Camcorder Reviews

I have a Panasonic DV-51 (cool camcorder for beginner) and this bag is just the right thing for it. It has 2 front zipped pockets which can hold the cables and adapter/charger. You will have to squeeze in the tapes and extra battery with the camcorder. You can resize compartments inside the bag. This helps to make space for batteries, tapes etc. You wont be able to use this bag for Sony Digital8 camcorders as they are pretty big and will be the only thing which you can fit in the available space. I would advise against using this bag for any camcorder heavier/bigger than the Panasonic PV-DV51.

This camera bag is exactly what I needed. The design is not bulky, but slim, making the bag comfortable to tote on long walks. I use it as an accessory bag as opposed to a camera bag.
But this bag is well constucted, lightweight and looks good. It can serve as either a bag for a large camera and some accessories or the accessories themselves, such as conversion lens.

I'd been looking for an inexpensive bag for my new Olympus E-100 RS for a couple of months . Most bags were too small or too big for the camera. This one is just right. Very reasonably priced too.

I purchased this camcorder 8 months ago, 2 months ago I experienced snow flake effect when recording, I called Samsung to repair it they referred me to a local dealer the dealer was not able to fix it so I called Samsung again they asked me to ship it to NJ, for repair so I did, with charge for service repair and the cost of shipping I accrued from a lack of qualified Service centers locally. They have been holding my camcorder for one and half months. I have called them several times and even talked to the manager but I can not get a answer as to when I will get it back or other wise.

Product is defective right out of the box. Now I have to ship it to Samsung's service department to fix it. Poor quality control.

I got this Camcorder in Jan. of 2003. I use it all the time. I make music videos and short movies for leisure and they turn out great. I haven't had any problems. It works great on the computer too. Some of the reasons I got this camcorder was that it was cheap for some features like external Mic Jack and audio dubbing.

After being disgusted by how expensive digital camcorders are, I thought I'd give this model a try. I really didn't expect much given the price but I was blown away. I found the sound and color to be quite good, the zoom and autofocus excellent, and an excellent list of features and effects. The camera was very easy to use and even easier to hook up to my vcr (with the included cable). I was also impressed at how fast it charged. All in all, an excellent camera, especially considering the cost.

I got the samsung SCM 51 recently and love it. It's got great features for the price. This does not have a remote (SCM 52 and 53 does), but for the sub 200 price tag I don't think you will find a better camcorder. I wanted to use this for a couple of years till the digital technology comes of age. For starters, its a great camcorder. The picture quality is pretty good and the sound is great. You don't have to scream to be heard. The 22x optical zoom and the 440x digital zoom are outstanding. A great starters camcorder for the price. I would recommend this for anyone buying their first camcorder.

I've been using this camera for one and a half years now and works great. Easy to use and with a lot of features. I specially love the widescreen and sepia modes.

I bought this camera just a day before my trip to Alaska and it worked out great. Since there was not much time to read the thick manual, the controls were intuitive enough to operate. The video quality was great.
Pros:
- Great size. Very compact
- Great video quality with 2 Mega Pixals
- Easy to operate.

Cons:
- Still pictures come better in light. Not good if the light is less
- Red eye reduction does not seem to work well for still pictures
- In the video, the sound recording seem to pick up wind and other noises more than you actually hear.
- Some times still pictures are not in focus.

I would highly recommend this camera to anyone who is in the market for a camcorder. I purchased the optura 300 several months ago and have been utilizing it heavily ever since. The camera takes excellent movies of both indoor and outdoor events. I could not be happier with my choice. I did purchase a longer-lived battery which has worked out well. I keep the standard battery charged as a backup, but the larger battery has never died on me even during days that I shot a significant amount of footage.

I would like to point out of few issues I have had with it:
1) The instruction manual leaves much to the imagination, especially with how to download the recorded motion pictures onto a PC. There are many other gaps in the manual.

2) This camera is not for the technologically challenged. I would guess that this is not limited to this specific camera, but is an issue with the entire class of cameras. To burn DVDs and do any kind of editing, the user must have a video capture card & firewire installed on their PC. In addition, downloading movies onto a PC requires LOTS of hard drive space. I installed a 2nd hard drive for this purpose. In addition I needed to install a DVD RW drive so I could burn DVDs. I also upgraded my RAM. Although all of these are easy installs in newer PC's, it can be a daunting task just for a person to figure out what is actually needed not to mention knowing how to actually install it. Combined with shortcomings in the manual, I could see this being fatal for some users. If you are technologically challenged, I would recommend the cameras that burn directly to DVD.

