Samsung Digimax S85 8MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom (Black) I went in search of an easily portable, inexpensive camera to take fairly high resolution pictures inside churches in Europe. And so it needed to have good image quality in low light situations and an extended zoom lens to capture far away details. Dicovering the S85 in a store, I snapped surprising sharp test images even at the far end of its 5x optical plus 5x digital zoom (=25x). After finding that the only two internet reviews at the time were both highly positive, I bought it and have been delighted ever since that I did. True, it eats up Alkaline batteries like popcorn so that rechargeables are essential (be sure you get a fast recharger as well) and, although it has a myriad of shooting options, as one reviewer observed, it's fiddly, so that they are revealed only by a confusing combination of buttons. So it takes some time to master them all, but it's well worth the effort. The "Auto" shooting mode produces perfect results for most outdoor shots, but the "Program" mode is preferable for indoor flash shots because it allows pre-setting a lower ISO to keep from automatically jumping into the higher ranges, producing disturbingly noisy results. The "Manual" mode allows almost complete control, something that is very valuable for set-up conditions like tripod or macro shooting (the S85's macro capabilities are amazing). Its movie mode seems to work quite well, though at this point that is of less interest to me. And the color quality of the S85's images is very true to the world one sees with the naked eye. However, its version of image stabilization is operable only within a special mode dedicated to it, and so is of limited value at best and not nearly as effective as the optical IS system found, for example, in most Canon and Nikon cameras today. Its absence has to be weighed against the S85's low price, sub-compact portability, 5x optical zoom lens, high image quality, great range of shooting options, and true color. Certainly the S85 for its price has to be, if not the best, then one of the very best values available today in digital point and shoot cameras.

Samsung Digimax S85 8MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom (Black)
I went in search of an easily portable, inexpensive camera to take fairly high resolution pictures inside churches in Europe. And so it had to have good image quality in low light situations and an extended zoom lens to capture far away details. Happening on a S85 in a store, I snapped some surprisingly sharp images with it even at the far end of its 5x optical plus 5x digital zoom (=25x). After I discovered on the internet that its only two reviews at the time were both highly positive, I bought it and am really happy I did.

It eats up Alkaline batteries like popcorn so rechargeables are essential (be sure you get a fast recharger as well). It has a myriad of shooting options but, as one reviewer observed, it's "fiddly," so that they are revealed only by a confusing combination of buttons. Although it takes time to master them all, it's well worth the effort.

The "Auto" shooting mode yields perfect results for most outdoor shots, but the "Program" mode is preferable in indoor flash situations because it allows pre-setting a lower ISO (200 at most) to keep from automatically jumping into the higher ranges, producing disturbingly noisy results on people's faces. The "Manual" mode allows almost complete control, something that is very valuable for set-up conditions like tripod or macro shooting (the S85's macro capabilities are amazing). Its movie mode seems to work quite well, though at this point that is of less interest to me.

The 2.5", 230,000 pixel LCD has adjustible brightness and the color produced in the S85's images is very true to the world one sees with the naked eye. But its version of image stabilization is operable only within a special mode dedicated to it, and so is of limited value at best and not nearly as effective as the optical IS system found, for example, in many Canon and Nikon cameras today. Yet its near absence has to be weighed against the S85's low price, sub-compact portability, 5x optical zoom (25x total), high image quality, bright LCD, great range of shooting options, and true color. Certainly the S85 for its price has to be, if not the best, then one of the very best values available today in digital point and shoot cameras.

Samsung Digimax S85 8MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom (Black)
I went in search of an easily portable, inexpensive camera to take fairly high resolution pictures inside churches in Europe. And so it had to have good image quality in low light situations and an extended zoom lens to capture far away details. Happening on a S85 in a store, I snapped some surprisingly sharp images with it even at the far end of its 5x optical plus 5x digital zoom. After I discovered that its only two reviews on the internet at the time were both highly positive, I bought it and am really happy I did.

It eats up Alkaline batteries like popcorn so rechargeables are essential. It has a wide variety of "functions" and a myriad of shooting options but, as one reviewer observed, it's "fiddly," so that they are revealed only by a confusing combination of buttons. Although it takes time to master them all, it's well worth the effort.

