Camcorder Review

Be aware if you want to edit footage on a computer, it doesn't come a firewire cable or software CD. I tried to phone Samsung for help and they promised four times to phone me back with a solution, but they never did.

Great entry-level camcorder

Canon FS10 Overview-

It took several evenings of searching review sites before we chose a Canon FS10. We'd never owned a camcorder before, and I was after a simple budget camcorder that wasn't restricted to just 30 - 60 minutes of footage, which you're restricted to on the mini-DVD or Mini-DV formats. It also has a long battery life of 3 hours; enough for any situation in my experience. You can record upto 1hr50 mins on the highest quality setting, and 2hrs45mins on the standard quality footage (the standard quality has slightly subdued colours and less sharpness to the picture - almost like it's slightly out of focus - but in bright sunlight the difference isn't as big as you'd think). The Low quality setting gives 5hrs of footage but you'd only want this for really basic shots in good outdoor light. This camcorder also has the added bonus of allowing an external microphone input, and space to expand the memory using a SDHC card at a later date when prices for SDHC have come down.

First Impressions-

The camera is tiny, light and good quality. We have an IXUS 40 digital camera so we trusted the Canon quality and I'm not disappointed by the FS10. The little screen on the side gives an excellent picture, and the menu system is easy to use with a tiny joystick to the left of the screen to navigate around the system. The zoom has to be seen to be believed - very impressive for such a small camcorder. The Canon also comes with a remote control which is an excellent feature - you can set it up on a tripod and then stand back and use the remote to zoom in & out and change settings (all without needing to touch the camera, so you don't get any camera wobble or noise from putting your hand on the camera).

Video Quality-

In outdoor situations (whether sunny or not) the video footage is very good, really pleased. In sunlight the footage is especially crisp with no grainy-ness or pixelation. It can shoot in Widescreen or old format, so you can set it up accordingly & achieve the correct format on the TV screen when you play it back. The only downside is that it has a small 1/6" CCD lense (the better camcorders have 1/3" lenses), so it needs plenty of light to get satisfactory video quality - indoors the quality suffers in low lighting (a very grainy look to the video, with a loss of bright colours) - you'll need to have the lights up to get satisfactory quality from this camera. This is the only downside of this model - for low light birthday parties it won't offer the quality you may want. But if you're after a cheaper, small, and easy to use camera for capturing your family & friends then this is all you'll need. I'd recommend it for those who are on a budget, and simply want to capture the essence of a moment, and transfer it easily onto a PC for burning to DVD later. My advice is that if the quality of the footage in all light conditions is the most important thing for you, take a good look at the 3CCD-lense camcorders that use Mini-DV tapes (the Panasonics seem very good). These get consistently excellent reviews for all-round video quality in all light conditions.

Sound Quality-

The option to plug in an external microphone is potentially very useful. We bought a small microphone, which I will use when I'm filming in very quiet locations and need more subdued sound (by using the external microphone you don't get any of the little 'clicks' and 'knocks' that the internal mic picks up. It gives a significantly cleaner and quieter sound quality - e.g. without the background noise of cars & roads). It really makes a difference to the overall quality of the video footage when you're watching it back on TV. Some will think this is unnecessary, but I would recommend trying it if you find the sound too noisy & 'harsh' when you play it back on TV. But having said all that, the built-in stereo mic is very good, it works extremely well.

From Camcorder to DVD Player-

I use the supplied Imagemixer software to download the footage from the camcorder onto a PC, through the USB port. The camcorder will always need to be plugged into the mains to do this (this avoids the battery dying halfway through a transfer and damaging the Camcorder/SDHC card). So the whole transfer process is easy. I use a separate DVD creation software (Sonic/Roxio MyDVD on a Dell PC) to create the DVD's which play as normal in a DVD player, so I'm unable to comment on the quality of the Imagemixer editing software.

Verdict-

We needed a v-small, easy to use camcorder with long battery life, had plenty of space on the memory to record footage, and was easy & quick to transfer to a PC. The FS10 meets all these requirements, but comes with the bonus of a great remote control and the external mic option.

Not bad at all

I brought this camera a couple of weeks ago now and it's really not that bad to be honest. I'm a filmmaker and my previous camera was a canon xl1, which is a semi-pro model, so I do know what i'm talking about in terms of cameras etc.
To start off, its not perfect, there's camera shake which I ironed out with a mono pod, but its difficult to get rid of.
The exposure isn't that great, it tends to underexpose and so I'd recommend that one over-exposes the picture, unless its very very bright using the exposure compensation.
The auto focus is sluggish, but you can adjust it in various ways, you basicly need to get used to the camera and find out the limitations etc, then its not so bad. Use the focus lock to avoid any problems, also you can't manual focus while you're filming.
And lastly the lcd monitor is very poor at giving you an accurate color and exposure, for some reason the monitor is independant of the actual picture and so while the picture on the screen looks correctly exposed, it doesn't come out like that, so just as a rule of thumb, overexpose slightly.
Okay, problems aside, the camera performs as good as any HD camera that are used on films, I do know about this stuff. The colors are good, the sound isn't bad, as you'd expect, and thankfully you have a mic socket, so i'm able to attach my rode ntg-2 for example.
What else? It has white balance which is good, and it basicly has every manual option you'd have on any pro camera, but you can't change the setting's while filming.
You can change shutter speed (up to 1000), aperture etc but it won't recongnise on the monitor for some reason.
At the end of the day avoid the auto stuff, you gotta feel your way round the camera and use it a lot, you'll find the limitations etc and learn how to adjust this.
I use it for shooting random stuff I see, but I would be more than happy to shoot a film with it, and I will do soon. Infact i'm surprised that people aren't using it for tv stuff etc.
My one adjustment to the camera i've made is to make a lead weight and attached it to the battery compartment, because for my uses the camera is just too light believe it or not. A weight will steady it a bit more, and that is a trouble with it, no matter how smooth the camera looks like its moving there probly is camera shake.
Otherwise i'm very pleased with it, and it takes very good clear photos on top of that.

