Camcorder Reviews

It is too big for my Mavica

While it is recommended by Sony for the DCR-PC100 (and other cameras), this carrying case is too big

I have a Sharp VL-NZ105U. (Great cam by the way! Check it out!) This bag is PERFECT! Everything I need fits in, just the right way. No cramming, no cams sliding and banging around the corners. It's nice and very protective. Very comfy to carry around and most important of all: Quite stylish.

So style and efficiency. If you have a similar-sized cam go for this.

I received this camera as a gift last year in anticipation of the birth of our first child. It seemed cool enough. Native mpeg2 format, cool Java tools on-board, etc. Well, it's swell if you just want to jerk around with the camera, but there's no effective way to REMOVE video from the camera in digital format. The Amazon review talks of the ethernet connection. Yeeha. Guess what? No sound comes across with the ethernet connection. Additionally, the transfer rate is abysmal, even without the sound. So, you're left with the fabulous option of converting digital sound to analog and back to digital if you want to be able to get your video into a PC editor, or burn a DVD, or something crazy like that. Sony quickly discontinued this pile of crud and doesn't support it. There are currently no commerically available MD Data drives for your computer either. This thing is going on EBay asap. I, for one, will never purchase Sony again.

I'm impressed of the design. I like the ideal of using disc instead of tape form. Waste no time for rewind/forward. Of course, the function r veri limited. Perhaps Sony should seriously re-evaluate the next disc cam in the near future. Hope that they launch 2nd generation mini-disc cam have IEEE or usb support, lower the price of the mini disc. Current disc data allow only 20mins of visual recording r really short. I am convince the disc can be compressed to higher grade. Depending on Ethernet port r not a veri ideal. Feature r great but concept r still veri conventional. Despite of this, this set has the x-factor. Great for taking lots of still pictures..

This is an excellent video camera, ahead of it's time in some aspects. However, it has some downsides.

short recording time per disk
disks available only in few online outlets
no USB capability (has ethernet connection, but it's slow)
uses "quicktime" output for video clips
no "nightshot" capability
unable to move files from one disk to another (I believe Sony offered a patch for this, but I was unable to find it)

just to name a few

here's some of the good sides of it...

good resolution for video mode
seemless and static free slow motion
color viewfinder & large display screen
touch screen interface with video editor
ability to control each "track" as a file in moving it around in sequence
S-video output
compact size

I'm believe at the time this camera was designed, it was outstanding, but today and a few years later, there have been some advancements in video cameras. I certainly hope Sony follows up this camera with another that records on disk or mini-disc, I'm not a fan of video tape. Though it is superior in capacity. Sony had the right idea on this, they just need to catch up with some better options on new models. I don't think people mind sacrificing a little bit on size as long as it has the options we want.

This is a very inexpensive combination, but you get what you pay for.

I really bought it for the tripod, so I can't complain too much, and the tripod itself is moderate... Could be sturdier.

The bag, however, is WAY too small, and only has two pockets to place things.

I got this combo when I got my videocamera, and although glad to have them, I find them less than perfect. The tripod uses screws to tighten the several axes you can rotate your mounted item (whether still or videocamera), but it is way too stiff, even with the screws loosened, to pan very effectively. It may be a function of its being new, but I have had it for two months without a lot of improvement.

The bag itself can hold your camera and gear, but not everything you normally would need- remote, TV cables, charging unit, and extra tapes/batteries.

This would be hard to accept on its own, but as a free gift it is apparent why.

Like the previous reviewer, I also got this package as a free bonus for purchasing a camcorder. The product met my needs exactly. My tripod was easy to work with and functioned smoothly. Since my camcorder is a Mini DV camera, it fits into the bag very well and I still had plenty of room for cables, remote, charger and extra tapes. Getting this for free was great but if I had to pay the [low]price it would still be worth it, considering many other tripod/bag purchases can add up to over $100.

2 1/2 stars.. Good feel and Features saves it from a 2 star rating. With minimal low light performance, this camera would have been 5 stars.

