Design:

Modest as well as Stylish:
The JVC Everio GZ HD40 is one of the most portable professional camcorders you will find in the market. With a very black polished outer surface, the cam looks shiny and pretty stylish. It looks like most of the trademark designs of the other camcorders in the market and you will not find many varieties when it comes to the design part of these camcorders; they all look pretty much the same. As the design part deals with numbers, we are going to give you some numbers that define the JVC Everio GZ HD 40. It measures about 2.9 inches wide, 4.8 inches deep and 2.7 inches high, making it a very comfortable camcorder to hold in one hand. Carrying it will never be a problem since it weighs as low as 16 oz. Now, these significant little numbers mean that the JVC Everio HD GZ 40 has got in it almost everything regarding the design part and it will be one of the best suited camcorders for almost all types of users.

Display:
Display is also another most important feature of a camcorder nowadays because it has become essential to view the subjects in detail before they are actually filmed or captured so that everything looks neat and orderly. The JVC Everio GZ-HD40 Hard Drive Camcorder comes with a very good display mechanism, which clearly shows you that it is a very professional camcorder. The 2.8 inch TFT active matrix LCD colour screen gives you a very good picture of what you are filming. The swivel mode is also integrated for better performance and this means that the screen can be twisted to more degrees than ever before so that you can enjoy fancy filming. The subjects can be shot from almost all the angles possible and this especially makes the videos look crazier and fancier than ever before.

Features:

The professional camcorders are especially meant for superior performance and exceptional quality and hence most of the manufacturers do not concentrate much on their features and design. For better or worse, JVC has provided minimal features and gave secondary importance to them since it seemed like their main motto is to make their products world beating and competitive to the best and the most famous camcorders in the market from the ones like Sony and Canon. Here is a bird’s eye view of all the main features of the JVC Everio GZ HD 40 camcorder.

HI-Def Shooting:
The JVC Everio GZ-HD40 allows high definition video shooting on it. Giving you a 1080i video output, the camcorder is one of the high quality ones you will find in the market today. It has got various types of shooting modes that allow you to change the settings and set the camcorder to record videos in your own style, but still without losing the excellent quality of them. DPOF support , PRINT Image Matching , Dolby Digital AC-3 (2 channel) recording are the additional features that help the camcorder to record high definition videos. The 1080i video output means that you can play these videos on your HD TV later and awe at the camcorder’s ability to capture wonderful pictures.

Lens:
Just now we have discussed about the wonderful high quality pictures you can get from the JVC Everio GZ-HD40 Professional Camcorder. This feat is possible owing only to the presence of a fantastic lens system that is possessed by the cam. Since lens is the most important part of a camcorder, it ought to be very good. The CMOS sensor enabled lens system of this camcorder is really one of the better systems you will find. Let us see some of the important features of this lens; Lens Type:  Zoom lens – 4.5 mm – 45 mm – F/1.8-2.2, Focal Length: 4.5 mm – 45 mm, Lens Aperture F/1.8-2.2, Optical Zoom:  10 x, Lens system: type Zoom lens,  Min focal length: 4.5 mm, Max focal length: 45 mm, Filter Size: 43 mm, Zoom Adjustment: Motorized drive. Hence these numbers are enough to stand as a proof of how good the lens system of the JVC Everio GZ HD 40 is.

Memory:
Memory is very important for any camcorder since you need to store all the pictures captured by you. Look at the memory features of the JVC GZ HD 40 camcorder and you will find jaw dropping memory on the inside. The camcorder has got a whopping 120 GB built in internal hard drive that automatically stores everything that is captured by the camera. This is a very good thing to do since most of the camcorders, even the professional ones, come with only a slot for an external memory unit, like an SD card. But, these cards have limited memory and hence they cannot store more videos. But having such a big space for your pictures in the form of a hard disk drive means that you can never afford to worry about the storage of your videos and hence shoot with complete freedom.

Software Package:
You are blessed with some of the best software in the market, when it comes to the JVC Everio. Since it is quoted as a professional camcorder, you will find a lot of photo and video editing software packages. The various software apps provided along with the kit are: Cyberlink PowerDVD, Drivers & Utilities, CyberLink BD Solution, CyberLink Power Cinema, CyberLink Power Director, CyberLink Power Producer, and JVC Digital Photo Navigator. While some of these come as built in features, the rest of them are provided to you in the form of software CDs and they are provided in the kit along with the camcorder at the time of purchasing. They can also be installed on your computers so that the videos and photos are copied on to your hard disk and they can be edited later.

Performance:

Since this Everio GZ-HD40 HD camcorder is considered to be a very professional one, it needs to perform well in order to stay in the race due to the other high definition camcorders in the market that bear the names of the stalwarts of the electronic goods like Sony and its ilk. Hence, due to this healthy competition, you will find that the camcorders from the potentially inferior companies like JVC, are improving day by day in the aspect of their performance. When you look at a camcorder or for that matter almost any electronic device, the three things that really matter when it comes to its performance are its video, audio and connectivity performances and their potential to be good at these three aforementioned aspects.

Video Performance:
As we have already discussed under the display and lens topics, the videos look stunning on the JVC Everio GZ HD 40 camcorder. Even though this is not a pretty famous company, it has still tried and used the best technology available at this point in time in the market. The very professional and costly lens that is used by this new camcorder from JVC allows you to capture stunning videos in almost all the conditions. Even though the cam is not great when it has to perform under poor lighting conditions, it can still be considered as a formidable one since the technology used here looks pretty impressive. Hence, you can really count on the videos delivered by this very good camcorder.

Audio Performance:
If the audio does not match the picture quality, then the videos look very dull and the camcorder will not be able to suffice all your needs. We have already seen that the videos are of very high quality from the JVC Everio GZ HD 40. It means that these videos need a very good audio back up and looks like they have got it. You have the two speakers and a built in stereo mic that records the sounds in stereo mode, hence giving you very good audio quality. This means that the videos look very good if not perfect, when they are played on your TV screen and you will not find any lapses in the audio quality.

Connectivity:
Connectivity is also as important as the other two performance aspects of a camcorder. The JVC Everio GZ-HD40 Compact Professional Camcorder has got so many connectivity options for a camcorder of this type. Even though it looks small and stylish, it still has got something to deliver through its ports that are dedicated to connect your camcorder to the external electronic devices. When you look at the ports that are available on this camcorder, you will find that there are these ports include HDMI output, USB, Composite video/audio output, Component video output, Microphone, DC power input, Headphones and Docking station. There is also an expansion slot for you to place a micro SD card and hence provide external memory to your camcorder in order to store the videos that are captured.

Hence, precisely, you can conclude that there is nothing inferior of this camcorder when it comes to performance. You will hence be pleasantly surprised at the way the camcorder operates and shoots pictures with stunning quality.

Battery:

The battery life of a camcorder is as important as any other main feature on it. Anybody on earth wants a camcorder that allows you to shoot more and more without worrying you regarding its battery life. It seems like the battery of this camcorder is a highly rated one. The JVC BN-VF815 Li-ion rechargeable battery gives you a very good battery life, which allows you to shoot for more than one and a half hour; 97 minutes and 39 seconds to be more precise, as informed by the various tests that were conducted before reviewing the product. This battery life may vary from the aforementioned time that depends upon the settings, zoom level and other sundry effects. But, overall, you have got a very good battery with you and this means that more often than not, you do not need a second one.

Warranty:

The JVC Everio GZ HD 40 comes with a parts and labour warranty for a period of one year from the original date of purchase, just like most of the camcorders in the market do.

Verdict:

Considering everything that is discussed in the above paragraphs, you can conclude that the JVC Everio GZ HD 40 is one of the best camcorders available in the market today. It appears to be a little costly but then, since it is tagged as a very professional camcorder, one can expect the price range to be very high. But nevertheless, you get full value for your money and all the features and performance aspects that are seen above, require latest high end technology that demands a very good value for the camcorder. Hence, you can really afford to buy this one of you are a pro. But if you are one of those novices and shoot for fun type of people, then it is very advisable that you go can think of going with a cheaper but still good quality camcorders in the market. That will not only save your money, but will also allow you to choose from a more variety of options.

Check other JVC Camcorders Reviews, Latest HD Camcorders Reviews, Specs in this website.

JVC Everio GZ-HD40 Digital Video Camcorder – Technical Specification Table

Design:

Pocketable:
The Flip Mini HD looks virtually identical to its non-HD predecessor. We appreciate the pocket friendly design and both models are super compact and weigh a mere 94 grams.  It sports a cute, small 38mm (1.5”) transflective LCD display that allows you to view what is on the screen even in bright daylight. While most of the previous Flips came in a choice of colours, and the original Mino could be either black or white; the Mino HD comes in with only options of Black and Silver. But, as they often say in the fashion world, at least black and silver are shades that never ever goes out of style. There is just one indication of the increased capabilities of the model and that is just a subtle Mini HD logo in the rear.

Buttons and Ports:
The USB connector of Mino HD flips straight up, rather than on the side, and for a smaller footprint, that should fit better in a crowded USB environment. There are responsive touch sensitive navigation buttons that are embedded into a shiny, flush surface on the rear. Though we really liked the buttons, we ended up occasionally touching the wrong ones by accident. There is a tripod mount that sits on the centre of the camcorder’s bottom, which will be particularly handy for securing it to a car or bike for action shots. As expected, there is no accessory shoe, microphone input or headphone jack; the target market would never use them anyway.

Connectivity:
Not surprisingly, the port for the AV output features Mino’s same Lilliput jack; in fact, it is smaller than the standard 2.5mm jack. Here is the disappointing news, while Flip includes a cable for connecting to a TV, the AV jack outputs only standard definition video. When compared with the Zi6’s output that supports HD and being shipped with a cable, it allows you to connect to the component video jacks on your television. Having said that, the video that you get out of the MinoHD’s composite connection looks much sharper than that of what you get out of the standard definition Mino and Ultra. Along with this cable, you also get a carrying pouch that doubles as a cloth to wipe down the Mino HD.

Installation:
Just like its predecessors, the Mino HD Pocket Camcorder is designed to be very simple to use, and it does so in an admirable way. As before, a full-sized USB plug pops out of the device at the flick of a switch – from which the brand name ‘Flip’ is derived. The entire bundled software suite resides on-board, and installation starts automatically when you plug the Mino HD in for the first time. So, in theory, you can upload your videos from any PC. Unlike some of its predecessors, the Mino HD offers virtually no setting to fiddle with, apart from date and time. After a reboot, you are greeted by a fairly capable app, FlipShare.

Features:

Ease of use:
All that you get to do with your Flip is, shoot in one resolution, and that is just it. Flip does not have any option to drop to a lower video resolution in order to store more video, but really, why do you want to do something like that? The Flip Mino HD Compact Digital Camcorder is all about pushing the red button to start and stop recording and just hitting the playback button to what you have recorded. That is pretty much it! In fact, after initially setting time and date, there is almost nothing else to control on the Mino HD other than starting and stopping recording. There are plus and minus buttons to operate the 2x digital zoom, but annoyingly these only become active when you are already shooting. So, you will not be able set up the zoom on a shot in advance. Not that we would recommend using the digital zoom anyway, as it clearly degrades image quality.

Upgrades:
In order to accommodate bigger and high resolution video files, the Flip Mino HD is equipped with double the usual memory, that is, 4GB. With this 4GB, you will be able to store 60 minutes of 1280 x 720 pixels resolution video. As in the case of the previous Flips, there is no card slot for upgrade, so an hour will be your limit. Here kicks in the comparison: Creative’s Vado HD comes with twice the memory, as well as offering lesser data rates and resolutions.

