Reviewing the new Samsung PL150 point and shoot camera

With work on our book in full swing, I have been thinking about documenting family life through photography a lot lately.  I have always been one to carry my camera with me almost all the time and my D3 has never seen the inside of a closet…it is always out and ready to go.  With the book work taking over, I find that my camera is clicking a lot, but not with my own family.  Every single memory card is currently filled with client work that is in process. Shooting with only one pro digital camera body has meant that I don’t have one at the ready to photograph the little life moments that I collect.I have been sad that I handed down the family point and shoot to Gemma since I find myself wanting to take shots and for once having no camera on me to take them… I think I was going into photo blogging withdrawls and then I got an email.

Samsung contacted me about reviewing one of their newest point and shoot cameras.  To be honest, I had not considered Samsung before (even though we have one of their giant TVs on both floors of our house) as a camera maker.  When I read about the special features that this little camera had to offer, I knew it was something I had to try.
Let me introduce you to the newest member of my camera collection, and one that is now on me at all times, the Samsung PL150!

First of all, this camera has a 1.5″ front LCD in addition to the 3″ one on the back. Your subjects can see themselves while you take the shot, but even better, YOU can see YOURSELF for self portraits! You can now get in the shot with your kids and not have to guess where everyone is in the frame while you hold the camera out at arm’s length.

(nobody panic…we were not actually driving at the time) how cool is the in camera editing into black and white!  The camera saves a new file for you with your edits and in addition to the black and white, you can do things like miniature (think tilt shift), vignette, portrait retouching, color effects and more!

Now talking about kids and being in photos, let me just mention again how OVER photos Clover is?  Well, this camera has a solution for photographing jaded babies of photographers (and any other kid who just WILL. NOT. LOOK. at the camera). Children’s mode is a unique feature of this clever little camera. Remember that front LCD I mentioned? In children’s mode it turns into your assistant and plays a cartoon with this little clown and a ball and silly noises.

I was skeptical at first, but I turned that thing on and all 3 of my children were suddenly in front of the camera and smiling.  Ok, so not all at once, but this feature even gets Gemma’s attention each time.

When the kids are no longer interested in the clown, there are a bunch of other free animations you can download and install to keep them looking at your camera! No more making goofy noises and waving like a crazy person to get your kids to look your way, the camera will discreetly do that for you.  Brilliant!  WHY hasn’t anyone thought of this before? No matter, the camera designers at Samsung have now and that is what counts.

The front LCD screen also serves an important role in another of this camera’s unique program settings, Jump Mode.  The camera can be set to count down for your subjects before the shutter is released 3 different times.  Not only does the jumper know when to jump, but then the whole thing is caught in 3 different shots so that you are sure to catch on mid air.

With the slight tilt that is built into the actual camera body, you can do self portraits without a tripod as the camera leans back just the perfect amount to get a better angle.  Use those two features together and you can easily catch yourslef looking like this:

Come on, you know you want to.

Above all else, the images from this point and shoot are great.  Just have a look at some of the photographs from last week as they really do speak for themselves.

Thank you Samsung for sending me the PL150 to review.  There will be more reviews of the other features in the future in upcoming posts and I am setting up a Samsung PL150 album on the sesame ellis facebook page.  This tiny little 12 megapixel gem of a camera is on me all the time now.  And because it is, I did not miss any of those moments above and we can always remember the day that Clover fell in love with a purple balloon.

Australian residents listen up!  Samsung is offering my readers $50 CASH BACK when you buy one of these great little Samsung PL150 cameras.
Here is the fine print made really BOLD:

Australian resident, bought from an AU retailer* with a valid receipt , offer expires June 15th, and receipt must be posted before July 1st.

*Participating retailers:

Big W
Bing Lee
Dick Smiths
Good Guys, Muris
Harvey Norman
JB HiFi
Retravision
Target
Teds Camera House
WOW

The buyer then sends a copy of their receipt with their name and address and Rachel Devine Promotion to:
Samsung PL150 Cashback Promotion
PO Box 1257
Darlinghurst NSW 1300

Want more detaily details about the PL150 from the Samsung people themselves? Click Here.

Join Samsung Capture on Facebook to keep in touch with PL150 specials and promotions! http://facebook.com/samsungcapture