The new Samsung NV24HD’s claim to fame is its wide 24mm lens, which makes it a digital camera that’s great for taking ­pictures of interiors, large groups of people and sweeping landscapes. If you do a lot of the aforementioned, you may consider the NV24HD. For everyone else, forget it.

Samsung’s original interface has you coordinating through menus as if playing battleships. But once the fun wears off, you get frustrated at the greater number of misses than hits. This was the first time in years that we actually had to reach for the manual. A closer look at the pictures reveals unacceptably grainy images ( even with plenty of light) and blurry corners (a consequence of such a wide lens). As for social situations, the camera is a total loser. Indoors, focusing is slow, and the flash takes an excruciating amount of time to fire and reload. The pain doesn’t last too long, though, since the battery life is mercifully short.

The bright side? A beautiful design with twin knobs that have the look of a classic rangefinder. Also, the camera shoots HD video at 1280x720 pixels and 30 frames/second.

Specs:
° B13,900
° 10.2 megapixels CCD sensor
° Scheneider Kreuznach lens. 24-
   86.5 equivalent, f2.8-5.9
° ISO 80-1600
° 2.5” screen, 230,000 dots.
° 145.5g
° 98.5 x 61 x 18.95mm