Samsung F40 Ultra Zoom Camcorder

June 27, 2010 | By In Accessory |

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5 Comments so far

  1. Randel L. Averett on June 27th, 2010

    I like this camera, although I have not had much chance to use it yet. I like what I have seen so far.
    Rating: 5 / 5

  2. Sakura Sands on June 27th, 2010

    Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3SB4669D1SKRB I tested out the F40 camera today and I have to say I am not impressed. If I want to even make youtube videos with it, I will have to do it without the sound . . .
    Rating: 2 / 5

  3. Lloyd R. Drewett on June 27th, 2010

    I have several Samsung products so I purchased this camcorder thinking it would be another quality product. Used it it on a weekend trip as a test run for the family vacation and boy am I glad I did. The still pictures are horrible. I know it is only a 2.0 megapixel camera but come on, my Samsung Delve cellphone takes better stills and it is 2.0 megapixels also. Tried several settings but no improvement. Video is not very good either.

    Controls are nice and placed well, has a long battery life, and is small and lightweight. The memory card slot and power connection on the camera are upside down but it’s something you can live with.

    I MIGHT would recommend purchasing this camcorder for a young teenager but definitely not for average use.

    Customer Support was a joke. The website Customer Support form did not recognize the model number and it took over 36 hours before they contacted me. My first call to Customer Support lasted about 18 minutes and they didn’t have information on my camcorder so it was usless. Tried to submit a Service Request on the website but wound up having to call in to have the shipping label mailed.

    Trying to decide to send it in for repair or return it to Amazon for a refund and get something else. Will probably get the refund.

    Don’t buy!!!

    Rating: 1 / 5

  4. Charlie on June 27th, 2010

    Samsung F40 Camcorder

    Camcorders have evolved a great deal since their initial popularity in the 1980s. I recall when VHS camcorders were the hottest thing and weighed about 10-15 lb, had a lousy NiCd battery, and had horrible standard definition quality. As the camcorder segment evolved, digital cameras and smartphones have adapted with better optics, longer battery lifespans, and larger storage capacities. Even webcams have achieved 2.1 MP resolution, while cellphones/smartphones can have as much as 5 MP.

    The Samsung F40 isn’t one of the latest and greatest camcorders available. There’s no night vision, active image stabilization, long battery life, or high definition resolution. It’s only 1.9 MP, has a 4 hour battery life (which is pitiful compared to digital cameras with smaller batteries), clumsy viewfinder, awkward controls, very poor image quality (in video and photo modes), and uses RCA composite jacks to hook up to a television. About the only saving grace for this camcorder is its Schneider Kreuznach 52X optical zoom lens set. I’ve used cheap spotting scopes that were advertised as 60X and anything greater than 8x with those scopes was a blurry mess. The Samsung F40 at 52X will pick up flies and rust stains on a fence about 100-200m away.

    The optical quality is so good that I’ve been thinking about using the F40 as a spotting scope at the range. It can take still photographs and record video without switching modes, making it perfect to record groupings or 3-gun matches. There is zero to minimal chromatic aberrations at 52X zoom.

    The biggest drawback is the low resolution and poor battery life. Since there are no moving parts besides the lens, it seems unusual to have only 4 hours of battery life when digital cameras like the Casio EX-H10 are rated for 1000 photos in the CIPA standard using a small Li-Ion battery.

    The Samsung F40 uses SD/SDHC cards, and it requires about 1 GB for every 23 minutes of film time. A 8GB SDHC can hold 191 minutes of recording time or 6025 photos. The F40 does not come with a SDHC card and must be purchased separately! The SDHC card must be formatted via the F40 or else it throws a hissy fit.

    The lens motor is very quiet and is barely audible during the recordings. There is a standard tripod threaded insert on the bottom. There is no lens cap, instead there is an old-school shutter like the ones from old 35mm point and shoot cameras. The instruction manual/guide is useless and doesn’t explain the backlight and LCD enhancer features or the smart/auto setting. The lack of night vision is a big bummer along with the Standard Definition quality. HD quality with better resolution and 3rd generation night vision would have made the F40 a really awesome camcorder.

    Pros: Relatively compact, about the size of a thick digital camera. German optics at 52x is crystal clear, take photographs or videos without switching modes, quiet lens motor, takes SDHC cards

    Cons: Short battery life for a modern solid state camcorder (4 hours and change), requires opening the viewfinder to charge the battery (via USB or AC adapter), does not come with SDHC card, no night vision, no HD quality, poor resolution

    Overall: 4/5 stars

    UPDATE: Here’s why I feel the 4 hour battery life is kind of low. This is a 1.9 MP standard definition camcorder. Most cellphones have cameras that would put the F40 to shame in terms of photo/video quality. The webcam on my netbook has about the same quality, and has a 10+ hour battery life. My Casio EX-H10 camera is rated for 1000+ photos on one charge, and has 12.1 MP with HD quality video capability (16:9 aspect ratio as well), and has 10x optical zoom with the ability to fit into my shirt pocket. The only real saving grace for the F40 and other similar camcorders is the optical zoom capability and quality. Unfortunately, the videos and photographs come out very grainy. Had they been able to mate the 52x optics with decent capture quality, it would have been much better. I can’t wholeheartedly recommend the F40 especially when there are better digital cameras as the same price.
    Rating: 4 / 5

  5. G. D. Grubbs on June 27th, 2010

    Of course, this is not one of the top-of-the-line cameras that will cost somewhere approaching $1000, so we should not have expectations that are in that range. If one compares this to the Flip recorders, there is a distinct advantage. Not only is this camera extremely portable and compact, but it has a built in optical zoom of 52x (digital zoom up to 65x), and having used it, I can only say the zoom is amazing.

    Buy it with a 16gb SDHC card, and you get over 4 hours of recording time and battery life, which is not bad for a camera in this price range.

    Video quality is great, though I am not terribly impressed by picture quality (you can take still pictures, but that is not what this is for, in my opinion).

    Yes, it comes with PC software, even built in to the camera itself as well as a disc, but it does work with the software included by default on Macs.
    Rating: 4 / 5

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