The original Mino shot VGA video at 640 x 480 pixels and as we just said, the latest model has increased the resolution to 1280 x 720 pixels, with the same progressively scanned 30 frames per second. The Mini HD 4GB Memory Camcorder has received an upgrade from Flip Video’s Pure Digital Video Engine 2.5 processor, to version 3.0. The HD model also incorporates a bigger 1/4.5 inch HD CMOS sensor. This is a fairly healthy size, with positive implications for low light shooting, although Flip does not quote the CMOS resolution. In addition to this, it has improved the low light sensitivity and makes use of a 9Mbps encoding rate, as opposed to the Mino’s 4Mbps one. Hence, the capacity is still quoted at approximately an hour of footage. Last but not the least, the Mino HD sports the H.264 video compression scheme instead of the Advanced Profile MPEG-4 AVI.

From Flip to PC:
The highlight selling point of Flip Video’s camcorders is, how easy it is to get the shot videos off the device and distribute them, and the Mino HD is no exception. All you have to do is, simply flip out the USB connector and plug it into your Mac or Windows machine and pops open FlipShare, which is company’s newly redesigned software. It is a much cleaner interface than before, but the features are broadly the same. You will be able to playback one clip, string a few of them together, pull out a single frame out of the video, and even share your clips with the selected viewers through email or web. When you share videos through mail, instead of attaching a large file or even the small 20 second clips that can result in 25MB file, the recipients are sent a link to your compressed video. Though it does not look anything like your raw video footage, it is not bad and Flip Video has made some serious efforts to preserve some of the sharpness and HD qualities of the video.

Loading on net:
Since this is a pocket Internet camcorder, however, the ease with which you can put your video online is a major selling point, and here Flip just about maintains its crown. Apart from the fact that it can take several minutes to process a video, sharing a file is extremely simple. All that you have to do is, click on the ‘Share Video’ button in the software interface and it takes you to the screen that asks you to select the video clip. You will be then allowed to share the selected clip through email, share a greeting by sending a private video card and share the clip online. In order to publish directly to the social networking sites like YouTube, AOL and MySpace, you will have to create an account for each and log in. Once that is done, you are allowed to automatically upload the videos to the web for private and public viewing with just the click of a button. In case you are allied to some other video sharing website, the same button allows you to prepare the video for uploading. But, in this case, you have to do the uploading the processed file from a folder on your desktop, manually.

FlipShare:
Overall, FlipShare has got a very clean look and seems very easy to use. There are even modest editing facilities. As well as trimming the in and out points of each clip, you can arrange them together to create a longer work, and then add titles and music. Unfortunately, the video trimming feature is buried and it no longer possesses the Movie Mix feature.  Previously, you will be able to select the clips that you liked, click a button and, a few minutes later, the software will give you a movie that is complete with transitions, special effects and even some background music of your choice. However, by sacrificing Muvee, that was powered by the Movie Mix feature, the Mino HD Pocket Internet Camcorder has gained the Mac and iMovie compatibility. With this, you will be able to trim your clips, string them together and add titles and music, but not with the press of a single button. You can even prepare a video for burning to DVD, although the actual disc writing will need to be performed by a third-party app. If you are not a video editing enthusiast, FlipShare could be all the software you ever want.

Performance:

Coming to the part of performance, Mino HD’s predecessor Mino’s video was pretty sharp, with fairly accurate, vibrant colours. But it did not scale well to keep it sharp, you had to watch the video in a small box on your computer screen. As far as the MinoHD is concerned, you can play a full-screen clip with no significant degradation. You will not be confusing the video for that of a ‘real’ HD camcorder, but the video quality is pretty impressive for a camcorder this tiny.

Although we never expect camcorders in this class to compete with mainstream models in terms of image quality, we have been mildly surprised at how well most of them perform. The Mino HD continues this trend. Video that is shot in both bright and low light looked good, not great. But, the video is not nearly as noisy in low light as we have seen from some of the other camcorders of this ilk. Most impressive is how the Mino HD copes with low light as the Mino HD shot footage you might actually be able to use, unlike many cheap camcorders. Toshiba’s Camileo P30, for example, failed dismally in this respect. The audio was also very decent and is certainly an improvement over that of Mino’s.

However, there are a few disappointments too. You do not get image stabilisation, there are clear signs of compression artefacts and bright areas easily blow out, but colours are reasonably faithful in good lighting, and there is an acceptable amount of detail. The Mino HD does a much better job when held steadily, this just means, you might just want to invest in a mini tripod. The camcorder also suffers from some focus issues, like choosing the ground and not the animal that scampers across it, and you also cannot get too close to your subjects, or they will be just out of focus. You might also notice that the videos do not always play smooth precision of true HD video; there is some slight jitter on an eight core Mac with nothing else running.

Battery:

The same non-removable, rechargeable lithium ion battery used in Mino is the one that powers Mino HD too. But, note that, here it shoots only for 2 hrs, compared to the standard Mino HD’s 4 hrs or so, and as you can guess, this difference is mainly because of the fact this Mino is a High Definition camcorder.|

Verdict:

Flip still has the biggest name in the pocket Internet camcorder market, and with Cisco recently acquiring the company it will have the marketing muscle to maintain its brand. The Mino HD certainly marks another step forward for Flip Video and even the mini camcorders in general. Of course, the device is not without caveats, and they include a relatively high price tag, no memory expansion slot and a short lived, non removable battery. So, the big question here is, if the MinoHD is better than the Kodak Zi6; and the good news is, it is. Although some might prefer the larger Zi6 with a larger LCD display, we feel that the main point, the Video quality of the Mino HD is slightly better and its smaller footprint will appeal to people who are looking for a camcorder that makes barely a bulge in your pocket.

Check other Pocket Camcorder Models, Flip Camcorder Reviews in this website.

Flip Mino HD  Camcorder – Technical Specification Table

Design:

Cool and Stylish:
As said earlier, there are so many options to choose from when it comes to the products of Sony, even regarding the design of the product. The MHS PM1 Pocket Size Camcorder is one of those camcorders that look very stylish and also it has got a very cool look. It actually looks like an ordinary mobile phone, with its orientation being vertical unlike the conventional camcorders whose orientation is more horizontal. The camera is also placed at the top of the back side of the MHS PM1, so that shooting becomes easy even when the cam is held in one hand. On the front side of the cam lies all the buttons that hold the control for the most important of all the features on the MHS PM1. Coming to the dimensions of this handycam, it measure about (H x W x D) 24 x 103 x 55mm and weighs about 120 grams. This means that the camcorder is very sleek and comfortable to be held in one hand and also to slide it into your pocket. It is just about perfectly designed so that it is not too big or too small.

Big Display:
The 1.8 inch screen is really good as well as big enough for displaying the subjects that you are about to shoot on your cam. It has good displaying characteristics that make it easy for you to view it, and it also swivels up to 270 degrees so that it is easy to shoot any kind of scene is many styles and angles. It also makes things easy for you to shoot yourself and still keep looking at the screen. More often than not, this might help you a lot, because, sometimes self shooting gives out funny videos if there is no possibility to look at the screen. Since the orientation of the screen is also in portrait style, it allows you to take portrait pictures with great deal of ease.

Features:

Most of Sony’s camcorders come in with a great deal of features and the MHS PM1 is not an exception by any means. They all are intended to make life easy for the users and hence, are extremely user friendly. Every option readily gives all that is intended by you. Now, the MHS PM1 certainly has the edge over its counterparts in the market because when you compare it with other camcorders, it has got more number of useful features that catch the attention of the eye.

Camera:
The first thing you will want to be good on a camcorder is its camera and the MHS PM1 has got a brilliant one. The new 5 mega pixel camera of this cam uses a special technology in grabbing the light from the subjects properly. Auto focusing is also one of the special features of this camera as it focuses on to the subjects and moreover on the faces of the subjects and then alter the picture quality accordingly. This means that the faces of the people in the frame are given the first preference, unlike many other cameras, which distribute their potential to the whole picture in the frame so that everything in the picture has the same clarity and intensity.

CMOS Sensor:
Most of the digital cameras are now featuring this particular sensor. The main function of this special sensor is to convert the light into digital signals so that the photos and videos are obtained digitally and hence, with minimal loss in information. Sony has gone one step ahead here by using a more refurbished version of the sensor that has in it the latest technology. Hence, your pictures will be clearer than ever. Such a sensible sensor is really helpful if you want to have the best image quality.

Sharemark:
This Sharemark is a trademark feature of the Sony MHS PM1 and it allows instant tagging of people in the photo so that it will be easier for instant uploading to different websites on the internet. There is a sharemark button on the menu of the device and by selecting that, you will see a few options that help you tag the different subjects in the photo. Video clips can also be tagged and you can then upload them on to the internet easily and instantly. This is a very unique feature as you can see and no other camera or camcorder in the market, including those from Sony, come with this feature.

HD 1080:
This feature has become a part and parcel of today’s cameras and camcorders. Since most of the houses in the world now have the HD LCD TVs, this feature may help such people. You can select the HD shoot mode and shoot videos in HD format. You can get high definition pictures, up to 1080p resolution so that they look very candid and also movie like, when you play them on the screens of our HD TVs. Shoot the videos with the camcorder on a stand and you will wonder whether it is a normal video or a movie. Such is the ability of the MHS-PM1 Digital Video Camcorder to take high quality pictures at all times of the day, no matter how the conditions are.

Image Stabilisation:
Optical Image stabilisation has to be one of those features that have improved video capturing a lot. Since most of the cameras and camcorders are so very sleek and compact nowadays, it will certainly be a lot difficult in holding it properly. This ultimately results in bad pictures which contain a lot of blur and shaking effect. To eliminate this, the solution, which is known as the optical image stabilisation, had been introduced. So, no need to worry about picture clarity now.

PMB:
The PMB or the Picture Motion Browser is a kind of software that helps you edit your pictures and videos, and then it converts them into formats that are suitable for uploading on to the internet, like mp4. After you have captured the videos, you can insert the memory card into the SD card slot of your computer and the PMB software automatically loads the videos and makes them ready for editing. You can cut the videos, add special effects and also add background music according to your wish and then save them as separate files on your computer. Then, when you connect to the internet, you can simply select those files and then upload on to the internet. In a few simple steps, your videos will feature on YouTube. That is how easy it gets with the MHS PM1.

HD Recording:
The Sony MHS PM1 is one of the best cams in the market if you have a great desire for high definition video recording from your camcorder. Sony has always been introducing the latest video technologies into the market with each of its new camcorder. Most of Sony’s camcorders have the ability to record high definition videos. This High Definition Technology always gives you very crisp pictures and also with the highest quality ever. The HD videos taken by the MHS PM1 resemble those movies you see in the theatres.

The MHS PM1 takes pictures with a very high resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, which is the best one you can expect from a camcorder of this type. It is also good to watch these videos on your HD TV that supports the 1080p viewing. It also allows you to record the videos in the latest mp4 format, which is also known as the H.264 format. This new format, helps you compress the videos taken by you and hence makes the files very small and hence it will be easy for you to upload them onto your computer and then on the internet. The mp4 format has the rare capacity to be compatible with most of the websites on the internet such as YouTube, Flickr and Photo Bucket.

USB 2.0 interface:
In order to save and also to share your pictures and videos with your family and friends, you need to connect your camcorder to the PC. It will then be also easy to upload these pictures and videos on to the internet. Hence, Sony has provided the facility for you to connect your cam through USB. With the help of a USB cable, which is provided along with the kit, you can sync your cam with your computer and transfer the files from one to the other. This is a common but an important feature since the USB 2.0 port is a pretty common thing which almost all the computers in the world today feature in them. The 2.0 version is also very fast compared to its precursor, which means that syncing your pictures is faster than ever, with the MHS PM1.

