Samsung NV7 OPS review

Samsung isn't particularly well known for digital cameras, and less so for high-end models.

However, as it owns classy German lens maker Schneider Kreuznach, it comes as little surprise to see the retro-looking 7 megapixel NV7 OPS adorned with the most impressive-looking zoom we've seen for some time. Handy for travelling, sports and action, with a 7x zoom ratio, it's the 35mm equivalent of a whopping 38-270mm f/2.8-4.0.

The lens is much bigger than some photos suggest and, with such a high magnification exaggerating even the slightest trembling of hands, it's all the more important that the NV7 boasts optical image stabilisation. Like some rivals, it uses a CCD-shifting technology, but, uniquely, also adds electronic image stabilisation and sensitivity up to 1000 ISO to prevent blur.

For all that, it's not infallible and you can't use all three methods simultaneously: using the two stabilising options together limits sensitivity to 200 ISO. Despite that, we could get reasonably sharp snaps with the telephoto at 1/30 of a second, but the CCD-shifting mechanism is strangely high pitched during operation.

As well as the extra reach from the telephoto, the lens can focus to just 1cm to provide good macro shots, but its autofocus isn't the quickest and, like most of its rivals, focus struggles in low light, even with the autofocus assist lamp.

A large 2.5in TFT screen on the rear has a high resolution, to see if snaps are in focus or not. Unlike some rivals, there's no viewfinder, but that's no real loss, and helps keep the metal body looking sleek.

Touch-sensitive buttons flank the screen, and are used together to offer reasonably quick access to options by avoiding pages of menus. It's genuinely innovative and works well with features that are selected from sliders, such as colour temperature, EV shift and the like, but we found it quirky and tiresome when selecting everyday choices.

As well as the expected presets, it has manual and semi-auto exposure modes, and exposure bracketing is handy. There's a decent TV-friendly Mpeg 4 video mode, but the 20fps 720 x 480 pixel option isn't as impressive as it sounds. Also surprising is the lack of compatibility with high-capacity SDHC cards - something of which nearly all the company's rivals have taken advantage of with recent models.

Given the Schneider lens and 7-megapixel sensor, we expected some great snaps, but were a little disappointed. Outdoors, images were quite reasonable, with generally accurate exposure and white balance, but colours were fairly neutral. Without direct control over saturation or contrast, there's no way to tweak the look without reverting to one of the scene presets. That's rather odd, considering the number of embedded effects, frames, albums and the like, and a real pain at this level. Indoors, noise was an issue above 200 ISO, and white balance was way off the mark, but an uncomplicated custom mode soon had this nailed.

Taken as a whole, although not poor, we were underwhelmed by the Samsung NV7 OPS' performance. At the price, it compares favourably with its rivals, and makes an excellent alternative to the Panasonic Lumix TZ1, although it won't be for everybody.