Firmware upgrade for Samsung Camera

Unlike my HS25EXR finepix camera which allows firmware upgrade by copying the latest upgrade firmware to an sd card, the Samsung requires a Windows OS computer and the Intelli-Studio software. We are a Linux user and for those wishing to upgrade should head to this link: Samsung support, firmware upgrade.

Burst mode shooting and other settings in the WB150F camera

I thought the WB150F has no burst shooting modes, but it has! It is available when the MODE dial is at Program or ASM(Aperture, Shutter, Manual) shooting modes. Press on the MENU button at the back to access various settings.

• EV controlled in 1/3 steps from -2 to 2.
• White Balance [AWB, Daylight, Cloudy, Flurescent_LTungsten, Color Temp]
• ISO [Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800,1600, 3200]
• Flash [Off, fill in, Slow Sync]
• Focus [Normal AF, Manual Focus, Macro]
• Focus Area [Center AF, MLti AF,Selection AF,..., Tracking AF]
• Face Detection [Off, Normal , Self-Portrait, Smile Shot, Blink Detection, Smart Face Recognition]
• Smart FR Edt [My Star]
• Photo size , nine available sizes!
• Quality [ Supe Fine, Fine, Normal ]
• ACB [Off, On]
• Metering [Multi, Spot, Center-weighted]
• Timer [Off, 10 Sec, 2 Sec, Double]
• Drive[Single, Continuous, Motion Capture, AEB]
• Image Adjust [Sharpness, Contrast, Saturation]
• OIS [OFF, ON]
• Intelli Zoom[Off, On]
• Movie Size [HD, VGA, OVGA, 320 Web Sharing]
• Sound [Sound Alive On, Sound Alive Off]

The burst modes is available in the Drive setting.

1. Single - One photo each time you press the shutter.
2. Continuous - continuously take photos as long as the shutter button is depressed, limited by the card memory.
3. Motion Capture- Continuously take photos at 5 or more photos per second (photo size will be fixed.)
4. AEB - Continuously shoot 3 photos with different exposure values.

Quick Reference for WB150F camera?

• How can I shoot more photos in a day with this camera?

The camera uses the Samsung SLB-10A 3/.7 volts 1050 mAh/3.9 Wh Li-Ion battery pack. I bought two extra spare batteries and always carry them with me. I have them fully recharged at night. I also have a small belt camera bag. I have no excuse NOT to bring the camera with me. But sometimes I have to reposition the bag because the zipper was facing downwards! I have a 32 Gbytes SDHC, Class 10 memory card from Fujitsu. I bought it from CDRKing. Always check whether the card is inside the camera! I think it is a good idea to have an extra SD card in the camera bag.

• I want to shoot in silent mode with the camera

Select Settings (the one with the gear symbol) then press MENU button. The first item is Sound and you can control the overall volume from [Off, Low, Medium, High]. For extreme stillness, choose the Off position. Otherwise you can toggle the Beep, Shutter, Start and AF sounds.

• I need guidlines to help me compose and align the camera for the scene.
  Under Settings/Display, choose [Guide Line]. You will be presented with OFF, 3X3, 2X2, Cross and Diagonal. Select one of the non-off. I personally prefer the 3x3, while others prefer Diagonal!
  
• How do you transfer the image files in the SD card to the computer or Facebook?

You have thee ways to do this!
1. Turn off the camera, (ensure the lens is closed), and remove the sdcard. Insert it into the card reader slot of the computer.
2. turn off the camera. attach interface cable to your computer and view the photos using image viewing and transfer software.
3. I have not been successful with this using WIFI. Use the WIFI capability to upload files to Facebook. I find it simply more convenient to copy using the SD card then use a computer.


• Where is the format function for this camera?

It is always better to format than to erase ALL image files in your camera.You can find it in Settings/General/Format. Be careful with this function!

TO BE CONTINUED ....... Editing records:

Date	Description
january 8, 2013.	First version

to our readers. Do you have a question witht this camera. I may have time to investigate what this camera can do to help.

