Since the ultra-compact dimensions of the camera are first of all: in width and length not larger than a check card, deep about 1 cm. One can confidently say that you can plug this camera in any shirt or trouser pocket.
For these dimensions (for me anyway) amazing, the camera primarily a 3x zoom (similar small cameras that I know, have since been able to come up with a fixed focus with no optical zoom). The lens provides the focal length 28-84 mm, especially at wide angle for me the next surprise: 28mm, thus has been able to come up no other digital Wunderschächtelchen that I had previously. In the translation for everyday use, this means that you can approach to about 5 cm to the subject and still receive a sharp image. This is really nothing with which one would have to hide ...
The camera also comes solid Therefore, the metal housing makes a good impression, the controls are easy to operate even for my sausage fingers despite the compact dimensions of the camera.
Equipment Fair offers a good standard ST30: image stabilizer, 17 manually selectable shooting modes, flash with "red-eye correction". The flash can also be used as a fill light, can also be used to slow sync. That the flash only something is good for relatively short distances of about 2 to 3 m, one must not really make the camera in its compactness reproach. More does not stop at such a pipsqueak.
For image quality: I can not festellen that Samsung supplies unusable images in SMART mode, quite the contrary. In most situations, it delivers just in this mode, for me the best results. I can not find that the camera paints over or signed or prone to supersaturation (with the exception of flash shots at night, because there are a quick bite or a reddish Weis). Also The camera is here for me in the normal range and can compete with my other cameras in its class without any abnormalities. I can not find that it consistently delivers fuzzy images also. Yes, there are situations in which this happens: the children run like lightning, the image is blurred. Or one photographed in a marginal situation as regards the incidence of light, the flash turns on automatically, the image looks too bright but that is for a camera this size. (Price -) simply class under. And the car speed camera can switch off and manually select a suitable Picture Mode you, you probably have to just experiment several times until it fits.
Highlight for me is the relatively good "reach" in terms of current consumption. Other cameras in this size usually work with two AAA batteries, which Samsung claims to have its own small but relatively powerful battery. The charge is carried out directly on the device (charging plug with a USB cable is included, Samsung has here its own device side USB standard, so that conventional USB cables are not connected to the device). Anyway, I've geknippst in SMART mode about 300 images in different situations until the battery was flat (my other cameras just keep half through). Clear: This will change when you turn on the intense flash, which I have not done in this case.
The only point that I noticed is negative, the movie function. Here, the ST30 provides only VGA quality (at least 30 frames per second). Other cameras bring as even HD with, on the other hand "the ST30 stinks a bit off". Personally, I would therefore completely dispense with the movie function, the strength of the ST30 is clearly when photographing (10 million pixels long loose to fill an A4 page in a photo album with a razor-sharp image).
Not mentioned in the factsheet of Amazon, but perhaps still worth mentioning (and to see the product information at Samsung of course) is the fact that the ST30 a Micro SD card (guaranteed up to 2GB) or a micro SDHC (guaranteed up to 8 GB) needs to record their images. An internal memory does not bring with.
Conclusion: I think the ST30 is absolutely useful as snapshot camera, it provides in most situations, good images and really is a cute little thing that can amazingly much - filmed just not so hot.
