Samsung 2View TL210/PL150 [REVIEW]

A Post By: Barrie Smith

You may have loyalties to the likes of Sony, Canon, Nikon etc but you have to admit Samsung is shaking the tree when it comes to innovation … witness its NX DSLR-style camera!

The company first introduced a twin screen compact camera with the ST550 late in 2009. I have to admit the idea got to me!

Now we see a similar camera – the Samsung 2View TL210 (also known as the PL150 in some parts of the world): twin LCD, 12.4 megapixel capture, 5x optical zoom (tho’ not a Schneider optic this time) and all for a little over half the XT550’s price.

Samsung 2View TL210/PL150 Features

The maximum image size is 4000×3000 pixels, or 34x25cm as a print. Movies? You can shoot MPEG4 video at sizes up to 1280×720 pixels and view them via an HDMI output.

Although the PL150’s price is bargain basement it doesn’t look it: a piano finish gloss black casing gives it an ultra smart look and of course, as a compact, it’s light and easily pocketable.

The basic exposure programs are auto, smart auto and Program AE; selectable on the camera, are two scene modes — night and beauty shot (to hide facial blemishes) — while ten more are selectable via the finder.

The twin screens have been given some extra functionality: in use the camera can recognise two faces in shot; with the self timer in play, a countdown appears on screen; for kids’ shots the PL150 delightfully runs a shot cartoon on the front screen. And don’t forget you can shoot a movie with the front screen active. Make great Web clips.

The camera can automatically trigger the camera to take a photo when a smile is lurking! And of course there is face detection and face recognition (up to 10 people).

ISO Settings

At ISO 80 the definition is acceptable, as are the noise levels.

At ISO 800 definition is already poor, while the noise level is rising. Not a useable setting.

At ISO 1600 noise is very high, definition poor. Not good!

At ISO 3200 the picture quality is unacceptable: high noise and poor definition.

Distortion

Not bad. No problems at the zoom’s wide end but there was a little pincushion distortion at the tele end of the zoom.

Startup

The camera was ready to shot two second after startup; follow on shots came in as fast as I could press the button.

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I get the feeling this camera was made down to a low price. The ISO tests tell it all!

Quality: Low resolution and high noise make this a good buy only if you are really stretched financially.

Why you would buy it: attractive budget price; twin screen feature; simple to use.

Why you wouldn’t: below average picture quality.

Vale for money if you are not too demanding on picture quality. An ideal child’s first camera.

Specifications

Image Sensor: 12.4 million effective pixels.
Metering: Multi zones, centre-weighted, spot.
Sensor Size: 7.79mm CCD.
Lens: f3.3-5.9/4.9-24.5mm (27-135mm as 35 SLR equivalent).
Shutter Speed: 8 to 1/2000 second.
Memory: micro SD/microSDHC cards plus 30MB internal memory.
Image Sizes (pixels): 4000×3000, 3984×2656, 3840×2160, 3264×2448, 2560×1920, 2048×1536, 1920×1080, 1024×768.
Movies: 1280×720, 640×480, 320×240 at 15/30/60 fps.
Rear LCD Screen: 7.6cm LCD (230,000 pixels).
Front LCD screen: 3.8cm. (61,000 pixels).
File Formats: JPEG, MPEG4, WAV.
ISO Sensitivity: Auto, 80 to 3200.
Interface: USB 2.0, HDMI, AV.
Power: Rechargeable lithium ion battery, DC input.
Dimensions: 99.2x59x19.9 WHDmm.
Weight: 136.6 g (without battery and card).
Price: Get a price on the Samsung PL150/TL210 DualView at Amazon.