Introduction

It really doesn't seem that long since you paid big bucks to own a 1.3 megapixel digital camera, and today I'm reviewing a budget-priced 7 mp jobber. Man!

Digital cameras today have attained such a high optical quality, you wonder how much better they can get. Today, you can get a 1.3 megapixel camera for $19.95. Or, you can pay well over 2 grand for a professional model 12 megapixel Nikon or Canon single lens reflex (SLR), and that's the body only, add another $500-$1500 for a nice lens.

Somewhere in that field, there is a price range for the average person wanting a decent camera. I feel that most people will end up paying somewhere between $125 and $250 for a digital camera. Yeah, I dream of that Nikon D80 or D200, or that Canon EOS, but it just ain't gonna happen, unless I hit the lotto or something. Geeks.com is a great place to pickup cheap digital cameras, you can get the Digimax A7 for $129.99.

Being a "bang-for-the-buck" kind of guy (which I guess means cheap or poor), I always consider the best value.the most technology for the money. I have been into photography since I was a kid, and though I don't take a huge amount of photos now, I do want and need a quality camera. The 4.1 megapixel Nikon Coolpix 4100 I have had for a couple of years still does a fine job, to be honest, I still haven't used all of it's features, but I was rather excited when Bob asked me if I wanted to review this one, as I have never reviewed a camera before.

I'm sure that I will mention my Nikon during this review, but it is not a shoot-out between the two. The A7, which came out about 1.5 years ago, is about a year newer than the Coolpix 4100, so any comparisons I may make are merely because I have been using the Nikon for awhile, and need something to relate the A7 to. The Samsung A7 is well packaged in this typical but attractive box.

Specifications

General Features:
- 7.0 megapixel resolution
- 15x Zoom (3x optical/5x digital)
- 2.0-inch TFT LCD color screen
- One Touch manual function
- 32 MB internal memory
- SD/MMC expansion slot up to 512 MB
- One-touch playback even when power is off
- 1/1.8-inch CCD
- Viewfinder: TTL auto focus
- Mechanical and electronic shutter
- Shutter speed: 15 - 1/2,000 sec
- Exposure Compensation: ñ2EV (0.5EV steps)
- Movies: Frame rate: 30 fps, 15 fps
- ISO Equivalent: Auto, 100, 200, 400
- Effects: Normal, Black and White, Sepia, RGB
- Sharpness: Soft, Normal, Vivid
- Self Timer: 2 sec., 10 sec., double self timer (10 sec. and 2 sec.)
- Recording: Voice Recording (Maximum 1 hour); Voice Memo in Still Image (max. 10 sec.)
- White Balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent_H, Fluorescent_L, Tungsten, Custom
- Controls: Program AE, Aperture priority AE, Shutter Speed priority AE, Manual AE
- Metering: Multi, Spot
- USB 1.1 connector
- DC power input connector 3.3V

Image Size Features:
- 3072: 3072 x 2304 pixels
- 2816: 2816 x 2112 pixels
- 2592: 2592 x 1944 pixels
- 2272: 2272 x 1704 pixels
- 2048: 2048 x 1536 pixels
- 1600: 1600 x 1200 pixels
- 1024: 1024 x 768 pixels
- 640: 640 x 480 pixels

Supported File Formats:
- Still Image: JPEG (DCF), EXIF 2.2, DPOF 1.1, PictBridge 1.0
- Movies: AVI (MJPEG)
- Audio: WAV

Flash Features:
- Built-in flash
- Auto
- Auto and Red-eye reduction
- Fill-In
- Slow Sync
- Flash Off
- Recharge Time: 0.6 seconds (approximate)
- Range: 0.25- 3.0 m (Wide), 0.25 - 2.0 m (Telephoto)

Lens Specifications:
- F No: F2.7 - F4.9
- 3x optical
- 5x digital
- Focal Length: SHD Lens f = 7.7 - 23.1 mm (35 mm film equivalent: 38 -114 mm)
- Normal Range: 80 cm - infinity
- Macro Range: 4 - 80 cm (Wide), 25 - 80 cm (Tele)

Unit Dimensions:
- 2.23 x 4.32 x 1.34-inches (H x W x D)
- Weight: 166g/5.85 oz/0.36 lbs (without batteries and card)

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