Korean giant coming on very strong
(by Conrad H. Blickenstorfer)

Within just a few short years, Samsung went from being a Korean company largely unknown outside of its own borders to a global electronics giant, one that increasingly comes up with the latest and coolest products. And that include cameras. Interestingly, those who think that Samsung doesn't have a photographic history are wrong; they've been in the photo business since 1977, over a quarter of a century. They produced a number of fine 35mm film cameras, then began pushing the technological envelope with the world's first 4X zoom camera, the smallest 2X zoom camera, and then got into digitals.

Today, Samsung offers a dizzying variety of digital cameras which they group into an "advanced," a "prestige" and a "premium" series.

The Advanced series includes the inexpensive Digimax GX-1S digital SLR as well as the Pro 815 with a huge 3.5-inch LCD and the world's longest optical zoom (15X).

The Prestige series includes a wide variety of Digimax cameras in various styles anc colors. Samsung's nomenclature is somewhat confusing, but at least the numerical part of the name usually indicates the number of megapixel. An "i6" means we're talking 6-megapixel whereas a "V800" most likely has 8-megapixel.

The Premium series again includes a large number of models, and it's not immediately obvious what differentiates them from the "Prestige" models. Again, the number in a model's name almost always refers to the megapixels. Other than that, whatever your preference may be, Samsung likely has something for you.