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Average user rating:
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"Great Consumer Camera!"
Pros: No Media, Easy to Use, Good Video Quality
Cons: Battery Life, Rubber jack covers, A little pricey for what it is
Summary: I looked around for a camera that wouldn't chew up a bunch of money in operating costs over the life of the camera. This is the one! Mini DVD cameras are good for 30 min per disc at high quality before you need another blank. Also the discs need to be finalized before they can be played in a DVD player and even then there's no guarantee it will. Then there's the wait while the camera formats a new Mini DVD before you can record on it. No worries with this camera. Just point and shoot. Later dump it all to your computer and edit till your heart's content and burn a DVD of it all. And being USB 2.0 you'll dump it faster than Firewire!
The video quality is very good for what I've shot so far. I haven't messed with the manual settings much yet. As with all consumer grade cameras the auto focus is ok if you're stationary. If you move through a contrasting environment (e.g. dark room to light room) then it takes longer to refocus.
The only main complaint I have is the lack of a mic input on the camera. It would be nice to be able to draw the audio from an alternate source besides the built in mic but the cost savings in media outweigh any shortcomings the camera may have.
Definately buy an extended life battery with this camera. 45 min is nothing if you use it even moderately.
My biggest complaint is simply the price. This camera is only a few hundred (MSRP) off from a 1080i camera! If I had HD setup at home I'd probably have tossed in the few hundred extra and went for it but it's mostly for home use so I couldn't justify the extra money for 1080i capability. Price this thing a few hundred cheaper and it would definately be more realistically priced.
If you're sitting on the fence about hard disk based cameras, then wait awhile for the next generation to come along. If you like to shoot a lot of home movie footage of your family and don't want the added expense of constantly buying mini dvd's, and need a camera now, then this camera is for you. If you're a stickler on perfect audio/video quality then keep on going, this won't cut it for you
