Super zoom lens- long length
functions galore
almost bigger than my SLR

Samsung-what's a samsung?
spotty reliability

I have the ECX1, which is essentially the same camera, but bigger. The ECX1 is the original Porsche design and it is superb (when it works). What is the key thing for these cameras is the lens. The Schneider lens with gold-like coating is extremely flare resistant and is sharp even when zoomed out. Be sure to use fast film if you expect zooming. The lens is very contrasty and sharp. The colors are very, very saturated, but clean- very rare in any long zoom compact. There is some fall off wide open at the 38mm end, but I cannot tell the prints from an cheap SLR zoom lens (Nikon 38-80). It is really that good. Samsung mechanics are spotty so despite somewhat low prices, you get less reliability. This lens (like the Maxima 145) is in my opinion one of the most excellent compact long zoom lenses in the market. Not known because of the brand name, this camera can deliver picture quality. The modern Samsungs have won many awards in Europe. Look carefully at other "brands", many are made either by Ricoh or Samsung. The Schneider lens with coating is a superb feature for compacts.

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lens, features,control for a p&s

?fragile

Believe it or not, Samsung makes a lot of cameras for other brands- most notably, Rollei. I have the original ECX1 and must say that at 38mm it is a great f3.8 compact lens, with slight misalignment edge at wide open, but otherwise, it is very sharp with high contrast. At 140mm, it is amazing how much sharpness and detail is still there. My old 35-135 AF Nikkor doesn't have as much contrast at 135 as this 140mm (although it is a f5.6 max aperature lens). Except for a slight misalignment (lens) error, I cannot fault this lens. The camera has many features, most notably, exposure compensation of +/- 3.0EV, which is a huge range and does have an effect on results. I would definitely leave my SLR at home due to this many features. If I only needed a wide aperature lens with aperature control, then I would need my SLR...otherwise I think this comes close to matching the results (for a hobbyist, not a professional-duh). For some reason (very low flare or some other lens design), the results from this camera are somewhat amazing. I have shot similar shots with same film with my SLR and haven't been able to duplicate the color "glow" of this lens. In backlit scenes and when light is somewhat complex (when light seems to 'glow'), this camera can capture it better than any of my 'better' equipment. I should post some online. Anyways, this is a rare and very unusual camera (ECX1), has a great design (FA Porsche, no less), and the lens is pretty exotic for a P&S. A bargain if you could find it- the new one is silver, but still very hard to find in the United States. (Blurb:Samsung makes some Nikon, Pentax, Canon, and Fuji models)

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