HP TouchSmart. Touch the future now.
- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 20 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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13 out of 13 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Great Video Quality and Stabilization for a decent price!"
Pros: Great Video Quality, Optical Stabilization, Manual Iris and Decent Still Quality, Light Weight, Compact
Cons: Miss the External Mic, Headphone jack and a manual focus ring would make things nicer for weddings
Summary: As likely the last 3 CCD standard definition camcorder available, this is one to grab.
I've tested it out at a couple weddngs as well as several church events and family events and the performance has been great!
At the moment the miniDV tape format offers the best quality video you can get (although that is about to change)and this is important if you plan on editing your video in post. If you need to zoom in for tighter framing, you will find that any noise and compression artifacts present in your video will be magnified. DVD camcorders and Hard-drive based camcorders already show noticable compression artifacts at standard zoom, so as you zoom in closer, these artifacts can become even more of a problem.
If you've ever tried shooting the moon or any real bright object for that matter, you'll love having the manual iris control, and this is one thing I love about this camera.
I've gotten some nice video of the moon (with 2x multiplier attached) and tamed some bright white wedding dresses in sunlight as well thanks to the manual iris (trust me, brides like to see the detail in their dresses, that's why they spend big money on them; save the white-outs for a blizzard). The menu driven manual focus works well of course, but like most people, I like havng a manual focus ring. Dealing alot wit Canon SLR's, I've gotten used to the control that a manual focus ring gives me.
In summary, It's a great camera for those who don't want to spend $1,000+ or don't need the power of the latest "Hi-Definition" arrivals to the market.
Personally, you'll need a pretty powerful computer just to edit "Hi-definition" video and the market doesn't have a clear winning standard available at this time; Add to that, the fact that very few consumer households have the ability to play back hi-definition video either.
Which-ever camcorder you decide to choose; today's camcorders supplied by any of the four or five top makers should more than satisfy the average consumer.
