Thursday, August 14, 2008

Review by AC: Camcorder Review: The Samsung SC-MX10 Flash HDD


The Associated Content reviewed Samsung SC-MX10.
Until now, all flash based camcorders have been created with a handgun or rectangular design. The Sanyo Xactis, A-HD models, DXG's, and similar camcorders all sport the unique 'gun' design where the user holds the camcorder upright in the same manner they would handle a gun. Others, such as the Creative Vado, Flip's camcorders, and the handful of RCA's all sport the square rectangular design that is awkward and unique.
The 'traditional' hand held camcorder that is popular on expensive hard drive camcorders hasn't been found up until now on any flash-based camcorders. The Samsung SC-MX10 camcorder is flash-based and sports a traditional shape that appeals to so many users. In addition, the hand wrap is placed on a unique swivel joint that gives the camcorder a more comfortable, portable camcorder.
The body itself is light and made of plastic - if you drop it, it will definitely break upon impact. On the positive side, the device is easy to hold and doesn't make an impact when around the neck or in a bag. It doesn't sport a viewfinder, but does have a foldout LCD display that is widescreen. The audio quality on this camcorder is very nice, far superior to the crappy audio found on the cheaper flash camcorders- it records in stereo, versus the mono that is found in the cheaper flash HDs .
The video, unfortunately, isn't as nice, as it only records in 480i, which is standard quality. It certainly doesn't look poor, it just isn't HD. The camcorder itself has some nice features, including a very high level of zoom. The optical zoom works very well and is available up to 34x, and the digital zoom is good for a crunch, though it does reduce the quality, as does all digital zoom. The digital zoom goes up to 1200x.
This camcorder has a CCD sensor, so the bounciness that is present in CMOS flash camcorders isn't found here. It features both auto and manual white balance and night mode, making day and night shots both optimized to the highest level. It also features auto focus and manual focus, making this camcorder truly user friendly.
To be continued...

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