Tripod Mount:
For shooting still and wonderfully stable videos, you need to hold the camera in a frozen position and also not move it or shake it. This is not possible to do with the hands. Hence, a tripod mount is provide by Sony along with the camcorder so that if you want to capture still videos and pictures, just like those you will see on TV and the cinemas, you need to mount your camcorder on to the tripod stand, which comprises three small rods that keep the camera very still. If this arrangement is kept on a rigid platform, then your pictures will be so epic and that too without any sign of blur or shakiness. Hence, Sony has provided this tripod mount. This time round, the rods of the stand are also made slightly stronger since they were a bit weak in the past and broke off easily especially of you place the stand on a very rough surface.

Multi AV Terminal:
A Multi-AV terminal, with included cable, is provided and it allows you to connect your MHS PM1 camera to many other devices like your PC or for that matter, even your television, for the sake of easy and quick playback. You need to connect the cable to the terminal that you will find at the bottom of the camcorder, and then to your TV. Then, you can control the options on your TV screen, select the videos and pictures that you want to play and then they will be played on the big screen. This is a pretty cool feature provided by Sony since after all, you want to watch the movies that are shot by yourself.

Memory:
With the MHS-PM1 HD Snapshot Camcorder, you can record videos and still images directly to a memory card, in this case, the Memory Stick PRO Duo™ media which is sold separately in stores. This is meant for the easy transfer of files to your compatible PC or Mac. This is a simple process and you can insert the memory card into the card reader of your computer and then view, edit and share the pictures easily. This memory card can also be used for sending e-mail, printing, or even sharing the pictures on the MHS PM1, with any other Memory Stick PRO Duo™ compatible device with you. These memory cards are sold separately in the market and they range from 1 GB to 16 GB of memory. For normal usage, you can buy the 4 GB one and for frequent usage, you can buy the 16 GB one. Only this type of cards is compatible with the camcorder and it may or may not be compatible with the other types of cards.

Easy Switching:
With the introduction of the Easy Switching feature on the MHS PM1 Flash Memory Camcorder, you can now enjoy the luxury of having individual buttons for both Movie and still shooting. This allows you to simultaneously switch between the two modes, i.e., from video recording mode to the still photo capture mode, and that too with the simple toggling of a button, called the switch button. This feature may help in two ways; it helps you to take pictures separately even while shooting videos, and another thing is, you can take snapshots of the recording or even recorded videos. Hence, this is another useful feature from Sony that you will find on the MHS PM1.

MP4:
MP4 is one of the most popular multimedia formats that can easily compress the size of your audio and video. Hence, they help you in making your media files very small, small enough to be easily transferred to your PC or Mac. Another important ability of this format of videos is that it is also highly compatible with almost all the websites of the Web, like YouTube and Photo Bucket, so that you can simply upload your media on to the internet and also save a lot of time. No need of converters now that you will otherwise have to make use of if you want to upload videos on to the internet.
Hence, as you can see, this is a very huge package of features provided by Sony, on the MHS PM1. Although most of them are there in the previous models from Sony, some others are newly introduced and are already a hit in the market.

Performance:

The performance aspects of any camera are very important in deciding the usability of it. Over the years, Sony has produced very qualitative products and the camcorders are no exception for that.

Video:
As we have already seen under the features section, with the help of a very good lens and good features in combination with nice options that can alter the shooting modes according the conditions outside, the MHS PM1 is one of the best performing camcorders Sony has ever produced. There is also no other camcorder in the market that comes with so many video options and settings. Hence, considering all these and also the quality of pictures that the camcorder produces, you can easily tell that this one is a very good performing camcorder, when it comes to the videos.

Audio:
For any good camcorder, there must be solid audio hardware, since good videos always need good audio backup. Sony has always taken care of the audio performance of its cameras and camcorders and this time also, it has given its best in doing the same. Now, coming to the audio features of the MHS PM1, the details are as follows- Recording Format : Mono and Microphone : Built-in Mono Microphone. Although there is no stereo mode for the speakers, unlike many other precursors of the MHS PM1, you still receive very good sounds with fine voice clarity, making the audio support the videos of the MHS PM1 very well.

Connectivity:
In addition to the already discussed USB 2.0 feature, the MHS PM1 also comprises a few other connectivity features that make the camcorder a very good connecting device. The different connectivity ports that you will find on the MHS PM1 include Terminal Audio/Video, Component Video, Multi A/V Analogue Audio/Video. Hence, connecting your camcorder to any other compatible electronic device has never been this easy.

So, clearly, Sony has tried to give its best in providing you a very qualitative camcorder and also for a very good bargain.

Battery and Power Consumption:

The Sony MHS PM1 comes with a very special battery that can give you a longer battery life. A specially made battery of type Info Lithium in association with Accu Power™ Meter System of type NP-BK1, gives you a long standing battery that helps you shoot for hours together. The battery is also removable and rechargeable, which means that you can always have a spare battery with you just in case of emergency. The battery can also be charged and the details regarding it are: Power Requirement: 3.6V for the battery pack; 4.2V for the AC Adaptor. Power Consumption in full operation mode is about 2.0W, which is really good for a camcorder. It also charges very quickly. So, you can save your time as well as money.

Warranty:

Sony offers a parts and labour warranty for a period of one year from the original date of purchase of the MHS PM1.

Verdict:

Considering all the above details of the Sony MHS PM1 camcorder, it can be said that it is one of the best in the market and it is also priced so well that it is very affordable and if you are looking for a good camcorder along with a cute design and lots of features, then you can go for the Sony MHS PM1. Of course, this is not the end of it as there are scores of top class camcorders in the market especially from Sony. So, just in case this is not the right one you are looking for or even if you are willing to pay even higher, there are lots of other high definition camcorders, some of them even better than this one, waiting for you. Hence, you can afford to have a brief look at their reviews as well on this very website itself.

Check other Sony Handycam Reviews, Best Pocket Camcorders in this website.

Sony MHS-PM1 Compact Size Camcorder – Technical Specification Table

Teeny Meeny Design:

The design part of the camcorder is one of the big pluses to it. A sleek body and a candy bar form factor makes it look extremely cute. Measuring (H x W x D) 103 x 50 x 21 mm and weighing about 68 grams, it rather looks like a blend of a music player and a modern mobile phone. There are operational keys at the bottom on the fascia below the display, just like on your iPod. The camera is also at the rear side of the camcorder just like on the mobile phones. Both these factors contribute towards a smooth experience while capturing the videos. With smooth edges and a shiny outward appearance, it is simply attention grabbing. The model is available in black, pink and blue shades. It also looks smaller than normal, thereby justifying its very name. Hence, with no exceptions, the Disgo Fun Mini digital camcorder looks pretty cute in your hands.

TFT Display:

As we have already seen, there is a 1.5 inch TFT screen on the front side. Although this display is neither as big as the others nor is it great, it is good enough to show you all the pictures that were taken and the videos that were captured. But it is definitely not a great player of videos. If at all the videos are to be seen, then the camcorder must be synced to the computer.

Connectivity:

The Disgo Fun Digital Video camcorder can be connected to the computer by using the USB 1.1 cable that is provided. This just like connecting a USB device and it is an easy process. The system requirements for the camcorder are: An operating system which is one of Microsoft Windows Vista, XP, 2000 and ME. Hence, the Microsoft Windows 7 and Apple Mac are not supported as of now, so such users should be careful while purchasing. But we hope that the new versions will be released soon. There is also an AV cable along with the USB cable so that the video can be watched on the television screen just by plugging in the cable. But, the HDMI cable is not provided and there is also no slot for one if at all you already have, so this means that you cannot directly view the videos on the HD TVs. But you can watch on them by burning the videos into a DVD.

Features:

The Camera:
The camera of the Disgo Fun is a reasonably good one. It has got a CMOS sensor of 300K pixels, which is good sign. The CMOS sensor is a special one that tries to glorify the subjects in the frame and thereby giving you good quality pictures. The pictures are also taken with a resolution of 1280 x 960 pixels, so you will get a widescreen type video which will be great to look at on the HD TV. There is also a photo mode that allows you to take photos while shooting videos. All the features that accompany the camera usually are also featured here, but the main drawback of this camera is that it gives very grain pictures when under poor or artificial light conditions.

Image Stabilisation:
It will not be an exaggeration if said that nowadays there is no camera or camcorder without this feature. You may be wondering what this image stabilisation is. It is a special technology that helps you get well balanced pictures, while nullifying the effect of camera shake. So there will be no blurring or tailing when you take pictures that are moving. This image stabilisation technology gives a bit of a breather to the camera because it itself is not a very reliable one. So, one thing of which you are assured is that your pictures will be stabilised even though they may not be crystal clear. That is some good value for the money.

Memory:
The Disgo Fun camcorder comes with an internal memory of 1 GB. Usually, this might be enough for about 60 minutes of video recording considering the picture resolution and the aspect ratio of the camcorder. But you always want more from your camcorder. So, buying an additional memory card is always advisable, and that too, a memory card of 4 GB or higher in order to have a lot of space for your videos.

Software:
The Disgo Fun is also provided with some software that helps you in syncing it to the computer and also to edit and save videos which are captured, on the computer. VP-EYE 6.0 Plus is one of them that converts the videos in the memory cards and make them compatible to the computer and helps you in editing the videos. It also helps you burn these videos into DVDs so that they can be viewed later on the TV screen. The software comes in a CD ROM that is inside the container box.

Hence, even though the features are not very new and also none of them is startlingly attractive like the ones you see on the highly rated camcorders, this is a very good attempt by Disgo in providing some useful features and options that enable the user to shoot comfortably.

Performance:

The very look of the Disgo Fun Mini Camcorder is like a toy, but it is not a toy by any means. But on the other hand, it would be very kind if we say that the Disgo Fun performs well in all conditions. Basically, you cannot afford to expect more from a camcorder that is as cheap as this one. It has a reasonable camera that comes along with good design. The camera of this camcorder can be compared to that of a good mobile phone. In other words, the pictures are good but are not great. The camera works excellently under very good lighting conditions and you get very nice pictures. But when you go for shooting indoors, you will clearly see the difference. Under poor or even for that matter, under moderate light conditions, the camera struggles to get good pictures. But, on the whole, the camera is not that good for those who do wish to shoot very often.

But even then, you cannot rate the camcorder low, because it performs better than the cameras of many mobile phones and that too at such a very low budget. Hence, considering the cost of the camera, the performance is very commendable. But if you still want a better performing camcorder, then this is not the place for you. You can check out other good camcorders which are a bit costlier.

Battery:

Another good thing regarding the Disgo Fun Compact, Light Weight Camcorder is that there are three Li ion batteries provided by default. This means that you do not need to buy a spare battery in order to have more battery life. You can carry these batteries along with you wherever you go to make sure that you can shoot happily without worrying about the battery life. The three AAA batteries provided have a battery life of about an hour each. So, you get three hours of shooting on the whole. This is another plus to the Disgo Fun.

Warranty:

There is a parts and labour warranty for a period of two years from the original date of purchase. Two years is pretty long time for warranty. The camcorder will be repaired or replaced by a new piece, conforming to the conditions opined by the company. The warranty service will not be provided in case of physical damage. All the remaining details regarding the conditions and regulations that apply during the warranty period are mentioned in the warranty card that is given at the time of purchase. This card must be carefully preserved and it has to be reproduced at the service centre when you wish to avail the warranty service.

