More basic cameras now come with wireless and longer zooms

Consumer Reports News: July 25, 2012 01:08 PM

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One of the complaints often made about basic digital cameras is that they lack the ability to wirelessly connect to the Internet to upload photos and video, the way smart phones can. But more models we're testing are including this capability, including some in our latest basic camera Ratings

For example, one of our newly tested models, the 16-megapixel Samsung WB850F superzoom (around $330, at right), has built-in Wi-Fi capability. You can upload your photos quickly to social networking sites such as Facebook, photo-sharing sites such as Picasa, and video-sharing sites like YouTube, and use Samsung's cloud service to back them up.

The camera comes with a feature called TV Link, which lets you display your photos wirelessly on an AllShare or DLNA-enabled HDTV. You can also wirelessly pair the Samsung WB850F with your smart phone and remotely control the zoom from your smart phone for, say, shooting a self-portrait.

Another wireless technology we're seeing in cameras is GPS, which can be useful for geotagging your photos. The GPS feature also lets you download maps onto your camera, so you can use your camera's display as a built-in map; both capabilities can come in handy when you're on the road.

The camera has more traditional photography features as well, including a very long 21x optical zoom. That's not the longest zoom in our Ratings—that belongs to the Nikon Coolpix P510, which has a 41.7x optical zoom lens. But for its size (the WB850F is only 1.4 inches thick and just a tad thicker than most subcompact cameras), it packs a punch.

For more on the Samsung WB850F, and other models, check out our latest digital camera Ratings. And check out our free camera buying guide for information on camera types, features, and more.

—Terry Sullivan