3) At the extreme end of the zoom, the camera seems to have trouble focusing and is very shaky. This is not that big of an issue as long as the user keeps this in mind while framing the video.

4) I am not really happy with the quality of the still images captured by this camera. These images can be saved onto a flash card or onto the digital tape. With perfect lighting, the images are good, but I have found that when the flash is needed, the images are completely over exposed. The red-eye reduction feature does not work at all to reduce red eye.

Please do not let these negatives taint my review. I love this camera but I wanted to put all the issues that I have found with it out there.

I bought this goodie for less than $700 bucks from onecall.com, an authorized canon dealer so this qualifies me to a get a free 128MB SD card.
PROS: Really compact compared to lot of other cameras i compared with that had the same features, it really fits in my jacket pocket. Out door videos are amazingly great, had to be with 1.3MP of video quality, the other option i was looking at was sony 330 but that was way too pricey for me.
Still shots are exceptional although you cannot compare it with a stand alone digital still.
Menus are not complicated, even my wife can use it without hassels.
I had read reviews about the motor noise from the tape but i found that it had absolutely no noise when you record at the desired sound level in a quite atmosphere.
I know lot of reviews state that the microphone placement is bad as it sits right on top of the view finder but i didn't find this to be a serious problem as it picks up the subjects sound very well. The only problem with the mic placement is the sound variation when you speak vs. the subject speaking.
Zooming capability is amazing, the zoom is really smooth when compared to sony.
Image stability is excellent as long as you stay with in the optical zoom, once you hit the digital zoom(beyond 40X) you need to be really still, the manual provides you with few tips to increase the stability. Also, i rarely go to the digital zoom as 10X optical is more than enough for my use.
lots of predefined shooting modes.
This goodie provides a lot of digital effects.
The previous review said that s/he acciendtly recorded MPEGs instead of DV, but the on screen icons give you a clear indication of the media you are recording on, so no problem their as long as you see the on screen info.
LCD resolution is fantastic and i liked the fact that it is not too big, there by minimizing my battery drain.
The best feature i personally like compared with sony pc101/105/109 is that this one has all its control on the body, sony has a touch screen menu option and you could mess up your screen if you are not really careful.
Cons: The most outstanding problem i found with optura 300 is the low light recording. This provides 3 various low light recording but in the dark the super night shot mode any moving images create a drag effect and the recording resoultion is also grainy. Having said that the indoor + low light mode is adequate when shooting inside a home with no day light. The only problem is when it is pitch dark sony seems to be doing better.
Battery life is terrible, the battery provided with canon lasts 30-40 minutes, so i had to go in for an upgrade on the battery.
but i guess all camcorders have the same problem.
Overall it is a great camcorder for indoor and outdoor use.

The panasonic PV-L550 was our second foray into camcorders - our 1st JVC lasted about 5 years and this one barely two- it is not durable at all ; our JVC suffered through numerous impacts without incident but the slighest bump of the Panasonic sent it to be repaired twice. Also the EIS is a joke and never functioned correctly. Wouldn't recommend this one.

I just received mine today. Everything looks very good, BUT : 1. The image stabilization does not do anything. I went to Wallmart and tried all camcorders that had Digital Image stabilization - the Sony and RCA there was noticeble difference with it on and off. I tried another Panasonic there - there is almost no difference. If you could, play little exra money (like 100.00) and get the SOny one with SteadyShot and NightVision.

Yes this is my first camara. I love it though. I like having the little screen so I can watch the action live and on the screen to be sure I have the shot I want. I also like the small cassettes. They make it easy to carry around extra. There are many features on this thing that are nice to have for such a low price. The only thing it doesn't have is a remote, but you really don't need that either with the motion sensor on it. I chose panasonic because I have a boom box that they made and it is now 15 years old. I expect it to last even longer. Because of that I expect this camera to last longer then average with out any problems.

