And Zoom the world
Weird weather: going from infernally sunny to raining apocalyptically. You should see the skies, man. Payne’s gray, burnt sienna, whoa is that Naples yellow?… all the Renaissance colors in one’s cache of Pébéo oils. Sometimes, the colors mutate so quickly that as you reach for your SLR (I have one and it’s broken that’s why it takes a couple of seconds to function), that celestial abstract is gone. Indigo, indigoing, indigone ( — Tom Robbins). Never to return.
What if you had a mobile phone that has a kick-a$$ camera function? One or two clicks to get to the camera mode, take a series of snaps, and then marvel as the pictures do justice to what you have witnessed. That is even before you get to the editing mode.
What I have in my hand is the Samsung Galaxy K Zoom, a new camera-specialized smartphone. It features “effortless capturing ability, real optics, and a premium design, offering users the mobile solutions they need with the ability to create professional-quality visual content in a fun, easy–to-use device.”
Candy delos Santos, Samsung digital imaging product lead, explains, “Sharing of photos has increasingly become part of our daily lives, however, there are still photography needs that consumers want to get out of their smartphones, and this is the very reason why we are introducing the Galaxy K Zoom.”
This is to meet the discerning demands of Samsung consumers, she adds. “The new Galaxy K Zoom empowers users to capture everyday moments extraordinarily, with the convenience and connectedness of a Galaxy smartphone — a truly unique all-in-one mobile experience.”
That’s what I was saying about texting someone in one moment and then seeing the skies turn into a J.M.W. Turner painting in the next (like some cosmic reckoning). The Galaxy K Zoom offers an advanced technical camera system designed to offer the control and functionality of a professional camera, “ensuring that the consumer, as a storyteller, never misses important moments and captures them with complete clarity.” As Rod the Mod once sang, “Every picture tells a story, don’t it?”
Here is the tale of the tape: The Galaxy K Zoom is equipped with new retracting lens technology that provides 10x optical zoom in a remarkably slim body. Other notable features include the 20.7 megapixel BSI CMOS sensor for ultra-clear, ultra-detailed images. It excels in low light conditions, and provides Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) to reduce blur caused by movement.
These specifications ensure the device delivers pictures and video (full HD) that are crisp and sharp, even when zoomed and in low light. In addition, the device’s Xenon Flash provides a brighter light than a regular smartphone’s LED flash to improve the quality of the image with natural brilliance.
The new device also integrates the most advanced camera usability features and functions, including AF/AE Separation (Auto Focus/ Auto Exposure Separation) for the precise balance of light and clarity, next-generation Pro Suggest mode which offers live optimized filter settings, Selfie Alarm that allows users to take timed selfies with ease. (Hey, that’s perfect for a girl I know who lives her life around selfies, food shots, shoe shots, and selfies masquerading as “charity” work). There is also object tracking for a clear, focused shot of a moving subject. Each feature comes with a simple user interface, allowing users to easily capture photos and videos with groundbreaking quality, in any situation. Sunny, rainy, or sunny and rainy at the same time.
We asked our friends at Samsung what makes the K Zoom different from other Galaxy smartphones. The answer: the company worked on making the body of the smartphone much thinner and more ergonomic for consumers (more of a smartphone build vs. S4 Zoom which looks more like a camera), it’s also a better performing smartphone vs. its predecessor — hexacore processor (vs. dual core of S4 Zoom), LTE (vs. 3G S4 Zoom), bigger 4.8” screen size (vs. 4.3” of S4 Zoom).
What I dig about the K Zoom is the Pro Suggest feature. I went in and around the house looking for objects that I find difficulty in photographing: paintings (the oil finish reflects light, same with gloss varnishes), guitars (there are many fine details in a guitar that get blurred when using an inferior camera, plus you’d want the tortoise pickguard on a sunburst Fender body to really pop out), and toys (the details and finishes of those Hot Toys and McFarlane ones are boss).
I had a field day, I tell you. Even the grooves on ’70s-pressed vinyl records (the kind you buy at Vinyl Dump in Cubao X — I love this shop) were captured in detail by the K Zoom.
I tried modes such as Action Freeze, Macro, Surround Shot, Light Race, and Continuous Shot. I had fun also with the filters — Sunny Day, Warm or Bright Colors, Halogen Light, Color Transformation, X-Ray. The user can go journalistically to artistically in a couple of presses.
I haven’t gotten around to uploading those shots on Instagram just yet (signed up for an account relatively late — the same day Megan Fox got hers… the only time the planets aligned for me and her). But just you wait. Meanwhile I will play a Peter Gabriel-led Genesis record on my old Technics SL-1600 and be Watcher of the Skies for now, the K Zoom within reach.
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The Samsung Galaxy K Zoom is now available in all Samsung authorized dealers nationwide.
