SAMSUNG WB2000 / TL350 or SONY HX5V

updated 10-03-16 1:16
Life is full of tough choices...
The decision of SONY not to include advanced controls in the HX5 will drive several potential customers to other brands and got me thinking too.
Now what are the alternatives if you want to have full control but also want full HD video?

Well, that is simple, there is just one, the SAMSUNG WB2000 or for the USA the TL350.

A 2000 model in 2010?
It seems 2010 is not only the year of the exiting cameras but also the year of crazy model names what jump over several numbers and do not make too much sense like SONY H1 - H5 but HX1 and HX5 are two totally different cameras. Panasonic skips several numbers and renames the TZ for America.

Let´s get back to SAMSUNG. They often come out with interesting cameras but the mess it up with mediocre quality and stupid design and handling choices.
On the first look the TL350 looks quite interesting but there is virtually no info out about this camera. The camera at the PMA 2010 was just a concept camera, no actual shooting was possible. So up until now there is not even a pre production model out.

Now let´s see what are the differences between the two contenders

• a bright 3" AMOLED with great viewing angle and nearly 3 times the resolution of the HX5 screen, it uses less power and is more resistant.
  there is no way to change anything here, SAMSUNG wins 5
• 1080p, 720 p 60, 240 fps at 608 x 342 and up to 1000 fps at a tiny unusable resolution compared to 1080i. The 1080i does not look good in players who do not deinterlace the video. Splash Lite does a great job here and converts into 1080p very nice. The high speed mode is interesting but mostly limited to 720p 60 fps and 608 x 342 240 fps but after that is is just to low res for my taste.
  could be done with a firmware update but SONY does not add features to P&S later, SAMSUNG wins 5
• the possibility to snap a picture while shooting a video (no info if the video is interrupted, but I think it will as with the Canon), not possible with the HX5
  could be done with a firmware update but SONY does not add features to P&S later, SAMSUNG wins 5
• full manual mode with with RAW to the HX5 pseudo manual mode with two ND filters to choose from. I do not know if Samsung has a real multi blade aperture build in or also uses ND filters
  could be done with a firmware update (Canon added a very limited RAW later to the SX1) but SONY does not add features to P&S later, SAMSUNG wins 10
• full control over contrast, sharpness and saturation on a sliding scale where the HX5 has nothing
  you can do these tweaks easy in post processing, SAMSUNG wins in convenience 2.
• you can choose the quality of the compression in 3 steps, have a more modern snappier menu system also with a skin smoting beauty shot function.
  could be done with a firmware update but SONY does not add features to P&S later, SAMSUNG wins 2
• time lapse photography, which lets you mount the camera on a tripod and set the time interval between shots, number of shots to be taken, and the starting time.
  If you ever seen the Galactic Center of Milky Way Rises over Texas Star Party from William Castleman on Vimeo you know it it a gorgeous feature to have.
  could be done with a firmware update but SONY does not add features to P&S later, SAMSUNG wins 2
• Picture Effects: sketch (which turns the image into a line drawing), anti-fog, soft, vivid, forest, retro, cool, calm, black and white, and negative, plus the option to tweak red, green and blue levels individually (some Sony camera owners would love to have the last function)
  could be done with a firmware update but SONY does not add features to P&S later, SAMSUNG wins 2
• a real full size HDMI port behind a sturdy hinged flap, HX5 a HDMI SONY dongle and an unprotected connector.
  there is no way to change anything here , SAMSUNG wins 3
• a slim 22 mm - 0.8" to 29 mm - 1 3/16" (TX7 18 mm)
  there is no way to change anything here , SAMSUNG wins 5
• 5x zoom with a fast wide angle and a slow tele 2.8-5.8 HX5 10x 3.5-5.5
  there is no way to change anything here, SONY wins 7
• take 6 pictures and the camera combines them to a panorama (I presume), HX5 intelligent sweep panorama
  The sweep panorama is a good feature but the result is often sadly a very basic quality what is not as good as a picture shot in the same resolution. It is screen and small print only.
  For a quality panorama (with a 28 mm lens) you still need to take 6 shots for 180 - and 12 shots for a 360 degree panorama. So if Samsung takes 6 pictures than this looks more like a different more HQ approach, but so far this is just a speculation. If my presumption is true, Samsung wins in quality here. No rating until I know more.
• optical and digital shake reduction , HX5 optical shake reduction and the very powerful active mode what should be the best image stabilisation on the market today
  according to Tom the Active mode is very good, SONY wins in video mode 5
• NO GPS NO compass
  you need to add a gadget for around $50 to get that function, SONY wins 10
• NO HDR mode
  could be done with a firmware update but Samsung does not add features to P&S later. If you shoot HDR seldom it is quite easy to do this manual with 3 shots in exposure bracketing and combine in a more powerful software where you decide how it will look. SONY wins 2
• NO Hand Held Twilight
  could be done with a firmware update but Samsung does not add features to P&S later, so you will need a tripod here to simulate this feature with not moving objects. SONY wins 5
• NO Anti - Motion Blur
  could be done with a firmware update but Samsung does not add features to P&S later, so you will need to crank the ISO up to 1600 or 3200 here to simulate this feature with moving objects and use a noise reduction software later. SONY wins 3

I created a rating what is important to me an how important it is. 10 points = essential, 5 to 8 = important, 2 to 4 = nice to have
So the SAMSUNG collects 41 points and the SONY collects 32 points.
Now, do you own rating.

So is the SAMSUNG TL350 / WB2000 the better camera?
Depends, if you want full manual control, RAW, a very good screen, a very slim camera, want to take a picture while in video mode, want to control contrast, sharpness and saturation in the camera, slow motion video, maybe the better panorama mode but we need more info about that, a covered full size HDMI port
or
want more than 5x zoom, HDR, HHT, AMB, GPS, sweep panorama, the most effective anti shake mode

The lens and the (now updated) design was already used in the TL320 or WB1000, so just find the reviews like the one from TR and you get an idea about the lens and the handling.
"The Schneider Kreuznach lens is exceptionally good, with superb corner-to-corner sharpness, good contrast and no barrel distortion even at the 24mm wide angle end."
The most info I found so far are here and here and if you think that TL320 is just like a miniDSLR then you might be from Korea

So if you torn between the SONY HX5V and the SAMSUNG TL350 / WB2000, welcome to the club.

Oh and if SAMSUNG would have been clever, they would have put these features in Samsung HZ35W with the 15x lens plus GPS and would have made a HX5 killer.