What's available in the MENU for Programmed P mode of the camera

Menu structure when clicking the MENU button Program mode

• EV
- Set the exposure value to adjust the brightness increasing the value makes the photo brighter while decreasing the value make the photo darker Using the left and right navigation keys [Flash and timer] one can select from [0, 0.3, 0.7, 1.0, 1.3, 1.7, 2.0] The increment is 1/3= 0.3333333333.
• White Balance
• AWB - Auto WB, camera automatically sets the white balance.
• Daylight- appropriate for outdoor photography on a clear day
• Cloudy - appropriate for outdoor photography on a cloudy day
• Fluorescent_H - Appropriate for photography under daylight fluorescent light.
• Flourescent_L - Appropriate for photography under white fluorescent light.
• Tungsten - Appropriate for photography under halogen or incandescent light.
• Color Temp. - Manually set color temperature to match the hue of a specific light source.
• ISO
Set the sensitivity of sensor among the preset ISO values [Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200]. Generally the higher settings results in greater sensitivity but more noise in the image.
• Flash
Set flash setting from [Off
• Auto - automatically discharge the flash in the dark.
• Red-eye - automatically discharge the flash in the dark and reduce redness in the eyes(red-eye).
• Fill-in - Always discharge the flash.
• Slow sync - illuminate both subject and background.
• Red-eye fix- Automatically detect and remove the red-eye effect.
• Focus
Available modes: Nomal (AF), Manual Focus, Macro
• Focus Area
Center AF - focus on the rectangle at the center. Multi AF - focus on Multiple areas of the screen Selection AF- focus on selected area Tracking AF. focus and track on the subject.
• Face Detection
• Off - turn off face detection
• Normal - detect and focus on a face.The exposure value is adjusted for a face.
• Self-Portrait- detect and focus on a face, and beep to notify the position of the face.
• Smile Shot - Automatically take a photo by detecting a smiling face.
• Blink Detection - The camera will take 2 pictures when it detects the subject's eyes are closed.
• Smart Face Recgnition-The camera automatically recognized registered faces and sets appropriate focus and exposure.
• Smart FR Edit
My Star - You can register up to 5 images per face. To increase face detection rate, try to fit the face angle into the guide.
• Photo Size
Normally I just set to highest photo size since I have a 32 Gbytes SD card.
• 14m - 4320 X 3240
• 12m - 4320 X 2880
• 10m - 4320 X 2432
• 10m 3648 X 2736
• 8m - 2832 X 2832
• 5m - 2592 X 1944
• 3m - 1984 X 1488
• 2m - 1920 X 1080
• 1m - 1024 X 768
• Quality
Select from SF-superfine, F-Fine and N-Normal
• ACB
Set either to Off or On.
• Metering
Select from
• Multi- Automatically measures the brightness by detecting various intensities on the scene. ,
• Spot - Measure the brightness of the marked, focused are in the center
• Center-weighted- Measure the brightness around the center of the screen.
• timer
Select from [Off, 10 Sec, 2 Sec, Double- camera fires first shot 10 seconds and another 2 seconds after]
• Drive
Single. Continuous, Motion Capture, AEB
• Image Adjust
Select from [Sharpness, Contrast, Saturation]
• OIS
Sets the OIS image stabilization feature to ON or OFF.
• Intelli Zoom
Set the intelligent zoom to ON or OFF. Zoom into the desired scene while having less distortion than digital zoom. The resolution changes when depending on the zooming scale when using Intelli Zoom
• Movie Size
Select from [HD: 1280 X 720, VGA: :640X 480, OVGA:320 X 240, and 320Web: for sharing]
• Voice
[Sound Alive ON, Sound Alive OFf, and Mute]

You have more control features under P mode than SMART or Auto mode! For example, the P mode offers 5 settings whereas the SMART mode offers only 2 settings ON and OFF. The sad fact is that SMART mode does not offer adjustment of the extremely useful EV setting.

Photographing the moon at night

The camera has not problem photographing the moon in a bright day in Auto mode. At night, the camera might just record a featureles glare of disk. Here is a photo of the moon just shot today at 7:50pm December 27, 2012. Instead of the flat glowing disk I usually get, I get the "man on the moon" in P or Programmed mode using the EV setting of -1.5! That's right! -1.5 with a negative sign. That is counterintuitive, but it works!

Here is a cropped image of the moon photo above. Here we see the familiar features!

The information displayed for this image says

ISo	320
F. No.	4.5
Shutter	1/90
Flass	OFF
Photo size	4320x3240

That is not my best photo of the moon at night. Here is one with an EV value of -2.0!, and taken on the night of December 24, 2012.

Photo information: ISO 80, speed 1/250, f5.1 december 24, 2012.

Buy inexpensive backup batteries at 5th floor of SM Annex!

You should not get mad at the strange battery indicator of the Samsung which does not show the gradual losss of power while using the camera. What you should do is to have at least two extra batteries on hand when that happens! Buy your battery backups at Battery Channel Corporation, located in SM North Annex, 5th floor, Quezon City. It will set you back for a low low price of P610 pesos each! Hurry as they frequently run out of stock.

My Samsung WB150F is back!

I do not know where my receipt of sale was, so I was not able to take advantage of the warranty of the my Samsung camera. Instead I gave the camera to my brother, who is a Mechanical Engineer by profession and gave permission to have it opened and repair it if possible. Last Friday, he told me that he was successsful in fixing the zoom problem! What hed did was simply to move physically some of the contacts and the connectors. Maybe they were misaligned last October 15 when I went home to Bacolod. That brightened my day considerably and I was able to shoot scenes with the camera last Friday and even today. I will post links to the Facebook photo albums later. Thank you again, Nonoy Danny, you saved me a lot of money, P12,000 if I have to buy an new one. Actually prices of cameras are falling down and you can have the Samsung camera for only P9,999. I will shoot more often with this camera. I want to get the full value with it and want to write more about it in this blog.

My Samsung zoom is not working, rendering the camera useless!

I shot a lot of photos last October 5 in my flight home to Bacolod. In the evening I discovere the following message after recharging the batteries:

The zoom did not operate normally.
Insert the battery again and turn the camera on.
If the camera does not operate nomally, 
do not put excessive pressure on it and
contact the service center.