I received this camcorder as a gift, and although the footage I've shot has been good quality, I cannot download it on to my PC. I have a brand new PC and it appears the driver that came with the camcorder is not compatible with XP Media Center. I've attempted to contact Samsung to confirm these allegations but they will not return my calls or emails. So I've got hours of raw Mini DV footage that I can't edit on my computer. What's the point??? Needless to say, I'll be buying a new Mini DV camcorder soon, and it will not be Samsung. So far Panasonic has my vote.

This camera is excellent on those who are on budget and film mostly outside. Why do I say mostly outside? Because the video quality under low indoor light conditions is horrible. Incredibly grainy on shadowy indoor areas. You'll need tons of light indoor to eliminate the grainyness. Whats even worse is that even in medium indoor lighting conditions look grainy. This is because this camera has low Aperture (1.4) and that is the ability for the lens to pick up light. Camcorders with 1.6 and up look much better and they are more expensive.. go figure why. A good tip to follow is NOT to use DV TDK tapes in this camera as they almost always malfunction. The sound quality is nice and stereo, the picture quality outside is superb, and the features the camcorder has are great especially A/V/s-video IN to capture from other source. Night vision is cool, although short distance. I wouldn't rely on still pix they are low rez. The LCD is nice although the DPI is low. Another great thing is that it works with my Power MAC and there is microphone input although I 'm not sure if it is stereo or not.

I bought this camera by all the reviews I read and it seemded like a great buy. I am very happy with it but the extra expense of firewire and capture hardware was $65. Thought I'd be able to upload via USB. Only still pictures upload with the USB> Movies go vai Firewire. It was easy to install and very easy to upload and then you are watching it on your computer and not a TV. Other than the additional purchase of the capture card which I guess all digital camcorders require it is a wonderful unit and fits well in your hand!!

I love every feature of this camcorder with the exception of the fact I have Windows XP as my operating system and can't find drivers for it. Does anyone know of any driver updates from Panasonic?

Great product must buy, I have a query does any one know which external flash should i use.

I love this camcorder. The 20x zoom is unheard of. I got it for Christmas and I absolutely love it. For the money it is hard to beat. Although it is not perfect, it is close. THIS IS THE SAME CAMCORDER AS THE SONY DCR-TRV17. Only it is... cheaper. You will not be disappointed. The picture quality is great. It only weighs 1.5 pounds and with the 3" LCD that is a must for me. Enjoy

There are a lot of features about this camera that I like (alluded to in other reviews), but the vivid colours due to 3ccd technology is not one of them. I did a side by side comparison with my buddy's 3 year old Canon single-ccd and guess what? When played back thru his tv, my tv, my video projector, etc. his looked better. First of all, the resolution of the image seemed much better, and the colours were more accurate than my PVGVS70. For instance, we both shot a yellow sign -- it came out orange with the Panasonic.
Mind you, it all looks good on its tiny lcd screen (providing you're looking at it absolutely directly head-on.)
Also, as mentioned in the other reviews, the image stablizer is next to useless. Try full optical zoom and see if you can hand hold it -- hah! Makes the tele-macro function a waste of time, unless you're on a tripod. And furthermore, I see no point in the digital zoom function on any camera, let alone the PVGVS70 digital zoom which goes up to a whopping 700 X!! Even on a tripod, you can't get a decent picture at full zoom. It's all video pixel mush. Completely, utterly useless.
I am so disappointed, as I was hoping to buy quality at $1000 (Can.), and the 3ccd held out a lot of promise. Also the good reviews I've read here and elsewhere... but I think the positive reviewers haven't done a true comparison. Believe me, it doesn't hold up and I intend to return my Panasonic today.

I would recommend this product over the pv-gs120 as they took this camera and stripped it down to be able to market it at the $700 price point, you will not lose anything by getting this camera. As for the image stabilization, the newer models are not any better. The trick is that most of the time it will not work unless the following circumstances are met, the camcorder must have a direct light source (indoor rarely works for me) and the unit must be able to focus on an object. When the light is present, it engages and does a good job; otherwise, the display will just blink at you. Most reviews say "use a tripod," yea right! I did not buy this to put on a tripod or it would be a larger unit. I found outdoor use to be great (manual white balance as much as possible or you may get a Tele-Tubby world effect.) Pictures are average at best, but I did not buy this for the pictures (the flash is awesome, however.)

I bought this for less than half MSRP because it was last years model.

