Samsung unveils new range in digital still cameras at Photofair 2008

Technology majors Samsung and made its presence felt at the ongoing Photofair 2008 at Mumbai, by unveiling a slew of products across all price ranges. Samsung is already a name to reckon with in the field of digital photography, but with fierce competition from Canon, Sony, Nikon and Kodak, has felt the need to cater to a wider range of consumers and consumer needs through its new products. R. Zutshi, Deputy MD, Samsung India, said, "In keeping with the changing consumer preferences, the new 2008 series of Samsung digital still cameras comprises of digital cameras with resolutions of 7, 8 and 10 mega pixels, larger sized LCDs and sleek form factor. We have introduced colour options across our different models as well".

Starting from the lowest-priced 'S' series, Samsung's new range encompasses the mid-range 'L' and 'I' series, topped off by the premium 'NV' line. The 'S' series is intended to be a line of entry-level digital cameras, and Samsung announced two new products in this range - the 7.2- mega pixel S760 and the 8.1 mega pixel S860, priced at Rs.6990 and Rs.8990 respectively. They are characterized by stylish design and a selection of 4 colours in silver, black, pink and blue, and come equipped with a mode dial that allows switching between various shooting options like automatic and video recording.

Next in line, the Samsung L730 and L830 cameras are targeted at customers looking for more advanced features and superior styling. With resolutions of 7.2 mega pixels and 8 mega pixels respectively, they are equipped with 3X optical zoom, and 2.5" LCD screens, and provide advance shake reduction feature with MPEG4 video recording capability. The advance shake reduction optical stabilization feature is superior to the digital stabilization offered in the 'S' series. The L730 comes with a price tag of Rs.8990 while the L830 costs Rs.10990.

The i85 combines the features of an advanced digital camera with a personal media player, and is priced at Rs.14990. With a 8.1 mega pixel resolution, 5X optical zoom, 3" TFT LCD screen and face detection software, the i85 offers the latest in image-capture technology. Add to this its multimedia capabilities with MP3 and MPEG4, and movie editing features, and you have the complete package at a competitive price.

In the top end, Samsung unveiled the NV24 HD, which is the smallest 24mm ultra-wide angle, 10-mega-pixel camera in the world. With this, Samsung's digital still camera repertoire in India encompasses a wide range between Rs.5990 and Rs.19990.

Samsung also announced the launch of its new range of flash memory based digital camcorders which allows for longer battery life and quicker operation, all enclosed in a package compact enough to fit into the palm. These have the model names VP-HMX10A, VP-MX10A and VP-DX10. The VP-HMX10A is Samsung's first HD camcorder delivering amazing high-definition resolution at 50 frames per second, and storing the video in 4Gb of internal flash memory. This is priced at Rs.34900 and is the most expensive product in Samsung's camcorder line-up.

The management is quite enthusiastic about Samsung's prospects in the digital photography segment in the country. States R. Zutshi, Deputy MD, Samsung India, "We plan to aggressively tap the photographic channel and large format retail stores for our new digital still camera range along with our regular consumer electronics channel. Based on our innovative digital still camera range and our expanded channel reach, we expect to double our volumes this year".