Here is a review about Samsung R10 digital camcorder.
Looking at the bigger world with 25º eye
Changing the way of thinking is always refreshing. Samsung electronics, which is top-ranked in pragmatic camcorders market, has released Full-HD HMX-R10 with 25º eye. HMX-R10 is targeting young people making UCC and family with kids, with its excellent convenience and mobility, and special design preventing the wrist pain. R10 is light and convenient, and has somewhat familiar round design with a big eye of 25º angle. What is this buddy really about…?
*This is a PAL type product, which is different from domestic NTSC type. Its actual resolution is 60i and 30i. Also, the product in this review is not an official one, so it may be different in its features and image quality from the products on sale.
It has not only the high video quality but also the picture quality as good as digital cameras’ thanks to the fairly big CMOS sensor in camcorder. Recently, many camcorders with both movie and photo dual shot function have been released, and Samsung R10 shows the incredible quality as this dual concept home camcorder.
It supports 1080/60i, the best video quality, and 1080/30p, 720/60p, and 480/60p for progressive way, and 640×480(30fps) for web use. The smoothest look on the screen is 720/60p (1280×720, 60fps) supporting 60fps. It has compact size that fits in one hand and 220g light body. Thanks to 1920×1080i Full-HD, all family can watch live videos and images through HD TV, which has been steadily distributed at homes.
The biggest differentiation of HMX-R10 is lens design. If you look at it from the side, the lens part is cut at the 25º angle and lens is tilted toward the direction. When you actually grab it, it feels awkward to due to the unfamiliar body design. Of course, we’re used to straight shooting cam. But once you start recording with R10 for a while, you’ll meet the new world. It is a lower view to look at the world. There’s less wrist snap than regular shooting cam, and low angle shooting that meets children’s view feels very comfortable. As a result, you can record child growing more pleasantly and comfortably, and take pictures and videos with the unique view in different posture.
It is built as 5x optical zoom, but it can go up to 8x intelli- zoom for movies using a sensor. So in the maximum zoom, the photo angle and video angle are different. The angle in 8x zoom in videos is narrower. The image quality is fairly good in every zoom. Rather than choosing a super zoom, supporting a moderate zoom in smaller body and optimizing the quality seems ok. 4:3, 35mm film-equivalent angle seems as 35-38mm angle in digital cameras. F3.5-F3.7 brightness is disappointing in wide angle, but the fact that it stays in F3.7 in the maximum zoom is praisable. Also, 1cm macro close-up shot is available.
It is rounded like other Samsung cams, and one side is concaved. Overall, it looks like a submarine and has very sweet feeling in a hand.
The back of the body, the center of the thumb operation, is simple. Movie/Photo mode transit button, Movie recording button, and zoom lever are located. And HDMI/AV output/DC terminal is located inside the smooth cover. However, there’s no problem when pulling the zoom lever (down), but to the taking it back (up) is very inconvenient. The reason is that it is protruded, and the hand clings to its body, so it’s not easy to pull up the thumb.
On the top, there’s a ‘Photo’ button. On the opposite side from where palm locates, there is a concaved form strap loop. The strap provided is not like the common hand grip, but is a wrist strap. You can fit this into your hand and tightens it appropriately. In my case, I just used it comfortably, putting it on my wrist. It’s because putting it on the wrist has lower risk of dropping, and feels more comfortable.
It has 3.7v 4.5Wh lithium-ion battery lasting for 90 minutes video recording and 160 minutes playing. If you repeat turning it on and off, it’ll get shorter. It takes about 150 minutes to charge, and you do it by directly connecting the adapter terminal to the body. Extra battery will be essential. It uses 1-2GB SD and maximum 32GB SDHC memory. Battery and memory holder is on the bottom, and they are protected by battery latch and safety lock switch.
2.7 inch wide rotating touch screen
Wide rotating screen is a basic feature of camcorder for various angle shots. The wide touch screen rotates 90º, and again 270º. The brightness and clarity of the screen is great and the light change depending on the circumstance is also good. Since the lens is designed as 25º, self-shot is also the best in 25º. You can also lightly touch the screen with you finger or nail, but too many recoding options are arranged under one category, so it’s a little inconvenient when setting options.
In Q.menu, you can select 4 most frequently used modes quickly. Q.menu divides into shooting menu and option menu, and I wish there were more menus in Q.menu. Zoom button on the side of the LCD is slow zoom unlike the body zoom dial. Red button is the movie recording button. It can change from photo mode to movie mode right away, and it orders beginning and stopping the recording.