Verdict:

After all that we have seen above, it can be concluded that this is a pretty cheap but also at the same time, a good camcorder. We have to appreciate the efforts of Disgo in providing such an affordable camcorder. Good, sleek and attractive design, reasonable features and very good battery life are the pluses while the performance is lacking a bit. Although this is not a recommendable camcorder, it is a useful purchase especially for the young and the novice users. Students can afford to buy this with their pocket money. If your main aim is to take pictures for fun or if you are a student and photography is your hobby, then this camcorder will do good to you. But if you really want to go big and purchase an excellent camcorder without any compromise in the picture quality and features, then you always have wonderful camcorders in the market.

Check other Mini Camcorder Reviews, Mini DV Camcorder Models in this website.

Disgo Fun Mini Video Camcorder – Technical Specification Table

Design:

Sleek and comfy:
The Legria HF200 Digital Camcorder is quite small and comfortable to handle. Even though there are numerous camcorders in the market that are very small and cute, this should definitely be one of the best designs ever from Canon. The reason for that is the camcorder is so cute to look at and when you take it into your hands you will know that the cam can be perfectly held in one hand. Measuring just about 62 x 70 x 124mm and weighing 340g, this has to be pretty comfortable for you to hold in one hand. Normally with such small cams, there is no need to take the help of the second hand. Also at some times this may lead to shaking of the camera and you may get a blurred image. There is a big lens on the front side and the display is on the side of it. All the control buttons of great importance are also grouped together very well and they are hence easily accessible. Considering these and a few other sundry aspects, it can well be said that Canon has given its best in producing one of its finest designs ever.

Display:
This is also an integral part of the camcorder and more often than not, this aspect may well become the decision maker. The Legria HF200 has a 2.7 inch TFT LCD screen that enables viewing the subjects before they are actually filmed or captured. The screen is quite big for a small camcorder like the Legria HF200 itself. The screen can also be rotated on its axis so that it is comfortable to view the screen when filming in different angles. Particularly, like all camcorders, it is easy to film yourself of you can swivel the screen towards yourself. The screen has all the details of the video and it shows you things like time left, date and time and other information. The screen also can show the information in various languages so that it will be comfortable for local shooters. You can set the language for yourself or the default will be English.

Features:

One of the landmarks of Canon, of late, has been the features section.  Along with good looks, the Legria HF200 High Definition Camcorder also has a variety of features that are so cool and they also greatly improve the popularity of the camcorder.

Face Detection:
Although the Face Detection feature is pretty well known, it is also one of the very common features that are found on just about every camcorder. This is the new technology that allows the lens of the camera to focus more on the faces of the subjects in the picture and then alters the shooting or capturing conditions so as to optimise the quality and clarity of the faces. Even though the overall picture is of great quality, the faces are concentrated more. Hence this feature is one of the most important ones regarding the Legria HF200.

Memory Card Recording:
This is not something new, although it is very useful. You can shoot excellent and High Definition videos and then store them into SDHC type memory cards. These cards are sold separately in the stores. Even though few other cards may be compatible with the Legria HF200 HD Video Camcorder, only the SDHC is officially authenticated as compatible. To be more precise, you better buy that one or you may or may not face problems in the future. A piece of advice that can be given here is that the memory of the card should be at least 2 GB in order to store more HD videos. 4GB or higher are always welcome though.

Instant Shooting:
The Canon Legria HF200 is capable of starting within a second, when you just open the LCD screen. This is called the quick start option and is helpful when instant shooting is needed. Whenever you see something interesting, you can immediately open the lid and then shoot it almost immediately. With a second, you can switch the camcorder on and then shoot videos by just immediately pressing the record button. This feature is quite common nowadays but the Legria HF200 does it quicker than many. While even the best of the cameras nowadays are taking more than a few seconds to start, the Legria HF200 takes merely one second to open up and be ready for full range shooting. Everything happens in seconds.

Creative Options:
There are a few creative options that can creatively alter the settings and options in order to get the pictures that match your tastes and likings. The Legria HF200 has separate options that help you cope up with different conditions and ultimately get the best output. It automatically alters the video and picture modes when in dim light conditions and thus the image or video quality is not reduced very much. The 25 p video mode allows video shooting at 25 frames per second and thereby giving you pictures that match the cinemas. The colour contrast of the Legria HF200 is also quite good, in fact better than any of the other Canon camcorders. There is a special feature, known as the x.v.colour feature, which alters few settings and make the pictures look great on the HD TVs, when the videos are played on them.

Shooting Modes:
There are a few shooting modes so that you can choose the appropriate one depending upon the situation. The Video Snapshot option allows you to snapshot photos from the videos that were taken. Another option is the short record option. With this feature, a short recording of the videos is done every time the record button is presses. All such videos are stored in the memory and they all can be mixed later manually or automatically. You can also add different soundtracks to these videos and they are like the background music. So, you get a customised video mix and this will be a pretty interesting feature that you will ever see. With the music track utility that is provided, you can store music files on to the memory card so that they can be used as background scores for the videos. There is no need of a computer in order to edit all these videos. You can do it all on the camcorder itself.

Software:
A software bundle is provided by Canon, along with the Legria HF200 3.3 Mega Pixel Camcorder. This allows you install them on your computer and use them. The first one is the PIXELA edit software. With this special software, you can edit and crop your photos as you like, edit and provide some effects to your videos and then save them. Later on, you can connect to the internet from your computer and then upload these files on to the internet in order to shame them with the world. The second one is the DW 100 DVD burner that is presented by Canon itself. This one easily burns your DVDs and you can make your own collection of your pictures and videos and later watch on the HD television sets. Thus, both these features are pretty good and helpful. They enhance the utility of the Legria HF200.

These features are really helpful to you in shooting well. Some of them may seem pretty new to some of the novice users but nothing is very difficult. Once you start using the Legria HF200, it will be fun and you will also get used to it soon.

Performance:

Any camcorder has to score good marks in this area, the aspect of performance. Every camcorder has to pass the acid tests that are conducted by experts. Regarding this aspect, the Legria HF200 does not seem to have even the smallest of problems. All its parts are functioning very well and it will be one of the best camcorders that Canon has ever unleashed. Let us come to the point and discuss the various performance aspects of the camcorder.

Camera:
Stunning is the word that you can use to describe the camera of the Legria HF200. Make no mistake; this is one of the best cameras ever in the history of the digital era. It has in it everything that one would expect from a top quality camera. Going into the details of this camera, it has a 3.3 MP lens that gives you excellent pictures all the time. The combination of this lens and the CMOS sensor is just about perfect for any camera. Along with the Full HD CMOS sensor, the 15x optical zoom feature, the Canon HD video lens, 24 Mbps fast video recording, and also the super fast DIGIC DV III processor that gives you Full HD quality video output, leaving an impression of a HD movie. If the settings are set to high, the camera unleashes its full potential.
There is also face detection feature which is already discussed earlier. The camera has such a great ability to recognise up to 35 faces of people inside the photo frame so that you can tag almost everyone that is there in the picture. The super range optical image stabilisation has taken the camera to new heights and you will barely see the effects of shaking and blurring. Hence your shots are never ruined by the shaking of your hands. With such a good camera and its features, you can easily bet on the Legria HF200 to give you stunning HD pictures.

Video Technology:
This area of the camcorder has been improved so much by Canon. The latest of video technology is being used in all the camcorders of Canon and the Legria HF200 is not at all exception by any means. There are also multiple options that make the video shooting better. You can take still pictures of 3.3 MP. Along with this, you also have what is called the Dual Shot mode that allows you to take both pictures and videos at a time. While you are shooting videos of 2 MP, you can always almost readily take pictures at your will, without ever changing the mode. Just by switching between the shooting modes, you can almost instantaneously take quick pictures while the video is recorded in parallel. The photo burst mode allows you to shoot about 25 pictures per second. That is the reason it is called a burst of photos. You can select the best of the randomly clicked photos and save them. Added to all of these wonderful features, the performance part has been top notch. The overall video execution is almost stunning.

Audio Technology:
With the microphone input inside the camcorder, you can attach an external mic in order to record good sounds so as to complement the videos. The microphone input that is there inside allows you to attach an external mic in order to record the audio signals with more clarity. With this, the monitor-audio levels are perfectly maintained. This means that the sounds are produced as they were when the videos are played on the TVs. The direction and the intensity of the sounds are recorded with good accuracy. Hence you can notice the immense development in the audio technology of the camcorders from Canon. On the whole, you get good audio that complements the videos on the Legria HF200.

Thus, you can clearly see that Canon has focussed its attention primarily on the performance aspects of its camcorders. There is not at all a single problem regarding the performance of the Legria HF200 that bothers you. You can happily shoot either indoors or outdoors and almost in all conditions and then get great video output along with great audio.

Battery:

The Legria HF200 come with one of the latest battery technologies. It has the BP 827 type of lithium ion battery that offers you longer battery life. Remember that the more are the options and features switched on in the camcorder, the lesser is the battery life. Hence it is always better to leave the option to the cam itself to choose the shooting conditions and change the settings itself. If customisation is so needed, then it is better that there is a spare battery with you. Having a spare battery with you does you a world of good and especially when you plan to shoot outdoors. This is necessary for any camcorder, not just the Legria HF200.

Warranty:

Canon offers parts and labour warranty for a period of twelve months from the original date of purchase.

Verdict:

You have already made a very good decision if you have gone in favour of the Canon Legria HF200. If you still have not, then you can happily choose this one because you do not find a camcorder that is much better than the Legria HF200, that easily. It has everything in it to make it a five star rated camcorder. Great design, exciting features and wonderful performance, all of them are instrumental in making the camcorder a great hit. Except for the fact that the cam is costlier than normal, there has been no negative aspect regarding the Legria HF200. Even though this is one of the cheapest camcorders from Canon after it has revised its dimensions for the digital cameras, it is still considerably costly. Thus, if you think you do not need to pay too much for a camcorder, then you can look at other camcorders that are almost equivalent with this one, especially from Sony and Toshiba.

Check other Canon Camcorder Reviews, Ratings in this website.

Canon Legria HF200 Camcorder – Technical Specification Table

Design:

The HDC SD10 Camcorder is almost half the size of your palm. So, you can imagine how sleek and small this one is and hence is very easy to hold on to. When the LCD screen is closed, it almost looks like a mobile phone. Its dimensions measuring 47.5 x 63.0 x 114.5 mm (H x W x D) prove this statement. It also weighs pretty less when compared to the normal cams in the market, measuring just about 227 grams. Hence you find it easy to hold it in one hand and you might think that statement no sense, but this means a lot as many users believe that if two hands come into play, then the cam starts shaking a bit and hence the image quality is lost in the end. Everything else is almost normal. All the things are the same and none of their positions are changed. But the only thing is that they are pretty neatly arranged and their sizes are also minimised. Hence the design part of the Panasonic HDC SD10 is absolutely fine and this is one of the sleeker and the smaller camcorders you will ever see.

Sleek Design with a great Display:

One of the things that have really transformed photography has been the display screen. This enables you to look at everything before it is actually filmed. The Panasonic HDC-SD10 has a 2.7 inch wide LCD screen that gives you an excellent preview of all the pictures beforehand. This screen has good contrast levels and also its range is pretty good, with 230,400 pixels. It also has the ability to rotate on its axis and hence giving the users more flexibility in shooting their videos. It also has a wide range of viewing, with a viewing angle of about 170 degrees. This display is particularly very good for self capturing. You can easily look at yourself before you click and hence the pictures look great. Therefore, it can be said that this is one of the best displays in the market and we are pleased with its performance.