Neat! Little Gadget (much' smaller than a beer can)..1/2 I'd say!

What! a little cracker!! ..Paddy would say! and"That" sums up' this camcorder perfectly!. Like many techy Items today! it' requires abit of know how!. Easy for some... and hard to grasp by others.."But"..stick at it! and you will survive. I have a high spec HP machine and it struggled to install the supplied software CD but I'd put that down to my previous fiddling with my computer. Now! back to Paddy', this camcorder fits snugly in the hand and weighs next to nought!. I have only had a quick' go at it! round the home but! it's performance outstrips what I paid for it. Well worth buying.................................

Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG65 Black Digital Camera - Battery Life

The batterry life of the camcorder is hopeless. It can't even stand for 3 hours. If you happen to take still images with flash on, all the more worse.
Though all other features of the camera is great.

Excellent Camera for a Fantastic Price

I bought this camera recently with the arrival of our first child to be able to record general bits and pieces as all new dad's do!
For the cost I wasn't expecting a great deal but I've been really surprised at how easy and well this camcorder performs.
For someone who just wants to take general video of 'stuff' you really can't do much better than this for the price, a friend of mine was a bit dismissive of it however he's a professional and spends more on his kit than most people do their houses but for the price he had to conceed it certainly does the job!

Canon Triumph

I started a few years ago with the Canon XM1, and was taken with its simplicity of operation, and its outstanding results. When the XL1s came out I bought that too, based on my happy experiences with the XM1. Though I use the XL1s much of the time on production shoots, I have a new 'baby' with the XM2. This camera is a 'no nonsense' high performance tool with almost no vices. It is capable of doing about 95% of the work I do with the XL1s, and as a number 2 unit to my XL1s, it has relegated my old trusty XM1 to the 'back up box' (not that has since been needed). The XM2 has to be the best 'under £2000' camera buy I have ever made. The XM2 is noticably sharper, more stable and even easier to use than the XM1.

Sony DVD306E review.

This is my first DVD camcorder replacing my old Canon MV400i and I have found it a pleasure to use. It is copmpact in your hand and the touch screen is a great feature. The picture and sound quality are excellent and conncecting to my computer was a doodle whether it was via the supplied USB cable or simply inserting the 8cm DVD.

fantastic

bought one of this,mostly because of it's size and also the connectivity to the pc.arrived on time,very easy to operate.

Its a great camcorder

It is a very compact and easy to use camcorder with a 30gb of HD capacity.Its really impressive and i am 100% satisfied with the quality.
I also strongly recommend this against buying DCR-SR32, because you will get an impressive 1 megapixel quality and a remote control,very useful for capture personal moments(SR-32 doesn,t have remote).If you are planning to buy a standard definition camcorder,this will be the best for you.

A Versatile and Well Designed Camcorder

Having used a Sony Hi8 analogue camcorder since 1997 I thought it was time to upgrade to digital. I've had my DCR-SR32 now for about six weeks and as an easy to use, very compact machine I am very pleased with my purchase. The 40X zoom is very impressive and the convenience of being able to switch easily between video and still mode is most useful. I feel that when I am more conversant with the touch screen it will be an efficient way to access the many features available on this camera. A couple of gripes though, firstly : if,like me,you like to start and finish scenes by fading in and out, access to the fade out is very fiddly. Fading in is fine as this is accessed befofe starting to film but fade out (which must be done while the camera is running) takes 3 screen touches to access, during which it is virtually impossible not to shake the camera. Secondly: the supplied software is fine for stills but woefully inadequate for movie footage.In order to edit your films it would be neccessary to use a commercial video editing suite. To summarise, I'm on the whole quite pleased with my new camera add if it lasts me as long as my previous machine and is as reliable , then I will be extremely satisfied with my purchase.

Excellent Machine!!

What a great machine. Firstly its shock proof and resists water (splashes). The camera is very small so you can easily fit in a pocket or bag. Comes with all the accessories including a 2GB SD card (although I would recommend buying another 4GB (Does not take above 4GB). The battery life is great and the picture quality really good. It comes with three quality modes, XP (EXCELLENT, SHARP, CLEAR), SP (Usual camcorder qiality), LP (Still very good and you can record for ages). The machine takes pictures aswell!

The best bit is how easily you can record to DVD with the software and USB cable which it comes with. SD Camera's are the way forward!

Poor quality photos

This was a bought as a replacement for my old dv tape camcorder. I wanted one that would be small enough to be slipped into a pocket, as well as producing decent video and good photos.

It is very small and compact, even smaller than my compact digital camera. The menus and controls are quick to get the hang of and easy to use. The lens cap feels and looks like it was a bit of an after thought. So it definately fulfills my need for something very portable. The video appears to be decent quality, easily sufficient for my home video needs. Low light quality is a bit iffy. The photo quality is disappointing, especially low light using the flash. It produces images (at 6mp quality) that are significantly worse than my old 5mp camera. So far, interior snaps using the flash, have been unusable due to starring on the image. I am guessing this is due to the flash reflecting off the chromed lens surround, but may be something else. I haven't used it for outside photography yet; hopefully that will be better.

As a cheap, very portable camcorder, this fits the bill. As a combined camcorder/camera it falls well short; if I was choosing again i wouldn't buy this one.