A Solid Performer at a Bargain Price!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Easy to use, Excellent pictures, Compact and light, Good value, Digital zoom

Cons: No optical zoom, Eats AA Batteries, Skimpy internal memory (8MB), No audio in "Movie Mode"

The Bottom Line: 
A good entry level camera that is easy to use.

Author's Review
"WOW... That’s a compact and light 'lil
2.0 Mega Pixel camera at a cheap price."
"I wonder if it takes decent pictures?"

That is what I thought to myself when I saw Samsung's newest 2.0 Mega Pixel camera, the Digimax 201 at Walmart.
So I bought it. (May 2003)

The price was right ($138.00)
It turned out to be an excellent choice.

I am a novice photographer so I liked the fact that the
camera came with everything I needed to start taking pictures right out of the box. Including two AA batteries.
The camera is fool-proof for absolute digital beginners.
Easy-to-operate 4 function buttons on the back, and a mode dial on top lets you switch from still image mode, movie clip mode, play mode, and set mode with a simple twist

The compact 2 Mega Pixel Digimax 201 is supported by 8 Mega Bytes of internal memory, and upgradeable through an SD / MMC card slot (in the battery compartment), so you won't have to worry about running out of memory when you need it most.

Granted the 8MB internal memory is skimpy, but its a start. I was able to take 9 or 10 of photos on the highest quality, largest size photo setting using the internal memory. Ill likely buy a SD card for the internal upgrade slot soon.

The Digimax 201 has a 2 x digital zoom to get you close to your subject and preview and review is instant on the camera's 1.6" color TFT LCD monitor. Three focusing modes : "Portrait", "Normal" and "Macro".
The monitor is as clear and bright as that of my friends new Sony Cyber 4.0 Mega Pixel Camera, and she paid a great deal more for hers.

I printed some of my pics and I got great results: You can get 1,600 x 1,200 images for prints at sizes up to 8 x 10 inches.
They really do approach the quality of 35mm.
But you really must use a good photo printer and paper.

My friend’s Sony camera has TWICE the mega pixels (4.0) and her photos are a bit more detailed. But she paid THREE times a much for her camera.
For the money I saved I bought a good HP photo printer!

The camera has five flash modes that make it possible for you to choose the best way to illuminate your subject, depending on shooting conditions.
Or you can just set it to AUTO w/ red eye reduction.
There is also a self timmer built in. (10 sec delay)
Other useful features such as the programmable exposure and five white balance modes help get great results.
Just leave it on full auto. Trust me.
I have taken pictured on bright days at the park and
I have taken picture in poorly lit rooms at night.
My pictures almost always turn out great on the auto setting.

Theres also a Movie mode so you can also capture moments in motion with the onboard movie clip feature which is only limited by how much memory is available.
Image play-back on the camera's monitor or an external monitor can be displayed as either single images, thumbnails, a slide-show or movie clip. Sadly, there is no audio to go with the video. Its more a novelty really.

I found downloads to be fast and easy via the included USB cable to my computer. The included software ( MGI Photo SuiteIII and Digimax Viewer) is helpful and useful for further creative manipulation. I had no problems installing the software in my older computer running windows 98SE. the packaging says it works with windows ME, NT, and windows XP and MAC.

The camera also includes a wrist strap and soft case.

For a good basic 2.0 MP digital camera:
It was a bargain.
This is the first review of this product on Epinions.
You'll likely read other similar glowing reviews in the near future, as this camera was released in the US just recently.