Great Camera at a Great Price
Pros:
Easy to use, impressive quality of the recording
Cons:
Expensive to buy the memory card if you want to go digital.
The Bottom Line:
A Great camera for those tight on a budget but looking for quality
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
This camera was my first attempt at using the miniDV format and we couldnt have been more pleased. I got it at Costoc for $286 which was alot less than the others but was impressed at the number of features. I had a VHS-C camcorder before and quickly saw the better quality of the miniDV.
Ease of use: Very easy to learn. I guess the biggest drawback is the telephoto button is in a little weird position and you have to manipulate your fingers to get to it. The menu screen is easy to learn and you can access your favorite settings quickly and they stay set until you change, even after changing batteries. It has a scroll down feature that quickly gets you to where you want to set the camera at.
Ease of Recording: Very easy to record and the screen is amply big to view what you are looking at. Of course, if you prefer you can use the view finder as well, up to you but I like the flip out screen. The camera also has a real neat nite pix feature that acts as a night scope so you dont have to use the light. It works real good and I have gotten some great night shots with it. One thing about the light, you can only use it when you are taping at SP speed, if you want to lengthen the tape to EP, the light is inoperative for some reason. Be careful with the telephoto, if your doing digital it distorts. Luckily, you can minimize that with the proper set up in the menu screen as it has functions that minimize distortion and hand shaking.
If you have a digital memory card in stalled, it also has a still picture function you can take jpegs with. An easy switch is on the camera that goes from tape to card.
Recording quality: Superb! Its easy to connect the camera to your TV, all the wires are included. I tape all of my videos on the miniDV tape and record my videos on a DVD recorder. The product is as good anything on a DVD. You can also opt for downloading onto your computer if you have a memory stick, the program is included with the camera.
One somewhat major concern you should have is with the doors on the camera both when accessing the S-Video or jacks and when hooking up for download or recharging. The doors are attached by a plastic band and it feels cheap and easy to break. A little caution should be had in opening the ports so that you dont break them.
Overall, for the features, it is a great camera for the price and is ideal for the regular to novice camera nut.
