IF time travel were real, and a person were to travel from 1995 to the present, I wonder what his first impression of the Samsung Galaxy Camera would be.

Back then, a basic camera was pretty much a mechanical box designed to advance a roll of film. In recent years, the camera has gone through a revolutionary metamorphosis. The Samsung Galaxy camera is of course, at the bleeding edge of this technology. It is a reinvention of the camera in the age of Android.

ON THE OUTSIDE

The Samsung Galaxy camera is rather large for a compact camera. At 128.7 x 70.8 x 19.1mm and weighing in at 300g, it dwarfs common cameras like the old LX5. Physically, it is not the most pleasing looking of gadgets.

In fact, it looks like someone has grafted a smartphone on the back of a digital camera. The materials used on the device are top-notch.

With only a few buttons on the device, it has a clean, uncluttered look. The shutter release and zoom controls appear to be metal. In fact, the body is mostly metal, including the lens, giving the camera a robust, solid feel but contributing to its weight. The massive lens dominates the camera and juts out a good centimetre when the camera is turned off. When unfurled to its full 21x zoom, it is simply huge. You could carry the camera in your jeans camera but it will leave an odd protrusion on your thigh!

The flash operates via a mechanical release with a spring setup. Press the flash button (again metal) at the side and the flash pops up faster than you can say "Cheese!"