You'd be forgiven for doing a comedy double take when you see the Samsung Digimax V4, as it looks like somebody has hijacked a camera from Sony's impressive Cybershot range. But it's certainly not a cheap imitation.

The main difference in feel between this and a Sony is the plastic case. It doesn't feel cheap in the slightest though; quite the opposite in fact.

At £350, this is a very competitively priced 4megapixel camera but the Schneider Kreuznach lens, range of manual settings and a 3x optical zoom don't feel like cut corners.

While these features may not set the pulse racing, they do look impressive on a camera that costs maybe £100 less than similarly specified devices from rival manufacturers.

The manual options on offer include aperture/shutter priority, fully manual exposure and even a manual focus for the masochists among you.

Point-and-shoot fans can snap and go as required but if you want to record your preferences, the 'My Set' mode keeps them to hand every time you take a picture.

A 32MB Secure Digital memory card is included (room for just two tiff images at the highest settings), and there's even a cigarette lighter charger for when you are in the car.

One of the more interesting features of the Samsung is the fact that it can be powered by up to nine different types of power cell, so getting caught without power should be a thing of the past.

On the whole, images are sharp. Colours are superb, but look closely and you'll find a lot of noise on dark images.

All in all, the V4 is a fine little camera. It can be a little fiddly and occasionally slow in operation but it produces pin-sharp results and comes in at a pocket money price compared to the opposition.

Contact:Samsung Opto-Electronics 020 8232 3280
www.samsungcamera.co.uk

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