Digital-Camcorder Reviews

We bought the camera as a return from a major department store that had taken it back from someone who had bought it one day and returned it the next. Most of the attachments were still in their bags. We got a price of $300 because it is a closeout and it was returned.

The first thing I noticed is that you can't even charge the battery without reading the manual. While that isn't a big problem for some, I am sure that it would be frustrating for people who want to pick it up and play with it. I am a little concerned that the dc (power)attachment and the pc (computer)plugs are approximately the same dimensions and are both rectangular. They are not particularly near each other but with someone who doesn't read instructions and is prone to forcing things, something could get damaged.

You get an 8MB memory stick (upgradeable to over 128Mb) for still photos and very short videos but you need to buy tapes. Then you need to be sure that you select the correct recording media on the side of the camera.

The camera portion is 1MB resolution; hardly high quality clarity for a digital camera these days but the video will operate in almost dark conditions. You can send the signal from the camera to a VCR, a TV, or a Computer, so it is extremely flexible.

Overall, if you are looking for a vacation camera that does videos and will take snapshots, this is a good choice. However, you need to read the manual. There are 17 buttons and switches on the outside of the camera alone, so you can't just point and shoot out of the box.

The best thing I liked about this camera is price per feature. I got this camera few days back and have tried all the features in the manual. I am very satisfied with pretty much all the features. The still digital camera mode is ok. The quality is ok for pc application, but just ok for printing. I did not, however expect a lot for this price.
It has everything nite pics, dig effects, back light comp, stab comp, memory stick and a lot more. I am happy with it at this moment. This is my first samsung product so reliability and cust support is yet to be seen.

This camera is a good midline camera with a pretty good level of control in the manual mode and well automated in the auto mode. The DV port is the small 4 pin connector that ships with a lot of after market IEEE-1394(Firewire) cards. If you intend to capture the video off this camera onto your computer you need a FAST PC, I'd say 1.5GHz or better, and over 512MB of RAM with a fast hard drive with LOTS of space, it goes QUICK. Price/Value is good, and I'd buy again knowing what I know about it. The onboard light is very taxing on the battery and should probably not be used unless you are plugged in. Enjoy it. Its a good camera.

This battery did not fit properly in my Cyber Shot Digital Camera (DSC-S50) but it did fit nicely in my Sony Camcoder (TRV118). Really holds it's charge as I got a lot of time out of this battery. May even last longer then the Sony brand.
Would have given it 5 stars except for the fact that it did not fit in my digital camera correctly. I had to use a knife to pull it out. Overall, I am satisfied.

This battery is rated to last one hour 15 minutes of usage. However, if you use the digital camcorder's LCD screen at all, you can cut that time in half.

Therefore, unless you only record thirty minutes at a time, this battery probably doesn't have enough juice for you. I would recommend the CGRD16A/1B, which is about $100 bucks. That battery has about three hours rated usage, or 1.5 if you use the LCD screen. That is enough time for all but the heaviest user.

If .75 hours is enough for you, then this is a good battery that retains a charge well.

This battery may be a case of too much of a good thing. Unless you are a very heavy user of your camcorder, 4.5 hours (which is what you will get if you use your LCD screen) is probably more than you will need.

For half the price, I would recommend the CGRD16A/1B, which has three hours of rated usage, or 1.5 with the LCD screen.

If you need this much battery life, be aware that this is a big battery that will stick out of the back of your camcorder quite a bit.

That said, this is a very good battery that retains a charge quite well.

I selected this camera based on DV (of course), the 18x zoom, and "Analog In." Additional, "nice to have" features include IR shooting, and still camera mode. Be advised that while video performance is excellent, this unit is only an adequate still camera, and a low resolution one at that. Low-light performance is average - the inclusion of a small light is a nice touch. While feature packed, the menu system is a triffle cumbersome.

Minor annoyances - No tape included with the camera, no svideo cable, and a remote control is an additional purchase.

I am way impressed by the PC101E as this is my first handycam. Having upgraded from a Sony Mavica FD-7, this gadget packs more gimmicks than I am usually accustomed to. Below are the top ten features that I personally find interesting :

1. Got to be the USB streaming/webcam mode (do remove the cassette first, else it'll auto-shut off in 5 mins).
2. 10x Optical (420mm. With my 2x lens, goes up to 20x! 840mm)
3. Nite-shot mode (comes with built in IR booster light).
4. Bundled 8Mb memory stick (Good for 25 shots at a decent 1152x864 fine mode).
5. LP-long play mode on the MiniDV cassettes. 1.5 times longer recording time.
6. Time delayed recording mode. Good for those clouds moving/ flowers blooming footage.
7. Touch panel controls.
8. Backlight feature, brightens your subjects even more. Is not limited only to sunsets, use it anytime u need a bit more gamma in your images.
9. Remote control!
10. Comparatively cheap (RM3,600 is about US$950).

Followed by my top 5 complaints :
1. New 30mm filter ring. Sony just attempted to kill the filter market by introducing a new filter size. Luckily there is a thing called the step-up ring. Get a 30-37mm ring, and all your old 37mm filters are usable once again.
2. No still picture shots while using Color slow shutter/Super nite-shot mode. Deliberate design ?
3. No shoulder strap. Not even the holes for a shoulder strap. Plus the hand strap is not removable (unless forcibly cut off).
4. 5 hour(QM-71) and 9 hour(QM-91) LiON batteries looks and weighs like bricks! Effectively making your compact camera bags obsolete.
5. Digital zooms are not that useful. The results are so pixelated that I wonder whether the "120x" is just used to fool the consumer.

