Lens jams easily - Avoid this one!

I normally like Samsung products, but I can't recommend the Samsung S860 digital camera.  Yes, it's pretty and comes in lots of colors, but cameras should be made to take great photos, not be looked at.  This one is just not built that well.

The main problem is the lens.  Whatever Samsung did when designing the lens for this camera, they should take not of and never do it again.  I have seen dozens of these with jammed lenses and slow operating lenses.  The lens seems to be especially susceptible to dust and lint.  It seems that the motor and gears that drive the lens are just too weak to work reliably.  It seems that sooner or later, you will have a stuck lens no matter how you try to take care of this model.

The funny thing is that Samsung seems to have gotten everything else right in this low cost, high quality camera.  Photos are very good, the LCD display is nice-sized, the feel of the camera is good, and they even went with using standard AA batteries rather than those "special" (expensive) batteries that other brands insist on using.

The problem is that it doesn't matter if everything else is perfect if you have a poorly designed lens.  After all, that's what takes the picture.

Sorry, Samsung, I can't recommend the S860!