Samsung TL34HD Digital Camera Review

Samsung TL34HD

Digital Camera Review

Nov 14, 2008 - By Tim Barribeau
2.4 The TL34HD from Samsung is their new touch-screen, 14.7-megapixel point-and-shoot camera. Housed in a sleek metal case, it wowed us with good to excellent results in almost every test we could throw at it, especially white balance and automatic noise. While it didn't fare as well in low light or in video mode as could be desired, the TL34HD delivered an all around excellent performance, a solid feature set with some degree of manual control, in an attractive package. It retails at $299 and seems to us to be good value for a strong camera. Full details follow.  
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Samsung TL34HD

Speed/Timing
Much like a spaghetti western, in photography speed can be everything. It doesn't matter if you're pulling the camera from your pocket, or trying to grab a perfect shot in the middle of a sports game, speed is your ally. We tested to see just how snappy a performer the Samsung TL34HD is, in a number of different facets.
 
Startup to First Shot (8.10)
This is a measure of how long it takes the camera to go from being completely off, to turning on and taking the first photo. With repeated trials, the TL34HD averaged 1.9 seconds, which is pretty speedy for a relatively inexpensive point-and-shoot camera.
 

Shot-to-Shot (9.23)
Samsung claims that burst mode can get three shots taken per two seconds. In our testing, we grabbed 1.3 frames per second, which is within a scientific margin of error from what Samsung claims. This isn't a great speed, 1.5 frames per second isn't likely to be much help in a situation where you need to take a large number of photos as fast as possible.
 

Shutter-Shot (10.00)
In previous generations of digital cameras, there used to be a palpable delay between pressing the shutter button on a camera and the picture actually being taken. This delay has all but disappeared with processor improvements, but we test for it anyway. The TL34HD showed no measurable delay between activating the button and the event occurring.
 

Processing (6.07)
 
Often photo opportunities arise in rapid sequence, so you want your camera to be done processing the first and ready for the next as quickly as possible. To check the TL34HD's processing speed, we timed how long it took to display a captured image on the LCD after pressing the shutter. The TL34HD took, on average, 1.4 seconds, which is a good result. It's not the fastest camera on the block, but it won't be like your prom date, and leave you hanging for the entire night.
 


 

 

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