The "Auto" shooting mode yields perfect results for most outdoor shots, but the "Program" mode is preferable in indoor flash situations because it allows pre-setting a lower ISO (200 at most) to keep from automatically jumping into the higher ranges, producing visual "noise" on people's faces. Although, as with most P&S cameras, flash shots of people often give them red eyes, the S85's red eye removal function is very effective. Its version of image stabilization, unlike the optical IS system found in many other cameras today, is operable only within a special mode dedicated to it, the "Advanced Shake Reduction mode" (ASR), and then only without use of the flash. However, when used indoors, this mode can produce beautifully sharp images in natural, low-light situations. The "Manual" mode allows almost complete control, something very valuable for set-up conditions like tripod or macro shooting (the S85's macro capabilities are amazing). Its "Movie clip" mode seems to work quite well, though at this point that is of less interest to me.

The 2.5", 230,000 pixel LCD, with adjustible brightness, is impressive and the S85's image colors are very true to the world one sees with the naked eye. With its sub-compact portability, long 5x optical + 5x digital zoom, sharp image quality, high-res LCD, great range of shooting options, true color, and low price, the 8 megapixel S85 has to be, if not the best, then certainly one of the best values available today in digital point and shoot cameras.

I've had my Samsung S85 for a little over 2 weeks now. Before I purchased it , I spent many hours looking over reviews and comparisons of many different digital cameras before I decided on getting the S85. I could not find any reviews with anything negitive to say about the S85. At first I was prepared to spend anywhere from 2-250 dollars on my next camera. But after I did my research, I could not justify spending $200 plus on a Sony cybershot, when the S85 offered me all of the same features and then some, for under 130.00.

As far as picture quality goes, the color, and detail of the photos this camera takes are fantastic. Even zoomed all the way to 5X the pictures are still very clear. Once you start going into digital zoom the pictures predictably become less clear.

One thing I noticed many reviewers stating was that the interface on the camera itself is somewhat complicated and difficult to use. I can see why they say that. But it I don't think it is a deal breaker. After playing around with the controls for a few minutes, I quickly became comfortable with how the controls worked. As far as the overall fit and finish of the camera goes. It won't win any beauty contests, but overall the camera feels very solid.

The camera comes with 2 AA alkaline batteries included. However as the above reviewer stated, the thing eats through alkaline batteries rather fast. Rechargable batteries are a must.

DON"T LET THE PRICE OF THIS CAMERA FOOL YOU. All of the functions it offers(and there are loads of them)work exactly as they should. If you are looking for an ultra compact digtial camera, and aren't looking to spend loads of money on it. You don't have too. The Samsung S85 is a steal!

Great camera for the price. It's easy to use and fun. You can edit pictures, change colors, add fun features to your pictures. Really a good deal for the price!

On the first day out of the box, and less than 20 pictures later - the camera randomly shuts down, and quite a few shots are blurry. Some of the shots turned out very nice, but with this shutting down problem, its time to try something else :(

Overall:
This camera has been working well for me. I has a nice 5X optical zoom which gives an extra "ooph" to get that perfect picture. It has many features/options that I haven't explored yet. Its manual controls are also plentyful.

Pros:
+ 5X Optical Zoom
+ Battery Life Good with Rechargables (Ni-MH)
+ Big 2.5" Screen that is very responsive/has good framerate

Cons:
+ If you get this NEW there is a "8MP, 5X zoom" sticker that won't come off nicly. I needed to use Goo Gone to remove the adhesive!!!
+ Some pictures I took came out fuzzy. (I was taking a low light picture w/o flash on AUTO mode)

I bought this as my "everyday carry camera" to complement my DSLR. I specifically wanted something that would take good pictures, use the same memory card format as my DSLR, uses AA batteries, and is inexpensive (so I don't have to worry about babying it).

I was attracted by the combination of size, style, and features at this price. The 5x optical zoom, 8MP resolution, and large LCD are all exceptional at this price. And the picture quality is impressive. The results are sharp with good color and exposure. Focusing is fast and reliable. And there are plenty of options, including full manual control over aperature / shutter / ISO, tweaks to sharpness and contrast, and the expected set of options for JPEG compression and resolution. Using a 2GB card with highest resolution and lowest compression, it estimates it will hold about 400+ pics.

