Digital Trends

Samsung TL34HD November 4th, 2008 | by David Elrich

Features and Design

The TL34HD is definitely pocket-sized, easily fitting in the palm of your hand or slipping into a jeans pocket. Available with different color accents (black, red) on a silver body or in all black, the little digicam has a clean, sophisticated look. It measures 3.74 x 2.34 x .78 (WHD, in inches) and weighs 5.8 oz fully-loaded with battery and card.

The following tour is going to be quick though, since aim-and-forget cameras aren’t loaded with controls like D-SLRs—especially this one with a 3-inch touch screen that handles most of your adjustments. On the front is a 3.6x Schneider Kreuznach zoom with a focal length of 28-108mm. This type of wide-angle is more common today in models such as the popular 10MP Canon SD880 IS ($299), a trend I heartily endorse since you can take bigger group shots, interesting portraits and dramatic landscapes. (You give up a bit on the telephoto side but it’s a worthwhile tradeoff in my view.) Beyond the lens with its automatic cover are a remote control sensor and AF Assist lamp. A few unobtrusive logos dot the faceplate along with a raised notch that helps you steady your grip.

On the top is a mode dial, shutter and power buttons and a pop-up flash; five pin holes next to the power button make up the speaker array, if you can call anything this small a real speaker. A tiny stereo mic is located on the left side. The mode dial engages the main settings: Auto, Program AE, Manual, Dual Image Stabilization, two scene modes (night, beauty shot), Scene (to access more scene options), and Movie. We’ll get into more of this when we start using the touchscreen. Since I like cool lights, I should point out that when you hit the power button, it gets surrounded by a blue halo. Neat.

As you’d expect, the rear is dominated by the 3-inch touchscreen, which is rated a satisfactory 460K pixels. It’s not the 921K found on better D-SLRs, but it works well, even in direct sunlight. In addition, there are only four buttons on the right side—zoom in/out, menu and playback—about as uncluttered as you can possibly get.

On the bottom are the tripod mount, battery and card compartment as well as USB-A/V port. Samsung supplies a cable that connects to this jack that charges the battery with a supplied AC adaptor, or it can be connected to your computer for video and image downloads. Mind you, Samsung touts the high-def recording capability of this camera, but you’ll note there’s no HMDI connection. In other words, surprise! You have to buy a dock with an HDMI out for $79.95 to get the full benefits of HD (an HDMI cable comes with it, thankfully). That said, Sony does the same thing, so don’t jump on poor Samsung for dipping deeper into your wallet. And realistically, there really isn’t anywhere to put even a mini HDMI out on such small cameras. Just realize this is going to set you back more than the $329 list price to enjoy high-def videos.

What’s In The Box

It’s a pretty basic kit: You get the camera; a rechargeable battery; an AC adaptor/USB cable; A/V cable; strap; 19-page (in English) Quick Start Guide; and a CD-ROM with Samsung Master software as well as the full owners manual. Master lets you handle and edit stills, and the QuickTime Player lets you watch HD videos, but that’s it. If you really want to edit in depth, consider the new Adobe Photoshop Elements 7/Premiere Elements 7 bundle.

After charging the battery and popping in a 4GB SDHC card, it was time to hit the brisk fall air…

Image Courtesy of Samsung