Features:

This part of the camcorder is very vital. It is this section of the camcorder that often decides its quality and popularity. This is because all the camcorders in the world have almost everything in common except the features. The features of different cams are different and those that are featured on the Panasonic HDC SD10 Video Camcorder are unique as well as useful.  Hence it is always necessary to know well about all the features of any gadget for that matter, because every feature is pretty new and unforeseen on most occasions. Here is a deeper look at the different features and utilities of the camcorder.

Intelligent Auto Mode:
With the Intelligent Auto or the iA feature, you can automatically activate some important functions that let you shoot comfortably and easily. This option, when switched on, makes all kinds of adjustments in order to make the picture clear and the environment in which the picture is captured is also smoothly altered so that you get pictures that are very apposite to the situation. Subtle adjustments like sharp focussing on to the people in the picture and small changes in the brightness levels and the colour contrast of the images; these are the things that are taken care of by this Intelligent Auto mode. Intelligent scene selector is also one of the options that come in to play here. It selects the appropriate scene or background to the pictures. One important thing that needs to be noticed here is that there is an option called the Auto focus/ Auto exposure, which focuses on the required subject in the frame. All this can be done by just touching the subject with your finger. This virtual alteration of the conditions makes the Panasonic HDC a very interesting one. Hence, this can be considered as a mix bag of several vital functions that are really necessary.

Face Detection:
This feature is seen in almost every camcorder nowadays. Even though this is one of the most common ones, it is still very vital that any cam cannot survive the competition without this feature. The Face Detection feature is automatic and as the name itself suggests, it detects the faces of people in the picture frame very accurately and hence alter the picture options accordingly. This feature is responsible for the phenomenon that is, the faces of the people are more candid than the other parts of the picture. This feature also automatically sets the other conditions and the skin tone of the persons will look more natural as well. Hence there is nothing complex when it comes to the Face Detection feature.

Optical Image Stabilisation:
Also known as the Active Mode (only in the Panasonic HDC SD10), this feature is related to the camera part of the camcorder. As we all know, our hands shake a bit while using the camcorder and especially while capturing videos. This ultimately results in either reduction in the image quality or blurring of the videos. Hence, in order to minimise this loss in the image quality, a new technology, called the optical image stabilisation has been introduced in the recent past. The name itself explains everything. The shaking effect that is caused while shooting is minimised to the maximum extent possible and smoother pictures are produced so that there is nothing that is fuzzy. This has also been one of those features that is being used by most of the manufacturers in their camcorders. This has become so vital that it is recently being used in the cameras of the mobile phones.

Connectivity and Networking:
SD Networking is available on the Panasonic HDC SD10. All you need to do is just pull the SD type memory card out of the camcorder and then insert into the Panasonic Viera TV and play the videos. For that matter, you can play the videos on any HD TV by just connecting to the TV using an HDMI cable. But if you have the Viera TV, you can also control your camcorder with your TV remote. You can also place this memory card inside the slot of a Blu Ray Disc Player for the same purpose. Hence the process of networking is easier than ever before. There is also the facility of uploading your videos onto YouTube. For this you need to simply encode the media to mpeg-2 format and then upload it on YouTube. This procedure is not mandatory but doing this eases the process.

Highlight Playback:
This is one of the amusing features you will find on the Panasonic HDC SD10 High Definition Camcorder. By using this feature, you can select the most important videos and photos from all of them and then the camcorder plays them randomly in order to give you a highlights package of the video or picture content. You will feel like watching a trailer if a movie when you actually come across this feature. If none of them is selected, then the camera itself selects the more exciting and brighter scenes from the array and then compiles them as a special package of highlights in order to give you a glimpse of all the others as well. A few more things add to the beauty of this feature. The pictures that are played at random are provided with various effects like panning, zooming and swivelling. They are also backed up by lively music that is already installed in the camcorder. Hence, all these combine to provide a great feature called the Highlight Playback.
Hence, these are precisely the main features of the Panasonic HDC SD10. They are not only good in number but also very good in usability.

Performance:

Till now, we have discussed about all the features and the design and they have been very good. So, it is natural that we expect terrific performance from the Panasonic HDC SD10. Besides this, the aspect of performance is also the most important thing and the foremost thing that one wants to be very good. But Panasonic seems to have no problems at all in providing excellent performance from its HDC SD10. Let us see what we have in store for us, regarding its performance.

Camera and Sensor:
This one has got a very good camera and the lens can be ranked among the best. The camera is powered by the latest CMOS technology to give you great pictures. The very advanced 16x zoom is also one of the main features of the HDC SD10. Although normally you get distorted pictures when zoomed to this extent, this camera, as we already discussed above, has the OIS or the Optical Image Stabilisation feature that stabilises the pictures in order to reduce blurring and distortion to the maximum extent. The unique feature of this lens is that it can identify hand shaking about 4000 times a second and immediately minimises the effect. Hence, you almost get a continuous smooth picture with very slight blurring. It is also comfortable to record videos when you are in motion so that your movement is also minimised. Coming to the details of the camera, the luminosity levels are good, at 1400 lx. The focus is automatic although you can adjust it manually. There is an array of shutter speeds that alter the image quality and they can be set manually according to the shooting conditions. The HDC-SD10 Flash Memory Camcorder also features Backlight compensation so that your picture quality does not degrade much even in poor lighting conditions. This feature is also both automatic and manual.

Lens:
The lens is the next most important aspect of a camcorder, after the camera itself. Regarding the lens of the HDC SD10, it is one of the better ones you will find in the market. You see pretty good numbers and statistics when you look at this lens. The F value of the lens ranges from 1.8 (wide) to 2.8 (tele). The filter diameter is about 30.5 mm. The lens also allows digital zooming of the images up to 1000 x. The focal length of the lens ranges from 2.95 mm to 47.2 mm. You can film videos of 35mm camera equivalent with 16:9 ratios with the Panasonic HDC SD10. Coming to the image sensor that is featured here, there is a 1/6” MOS of 1.47 megapixels. Effective pixels are also featured in addition to this in order to enhance the quality of the camera. For still images and also for motion images, it is about 1.17 megapixels.

Video Performance:
With such a good camera, you would expect fine video performance from the Panasonic HDC SD10. Apart from the usual video recording technology that you will see everywhere, Panasonic tried some new features in order to make the videos look better on the HDC SD10. The most important of them is the HD Advanced Pure Colour Engine. This very new feature enables a wider tonal expression and also high speed video processing. This is possible due to the impression of advanced imaging and printing circuitry which you will normally find inside the professional cameras. This very advanced new imaging engine handles large volumes of data at a time and also prevents blown images and blocked shadows, which cause minor problems otherwise. Hence the images look so real and as they are in real life and therefore you have great video performance with the HDC SD 10.

Audio Performance:
In general, the audio recording performance of this cam is good. But an important feature here is the Stereo Zoom Microphone. This means that the microphone of the cam is linked to the lens action. This means that the sound effects are changes subject to the changes in the zoom level. If the picture zoom level is normal, then the sound is also normal and all the sounds that are emitted during capturing are recorded as they are. But if the camera is zoomed to a particular subject, then the sounds that are emitted from that particular subject are recorded in detail when compared to the other sounds. This is just like the 3D effect and it definitely looks great. The overall audio performance is good and one of the better ones we have tested.

System Requirements:
The system requirements for the compatibility of the HDC SD10 are: An operating system that is either of Microsoft Windows XP (service packs 2 and 3) and Microsoft Windows Vista (service pack 1). The Mac version is also available in selective regions. The CPU must be Intel Pentium III or higher, with 1.0 GHz.

Miscellaneous:

The miscellaneous performance aspects include the Digital Camera Mode that allows you to shoot pictures at 1080p and at 25 frames per second. Then there is the progressive scanning procedure that makes sure that you get movie like videos. The soft skin mode detects the skin tones of people to the most intricate detail and gives you pictures that are very natural. The Magic Pix and the Tele Macro options allow sharp focussing even in poor lighting conditions. Then there is the High Speed Burst shooting feature that allows you to split videos into fifty parts or frames per second. This is good splitting by any standards and is one of the add-ons to the HDC SD10 compact Video Camcorder. There are also different scene modes that make the scenes more natural. These are namely: Sports, Low, Portrait, Surf and Snow, Spot Light, Sunset, scenery, fireworks and beach. These will be selected by the camcorder automatically.

Package contents:

Along with the Panasonic camcorder, you are provided with other hardware that consists of an AC adaptor, an AC cable, a DC cable, a rechargeable battery pack, a video component cable, an AV cable, a USB cable, a stylus pen, and the included software (HD writer AE 1.5). These are only minimal accessories and if any others are needed, you need to buy them separately from the stores. But in most of the cases, these are more than enough.

Battery:

The 725 mAh Lithium ion battery gives you a very good battery life of about an hour and twenty minutes. This is also above the normal ratings for the battery life of such camcorders. This battery is rechargeable. There is also a rechargeable battery pack available in the kit along with the camcorder. Normally this suffices your needs but it is better if you have a reserve battery with you all the time.

Warranty:

There is a twelve month international warranty when it comes to the parts as well as the labour. You can get the repairs done in any of the Panasonic Help centres around the world. This helps you a lot if your cam does not work properly in your holiday as you can get it fixed anywhere in the world.

Verdict:

The Panasonic HDC SD10 Digital Camcorder has popped up suddenly into the camcorder market leading to the surprise of many. It has one of the better designs in the world and is certainly good for students as well as the novice users equally. The display screen is very big for such a camcorder and it is nice to see it work very well. The HDC SD10 also included some very unique and interesting features and will certainly be of very good use to all. The camcorder performed really well and it passed various tests quite comfortably. The flexibility and customisability are two of the very best features of the HDC SD10. The flexibility shown in the warranty service is commendable. The cost of this cam is also pretty reasonable to all. It is good to see such a fine camcorder for such a reasonable rate. All in all, this is a good choice for almost anyone, from students to the professionals.

Check other Latest Panasonic Camcorder Reviews, best High Definition Camcorders in this website.


Panasonic HDC-SD10 Camcorder – Technical Specification Table

The camcorders are the most popular and the most ornamented electronic gadgets among the commons. Technology has been subservient in completely changing the prospect of everything that suffices your daily round. The camcorders are not an exception to this. With the daily advancements in electronic technology, everything is becoming slimmer and slimmer day by day. This particular aspect of miniaturization has made all the gadgets, including the camcorders, very portable and stylish. New models and features are being introduced every now and then and all the prime producers of electronic goods in the world have embarked on providing a variety of camcorders and each one of them is unique in its own terms. But out of all of them, Sony has the proud privilege of being right at the top. Its camcorders, just like its other products, have been of the finest quality. It has recently released a new series of its camcorders, which includes the Sony Bloggie MHS-CM5 Camcorder. It has in it all the style in the world and also the features that will suit just about everyone. Here is a detailed analysis of this new cam from Sony.

Design:

Not Pocket Friendly:

When you look at the Bloggie MHS for the first time, you will be under the impression that it is quite large for a modern camcorder. It measures about (W x D x H)39 x 101 x 67 mm. This is enough to show that it is a tad bigger than normal. It weighs about 6.9 ounces. So, considering these measurements, it can easily be said that you cannot fit this camcorder into your pocket. Except this, the remaining part of the design is absolutely perfect for a camcorder. The candy bar style of the camcorder is very cute looking and it is also quite comfortable to hold in one hand. Its stylish looks add to its beauty. The very look of it is quite cool and at the same time it has a professional look too.