Overall I am still very satisfied with this Handycam. Ease of use, even for rookies, just plain point-and-shoot. Highly recommended.

The major draw back (other than the price) is the clip on the remote. It would have been nice if the remote itself was not on the clip. Other than that it is easy to use. This item coupled with a tri-pod, produce clear crisp pictures. The remote also allows the user to zoom in and out.

I have been very happy with the picture quality of my DSC F717. This remote helps to improve picture quality and allows me to utilize longer shutter speeds without distortion due to camera movement. I like the fact that even with the remote plugged in I can still use the controls on the camera.

We keep all our SONY's on one of these. We use them in our Digital Filmmaking workshops and our students love them. We paid $150 a couple of years ago. For the pro-sumer, this is a great buy.

The quality of the 26x zoom is incredible, and even the lower powers of digital zoom that this camera has are incredible. Imagine being able to clearly read 3pt type from 15 feet away on the viewfinder. And that's just the beginning.

Unpacking the box, I found out that I was glad that I'd purchased a USB smartmedia reader. The only cables supplied were the standard dubbing cables and a serial transfer cable. Standard serial transfer being slow as it is was not an option. That cable is now stashed collecting dust.

The camera was easy to set up and get running right away. I popped the 8mb smartmedia card in its slot, the battery in it's little hideout, and a new blank tape in the tape compartment. The single hardest thing was figuring out how to attach the lens cap to the hand strap. Velcro is your friend (the hand strap pad velcroes shut over the strap adjustment, by undoing the strap pad, you slip the cap cord onto the strap. A very neat, if unintuitive, design)

Still pictures: 640x480 is limiting, but I mostly use this for web work and don't like to publish anything much larger than this. I would like to have some extra area though to make sure I get everything and crop down. Quality is superb in good direct lighting, decent in low light or indirect light.

Video Capture: Surprisingly clear. The camera, as with all such devices, makes a good webcam if you have the right interface hardware. I use a WinTV card for vid capture and discovered that the 450 will 'follow' action around if you leave it still on the tripod. Good for those people with a cam setup that move around a lot. It will automatically pan within its scan area just a few degrees to each side, but enough, usually, if set up correctly.

VCR Mode: A neat feature that I was totally unaware that the machine had until I got it home. If you plug the 'output' ports in so that they're receiving information instead of sending it, you can record on the camera like a VCR.

All in all: I'd recommend this little cam. My only complaint was being limited to 640x480 on still pictures. Cabling was standard and not unexpected. Optics and zoom are exceptional, 26x optical zoom is a big plus. IR and zero-light features are great. Still pictures, though limited in size, can fit 500-1500 depending on quality on a 64mb SM card.

4 1/2 stars

If you are looking for a camera/digital camcorder that is in the ... range, this may very well be the camera for you ...In deciding which camera to buy, I initially shopped the Sony and Canon offerings but was dismayed by how quickly the price goes up when you start to tack on the features. That's when I saw the Sharp VL-WD450U. What a great price for the features that you get:

Its 26X optical zoom is much more powerful than that of most MiniDV camcorders, and its low-light performance is terrific! The LCD panel flips around so that your subjects can see how they look on camera, and the color LCD eyepiece viewfinder automatically switches on so that you can catch the action, too. The Gamma/Brighter adjustment button, which can fine-tune the exposure to brighten skin tones when they appear dark without changing the overall exposure level, is really a cool feature.
Plus the detachable microphone (it slides into a little slot on top; but you don't always need to use it because the camcorder also has a standard built-in microphone under the lens) has a highly directional pickup pattern and is less affected by the motor noise generated within the camcorder. And you can zoom in on points and the mic will only pick up sounds from that point and filter out other sounds, which is really neat!

Like Sony's popular Nightshot feature, this camcorder sports Super Cat's Eye, which lets you shoot video in complete darkness. But the normal shooting mode has excellent low-light performance too. Of course the camera allows you to take stills onto an 8mb memory card and download in to your computer. It also comes with the IEEE Link for downloads of video at over 400mbs! The camera comes with RCA-type jacks for video and audio, an SVideo Input/Output.

But what really makes the camera is its Canon Lens (which in my opinion makes or breaks a Camcorder). The Image quality is as good as the ... Sony and Canon Camcorders (don't let the 460,000 resolution fool you, it looks MUCH sharper than that).

So if you are not a professional and are just looking for a great deal on a Camcorder to take production quality home movies then this is probably as good as they come.

I was looking for a recorder specifically for doing two things:

1. Easily convert old VHS tapes to Digital format. If you have ever tried capturing analog video direct to a computer, you know it's not that easy. I wanted to let the camcorder do the hard work of converting and then just copy the video down digitally over a firewire cable.

2. Capture higher quality video for the new home movies I was making on DVD playable CD-Rs.

This unit did it all for me and I didn't have to break the bank. In particular I was happy that the unit had:
- RCA style Video In/Out so I can play from it to another source, or record to it from sometime like a VHS player.
- widescreen recording option
- remote control
- Digital still option. Though it's only 640X480, it's a nice option for when I don't have my regular digital camera with me.

Now I've converted a good portion of my old VHS home movies to Digital and to DVD (you need additional software and a CD Burner to create the DVD playable CD-Rs) and the new video I capture is of higher quality than the 8mm I had used for the last 10 years. It didn't even take me long to get use to the unit because much of the layout (recording button, zoom) are in the same spot as my old 8mm Sony. I spent about an hour hooking everything up, reading the manual and setting all the menus. After that it was smooth sailing.