Samsung SL420 Review

The Samsung SL420 features a 10.2 effective megapixel 1/2.33" image sensor behind a Samsung-branded 5x optical zoom lens. The SL420's lens offers a 35 - 175mm equivalent focal range, a rather tight wide angle to a useful telephoto. Maximum aperture varies from F3.5 to F5.5 across the zoom range. There's no optical viewfinder, with images instead being framed on a 2.7" LCD display with 230,000 dot resolution.

The SL420's ISO sensitivity ranges from 80 to 1,600, with the ability to extend this to ISO 3,200 at a reduced resolution of three megapixels. The Samsung SL420 offers contrast detection autofocusing, with a face detection function. Unlike its sibling the SL102, the Samsung SL420 features true mechanical image stabilization - an important addition that's part of what Samsung terms "Dual Image Stabilization". The other half of the function is the Digital Image Stabilization function that the SL102 offers, which combats blur using the camera's firmware, automatically raising the camera's ISO sensitivity (and noise levels) as needed.

The Samsung SL420 has the ability to record movies in MPEG4 format, with an SVGA maximum resolution. The SL420 stores its images on SD or MMC cards, and derives its power from a proprietary lithium-ion battery pack. Connectivity options include NTSC / PAL video, and USB 2.0 computer connectivity of unspecified speed.

The Samsung SL420 ships from Spring 2009, and expected pricing has not yet been disclosed.