Samsung HMX-R10

Still Features (13.36)

Since the Samsung HMX-R10 can take native 9-megapixel still photos, it is no surprise that the camcorder is also loaded with still features. The R10 offers manual ISO control for photos, a built-in flash, two continuous shooting speeds, bracket shooting, a self-timer, seven still image size options, and three photo quality settings. The maximum photo resolution for the R10 is 4000 x 3000, which is 12-megapixels. Photos taken at this resolution, however, are interpolated because the camcorder's effective pixel count for still photos is just over 9-megapixels. This means the 12-megapixel photos really won't be any higher quality than the 9-megapixel ones, they'll just be larger, blown-up images.

The Mode button switches from video to photo mode.		The built-in flash has a lot of settings.

You can take photos with the R10 in video mode, but the image will be the same size as the video you are capturing (1920 x 1080 if you're shooting Full HD). Switching the camcorder over to photo mode (by pressing the Mode button) gives you far more still image options. Here, if you go into the menu system, you can adjust photo size and access the camcorder's plethora of still features. All the manual controls that are available in video mode are also located here—shutter, aperture, exposure, and focus adjustment. There area also a couple of controls that are available only for photos. You can set ISO levels (from 50 - 32000), turn the Dynamic Range feature on and off, and use a 2-second or 10-second self-timer. The 10-second self-timer is also available in video mode (but not the 2-second one).

The camcorder's built-in flash has a number of settings. There's a Red-Eye reduction option, a mode called Fill-In that forces the flash to fire regardless of the light conditions, and a Slow Sync setting for using the flash with slow shutter speeds in low light.

There are a couple of continuous shooting modes available on the HMX-R10. There's regular Continuous Shot, which can be set to Normal or High Speed. With Normal mode the camcorder takes roughly one photo per second (for as long as you hold down the shutter button). High Speed allows for roughly seven images per every three seconds. There's a Bracket Shot function that takes five photos, each with a different brightness setting, when you press the shutter button.

Strangely, Samsung moved and renamed the R10's touch-point focus feature in photo mode. It is called Magic Touch in photo mode and has its own menu option, while it is simply located under the Focus menu in video mode (and called touch-point focus). Magic Touch does exactly the same thing as touch-point focus does in video mode—it allows you to touch the portion of the screen you want to bring into focus.

The HMX-R10 has an interesting Interval Record option that allows you to create stop-motion video by setting the camcorder up to record single frames at various intervals over long periods of time. You can read more about this feature here.

The Photo Mode menu		The Playback Menu in Photo Mode

Still Colour (11.63)

So, the HMX-R10 is loaded with still features and can take native 9-megapixel still images, but how did it do in our actually testing? The answer is, quite good. For starters, its colour error was a very strong 3.01, which is better than the camcorder did in our bright light video testing. It also measured a saturation level of 91.63, so the colours are quite vivid and have some pop. (More on how we test still colour.)

The still photography colour error map: the length and direction of each line indicates how the camcorder processed each particular colour.

Above, you can see the camcorder still had trouble with orange and yellow tones, but everything else in our still image testing was very accurate. Below, you can see that the R10's still image is a bit overexposed, just as it was in our video testing. This gives parts of the image a washed-out look compared to the deep, contrasted image from the GZ-X900 to its right. All the camcorders below have good colour accuracy in their still images, although the Samsung R10 and the Panasonic HDC-HS20 were slightly ahead of the pack.

Samsung HMX-R10 Still Colour Comparisons
Samsung HMX-R10	JVC GZ-X900
	Takes 16:9 stills only
Sanyo VPC-HD2000	Panasonic HDC-HS20

Still Noise (6.35)

The HMX-R10 averaged 0.7% noise in our still image testing. This is a decent showing, but we expected slightly better results considering the camcorder produced roughly the same amount of noise in our video testing (0.73%). Still, it is a better score than the JVC GZ-X900 managed (1.2% noise). The Panasonic HDC-HS20 had the least amount of noise in its still images (0.39%), but it only takes photos at a 1920 x 1080 resolution (1.2 megapixels). (More on how we test still noise.)

Still Sharpness (8.17)

Still sharpness is the most important test for determining still image quality. This is the test that shows how crisp and how much detail the camcorder will be able to capture with its still images. Since the R10 can take native 9-megapixel photos, we had high expectations for this test. The camcorder didn't disappoint—it managed a horizontal sharpness of 1755 lw/ph with 0.1% undersharpening. Its vertical sharpness was even better, coming in at 1928 lw/ph with 14.3% oversharpening. These numbers are very good for a camcorder and they approach the capabilities of an entry-level digital camera. The GZ-X900 is also billed as having true 9-megapixel capability, but it did slightly worse than the R10 in this test. The best showing in our still sharpness test comes from the Sanyo VPC-CG10, however.  (More on how we test still sharpness.)

We tested the HMX-R10 using both its native 9-megapixel mode (2456 x 2592 resolution) and its interpolated 12-megapixel option (4000 x 3000). Since the 12-megapixel mode is interpolated, the images captured at that resolution didn't have better sharpness than the 9-megapixel pictures—they were just bigger when viewed on a computer at full size. We recommend using the 9-megapixel mode to get the best quality images from the Samsung HMX-R10, as it is the highest native resolution offered on the camcorder. See the Still Features section earlier on this page for more information about native and interpolated resolutions.

Samsung HMX-R10 Comparisons
JVC GZ-X900	Sanyo VPC-HD2000	Canon HF S100