Supporting 1920×1080(60i) Full-HD movie
R10 with fairly big sensor supports Full-HD movie. There’re five types of movies available; 1080 / 60i(Highest), 1080/60i(High Grade), 1080/30p, 720/60p, 480/60p, and SD Web& Mobile. 1080 / 60i is in 1920×1080 Full-HD size, and it alternates 540 horizontal scanning lines and scans once in 1/60 sec.
1080/60i(High Grade) sample
On the other hand, 1080/30p doesn’t alternate 1080 scanning lines and scans one in 1/30 sec. Two modes use interlace and progressive method each, but there’s not much difference in capacity or image quality. Considering its concept and price, R10 has very good quality and capacity. Stereo sound is lively, too. Is it too much if I want 1080/60p that is not supported in sky wave TV yet?
Especially, I use 720/60P most frequently. It is great to appreciate 60fps smooth image in large LCD monitor. Also, it has outstanding capacity and quality. I used 8GB memory during the review period, and I could record up to 1 hour in the highest quality, and 78 minutes in 720/60P. Also, it continues 143 minutes for 480/60P that is good for web use, and as long as 251 minutes for 640×480(30fps) simple shots.
It shows great detail. The Full-HD cams are becoming more perfect. Especially, the color expression in outdoor is very natural and warm. It is unbelievable that this little portable cam can create a sensation just like looking at a scene from a documentary.
As a camcorder, it chose a quite big sensor and I think it affects noise canceling technology. If you use 3D-NR for indoor shots, it can express good details while decreasing the color noise.
R10 supports recently popular slow motion shooting. The speed is 300fps(416×240, about 15MB) and 600fps(192×108, about 13MB). Not only the sound but also the recording time is limited, but it’ll be useful for sports field in that it can capture the movement which is hard to see with eyes. The size of 600fps is somewhat small, but 300fps can be utilized well.
Slow motion always records 10 seconds. Since it is recorded in high speed, the play time is very long. For 300fps, the play time is 50 seconds, and 600fps one minute and 40 seconds. I think it would be better if we can divide the clip by desired time.
Slow motion is for outdoor use rather than for dark inside. The image can flicker because of each lighting indoors, and exposure makes it to look darker. It is a very interesting function that you can capture a flying bird, sports game, movement of animals, or facial expressions.
R10 is equipped with EIS, Electronic Image Stabilization. Not as good as optical stabilization, but it is very effective for stable shooting. It smoothly fixes the shakes that occur often in maximal zoom, so always use this EIS function. When you record a dynamic sports scene or kids running around, it will provide far smoother image.
Supporting photo capture function during shooting
R10 also supports photo capture function during recording video. The quality might not be as good as turning to photo mode, but it is quite good to capture each moment quickly in 1920×1080 size. The moment capture works nicely, and doesn’t affect the movie clip at all. And you can take as many shots as you want.
Combinations of Face detection function and backlight editing
R10 supports face detection function in both movies and photos. The detection rate is high, and it also removes dark shadow in backlight so that bright and pretty image can be expressed. Face detection function detects the face, and keeps up the optimal brightness by controlling the exposure so that too bright face becomes a little darker, and too dark face becomes brighter.
In addition, if extra backlight editing function is added, its capacity to deal with the backlight doubles. Face detection function detects dark or light area and controls the exposure to + or -, but backlight editing also works as dark area editing, so a little dark area noise occurs. But since noise occurrence rate is not that high, so I think it’s a very useful function.
Another way is combining face detection + exposure control in dark environment. Actually, I’ve set exposure to +1.3 when I was riding in a running car in a backlight, and the result was quite good.
R10 supports magic touch AF function that enables AF/AE by touching the LCD on the desired spot whether it’s a human or an animal. It is a smart function that helps produce the best result using AF and AE on the desired subject. There is a similar pointing spot function in movie recording.
Also, it supports MF function and super macro 1cm, so the user can create what they intended no matter what the distance to subject is. The sample above shows changing AF and exposure by touching the spot wanted. The spot that yellow box touched.
Supporting 2.3 continuous shot per sec, exposure bracketing
Continuous shots are full sized and it stores 7 slides. It is not ultra-high speed, but you can capture various movements. But I wish it supported faster continuous shots in smaller sizes.
Exposure bracketing gives beginners a choice by taking three successive pictures with different exposure.
Making dramatic movie with ‘Interval Recording’
Interval recording is a special recording that leaves videos for a long time with a selective frame. It is editing a long scene into a short one after setting a specific interval, useful for shooting UCC or educational videos.