Buttons and Controls:

All the main controls are placed at a very intuitively, at the top of the cam so that you can approach them with your thumb. This arrangement reduces the need to use two hands while filming as that leads to the shaking of the camera. There is a slot for the tripod stand at the bottom. This stand comes in handy when you need to mount the camera somewhere. The USB arm is also well placed so that the connection of the camera to a computer becomes a lot easier and also by doing this, you can forget about using wires for connections. The screen is also perfectly placed and on the whole, the design of the Bloggie MHS-CM5 HD Camcorder is nearly perfect and stylish.

Display:

The Sony Bloggie MHS-CM5 uses a 2.5 inch LCD screen. The screen is comparatively quite big and thus you can have a comfortable look at everything before you actually start filming. This 2.5 inch LCD screen can rotate up to angle of 270 degrees on its axis. This is of great help to you especially while you are filming yourself and also if you try new angles of filming in order to make your videos or pictures look somewhat special. The swiveling screens are quite common nowadays but there are few screens in the market that can rotate up to 270 degrees. You do not normally see that, do you?

Features:

Of late, there has been a great deal of features introduced by Sony. None of them were any inferior to the best features available out there. This time around, Sony has tried its luck by introducing some innovative features and tested if they could be of any help to the users. Although most of them were only add-ons to those of the previous camcorders, they came out to be good in the end.

Camera:

The Sony Bloggie MHS-CM5 has got one of the best cameras in the market. Its 5 MP camera helps you in giving literally crystal clear pictures. The pictures and the videos look great on the camera of the Bloggie MHS. The camera has CMOS sensor that sharpens the pictures. It has also got a 5x zoom facility and the image quality does not degrade much even in the zoom position. You almost get wonderful pictures and videos on this camera except when the outside light conditions are too poor and also when the photographer’s hands are a bit shaky. These are the main drawbacks of this otherwise magnificent camera. There has been a hue and cry among the users of the Bloggie regarding the above two factors that hinder the performance of the camera a bit.

Flash:

On one hand, the Bloggie MHS-CM5 HD camcorder does not have a built-in flash light to support the light intensity during poor light conditions. Although the camcorder adjusts itself the brightness levels according to the conditions, you would always want a flash light option which brightens the images a lot. On the other hand, as most of the users of the camcorders are not professionals in photography, it is quite natural that their hands tend to shake a bit while shooting. This is the reason why the new cameras have come with a feature that nullifies the shaking effect to give a more qualitative output. But this does not seem to be the case with the Bloggie MHS. Hence Sony has provided a tripod stand at the bottom of the camera in order to make it stand upright and hence to get better pictures, sans any blur. Another thing to notice is that there is no picture stabilization at 1080p.

HD Recording:

If you have always wanted high definition video recording from your camcorder, then the Sony Bloggie MHS is one of the best findings for you. Sony has always been following the latest video technologies. The video technology has taken new turns as the High Definition Video output has come into picture. This High Definition Technology gives you ultra crisp pictures with the highest quality. The HD videos look like the movies you see in the theatres. Exactly in the same manner, Sony has implemented the HD recording feature in the Bloggie MHS. You get ultra high quality pictures with the Bloggie. The Bloggie takes pictures with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, which is the best one you can expect from a camcorder of this type. It allows you to record the best moments of your life in the latest mp4 format, also known as the H.264. This new format, the mp4, helps you compress the videos and pictures taken by you and hence makes it easy for you to upload the files into your computer. Mp4 also proudly claims its capacity to meet the compatibility needs of most of the websites on the internet such as YouTube and PhotoBucket.

Face Detection:

This has been one of the most common but very important features of all. With the help of this very special technology, the camera of the Bloggie MHS identifies the faces of the people in the picture and then alters and optimizes the settings and picture options accordingly. It helps in making the faces of the people in the picture clearer than the other parts of it. The faces are also made quite sharp with the face detection technology. Another thing with this feature is that it makes the skin tones of people in the picture more natural. So, this new technology only adds up the pluses list of the Bloggie MHS.

Media Card Slot:

You always need some memory in the cam in order to save all the pictures clicked by you. So, you need a memory card. The Sony Bloggie MHS has proved its flexibility when it comes to the compatibility with the memory cards. It accepts as many as five types of memory cards that are available in the market. Memory Cards like the SD, SDHC, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo and Memory Stick PRO HD Duo are accepted by the Bloggie MHS. You can choose any one of these cards, with good memory. Sony sells these cards along with the cams for a separate price but you can also buy them separately from the stores.

Connectivity:
With the Bloggie MHS, you can easily connect it to your PC and the net. It comes with an in-built USB arm and it makes your connection easier. You do not need to search for cables for the purpose of charging or syncing, but instead all you need to do is just plug in the camcorder to the USB port of your computer using the USB arm. So now you can easily share the media files to your computer and then you can also easily upload them to the internet. This special connectivity feature is often not associated with the camcorders. You normally see this feature in small music players and other USB enabled devices. But all in all, this is a bit of a unique feature introduced by Sony and it is fine.

Easier Share:

With the Picture Motion Browser or the PMB feature that is pre installed in the Bloggie MHS, you can easily share your videos with friends and family. For this, the only thing you need to do is just pre-select the pictures and videos that you want to show to the world and then you can simply upload them to a compatible PC and then to a website like YouTube, without the requirement of any new software. Even though there are many camcorders that allow sharing of the pictures and the videos taken by you, nothing is as easier as on the Sony Bloggie MHS.

Multi AV Terminal:

Any camcorder must come with a terminal that connects to the television because after all, you would want to view the pictures that are filmed by you in a bigger frame and Sony has always allowed you to do so by providing an external terminal. There is the Multi AV terminal that is featured in the Bloggie MHS that allows you to easily connect your camcorder to your TV. A separate cable is provided for this and it has to be purchased from the stores separately.

Tripod Mount:

This is one of the unique features of the Bloggie MHS. As we have seen already, the camera needs perfect stability for you to get optimum picture quality. But then you cannot stand the cam on any kind of surface. Hence a separate Tripod mount is provided. This is situated at the bottom of the camcorder. It consists of nothing but three interlinked plastic sticks that are designed to just about bear the weight of the camcorder. So, the camera can now be made to stand on its own feet and it does not need anyone to hold while shooting. Due to this reason, this feature is so well appreciated and also well received by the users of the Bloggie MHS.

Dual Capture:

This is again a pretty good feature implemented by Sony in the Bloggie MHS. With this you can capture videos as well as photos simultaneously. This can be done by switching between the video and still pictures modes of the camera. So, with the press of a single button, you are in a position of capturing both the videos and photos. It is like the screenshot mode you will see in movie editors. You can screenshot the photos you want from the videos taken. There is a button at the top that toggles the functioning from still image capturing to video capturing. Dual Capture is the order of the day when you have the Bloggie MHS in your hand.

Miscellaneous:

The MHS-CM5 Digital Video camcorder can be switched on instantly by just opening the LCD screen. There is no need of searching for a button to switch the cam on and also to wait for a while for the cam to start working. Immediately after you open the LCD screen, the cam starts working. There is also an option for the display of multiple languages on the screen. Regarding the photos, there is an auto white balance mode to automatically retouch the photos and the slide show mode allows you to watch all the pictures in the slide show mode. There is also the Steadyshot Image Stabilization feature that stabilizes the photos and videos and hence gets you very candid pictures. Great options for you to explore on!

These are precisely all the important features that you will see on the Bloggie MHS-CM5. They are not only unique in their own terms but they are also quite useful for daily usage. They are also so user friendly that even the novice users can get used to them very quickly. Altogether, they are very good, both in number and in terms of utility.

Performance:

This is considered as the most important facet of any electronic gadget. Particularly, when it comes to the camcorders, the first thing you will look for is the way the camcorder performs. You always tend to expect the best performance from Sony, owing to the reputation it has earned over the years. This time too, it has not disappointed in any aspect and it seems that Sony has not compromised at all in any aspect of the Bloggie MHS. Sony has also proved once again that you do not need to compromise on the aspect of the performance of the camcorder if there are many features and options. We have discussed all the features and options that you will see in the Sony Bloggie MHS camcorder and it certainly promises to give a good performance. Here is a glimpse of the performance details of the Bloggie MHS.

Video Performance:

As discussed earlier, the camera of the Bloggie MHS is pretty good and hence you get good videos off it. It has got some of the characteristics that are required to give meticulous pictures. A 35 mm equivalent lens that has a wide range of 41 – 205 mm at 16:9 and 38 – 190 mm at 4:3, an aperture of 3.3 f and a focal distance ranging from 6.3 mm to 31.5 mm, all of them are instrumental in producing quality videos. Although the optical focus is only 5x, the digital zoom allows zooming up to 20x times larger. Even these highly zoomed images do not considerably lose their quality. The Auto Focus option automatically focuses on to the objects and the focal length of the lens is automatically changed accordingly. The shutter speed ranges from 1/ 15 to 1/4000. Added to all of these, a resolution of 5038 K only makes the video output better.

Audio Performance:

The audio performance of camcorders from Sony is generally good. Same is the case with the Bloggie MHS. There is a built-in microphone inside the cam and this one is of good quality. The sounds are recorded very well with good precision. The recording format is mono. This is a bit of a concern as there is no stereo type of audio recording. Generally, the stereo type gives you better quality sound when compared to the mono type. But nevertheless the audio on the Bloggie MHS is good enough to complement its video.

Considering these two and also the other sundry aspects of performance, it is more than reasonable. Although there have been a few problems in the past regarding the performance of the camcorders from Sony, this time around the problems are few and far between.

Software:

The Bloggie MHS comes with some software that helps it function better. The PMB or the Picture Motion Browser is a tool to help you share your pictures with the world. There is an embedded version of this browser in the camcorder, but Sony also provides a CD ROM that contains this software of a different version that is compatible with the PC. You need to install this software in your computer if you want to transfer the media to the websites on the internet.

Even though Sony has been trying to provide software that do not pose any problems, there has always been some complaint or the other regarding the aspect of software. Even the Bloggie MHS is accused if these software problems and many users have expressed this already. Sony has noticed them and we hope that these minor problems will be corrected soon.

System Requirements:

To sync your camcorder with your PC, the system requirements are as follows: An operating system that is either of Microsoft Windows 7, Windows XP (service pack 3), Windows Vista (service pack 2) and Mac OS X (version 10.4 to version 10.6). Other operating systems are not supported. You must also be connected to the internet if you would like to upload your photos and videos to the websites on the internet like YouTube and PhotoBucket.

Battery:

The battery is lithium ion type as usual, but the thing is these batteries are of a new type and they stay for longer time. Sony has stated that it has integrated even its batteries in a view to enhance the battery life of its camcorders. These new batteries support uninterrupted video recording for a period of 105 minutes. This is comparatively very high for a battery life. When you see the other cams in the market that come with the conventional battery system, you will notice that they only stay for a period of sixty to seventy minutes. So, this is definitely going to be a plus to the Bloggie MHS-CM5.

But the major drawback of the Bloggie MHS regarding its battery and charging is that it can only be charged by connecting to the computer through the USB arm. There is no other alternative as Sony has not provided an external charger along with the device. This may cost a lot to the users and they will certainly be in straits if they are away from home and their battery is over. So, in that case, the users are advised to have at least one more fully charged reserve battery in order to comfortably record videos without ever being bothered of the battery life.