I tried both this camera and the Elura 65/70 side by side. While I prefered the feel and overall features of the Optura, the low light is so bad on the Optura, that I ended up selecting the Elura 70. Overall, the Elura has better video performance for less money. And isn't video performance the top reason to buy a camcorder?

Low light is relative.. I'm talking regular indoor lighting, not near dark stuff. I tested it with 300 watts of artificial light ins a 25x15 room and the colors were dull/drab and noticably darker and less colorful than the elura. What's worse, as you lower the light, movement/pans of the camera leave echos of objects! Below 60 lux, the camera is pretty much useless without an accesory light. I find this unacceptable in a $899 camera. I will say that nantural sunlight does wonders for performance, but this only helps when filming near windows or in a sunroom and does nothing at night.

Don't even consider the night modes, they slow down the frame rate and look worse anything you would film in standard mode. And to those that may ask, yes, auto slow shutter is off(which i recommend for any Canon camcorder).

I think the cultrip is the RGB filter... which produces more accurate colors but decreases luminance levels. This is why single CCD cameras genreally use Complementary filters... and why if you want RGB, yuo should get a 3 CCD Camera. I suppose that Canon thought that the 2mp CCD would make up for this weakness. It doesn't. I would have loved this camera with a Complentary filter. I'll sacrifice a negligable amount of color accuracy in bright light for tolerable indoor performance anything. The truth it's hard to tell the difference in the colors, but it's easy to tell the difference indoors.. and indoors, it's brightness and Color that are so bad! The Elura 65/70 performs MUCH better indoors producing reasonably well at normal lighing conditions.. and even as low as 15 lux.

Still Performance is OK, but the overall quality isn't much better than the 1mp elura.. except that the pictures are 1623x1224 rather than 1280x960... While good for a camcorder, they are still no substitute for a digital camera. Don't buy either for stills! The Elura takes suprisingly good photos without a flash, but an external flash is available.

After trying both cameras, I loved the 30.. and it was difficult to part with it. I ran the same tests over and over, and even tried a different Optura, thinking that mine may have been defective.
The bottom line is: If these cameras were the same price, I would have taken the Elura... with the Elura being cheaper, it's a no brainer.

Good Luck

Optura Likes: Excellent auto focus, focus ring, overall feel of Camera is the best that I've felt. Integrated flash, 2mp CCD, Top Loader, Exposure setting.

Dislikes: INDOOR PERFORMANCE IS VERY POOR. Menu Dial is in awkward position. Price.

NOTE: Canon was SO close with this camera. I'm not saying it's not a good camera.. it's feel and performance are great.. it just performs at the bottom of the bell curve on indoor performance... even when compared to cameras half the price.

I recently purchased the Optura 30 at a local retailer after months of research. I must say that I am happy with all of the camera's features except the night mode, which was suppose to be improved. The Optura 40 has Super Night mode, but I haven't been able to find the camera in retail stores to test it out.

Aside from the poor low light feature, the Optura 30 is a great camera. It takes great digital stills (2.0 megapixel) and pretty good Motion JPEGs.

I recommend this camera!

Bought this at walmart, OMG, this pos sucks nuts. Its too flimsy. Everytime I press the shutter button the camera wobbles, so its useless.

I bought this tripod elsewhere for $8, and I still consider it the best eight dollars I've ever spent. I can tuck this tripod into my digital camera case and take it with me everywhere. No more propping my camera on top of my car or a rock, and living with the picture being at a slight angle. I've used it for two years, and some of the paint has scraped off but it still works as well as the day I bought it.

What good is an on-line store selling camcorder batteries if it doesn't list which camcorders the batteries will fit? Energizer obviously doesn't sell camcorders, so there's a necessary mapping of battery to camcorder and Sony for instance isn't going to list whic Energizer batteries support it's cameras.

This is one of the best batteries i have ever used. I recommend that you should buy it if you have the option. Will work for long time.

