Review With its wacky analogue-style dials on the top for battery charge and memory card monitoring, the Samsung WB1000 doesn't initially inspire as a camera you might consider for ‘serious’ photography.

It's the second-cheapest camera on test, and despite that still comes with a proper manual mode, a 5x optical zoom - 24-120mm in 35mm terms - and 720p HD video recording.

But with the Fujifilm F200EXR snapping at its heels by offering similar resolution and lens specifications, the WB1000 needs to produce something truly special.

It's certainly a great camera. The test images it produced were generally excellent, and although the WB1000 was towards the bottom of the pack when it came to high ISO tests, it wasn't markedly worse than the F200EXR.

Sample Shots

Click any image for a full-resolution crop

In the finest pixel-peeping tradition, the FX200EXR appears to offer slightly better sharpness, but there's not much in it. Conversely, the WB1000 is the superior camera at its highest full-resolution ISO setting of 3200.

In use, the WB1000 is the more comfortable of the two cameras. Gently-rounded corners and a leather-style grip on the right-hand side make it easy to keep hold of, and it's nice and responsive in use. Its start-up time, around 2.5 seconds, was in the top half of the group, as is its top-quality burst mode of 1.2fps.

The Samsung and Fujifilm cameras make up the budget end of this group test, and both offer very similar image quality and performance. The Samsung is marginally better-designed, but when you consider that its rival is around £80 cheaper, there’s really no competition. ®

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