Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom

Summary

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom is a phone with camera hybrid[1][2] with a 10x optical zoom (24–240 mm 35 mm equivalent) with f/3.1-6.3 lens with built-in optical image stabilizer and a standard xenon flash.[3] It was introduced in July 2013.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom

The phone uses a Pega-Dual +XMM6262 SoC featuring a 1.5 GHz dualcore CPU.[4] There is a base model, SM-C101, and a variant featuring LTE 4G, SM-C105.[5]

Camera

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Its zoom lens with rotary knob

The S4 Zoom uses 1/2.33-inch 16 MP BSI-CMOS sensor and has both auto and manual camera control, and takes video in 1080p 30 fps (full HD) or 720p at smoother 60 fps.[6] The device can be categorized as a low/mid-end point-and-shoot camera.[7][3]

In one of the Scene modes, the user can set the exposure time, the ISO light sensitivity (up to ISO 3200), the aperture and the white balance manually,[8] which the main Galaxy S4 variant lacks.

It can record slow motion videos at 768×512 pixels at 120 frames per second, compared to 800×450 on the main Galaxy S4 and 720×480 on the Galaxy Note 2 at that frame rate. Slow motion video is recorded without audio track. One can also use the optical zoom while recording.[9][failed verification][8] While recording video, at any available resolution and frame rate, the optical zoom can optionally be slowed down, to avoid recording the sound of the Zoom Lens Engine.[8] This also applies to the succeeding Galaxy K Zoom.[10]

While recording video, one can also take still images with around 3.2 megapixels, but only up to 6 pictures during the whole recording, no matter the length or the size of the video, even if this video is paused. Samsung has not given a reason for this limit.

The S4 Zoom has a rotary knob ring around the zoom lens that can be used for optical zooming[11] and to launch the camera from a dedicated mode selector.[3] The rotary ring knob can mount some compatible ring lights for macro photography.

Screen

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The screen has the same specifications as the S4 Mini, with a qHD (not to be confused with QHD) Display with 960×540 Pixels and a pixel Density of 256 ppi.
It uses Super-AMOLED-Technology, like most of Samsung's mid-range or flagship smartphones. It is protected with Gorilla Glass 3,[12] unlike the Gorilla Glass 2 used on the Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy S4 Active. The Galaxy S4 (main model) has Gorilla Glass 3 as well.

Galaxy K Zoom

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White colour variant of the Samsung Galaxy K Zoom

In June 2014 the successor to the Galaxy S4 Zoom, the Galaxy K Zoom model (SM-C115) - also known as Galaxy S5 Zoom - was released. It comes with a 10x zoom camera (24-240mm) with 20.7 megapixels, with Android 4.4.2. The Galaxy K Zoom also utilizes the letter 'K' for "Kapture" or "Kamera". Its slogan is "Capture the Moment".

Its removable polycarbonate rear cover has the same dotted pattern as the Galaxy S5, and it shares the same version of TouchWiz (Nature UX 3.0).

Although lacking 4K (2160p) video, it supports video recording with 1080p at 60 frames per second and slow motion 720p at 120 frames per second, the latter without audio.[10]

Its camera software features a "Pro Suggest" mode that automatically suggests the appropriate camera modes for the current scene.[13]

The K Zoom has 2 GB RAM, 8 GB own flash, microSD, NFC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, 4.8 inch 1280×720 px Super AMOLED (306 ppi), 6-core Exynos 5 Hexa (Exynos 5260) SoC, Mali-T624 GPU, 200 g and 20.2 millimeters at thickest point.[14][15]

It has additional camera controls such as the ability to separate focus and exposure areas.[16] A disadvantage in comparison to the S4 Zoom is that one can't use the Optical Zoom, while recording Slow Motion Videos. The new design of the K Zoom also removed the camera tripod screw thread and the rotary ring around the zoom lens.[10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Is It A Phone, Is It A Camera? No, It’s A Phamera! Samsung Unveils Its Jelly Bean-toting Galaxy Camera
  2. ^ Samsung Galaxy K Zoom review
  3. ^ a b c GSMArena Team (2020-05-17). "Flashback: Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom, the phone that was mostly a camera". GSMArena.com. Retrieved 2020-07-14. (retrospective review)
  4. ^ "Test by German Notebookcheck of Galaxy S4 Zoom". Notebookcheck. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  5. ^ "Samsung SM-C105 Firmware - Galaxy S4 Zoom LTE » Stock Firmware". Stock Firmware. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  6. ^ "S4 zoom specs". Samsung.
  7. ^ "Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom review: a messy marriage of smartphone and camera". July 12, 2013.
  8. ^ a b c Review and screen shots of the Galaxy S4 Zoom camera and video recording functionality by GSM Arena
  9. ^ but one can't actually record audio
  10. ^ a b c Review and pictures of the succeeding Galaxy K Zoom - GSM Arena
  11. ^ Review and photos of the Galaxy S4 Zoom by GSM Arena
  12. ^ Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom specification sheet on GSMArena
  13. ^ "Samsung Galaxy K zoom review: Zoom-zoom (Page 4: Camera features)". GSMArena.com. 2014-07-04. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  14. ^ "Samsung launches Galaxy K zoom in India". ABP Live. 8 July 2014.
  15. ^ Nick T. "Samsung Galaxy K Zoom is official: 20.7 MP, OIS, and 10x optical zoom in a stylish body". Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  16. ^ "Separating Focus and Exposure Areas: Samsung Galaxy K Zoom" — Samsung.com
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  • Galaxy S4 Zoom website
  • Galaxy K Zoom website
  • Retrospective review of the Galaxy S4 Zoom by GSMArena (2020)