Pros: Small Format - That's it
Cons: Battery life, Low light video Quality, Ergonomics, Software
Recommended: No
It took me about 1 hour (!!!) to figure out how to hold this thing. The ergonomics are unacceptable. Either one finger is on the microphone or on the autofocus. 2.The battery life is about 1/2hour, I bought an additional battery (1 1/2hours) for [$$$] which boosts the price. But this new battery sticks out of the camera... 3. The Still camera (1 Megapixel) doesn't meet current Quality standards => you will need a additional digital Camera. 4. MPEG4 format, is so low in quality, that you can barely recognize anything. 5. You can't plug in a microphone, which limits the use of this camera. 6. Software that came with it is worthless=>get XP Moviemaker (free download at Microsoft) or Video Explosion (CNET Editors Choice). 7. If you shoot at night, the picture is grainy and low quality. Indoors you need a bright room to get good quality. 9. Camera has a lot of features that you don't really need (i.e. Transition features like fading). It's better to use Video Editing software 10. Viewfinder is black and white and too small to see anything. However you will probably never use it since the Color LCD does a great job. 11. Camcorder only comes with a 8MB Smartmedia card, upgrade to at least 32MB necessary => boots price 12.Summary: Buy this camera if you are a beginner or don't use the camcorder too often. Don't buy it if you have high quality standards. And don't think about using this camera for still printouts.

I bought mine from a different website, but since I have been a long time customer and user of of Amazon.com website, I thought of giving this review to aid other customers old and new. I have this mini cam for about a month now and I used it when I vacationed in California just last month. I never regret buying it. My family and friends have a great time watching our pictures on TV everytime we return from one of our siteseeing trips. I just give it a four star for now because I still have not use all it's features yet. There's just too many to read and install in order for me to fully utilize it. Overall, I think I got my money's worth. It's convenient and easy to use (the still and video cam only). It can get great pictures, and you can use the auto flash if the lighting is not good. The LCD monitor is not so clear on a bright day, but who's complaining, just delete your not so good shots and just keep the best. I haven't used the viewfinder that much since even in 35mm camera I find the viewfinder too small, I used the LCD most of the time. You just need to buy additional battery, which I did. I bought the BNV840 before but it weighs just the same as the camera itself, so I end up exchanging it with BNV312. Plus the former one needs a different charger which I have to buy separately. I will definitely recomend this with anyone. Also I bought a 128mb SD memory card in addition to the 8md that is included in the video package, though I haven't used up my 8mb yet.

Be careful when ordering thesses types of items. The product is sold to replace camcorder batteries. I ordered it, even though it said it was good for my camcorder, it did not fit. Speak with customer service before purchasing this type of an item. Save time.

This battery have been working good right off the bat. No one has this battery but AMAZON.COM and if you happen to find this battery, you will notice a...differents in price. Good Luck
SO far, so good....

We almost bought the PCV-L552 for its big view finder and 27x optical zoom, but after a lot of digging on obscure web sites, we found this older camera suffers from a dew detector light that goes off too easily, shutting down camera for hours. The PV-L424 just came out in 2004.

I think this camcorder is good only if u are after a really good LCD screen.It is pretty clear. It is a very cheap price.

Ok, i said to myself no light on the camera....so I'll just go out and buy one. This is my 1st camcorder purchase ever so of course i didnt realize that in order to attach a light to this puppy it needs an accessory shoe. Light is this little cam's best friend , because in low light situations...u might as well be filming behind a screen door.....because that is what the grainy imprint over all of my indoor footage looks like....well go out and buy 1 for yourself........enjoy!!!!!

Description and picture misrepresent SC-D303 (I think it's for model SC-D305/307 which isn't sold yet).
SC-D303DOES NOT have accessory shoe NOR video light.
"Standard light" is not a part of package.
There's no remote either.
It's a good camera, but not what's being described here in editorial or on most sites including Samsung which shows wrong picture too!!!
My purchase is going back!

The camera was great in every way,great picture, long lasting battery, light weight, easy to use, overall wonderful camera. I was just disappointed that the remote wasn't included.