Samsung WB650, WB600, ST70, ST60 and PL80: First pictures
Samsung has announced a range of point-and-shoot cameras in the ST70, ST60 and PL80, saving its best features for the WB650 and WB600
Samsung has announced another glut of compact cameras that pack in more features than a copy of Playboy during a silicon shortage. The WB650 -- and its junior partner the WB600 -- between them boast a fancy AMOLED screen, GPS, high-definition video recording and whopping long zooms. They're joined by the ST70, ST60 and PL80 snappers.
The WB650 includes a 15x optical zoom and 24mm ultra-wide-angle lens. Packing GPS for geotagging photos, it sports a 76mm (3-inch) AMOLED screen, which should be good for both battery life and picture quality. We're going to get our sticky fingers on these cameras at a Samsung press launch later today, so stick around for more photos and first impressions.
The £300 WB650 and the similar £250 WB600 (know in the US as the HZ35W and HZ30W respectively) are long-zooming versions of the compact ST5500 and ST5000 (known in the US as the CL80 and TL240). The WB650 and ST5500 include fancy screens and either GPS or Wi-Fi, while the WB600 and ST5000 are slightly cheaper with their LCD screens. WB stands for 'wannabe', which seems an oddly disdainful name for cameras that are meant to be a step up in seriousness from the average compact. In our book, there's nothing wannabe about 720p high-definition video recorded at 30 frames per second.
Samsung has also announced the ST70 and ST60, two slim compacts. The 14-megapixel ST70, pictured above, includes optical image stabilisation and a 5x zoom. The 12-megapixel ST60, disappointingly, lacks optical image stabilisation for its 4x zoom lens. Still, that'll keep the price down, and both cameras shoot 720p video. The ST70 will cost £180 and the ST60 will set you back £150. In the US, the ST70 is the TL110 and the ST60 is the TL105.
Finally, heads up for the PL80. It's a straightforward point-and-shoot camera boasting 12.2 megapixels, a 28mm wide-angle 5x optical zoom lens and optical image stabilisation. If any of these whet your appetite, check back later for our hands-on pictures and early review.