The pictures I've taken thus far have turned out really well. The movie mode works great too. My only complaint is the power consumption. I use two 2500mAh rechargeables, and I'll easily run through them in a single afternoon of walking around taking only a few dozen pictures. There's no optical viewfinder and you can't take pictures with the LCD off, so I'm not sure how well you can tweak it to use less power.

That said, I always take along spare batteries, and with the camera being relatively small, it's not a big problem.

Overall, I'm very happy with this camera, especially at this price.

I've only used this product to take a some 150 snapshots working with standard batteries.
At some point the camera turns into black and doesn't respond to any command. I had to take the batteries out every time this happened.
I guess this problem will disappear using rechargeable batteries.
The picture quality is excelent, and the 5x zoom is amazing.

This little camera has got all you need to make great pictures. Just take time to get acquainted to its features and you won't be disappointed. I gave it to my wife so she can document her flowers, butterflies, and hummingbirds. The pictures came out wonderful. She only uses auto, zoom and shake reduction, since it is her first camera, I do not want to burden her with advanced features.
After seeing her pictures, I bought a S1050 for myself.
Both are bought at Amazon (due to its reputation). They are made in China, since I could not find one made by Taiwan, Japan, or elsewhere.
I would highly recommend it. Considering price and quality, I would say it is a very good bargain. BTW I use rechargeable batteries, 2500 mA and get an acceptable number of pictures. It takes a few seconds to recycle the flash. The flash is robust too.
May be I am lucky to get this one. We love it.

This is a great camera. I bought one and it didn't work, so I am going to send it back. I didn't want to give up on the model because of the great reviews, so I bought another one at a different place and this one turned out to be fantastic! I learned very quickly that you need to use batteries with 2500 mAh or better in order for the batteries to last. If you are looking for a new camera that takes pictures and not expensive, this one is your best bet.

This product was purchased at an incredible price, but we've made up for the low price in batteries. The instruction booklet is very vague and you must play around with it to figure out the features it offers. It takes very nice pictures once you do figure everything out.

I had a Samsung D53 that I bought last year from Wal-Mart. I loved it, and decided to update it with the S85. It has all the features that the D53 had, and more, including a 5X zoom, and 8MP. I got the S85 because the D53 was easy to operate and so is this. I LOVE that I could take videos with sound, and don't have to worry about bringing the camcorder. I HATE when I see people complaining about battery power. AA batteries are recommended by the consumer magazines and it makes sense. Rechargable batteries are a must.
Very simply, you will love this camera

You couldn't get a better product for the price. My only problem is you really can't take any good close up pictures - they are horrible, this camera is not meant for that. But other than that it's a great camera for someone who doesn't need anything more than your basic digital camera. I recommend this camera for the basic digital camera user.

Awesome camera! Fantastic pictures and easy to use! Not too heavy or bulky......the perfect point and shoot!

Digital Camera is good but falls short on the manual.
In fact the manual is nothing at all, in order to properly operate this digital camera one must download the entire manual on their computer.
Difficult to reference items of importance; such as correct vocusing, etc. My husband and myself now understand why this Samsung camera was priced well below other vendors; it's because it does not include an operational manual. Buyer Beware !

Pictures are nice, does seem to go through batteries pretty fast and likes Duracell batteries over other brands (seem to fit better)

I'm not much of a photographer but needed something to take pictures of my grandson. This camera has lots of features that I liked but it is fiddly to use. I can't read the little symbols on the buttons, but there aren't many buttons so memorizing their function isn't hard. The LCD screen is large and clear. I have a hard time figuring out the best setting for my situation simply because this camera offers so many variables and choices. The best pictures I have taken so far have been indoors without the flash. I like the camera but it has a higher learning curve thatn the one I owned previously.

Very Good picture quality for such a low price digital camera. The battery does not seem to last long. It's best to use rechargeable batteries for this digital camera.

This was a very dissappointing purchase and I chose to return it. The camera that I reeived may have been broken, but it would not remain in the "on" position for more than one picture. Despite the setting, the camera shut down after each and every picture. I could not tell if it was the nature of the camera or if the camera was broken, but I would equate it to a piece of junk. Spend $50 more on a decent piece of merchandise.

Samsung Digimax S85 8MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom (Black) I was really looking forward to using this camera but the directions for using the various modes was almost useless. you were left to figure everything out yourself. just was not worth the money, no matter how reasonable. thank you. returning it to amazon was a breeze. I was very happy with that aspect. Sally P.

