Samsung unveiled two handheld cameras, each featuring a double-screen, at a press event in Johannesburg last week.
The idea behind the double screens, one screen on the back and one on the front, is to make the taking of self-portraits and profile pictures easier. This practice is being driven by the uptake of social networking, which allows for the personalisation of user profiles.
The company's ST500 and ST550 2View cameras sport a smaller LCD screen on the front, to provide easier access to focusing, displaying, shooting, and exposure information during self-portrait photography.
The ST550's back LCD screen is a 3.5-inch touch-screen with haptic feedback that vibrates when touched, while the ST500's back screen is a 3-inch wide touch-screen, also featuring haptic feedback. Both front LCD screens are 1.5-inches in size.
The cameras include a 12.2-megapixel sensor and 720-pixel video recording capability, as well as a 27mm wide-angle Schneider Kreiznach lens with 4.6x optical zoom, allowing for a wider shooting range from a shorter distance.
A Smart Gesture user interface is incorporated in both cameras, as is a built-in gravity sensor, which the company says allows for easier camera operation. A tap on the front LCD switches the camera into self-portrait mode, featuring smile detection technology and smart face recognition.
According to Samsung, the cameras contain features for taking baby pictures, as the front LCD screens can display animated pictures of comic characters to attract babies' attention. This will cause babies to look in the direction of the camera lens, rather than somewhere else, the company says.
The cameras will retail for R2 999 (ST500) and R3 499 (ST550) respectively, according to Samsung, and will be available in stores during September.
Related stories:
Nokia adds 'social location'
Photographers go pro with SLRs
Share
