Samsung WB500 review

At 24-240mm, the WB500 has the most impressive lens on show in this Labs. Only the Nikon Coolpix S630 beats it at the telephoto end, and nothing matches its 24mm wide-angle.

Image quality was reasonable. Lenses that go from ultra-wide to telephoto tend to have sharpness problems, but we were happy enough. Some of the lens' sharpness comes from the WB500's aggressive post-shot sharpening, though. But while the lens was good, the compression in our final images left something to be desired. Dense patches of colour - trees, for instance - were often left muddied and indistinct by aggressive Jpeg compression. It was never quite enough to properly ruin a picture, but the Samsung WB500 struggled to break free from the middle of the pack.

There are plenty of upsides, though, and the first is build quality. The WB500 is the largest and heaviest camera here by quite a way. That's not to say that it's uncomfortable to carry around; merely that you'd need capacious trousers to slip it into a pocket. We'd say it's a compromise worth making for such a flexible lens, though. The rest of the body is well made: we appreciated the all-metal construction, and those needing lots of stability will like the metal tripod thread.

There are a huge number of shooting options. The WB500 is one of only three cameras here that has the option to manually adjust the shutter speed and aperture size, and you can adjust focus manually as well. This works only reasonably and you need to be fairly zoomed-in to properly ascertain focus on the large 3in screen, but it's a useful feature to have in a pinch. The WB500 is also one of only two cameras here to offer automatic exposure bracketing, and it shoots 720p HD video.

At £200, the Samsung WB500 is reasonably priced. We're not over the moon about its image quality, but it will suffice for most purposes. And let's not forget that its huge number of features represent a virtual wish list of everything an enthusiastic snapper could want, as is the powerful lens. If it took better pictures, we'd find it rather easier to recommend.