Samsung HMX-F90 Camcorder Forgets Convergence And 1080p

What's that you say, you want to capture moving pictures but not with too much quality? Well step right up, sir, and take a gander at Samsung's new HMX-F90, promising the simplicity of a standalone camcorder and the head-scratchingly-confusing absence of resolution higher than what you'd expect from a mid-tier smartphone. That's right, the HMX-F90 tops out at 720p HD, rather than the 1080p we're more used to seeing, though you do at least get a whopping 52x optical zoom for your money.

Samsung's decision to shoot at lower resolutions isn't particularly explained by the company – there are 480/60p modes too, with files grabbed in MP4/AAC format – with an emphasis on ease of use pushed instead. So, there's onboard video editing that allows multiple clips to be joined together simply by tapping on them, and Smart Background Music to automatically add audio.

Once you've finished editing up your simplistic masterpiece, there's a "One Touch" share button. Unfortunately, the HMX-F90 lacks any sort of wireless connectivity, unlike Samsung's Galaxy Camera, and so pressing that button basically just adds the clip to a queue of priority uploads that are automatically pulled off the camcorder when you next plug it into your PC via USB.

5-megapixel stills are also supported, and there's a compact 2.7-inch TFT LCD display and digital image stabilization, along with an HDMI output. Storage is courtesy of an SDHC/SDXC memory card. Samsung isn't saying how much the F90 will be, but it's worth noting that its F80 predecessor has a street price of around $140.