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It records crystal clear HD video and takes wonderful still photos; I think its still photos are better than a lot of dedicated digital cameras i've seen out there. Overall, a very good buy. This is a very good camcorder. The software takes a bit time to get use to and it's not very user friendly, but it gets the job done. I am very satisfy with my purchase. I highly recommend this to anyone who's looking for a good performing camcorder at a reasonable price. I bought the refurbished unit for $420 and, other than a slight surface scratch on the bottom, the unit works flawlessly.
Which tape is spoiled, which is new. Nowadays, it's standard. 22x otpical zoom back then was practically unheard of for a handheld, personal, and realtively cheap camcorder. Which brings me to the point of sound quality: After about 30 feet away from the camera, everything becomes quite hard to hear, and I'd reccomend getting an accessory microphone if you really need it. If you put this camera on auto mode, during the low light hours it will automatically adjust the setting to allow more light in and really make it look like it's lighter outside than it really is. Etc.Hence, I was ready for an upgrade to hard disk.The camera is absolutely light as a feather, even with a battery that lasts a long time and charges very quickly.
And this camera falls flat. I always say: Dell computers, and Canon video/photo products and computer peripherals, CANNOT be beat for the price of the product.This is a high quality product that is insanely good for the price.I have had a Samsung Mini DV camcorder for a while now. And while the video was ok, I was sick and tired of dealing with the tapes: Which ones did I use. Would've been great if there was a night video capability.
And the video quality on my 4 year old and low-quality laptop is still amazing.Now, for some cons, although not many. And putting everything on your computer is as easy as plugging into your USB drive, it's very fast and convenient. There's no true night-video capability like some other cameras have, quite unfortunate. 10x zoom is really nothing, and I'm dissapointed as I do video of beautiful scenery that limits my shots of nature (you can only come so close to an animal before frightening it away).Besides these two issues, for a normal user this camera is very good nonetheless.
When I got the samsung about a decade ago, it had 22x optical zoom and way more digital. The menu options are very easy to use and set up, and reviewing and deleting a video is a snap. There is an accessory light you can buy, but it's really quite useless.Finally, I really am sad to say, that my old Samsung camcorder beat this camera in just one category, and an important one at that: zoom. Am i going to overwrite something I haven't put on VHS/DVD.
however, the darker it gets, the granier the picture, and the more "drag" there is as you move the camera side to side. You can record about 8 hours full HD video on 40GB, and way more than that in lower quality. The video quality is absolutely like that on Discovery channel, minus the video editing and quality sound. No more worries about overwriting precious memories.
I have to copy the files to my external drive and then convert them which takes a long time. The color, clarity, and ability to manually adjust settings is fantastic. TIP for MACS: Toast Titanium has proven to be the best conversion tool for this particular file format. I am using Final Cut Pro 2 which is supposed to be able to handle the files but it doesn't. Way beyond what I expected. The only draw back is the file format.
We made the leap and have not looked back. This was a great purchase. It may be last year model but it's a great machine. The ability to record at many different quality levels is great, and exporting and editing, works seamlessly. This was to replace our ailing sony tape machine. We were a little concerned about the HD machines and about video editing capability on our Mac systems.
I wish I had know what a nightmare it was going to be-- I would NOT have purchased this camera. If you're a Mac user, make sure you read up on the issues people are having trying to upload video.
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