even basic photographic skills and hence doesn't allow any thing more than self-timers and flash toggles. Yes I know its auto, but at least white balance and focus area selections would be nice!"Scene" mode offers 8 preset options such as night, beach, sunset etc. which can be a little more better than the default auto, if you can look beyond the unforgiving icons on the UI.ASM and Program ("P") modes offer far more flexibility and allow to explore creative shooting, but they are severely crippled by the controls and ease of access to frequently used options.Video:I haven't shot many videos with it, but as far as I can tell it is decent enough at 720p.Battery life:Perhaps the single worst aspect of the WB150 - the tiny 1030mAh battery takes hours to charge, but discharges in almost the same amount of time. I realise this is a common problem with most point-and-shoots where a trade-off between camera size and battery is made (cameras that use standard AA are the best IMO, as you can buy batteries on the go).But the abysmal battery on the WB150 is a serious problem for all but the most occasional photographer as it wouldn't last even a day trip on a full charge. My smartphone does a better job of managing battery life!The verdict:If you're looking for a typical touristy compact camera with a great zoom, don't mind a sub-par shooting, willing to try out (rather painfully) other advanced features occasionally AND want something less costing less than a third of a DSLR, this camera might be for you. Anyone wanting to try out more advanced features please avoid.