Samsung L74W 7.2MP Wide Angle Camera with 2GB SD Card and 60'' Tripod

28mm is wide, but not always wide enough to create the mood of a super wide.

Angle of view is 75 degrees.

I bought a similar Sansung S1050 camera from woot back in January of 2008.
Camera has been returned to Samsung twice for repair. I have never had a chance to use the camera! I am not too impressed with Samsung’s customer service so far in handling the situation. They have a nightmare phone system that runs you in circles and their customer service agents “disconnect” you when they transfer you to other departments. I always heard their cell phones were good, but I am reluctant to buy any of their products at this point. In February, I spoke with one of thier field engineers that deals with their Television/Video equipment, he was also frustrated with the customer service there and how they treat his customers.

Conclusion

If you really want a touch screen camera, this is one of three models that I can think of (the other two being the Pentax Optio T30 and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-N2). If you’re concerned about image quality (instead of having a touch screen), then there are plenty of other cameras out there that would do a better job. My biggest complaint with the images is that they lack crisp details and look over-processed. The Samsung L74W is built-well, operates as expected, and is easy enough to use, once you get used to a touch-screen. Battery life was not amazing and the camera speed (shutter lag, shot to shot times) was nothing to write home about. Bottom line, if you want a touch screen camera, consider the Samsung L74W. If not, then look elsewhere.

Well, don’t buy this for the “World Tour Guide” according to
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/samsung/l74w-review/

“After fooling around with the Tour Guide for a bit, I’d suggest that you don’t throw away your Fodor’s book just yet. It’s clearly translated from another language (I’d say Korean is a safe assumption), and some of their recommendations are a bit unusual. I found plenty of inaccuracies, ranging from spelling errors (Yosemite was not discovered by “John Moore” in 1868) to photos that are just plain wrong (a Las Vegas hotel is shown for part of San Francisco).”

“Photo quality is the weak spot on the L74 Wide…” Great.
The pros and cons section of the review is revealing. Not sure I want this one.

<a href=“http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/samsung/l74w-review/”>Digital Camera Resource Review:</a>
"The L74 Wide is another Samsung camera that’s really innovative, but fails to deliver competitive image quality. If Samsung engineers spent a little less time with gimmicks and more time on image quality, then they’d really have something. The L74 Wide isn’t a bad camera by any means, it’s just not a great one. If you’re sticking to small prints it’s worth a look, but for larger prints or 100% onscreen viewing you may want to consider anything else. "

< href=“TechnologyGuide - TechTarget”>Digital Camera Review:</a>
“If you really want a touch screen camera, this is one of three models that I can think of (the other two being the Pentax Optio T30 and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-N2). If you’re concerned about image quality (instead of having a touch screen), then there are plenty of other cameras out there that would do a better job. My biggest complaint with the images is that they lack crisp details and look over-processed. The Samsung L74W is built-well, operates as expected, and is easy enough to use, once you get used to a touch-screen. Battery life was not amazing and the camera speed (shutter lag, shot to shot times) was nothing to write home about. Bottom line, if you want a touch screen camera, consider the Samsung L74W. If not, then look elsewhere.”

<a href=“CNET: Product reviews, advice, how-tos and the latest news”>C-Net Review:</a>
“5.8/10 A wide lens and nifty tour guide feature simply can’t redeem the Samsung L74W from its poor image quality, slow shooting, and irritating interface.”

–Bill

Just a note, wide-angle lenses on point-and-shoot camera are pretty rare. These are IDEAL for real-estate agents, interior decorators, and the like. They allow you to get a picture of the entire room from the corner.

Of course, there’s a little bit of dishonesty, there, too… they make rooms look larger.

Price is running about $235 just for the camera. Add another $30 for the 2 gig and you’ve got a great deal. You are saving over $100 or more, but I don’t know is Samsung makes the greatest cameras…

Same price on Amazon, without the accessories I don’t need and only gets 3 of 5 stars in reviews. Remote control for camera still not available.

CNet rates this one poorly guys. 5.8/10 . I would take it with a grain of salt but just wnated to let people seriously wanting to jump on this know.

I personally recomend a Canon or Nikon anyday of the week. Their optics are highly rated.

Still using my Sony 5MP camera. It’s still good enough for me.

Good night.

I’d like to get the tripod. I can wait for it to go on sale on sellout.woot next month.

Sorry, no opinion about the camera. No links either. Tripod is excellent though. 60" extension is superb for taking portrait shots.

I agree if one needs a new camera with tripod and 2G memory. Great deal for a gift or for first time buyers that want to get into digital photography over conventional film. It should work great for those family point and shoot occasions when all should be in the picture including the photograher using the timer and tripod.

hahaha…you kiddin, I have 7.2 MP camera Kodak, works awesome, bought only for 79.99 on thanks givin, …this price is Rip-Off. if you want to buy this camera then i would wait and spend little more to buy HD camera only 50 bucks more for that.
WOOT please bring HD camera… But I will pass this one !! GN

in review cons were average image quality. If I wanted average, I would have purchased one of the lower rent sub 100 dollar cameras in the last 2 weeks. No thanks on this one and not a good deal.

Wide angle lenses are fantastic. I use a lumix dmc-fx55 though, so I’ll pass. Great deal though for people who don’t have a camera yet, and are looking to buy one. Samsung’s reputable, and hey- a touchscreen. nice.

Wait just a minute, this camera has more resolution than even 1080p HD! What do you mean by HD in a camera primarily meant for stills and not video?

I bought the previous Samsung–great pictures. BUT it eats batteries I said EATS batteries

Not a great deal at all. Camera gets average reviews at best and can be purchased anytime for the same price on Amazon. Tripod retails for $39 or $29 on sale but can be bought on Ebay or craigslist for much less. 2GB SD cards can be found for $10. Bottom line the accessories are worth no more than $39 so thats all you save over Amazons everyday price for this camera.

Ugh, I don’t understand how anyone can use a camera without a viewfinder. I’ve taken pictures using the viewfinder for years, I’m not about to change that.

I also don’t see why I need a touchscreen.

People, wake up and understand cameras… Megepixels aren’t the most important thing to consider when buying a camera… READ, a little bit. Optical zoom is of more importance than megapixels. A real 10 megapixel camera with high quality settings will only get 650 pics TOPs per 8 gigs of memory… Point and shoot camera quality is at LEAST half of that, as is the quality… This seems to be a decent camera for the price, but dont get sold based on megapixels!