I'm new to the world of video but have a lot of experience putting complicated technology into people's hands. The GS70 is very nice to use out of the box. However, as you grow into it over time, it also has quite a bit of manual control for optimization. I agree in principle with most of the previous reviewers except that I havn't had any breakage or problems. This camcorder has great spectacular color. It may also have slightly lower resolution than some of the single chip Sony's I've compared it with. I prefer the overall quality of the Panasonic because of the beautiful color. It also held its own when I taped a stage performace at our church in low-light mode. If you read forums, you can do even better with manual settings. The GS70 also has both microphone and a headphone stereo jacks -- features absent from comparable Sonys (new 04 models) and very important to me since I use remote mics. Tape-Toploading is also very nice. I have uploaded the video and edited in Premier without difficulty. Sound is good to my ears. I think this is a great option for a hobbiest in the 500$ range. This camera is also small and light so you can take it with you anywhere. Batteries are small and last several hours. The manual is a bit on the arcane side until you catch on to Panasonic's format. The macro mode is very impressive. Bottom line -- Great color and useability with possibly slightly less detail in the images.

Be sure to buy an extended warranty if you plan on buying this camera. Mine broke just a few days after the incredibly short 90 day labor warranty (1yr. on parts though). One day when I went to playback some video I had shot, nothing showed up other than a blue screen. It wouldn't playback anything after owning it less than 4 months. Other than that, the camera seems to perform okay, although the motors in the camera are quite a bit noisier than other camcorders I've used.

Be sure to do your homework before deciding to buy this camera. If you want a comparable camera get a panasonic dv51 which in similar in price. I'd stay away from this one....

After spending several thousand dollars for a top of the line 8mm camcorder a decade ago only for it to become little more than junk today, I decided to buy only the cheapest camcorder that fulfilled my minimum needs. This Samsung SCD55 was it. The camera takes great amateur-grade video and is compact and lightweight enough to carry around on my hiking and climbing trips to boot. It's not as small and light as some other mini-DV models but doesn't cost as much either. The video lens is so-so and I bought a 0.6X wide-angle adapter for it. The video image quality is typically single-chip CCD quality with OK low light performance. My big caveat is that the included lithium battery lasts a marginally useful 20 minutes and the extra-life battery...runs just around 40 minutes - in that department I'm kind of jealous of friends who use the Sony Stamina battery based camcorders. For extended trips away from AC power to recharge the battery, I would NOT recommend this camera. Overall it's good value for the money and you won't cry too much a decade from now when it's obsolete.

I really like this camcorder. It was smaller than I expected which is a bonus. The picture quality is great, and unlike the other reviewer I found the indoor quality to be good despite my somewhat unlit apartment. It took me some time to figure our why the time and date stamp reset itself each time I turned it off. I soon realized that it had an internal lithium battery that had to be charged for 24 hours. Finally, the camcorder does not have all the special effects that I have seen on other camcorders, but I would not use them anyway. Essentially this camcorder is for those who dont want to pay for frills, but want a quality practical camcorder. Perfect for me!

I had this camera for little over a 1.5 yrs. It need repairs FIVE TIMES! The last three times it was sent in, the problem wasn't fixed so Sears let me trade for a newer version, VL-AH151U, free of charge. I didn't even need a warranty. GOD BLESS SEARS!

Its a very good camcorder, it has all options with the lowest price in the market. Since I leaved near a high voltage cable ligne, the picture copied from the camcorder to the VCR videotape was unstable, also if you record near any high voltage cable the picture will show instability.

This is my third camcorder. I have had a VHS camcorder it was heavy and had a little view finder. Then I had a VHS-C It was a little better. But It was still hard to use. You had to put the tapes into the tape adapter. It was hard to try to operate it and look through the viewfinder. I just bought this Sharp Viewcam and I love it. I have a lazy right eye and using the other camcorders I had to use my left eye. It was kinda hard. The Sharp viewcam I don't have to use just one eye I can use both. I can video tape and use the special affects without stopping and trying to find the right button. They are right there on the screen. And when I did playback throught my VCR the picture was great. I think I made a right choice. Because the Sharp viewcam is fun and easy to use. I a mom on three kids and I want to be able to catch special events. And I know with this camcorder I will have fun taping things the kids do.