Warranty Details:

Sony offers warranty to the Bloggie MHS against any defects in the workmanship or the material. Consistent to the warranty details given below, Sony will either repair the product or replace it with a new piece. There are two warranties for the Bloggie MHS-CM5.

The first one is the parts warranty. This constitutes the hardware package included in the device. This is provided for a period of one year from the original date of purchase. This warranty does not cover the technical assistance for the repairing of the parts and there is also no warranty for the software contents whether or not included in the device. If at all the hardware components are damaged genuinely, then Sony will provide renovate the defected parts with new ones. The other one is the labor warranty. This is active for a period of ninety days. The same conditions explained above will be applicable here too.

To obtain warranty, you must either take it to the service center or send the whole device to the service centers with the same packaging conditions. A receipt is to be produced to avail the offer of warranty.

Verdict:

The Sony Bloggie MHS-CM5 is a cool camcorder to have, particularly if you are a novice user and you do not use it too often. It is quite good and suitable for home video shooting. Its design is pretty good though it is a tad bigger in size for a pocket camcorder. The LCD screen is big enough for comfortable viewing. Its features are very interesting and are also quite good in number. The camera, in particular, is very impressive. The performance of the Bloggie MHS is good enough for novice users, although not that great for the professional photographers.

Coming to the negative aspects, the battery charging facility is a bit disappointing. The picture stabilization option is not that effective and even if this option is switched on, the pictures are blurred if there is movement while recording. There are also few complaints regarding the software compatibilities of the device and we expect Sony to correct them in the near future. But anyways, no camcorder is perfect and everything has some negative aspects. This camcorder looks good in the hands of novice users and particularly the young.

Check other Sony Camcorder Reviews, Ratings in this website.

Sony Bloggie MHS-CM5 – Technical Specification Table

To repair this situation, Canon, one of the prime producers of the camcorders, has released its new chef-d’oeuvre, the Canon DM-XM2 Professional Mini DV Camcorder. This camcorder is certainly the best product ever from Canon. Go through this to know more about one of the best camcorders ever.

Design:

It is a biggie:
When you look at the Canon DM-XM2 for the first time, you will be reminded of the TV camera. It is big in size, when compared to the normal camcorders. But it is quite sleek for a Mini DV camcorder. The conventional Mini DV camcorders are much bigger in size and hence are not so comfortable for home use or for students of media and films. This beauty from Canon is 11.8 cm wide, 13.6 cm high and30.6 cm deep. Normally, you do not find a camcorder of such dimensions but Canon is one of the very few manufacturers that have made it possible. It is also incredibly light in weight, weighing just 300 grams, slightly more than pocket camcorder or a mobile phone. This is the slimmest one that Canon has ever produced. Sony has been the only other company that has managed to produce such a comfortable and cute looking camcorder.

Display:
Like most of the camcorders, the canon XM2  3CCD Camcorder also has an LCD display. The 2.5 inch LCD panel is good enough for watching what you are capturing. This screen is flip type which means that it can be flipped out whenever necessary and can then be replaced after use by flipping it in. Another thing that is worth noticing here is that this screen can be twisted around to any angle, about its axis. So this makes it comfortable when the viewing angles are difficult; especially at times when you need different angles. For an example, it is very nice to have a look at the screen when you wish to film yourself so that you get a more accurate picture.

Interfaces:
The output interfaces offered by Canon DM-XM2 Video Camcorder includes S- Video, Composite video, RCA audio, Firewire, Digital Video, iLink, USB and a headphone jack and the input interfaces on offer are S- video, Composite video, RCA Audio, Firewire, Digital Video, iLink. To briefly detail about their uses, they are mainly used for linking the camcorder to video playing sources so that the media that has been captured can be played. The S- Video, composite video, RCA audio, Firewire, Digital Video and iLink, all come under the same type of interfaces. They can be used to connect to a DVD player, for an example, so that all the media files can be played. The USB interface is different and is of great aid to transfer the data from the camcorder to a PC or to a phone that is USB compatible.

Features:

Canon’s previous product, Canon XM1, was not a big hit because it lacked a lot of features and also was not so unique. It featured many options that were already there in the market and hence there was not that much of interest in it among the cam lovers. So, this time around, Canon has taken all possible measures not to repeat such mistakes and to make its new product more unique. So, it has provided more features in the DM-XM2 Flash Memory Camcorder. These revived features add to the camcorder’s grandeur and make it one of the main contenders for the best camcorder available out there.

Professional Lens:
The Canon XM2 is powered by the very professional L-series fluorite lens that gives you extremely candid pictures of 35 mm. This lens is very rare and you will not find in many other camcorders. This lens not only delivers great pictures but also captures the videos with great detail and the quality of them being almost equal to that of the broadcast TV. Its focus range is very good, grading from a minimum of 4.2 mm to a maximum of 84 mm and its maximum aperture is about 1.6 f and it can zoom up to 20x. The filter diameter is about 58 mm. With this lens, you can get very crisp images even at high magnifications. There is also little chromatic aberration and hence there are no coloured rings around the objects in the picture. Hence, you have no more worries about this issue. Another significant feature is that of the cam’s immense ability to capture good pictures even in dim light. Such a powerful lens is very vital for the success of a camcorder in the market, so the first thing anybody wants out of their camcorder is the picture delivery. The rest are, of course, only add-ons.

Shift the Range:
Canon has introduced the new feature, called the Super Pixel Shift, which helps you in altering the pixel range. You can get a wider dynamic range, especially for movies. It also reduces the vertical smear in order to give you a perfect pixel setting for the videos and hence giving you an excellent video output. The digital photos are also taken with a high resolution of 1.7 mega pixels. This is indeed a unique feature.

Image Stabilisation:
Image Stabilisation is a common but very important feature that reduces the effect of any shakes or movement of the images. It is one of the best technologies that have ever been evolved, when it comes to photography. It has completely transformed the state of photography. Many companies have used this technology to improve the performance of their cameras and to produce the best camcorders. In this case, it is a more advanced technology that is used, named as the Optical Image Stabilisation. With this special feature, the pictures and videos are captured with such great accuracy that even if the objects are fast moving or if the camcorder is a bit shaky, the objects are clear and crisp, without any trails or aberrations. Hence the images are perfectly stabilised.

Microphone:
The Canon XM2 has a very good built-in microphone that senses even minute sounds. There is also a very special mechanism built inside the microphone that makes it record speech sounds or voices with much more clarity than the other normal sounds. The background sounds and noise are also minimised to the maximum extent; giving you very clear and sharp sounds. There is a special addition called the Direction Accurate Microphone, that senses the direction from which the sound is recorded, and the reproduces it the same way and with the same effect and clarity.
There is an option for you to choose between three modes that match the recording conditions, namely normal, voice and windscreen. These options alter the microphone frequency accordingly to enable you optimum recording experience. The stereo ambience is very accurate and the sounds are recorded with good quality. Hence, the microphone will prove to be one of the pluses for Canon since not many camcorders in the market have such a good microphone with features that are as good as these.

Connectivity:
Connectivity is very vital as sharing the pictures and videos, with our friends and family, is as important as capturing them. The XM2 is equipt with a Digital Video (DV) terminal that is useful for non linear editing. To connect the XM2 to the PC, you need to simply use the USB cable. With this, you can synchronise your camcorder and then easily send videos and pictures to your PC and can be uploaded to the internet.

Performance:

The Canon XM2 Novice, Professional use Camcorder is backed by the latest technology available. As we have seen in the features, there is a lot of technology involved. Canon also tried to ameliorate the performance of the camcorder by making subtle changes in its hardware and mechanism. It has done so, in order to withstand the competition, especially from Sony.  So, expect the best performance from Canon.

The Canon DM XM2 has a few enhancements that ply an array of preferences and shooting situations. This enables the user either to choose the best of the options that suit the situation, or to set it to automatic and leave the option for the camcorder to choose for itself.

CCD Unit:
It has an extremely sensitive CCD unit that gets you 540 lines of horizontal resolution and this enhances the performance in dim light situations. CCD stands for Charge Coupled Device. There are 3 CCD units in total, each of ¼” size and 470K pixels. The CCD has an integrated internal sensor suchlike a photoelectric device, in view of producing the images that are being read by the lens, and thus allowing digital imaging process to give you an excellent image quality. This latest digital device technology gives you very clear and distinct images, which otherwise do not look that good. Normally, these CCDs are used in the fields of scientific, medical and professional applications, where there is no compromise of image quality.

Experience the Difference:
When it comes to Video recording, the Canon XM2 is inferior to none. There are two standard recording speeds, namely SP and LP. They help you set the pace of the video and the frame speed is changed when these options are toggled. There is this Image Stabiliser technology that brushes off the effects of blurring and trailing of the images. With this very new option, you are assured of excellent pictures and videos even if there is a relative motion between the camcorder and the objects. The recommended luminosity level is 100 Lux. But the cam works well efficiently even at low light conditions. Its minimum luminosity level is 3 Lux. So, even if the lighting is not up to the mark, the cam adjusts itself to the existing conditions to give you great pictures. You will definitely feel the difference when recording the videos in such conditions.

Memory Photography:
The camcorder has a built-in memory card slot for you. You need to buy an SD memory card only, since the cam is SD compatible. The camcorder is capable of taking digital still photography. When you insert a memory card, you will be provided with the option of Digital Still Shot. The memory still resolution of the cam is about 1.68 megapixels and the maximum memory still image resolution is 1488 x 1128. So, you will get pictures with high resolution and hence with high clarity. There is no MPEG movie mode. The memory cards are available in the market. You can buy the card that suits you the best.

Picture Adjustments:
This is one of the areas that have been modified and improved by Canon. The XM2 has more options in it to enhance the performance, when compared to the XM1. Mainly, the colour phase adjustments and colour gain adjustments have been improved a lot. These options can alter the properties of colour of the images. You are allowed to choose the colour settings yourself or you can set it to automatic. The manual adjustment facility in this camcorder is a great plus to it. Many camcorders are by default, set to automatic so that the cam chooses the colour settings itself according to the outside conditions. But in many cases, you want to select the settings of your choice. This is possible with the Canon XM2. Also, after you set the options yourself, you can save the settings as custom, just as in the case of a computer. These settings will be saved in the memory and they can be reloaded again whenever needed.

The Slow Shutter Speed feature helps you to set the XM2 to lower shutter speeds up to one sixths of a second. The Gain Control has also been upgraded so that now you can increase the gain to a maximum of 18 dB. The Frame Movie Mode option gives you a progressive shooting performance, at 25 frames per second. So you experience a movie like experience as the pictures blend with one another very smoothly, faster than the persistence of vision of the eye. The video footage also comes at 1/50 slower shutter speed, hence giving you a footage that is almost equal in quality to the HD movies. The 16:9 Guide is a feature that allows you to take accurate 16:9 pictures and then guides you in cropping them.

These picture adjustments make the Canon XM2 behave according to your tastes and desires. The customisation option is definitely going to attract many customers.

Amplified Audio Performance:
This is also one of the areas that Canon focussed on. A good quality video should always be complemented by good audio performance. Otherwise, the video would not look that effective. As we have already seen under Microphones, the sound signals are very efficiently captured by the microphones. Also, the audio is reproduced in stereo mode, while playing the recorded videos. The high definition audio performance is formidable and is almost of studio quality. In addition to this, you can manually control the audio level to a two channel audio, where the input levels can be set with the help of a special dial. Also, the left / right level can be adjusted for the two channels. There is an Audio level meter that has a left and right independent peak holder of 24 segments. This, along with the Audio level meter, is displayed on the LCD and the EVF.