I can still view stored photos in my camera SD card. I will try to have my camera repaired at the Samsung Service Center. But I will go back to Manila in November. Meanwhile I still have my old Panasonic VG-100 camera s my main camera. Money is tight, and I may not be able to use a bigger lens camera.

Programmed mode may offer the WB-150F user finer control.

I brought my Samsung compact camera with me to Philcoa for supper. Here are some shots I took using Smart and P(program mode). The main difference is that I set the EV value to +0.3 to lighten the scene. Here are some results. The last set shows that Smart mode may display truer colors at night than P mode. The suggestion is to be able quickly take shots in varied settings, perhaps the beauty of P mode is that one can get the advantages of automated exposures but one can adjust the very important EV value.

A lucky find? A spare battery at SM Annex!

My brother and I have the same Samsung model WB-150F camera. We were looking always for a spare battery as we were only able to take fewer than 200 photos before the battery completely discharges.

Today October 1, 2012, we found on the 5th floor at the SM North Annex Buidldng that a spare battery is available! It set us back for 610 pesos. I hope the battery will last long. I am now giving it a full charge. Hope to shoo the whole day without an intervening recharging periods. (will do the recarging in the house at night only.)

The battery is not branded Samsung but has the item

number PPDC-SLB-10A. It comes with a three month warranty. Hope it holds up during the warranty period.

I tested the battery yesterday on our way home from Pampanga UP Clarkfield. The battery lasted into the whole afternoon,and had it recharged but the battery seems to have expanded dimensions. It does not spring out when you push it to extract it from the camera. It is tight-fittting. I think we might encounter problems with this spare battery in the future, for long term use but we are satisfied with it right now for the simple reason we cannot find the original Samsung battery in stores.

2,000 Pesos Price reduction for WB150F camera.

I was stunned! the camera is now selling for 9,900 pesos at Photoline, SM City Annex in Quezon City. I think Samsung may be selling a better model with more powerful zoom. In that case, it better improve the battery charging and charge indicator system. We only hope Samsung will be successful, and more consumers will take to the Samsung brand in the future!

Samsung Quick Reference Guide

This is preliminary. I am going to update this frequently.

• How do you ugrade the firmware of the samsung?
Click on Samsung.com Support for update instructions.
• The battery of Samsung discharges quickly. what can I do?
Buy a spare one. The battery information is: Samsung SLB-10A battery, 3.7V 1030mAh. Amazon sells a spare or replacement battery for 18.99USD. .

Shooting birds with the Samsung WB150F

I shoot distant birds in the maximum 18x optical zoom range of the camera. Later I crop the image using either Gimp or ImageMagick and the effect can be quite good since the camera has a high resolution of 14.2 megapixels. Here is one photo of a bird I am trying to identify:

Photographing tall trees.

How do you photograph tall trees or tall structures? Set your Samsung Wb150F to live panorama mode. Then shoot the tree vertically by pressing the shutter button while moving the camera up. Nothing can get easier than this! No excuse for excluding the tops of tall objects.

But the only con about this is that the photos are in low resolution mode!

Photo taken in University of the Philippines, Diliman campus near the College of Architecture.

Battery life is not good and battery indicator is almost useless?

It happened more than once already. The Samsung WB150F battery indicator does not show graceful exhaustion of the battery inside when the camera is ON. Instead, expect rapid discharge once it is not showing full charge (less than 3 full bars)! I suggest that owners should have an extra battery, but the unfortunate thing in the Philippines, is that no battery is sold in the malls! The specific lithium-ion battery model is

Brand	Samsung SLB-10A
Capacity	3.7 V, 1030 mAh(3.81 Wh)
Type	Li-ion battery Pile

Revisions:

September 12, 2012

I lost an opportunity to do some shooting today. The battery indicator showed threeSep full bars yet when I attempted to shoot, it suddenly showed zero bars and showed a message BATTERY EMPTY. This means this camera model sucks big time for heavy duty use!

More than condensation trails.

The high optical zooming range of 18x of this camera produces "usable" images. Here is an example. Vieweing the 14 megapixels image and zoomin on the view, I could discern the two engines and the wings!

Photo taken at Bgy. Central, Quezon City, Metro Manila on August 29. 2012. Had to upload the original photo to blogger. The facebook copy doe not have a high enough resolution!

A butterfly

UP Clark has some trees and plants planted besides a canal. It teems with fast small white butterflies and a larger black butterfly with blue-white reflecting spots atop its wings.

Welcome to my newest blog on samsung's wide body compact camera, WB150F with Wifi!

My b rother showed me his photos taken back home in homey Negros Occidental. The photos of birds though grainy is USABLE, taken with the 18x zoom lens! So I bought a new one also, just yesterday, and I am a little pleased. This camera may be my main and my Olympus VG-110 will now serve as a backup only. Still the number of photos before the battery run out was only 75, we would expect it to be more when it sill be fully recharged. The outputs are much more vivid, teetering on articifiality, but am sure it can be processed even in the camera to create extra processed copies. We will