Samsung Galaxy Android Camera EK-GC110 Anyone have real-world experience of it?

[cranioscopical]

My 'pocket' camera died and I need another.

Has anyone used one of these Galaxy Android cameras?

I like the idea but what worries me most is the trouble I have trying to read smart-phone displays out of doors. This is especially true on sunny days, of which I expect there to be at least two this year.
 
Thanks 
 

[nite_monkey]

I haven't used one personally, but if you want sound and video samples, here are two videos from a youtuber I regularly watch.
this one is inside
this one is outside

[Ath]

what worries me most is the trouble I have trying to read smart-phone displays out of doors. This is especially true on sunny days,

-cranioscopical (June 28, 2013, 04:13 PM)

Then you'll have to leave the rural areas and go into the modern world, find a shop that actually has one and test the guinea pig in the sun. You'd better pick a nice/bright day for this expedition ofc

[cranioscopical]

@nite_monkey: Thanks for the links. The reviews all seem to be silent on this topic.

@Ath: Surely you can't mean that I should leave the forest 
I'm afraid you're right. The next time the sun comes out so shall I.

[cranioscopical]

To answer my own question, and in case anyone is interested, I can't see a thing on its screen in moderately bright daylight (as with my Galaxy phone).

When one can see it, this camera has a very slick interface and takes quite creditable pictures. One picture I took was a close-up of a store sign, separated from me by a five-lane road and a shopping plaza car park. Only when I enlarged that by a factor of roughly four did I begin to see a significant level of noise. I'm not good at holding a camera steady, and that shot was at quite a high zoom level but there was no sign of shake. From power off to ready was about 1.5 seconds. If were able to see what I was doing with it I'd buy one in a heartbeat.
 

[tomos]

is this the same camera? - Samsung Galaxy Camera - imaging-resource.com
Here the pros & cons from bottom of that page:

Spoiler

Pro:    

    Powerful 21x optical zoom lens; bright at wide angle, too
    Bright, vivid LCD monitor with very good anti-smudge coating
    Very sensitive touch panel
    Recent Android version feels modern and stable
    Large library of available apps for download from Google Play store
    Third-party apps allow functionality unheard of in closed-OS cameras
    Integrated 3G or 3G/4G data plus Wi-Fi for almost-anywhere photo sharing (or Wi-Fi only to avoid data plan costs)
    Same processor and graphics as Galaxy S II smartphone, easily up to gaming etc.
    Good prints to 13 x 19 at base ISO, and 8 x 10 at up to ISO 400
    Internal memory is pretty generous (but may vary by market / carrier)
    Good viewfinder accuracy
    Reasonably fast full-res burst shooting with exposure / focus locked from first frame
    Minimal shutter lag if prefocused
    Shutter button returns you to camera mode from launcher, some apps
    Third-party camera apps can access full resolution, optical zoom, compass sensor
    Reasonably fast USB transfers
    Battery charges in-camera via USB
    Unlike many smart devices, battery is actually interchangeable
    Can still use camera / Android features while battery charges
    Headphone jack


   Con:

    Relatively expensive for a fixed-lens, small-sensor camera
    As big as many large-sensor cameras, before you consider the lens
    Pretty heavy for a fixed-lens camera
    Popup flash mechanism feels coarse, catches sometimes when pushed down
    LCD monitor's PenTile matrix gives the impression of lower resolution than it actually has
    Uses tiny, easily lost microSD cards instead of much more common SD cards
    Smudging of low-contrast detail even at base ISO
    Strong noise and blurring above ISO 1,600
    Colors aren't the most accurate, and saturation is very high
    Tends towards very warm color under incandescent light
    Higher than average pincushion distortion at telephoto
    Flash coverage poor in macro shots
    Cant't force flash on (Auto and Off are the only options)
    Can't shoot photos before Android finishes booting up
    Slow startup even if Android isn't shut down
    Very sedate continuous shooting unless autofocus and autoexposure are locked from first frame
    Slow autofocus
    Stock camera feature set is limited, eg. you can't adjust step size for bracketing, etc.
    Very obtrusive user interface in camera mode
    TouchWiz interface in Android mode breaks with normal Android UI conventions
    Dedicated battery charger is optional
    Strong division between Android and camera features
    Android confusingly refers to internal memory as "SD card"

Compact cameras are dropping the viewfinder, and I dont know if any are particularly visible in sunlight (? - not saying they arent, I just dont know)

What attracted you to this particular model?

[cranioscopical]

is this the same camera?

-tomos (July 03, 2013, 01:36 AM)

Close enough. Thanks for the link. Having tried one now, I'm not sure that I agree fully with the reviewer. Does one ever?

Compact cameras are dropping the viewfinder, and I dont know if any are particularly visible in sunlight (? - not saying they arent, I just dont know)

The better models tend to have screens that articulate, which helps a bit.

What attracted you to this particular model?

Fits in shirt pocket. Already have a Galaxy phone so this camera could become two gadgets in one and save me some pocket space. Great user interface - all that's nice about handling images on a smart phone but now with half-decent images.Surprisingly good zoom for a pocket camera. I have a DSLR but don't want to lug it around where I'm going to be, and this is one of those times when good enough is good enough. The Galaxy is on my short list at least.
 

[xtabber]

You could trade in your smartphone for the new Galaxy S4 Zoom and replace two stones with one bird.

[Target]

You could trade in your smartphone for the new Galaxy S4 Zoom and replace two stones with one bird.

-xtabber (July 03, 2013, 03:31 PM)

he's already gotten more birds than he can poke a stick at

[cranioscopical]

I put the nicest of them on display when we have a shindig. I like to put on my best party flock.

You could trade in your smartphone for the new Galaxy S4 Zoom and replace two stones with one bird.

-xtabber (July 03, 2013, 03:31 PM)

he's already gotten more birds than he can poke a stick at

-Target (July 03, 2013, 05:58 PM)

[cranioscopical]

Thanks for the link 
I'm not blown away by the quality of sample images.
Plenty of noise in there. (Rather like my parties, now I come to think of it.)

You could trade in your smartphone for the new Galaxy S4 Zoom and replace two stones with one bird.

-xtabber (July 03, 2013, 03:31 PM)

[tomos]

is this the same camera?

-tomos (July 03, 2013, 01:36 AM)

Close enough. Thanks for the link. Having tried one now, I'm not sure that I agree fully with the reviewer. Does one ever?

-cranioscopical (July 03, 2013, 03:04 PM)

it's also possible there's a newer model out. The zoom is very impressive. And, if you take all their cons (in all their reviews) into account, you'd never buy a camera ;-)