The Digimax i5 ($350) is Samsung’s entry into the very crowded ultra thin camera market. The i5 features a 5 Megapixel CCD, 3X optical zoom lens, large 2.5″ LCD display, and VGA movie mode. If that sounds like every other cameras in this class, you’re right.
Camera performance was just okay. Start times were just under two seconds, which isn’t as fast as most of the competition. The camera focuses quickly enough in good lighting, but it was horrible in low light conditions, despite having an AF-assist lamp. The i5 also had noticeable shutter lag, and I don’t know why Samsung even bothered with the continuous shooting mode.
Photo quality was generally very good, with my only complaints being the somewhat soft images at default settings and above average noise levels. As you’d expect on a camera like this, redeye was a problem.