I'm very happy with my two cameras, they were for a gift, they came on time and no problems at all.

this camera takes great pictures and videos. i recommend it at such a great deal of less than $100. however the batteries die quickly. you have to get lithium rechargable batteries to make this camera effective.

The camera works great....shipping was fast....camera was as described by the seller....will definately buy from the seller again....keep it up....

The biggest advantage of Samsung cameras is their shooting ability at night time. You will need a tripod for this, but taking shots without flash and on the auto or manual setting (the night mode setting is actually not as nice in my opinion) will yield pictures that are more vibrant than any other camera I've ever used.
The biggest disadvantage of Samsung cameras though is their durability. I'm an I've had three Samsungs break because I over used them (two while still in warrenty); when I got them back from the repair center, the reason for the failure was always "defective parts."
However their low prices sort of makes up for this.

I have been trying like crazy to buy this camera and finally found it here at an excellent price. Pictures are great but the batteries die soooo fast. After taking about 6 pictures and checking some features, a total of about 10 minutes, the batteries just died. Rechargeables are a must!!!!!!Other than that I am very happy with my new camera.

I was skeptical of this camera due to some reviews indicating it has flakey software and chews up batteries--my fears have been laid to rest.

Yes, if you use standard Alkaline AA's, your camera is going to die off after about 50 pictures. However, I'm using knock-off brand 2000mAH NiMH rechargeables and the camera took well over 200 pictures, plus me messing around with flash, video, and playback.

Verdict? I know little about cameras, but this model takes great quality pictures, does a pretty fair job of reducing shake without reducing image quality, and holds up well with rechargeable batteries. I'd buy it all over again in a heartbeat, and I'm glad I picked this model.

This was a gift for my brother and he loves the camera, it actually is better than the camera I own. For the price and all that the camera does it was a great gift for him.

I have had it for 25 days and was thinking about sending it back ,,, I'm going to keep it , The rechargeble batteries are a big $$$ saver for any AA camera especially a battery hog of a cammera. I also had issues w/ it shutting down randomly upon attempting to take photo ,,Problem was powersave options turned on or set to low of a time , 2-3 of them were turned completely off and Hark NO more shutdowns. But,,, man she sucks the power out of a set of ANY type way tooo fast!! People are not complaing as SOMEONE stated ,, There stating a fact. I had a fuji finepix a2650 for 7 yrs , 2.1 MP worked excellent and batteries seemed to last forever. It had a 16 mb xD pic card and it was my only complaint it was propietary to the fuji. I'm sad that died last month while taking pics of my new deck, I was going to get another fuji but don't want those battery packs that require a special charger and cost 1/2 as much as a camera for 1 set of bat. and a charger. i wanted a camera for $100-125 $ bottomline!
the s85 takes excellent pictures and is very flexilbe in what it can do. A 2gb sd pic card last forver w/ pics only and can take some nice video w/ sound.I bought a 2 gb and 1 gig card and have not used the 1 g yet
no need seems like unlimted room on the 2 gb. It is a very nice camera for $111.00 delivered to my door . the colors are neat and the negative exposure is cool , the manual pretty much Sucks and is vague at best, Play w/ the setting and get familar/used to it and tour good to go !! I don't think I can do better for the money i paid .
Some Zoom pics we took amazed me . Also I compared it to a fuji a820 we have at work and it was much better than the fuji . It (s85) takes nice macro pics and the zoom pics were 1000 % better than the fuji a820 , It (the fuji) is not that old and is already making funny grinding noises when zooming in and out. and it won;t take a clear zoom pic at all , i'll keep the samsung and buy another set of rechargeble AA's ,I like it!!!

I LOVE THIS CAMERA!! I wanted to upgrade without spending a lot of $$. This is the way to go..it takes wonderful pictures and is well worth the price!

I bought this camera June 2008. I read all the reviews, I recommend always reading reviews before buying anything. They are so helpful!!!!!! I too will recommend to buy the recharable batterys and charger. I bought 4 batterys that came with the charger. The camera takes Double AA Batterys. Then you have extra batterys with you when you need them. Also I recommend buying a sandisk 2.0GB memory card, as the camera has only enough space on it to hold about 8 pictures.
The 2.0GB can hold about 400 pictures. Now thats alot of pictures! I'am still learning all the camera does, It's a awesome camera!