Supporting various effect
Fader function can be used to express a smooth beginning or end. You can set up beginning, end, or beginning and end. If you use this function, you can create a sensuous movie clip. Sometimes it can be very effective to use for the special movie making.
There are black and white, sepia, reversion, and blur for special effect. Blur effect can be applicable to both photos and movies. It’s not a face retouch like Samsung digital camera’s Beauty shot, but it sets exposure and colors a little brighter for the people who’re sensitive about their skin. I wish there was a face retouch function for photos, which is popular these days. In addition, there’re six types if white balance including Custom, so it deals well with the various light source. You can change the option during shooting, too.
Supporting manual function
When you look at the inside menu, there is a manual function that enables users to set aperture and shutter speed themselves. Aperture value ranges form F3.5 to F16, and shutter speed 1 to 1/1000 sec for photos. Aperture control is more useful than shutter speed control. Especially, if you use F16, you can be more creative when expressing flowing water or its depth.
Supporting editing functions such as dividing, cutting, and putting together
Playing in editing functions in the camcorder has nothing to blame. Using touch, you can easily edit the file such as partial deleting, diving, and putting together. One thing you have to be careful here is once a part is deleted without saving the original file, it cannot be restored.
R10 itself has a built-in software, so according to internal option, Intelli_Studio runs automatically when it is linked to a PC. Not only managing and transmitting files, you can also directly upload the files on world wide website such as YouTube or Flickr. If you have an account, you can keep uploading the files without conversion after one login, so its’ very convenient.
1/2.33 inch 9.15M CMOS sensor, 12,000,000-pixel Photo
Maybe the biggest issue of R10 is still cut image. The basic internal design has 1/2.33 inch sensor of latest digital camera, and it is CMOS type for the high speed. The actual image quality is the best among shooting camcorders and superior to other competing brands’. But it has a little noise, lowered detail expression, and yellowish color balance indoors, but it has the excellent quality outdoors. Pixels can go up to 12,000,000, which might be good for printing out. But keep in mind that 9,000,000-pixel looks better in detail on web 100%. For me, I used 9M or 16:9 size (3328×1872) for most of still cuts.
Shooting and quality as good as digital camera
R10’s image quality is almost better than digital cameras’. AF speed is also 0.5sec, which is quite nice. There’s no assist light, but it uses pan-focus in dark indoors or at night. Especially, even in 1cm macro, it captures the focus area widely and in proper depth. This proves how convenient this cam is made for.
For the close-up, sometimes the point doesn’t exactly match with what a shooter intended, so you’d better focus on the spot using Magic Touch. Don’t forget ‘Magic Touch’ mentioned earlier. Also, it supports a composition frame for shooting, but it’s disappointing that aperture and shutter speed don’t display on half-shutter.
Super Macro shot by Magic Touch – It sets AF and AE(Exposure) according to the touch spot
Clarity is not as good as other digital cameras’, but it offers quality good enough for printing out in certain sizes and of course for web use. It supports sensitivity up to ISO3200, so it is very useful for taking indoor sports shots that requires shutter speed.
If we look at the quality for sensitivity, it is ok until ISO400, ISO800 can be selectively used, and after ISO1600, it is ok for web use in small size. In ISO Auto, ISO value usually moves only to 200, and brightness is also limited F3.5, so you need to heighten sensitivity where the circumstance is not so good. On the other hand, you may leave every option as Auto ISO outdoors. Overall, clarity is a bit low, but it still provides good images as a camcorder.
R10 is an easy-to-use camcorder for anyone. First of all, the design looks simple and familiar. You know how important the first impression is for people, too. If someone doesn’t look friendly, it’s hard to get closer. Full-HD used to remind unmanageable files, difficult conversion and editing work, and pressure on hard disc. But with R10, you can start enjoy using Full-HD cam. It is a Full-HD cam that anyone can use pleasantly.
9M image quality is outstanding. Some might say it is a digital camera in a camcorder body with its 1/2.33 inch sensor. But the conclusion is that it has a unique design, high quality Full-HD, plus high image quality. It is a dual camera that has great still cut function along with good video quality. It would have been more perfect if the zoom lever, which is a little awkward to operate, is placed upper side as a left-right dial form.
It enables to look at the world with unique 25º view. It lessens wrist pain and makes it special to look on things at lower angle. Starting with R10 in 2009, easily accessible Samsung HD camcorder might get widely spread around us.
This review represents the sole opinion of their individual authors and POPCONET and don’t express the opinion of Samsung Digital Imaging Co., Ltd., Samsungimaging.net or the opinion of any affiliates unless specifically marked as such.
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