The performance of the 12/16 Bit PCM Digital Stereo Audio is certainly a plus to the XM2. The MA – 300 type microphone adapter gives you the simultaneous recording of two independent channels from both the microphones with XLR connection. There is also the BNC Picture Out Terminal that receives and sends signals in the form of digital signals and hence increases the sound clarity.

These are precisely the performance details of the Canon XM2. In short, there is certainly an improvement in the performance of Canon’s camcorders. Particularly, when you compare the XM2 with its precursor, the Canon XM1, you will find that there is an increase in the number of enhancement options and few of the XM1’s features are modified and renovated.

Battery:

The battery is proprietary Lithium type and it has a life time of about one hour for video shooting and a little more for photo capturing. Since the Video quality is high, it consumes a lot of power. With so many features and enhancements discussed above, the battery life certainly decreases. Since the battery life is low, it is always advisable that you must at least have another spare battery that is fully charged, so that you can replace the older one when it is over.

Warranty and Service:

Canon offers its camcorder parts and labour warranty for a period of one year from the date of purchase and the company also has a central and multilingual helpdesk in Europe. There are toll free numbers for you to call the Canon helpdesk whenever you have a doubt or a problem regarding the functioning of the camcorder. The helpdesk gives you expert advice so that small problems can easily be solved by yourself without any delay. But if the experts find that the problem is not a small one and it needs attention, they will send a technician within a few days and the problem will be rectified.

Verdict:

The Canon XM2 is one of the most impressive camcorders in the market. It looks like a television camera, but is certainly very useful for home and outside shooting. It is so easy to use that even novice users get adapted to it easily. The new unique features and enhancement facilities, combined with excellent performance, make it a most wanted camcorder. It is also very durable, unlike many others which may malfunction over a period of use. But, the cost is very high for less frequent usage such as shooting at home. It is more suitable for students of photography and also for professional photographers, who regularly use it. So, novice users may first opt for smaller and cheaper camcorders, get used to photography, and then go for camcorders as good as this one.  An important advice is that it is better if you get this cam insured since it is very pricey and a small damage may cost you quite a lot especially when the warranty period is over.

Check other Canon Camcorder Reviews, Specs in this website.

Canon DM-XM2 Digital Camcorder – Technical Specification Details

Design:

Built and Display:
The Panasonic SDR-S15 SD Camcorder looks as if it is a plaything. It is very cute and small in size, very comfortable to carry and to hold in the hands. Its dimensions are (W x H x D) 43 x 59 102 mm and it weighs just about 165 grams. So, by any standards, this is a very comfortable camcorder that is available out there. It is very easy to hold too, if you close your hands around it to make a fist, the camcorder itself would almost disappear. It feels a little bit plastic-y, but not so much as to upset you. Less noteworthy is the fact that the S15 is available in reddish brown, black, silver and pink.

The flip-out screen is nice and all the main control options are positioned at a comfortable place for operation with your thumb and fingers, so you do not need to reach out for those buttons with the second hand.

The SDR S15 Flash memory Camcorder has a very generous 2.7 inch wide LCD display with 123,200 pixels, gives you a very good picture of the images and the videos beforehand and during operation. But, there is no viewfinder to help you compose your shots. This means you have to rely on the LCD monitor, which can be difficult to see in bright sunlight.

Connectivity:
There is an interface for the AV out and another one for the USB 2.0 Hi-speed. These can be very useful when playing of the videos and pictures is needed. With these interfaces, the camcorder can be connected to a TV or a PC, to play and store videos and pictures. The SDR-S15 falls down in only offering standard-definition MPEG2 video capture and having a USB cable socket instead of an arm that plugs directly into a Mac. However, this pocket camcorder features a few neat image-enhancing tricks that the others do not.

Memory card slot:
With no internal memory to fall back on, there are optional yet essential SD/SDHC card slots in the camcorder’s base that provides you internal memory to store all the media. These cards may vary in their capacity and they can always be upgraded. You can also have a new card for your camcorder, but that should be an SD card too. This memory card compartment is shared with a rechargeable lithium ion battery, and there is a screw thread just in front for mounting the device on a tripod.

Features:
When it comes to the features, it is not a toy though. Everything works in perfect order and just considering the fact what it costs, there are some surprisingly very advanced features packed in it as well.

Intelligent Auto Mode:
There are lots of features to talk about when it comes to the Panasonic SDR. The best of them is the Intelligent Auto Mode, with which you can shoot amazing videos. This feature is a mix bag of several important functions that enhance the picture quality and automatically switch on the options that make your videos look better. One of such is the Face Detector, which automatically detects the faces of the people in the scene and hence adjusts the exposure settings in view of scanning the faces of people more effectively. Another one is the Intelligent Screen Selector option that, when switched on, automatically adjusts the shooting conditions and also accordingly selects the scene settings. The On- Screen display comes out in many languages such as English, French, German, Polish, Spanish, Italian, Turkish and Swedish.

YouTube Uploader:
Another interesting feature is that of the YouTube Uploader. With this option, uploading of your videos on to YouTube becomes a lot easier. For this, you are required to only set the camera up to the Web mode, and then the cam records the videos and then converts automatically the videos into formats that are compatible with that of YouTube. This enables faster uploading and then sharing them with your dear and not necessarily near ones. The SDR-S15 ultra compact size camcorder has a feature that eases the process of copying recordings from either of a memory card and a hard disk drive to a DVD. By simply connecting the camcorder to a DVD burner and then pressing the burn button, you can burn the DVD out of an external memory device. This DVD can in turn be played on any DVD player.

Quick start option:
There is also a Quick start option that allows your cam to start the recording in just 0.6 seconds after opening the LCD screen. This is a near instantaneous start up and along with this, you are also allowed to have a shot composition and review. This is by far, the fastest. The PictBridge software is the one that allows easy copying of the pictures and printing them easily by directly connecting to a printer. It is also very fast in recording on to a DVD, within 2 seconds. You get all this in pretty good MPEG2 quality.

There is a built-in LED Video Light to compensate for any dullness in the light conditions. These features are indeed very useful and they add to the value of the camcorder.

Performance:

This is the most important area of any camcorder. The Panasonic SDR is a decent performer and the extra features and options on offer only enhance the same. With the stereo audio recording and zoom microphone features, it contributes to a much better audio performance than most of the cameras that you would get in this price category. And with the aid of the very effective electronic image stabiliser, you will be able to achieve reasonably steady shots all the way through its 10x optical range; about which we have discussed below. The latter is a yet another very grown-up feature they you do not get to see in cameras that are this cheap.

Zoom:
The camera is a pretty good one. The Panasonic lens is good and has up to 10x zoom. Also, there is an option for digital zoom, with which you can zoom up to 25x and then the Super Digital Zoom option zooms the pictures up to 700x. But this also effectively reduces the image quality significantly.

Lens:
The camera‘s focal length lies between 2.3 and 23.0 mm. The F value of the lens is about 1.8 for WIDE and 2.4 for TELE. With this camera, you can also capture 35mm films. There is a 35mm film camera equivalent with the specifications as 44.4-444 mm for motion images and about 43.4-434 mm for still images. It has an automatic focus option but you can always change it manually. The iris can also be set to automatic or it can be adjusted manually. The Electric Image Stabiliser can give you better pictures by stabilising the objects seen through the lens. The camera has a shutter, whose speed is about 1/25.

Lighting:
The camera has a standard illumination of 1440 lx. But the minimum illumination is about 6 lx for low light conditions and 2 lx for colour night view mode. White balance option is also available. With this you can change the colour balance of the images. This option is, by default, set as automatic but it can always be altered manually, if needed. There is also Backlight compensation facility that compensates the poor light conditions, and hence ensuring that the quality of the image is not damaged.

Imaging and Recording:
The camera is designed to capture images in JPEG format. The size of the image is about 0.30 megapixels (640 x 480). About 999 images can be stored in it. As discussed above, the PictBridge helps in printing these images easily. Talking about the recording section, motion pictures are recorded in MPEG2 format. The audio is recorded in MPEG1 AudioLayer 2 format. The recording modes are XP (10 Mbps), SP (5 Mbps), LP (2.5 Mbps). There are two types of microphones, the Stereo mic and the Zoom mic and the speakers are dynamic in type. There is an indication for the Media remaining in the memory.

Video Quality:
Dipping into the Panasonic SDR-S15’s basic on-screen menu options reveals five pre-optimised scene modes covering common subjects including sports and portraiture. However, it is very disappointing that the video quality of the camcorder is sadly lacking. While the camcorder shoots at 704 x 576 pixels resolution at 50 fields per second, which turns out to be 25fps once you see it onscreen, it is hardly surprising to find that the details captured lags behind 720p cameras, such as the Flip Mino HD and also the 1080p cameras like the Toshiba Camileo S10.

We had our test done with the Panasonic SDR S15 Camcorder with MPEG2 Recording both indoors and outdoors. We did our tests outside on a cloudy day and the indoor lighting were 100% artificial. The end result was dull and bereft of life. The focus seemed to be extremely soft and though the colour noise was not much of an issue in low light, there was noticeable distortion where straight edges looked bent and the chromatic aberrations in the form of purple fringing were rife.

Power Consumption:

The battery is Lithium-polymer type. The Panasonic SDR-S15 Mini HD Camcorder needs a supply of 5.0 V (for AC) and 3.6 V (for DC). On an average it consumes about 2.9 W of power for full charging.

Warranty:

Panasonic offers a warranty period of one year from the date of purchase.

Verdict:

The Panasonic SDR-S15 is a good camcorder to have. It is better than many when it comes to the design. It really is small and extremely portable. It has a lot of advanced features, which were discussed earlier. The performance is good, but not as good as the camcorders from the other brands. Particularly as the cost is a bit low, it is common that not a mind blowing performance is expected from it. This is the only minus in the video quality. Features wise, it is excellent. So, due to its performance issues, it is not suitable for the professional shooters or photographers. It may serve as a good one for the novice users. Overall, it is a very handy camcorder, if you are not a professional.

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Panasonic SDR-S15 Digital Video Camcorder – Specification Details

Toshiba announced the release of its new high definition Camcorder into the market, the Camileo S10, which is a pocket-sized and a swank Camcorder. It looks just like any modern mobile phone and finally, Toshiba has kept its promise of releasing a mini cam. To compete with its counterparts, Toshiba has slenderised its new cam to a great extent but at the same time, amplified its features, making it a camcorder worth-buying.|

A Renovated Design:

A lot of renovations have been taking place in the design and performance of camcorders, especially from Toshiba. When all the other companies have tried their best in releasing high-definition cams with a maximum of 720p, Toshiba has unleashed its whopping 1080p HD cam, menacing the other brands in the market. The new Camileo S10 Pocket Camcorder looks very stylish when compared to its precursors from Toshiba. It is just about 17.9 mm thick, with its full dimensions as (W x H x D) 57 x 100 x 17.9 mm and is implausibly light in weight, weighing just 87 grams. Its 2.5-inch LCD screen is another asset, and added to that, you can rotate the screen at any angle on its axis, making it very comfortable for filming purposes. The 2.5 inch LCD Screen in Camileo S10 Camcorder is also a comfortable enough one to look at, before filming.

This particular design is very useful when you wish to film yourself. Many companies, at present, do not have this feature and this already resulted in the dissatisfaction of the customers. So, this time, in this area, Toshiba took a lot of care in producing such a design. The overall design is not as alluring as expected, since it is not garnished with shiny and vibrant metallic colours, but its dimensions make it look so smart. As it is easy to handle and simple to use; the novice users will not have any trouble using it.

The Camileo S10 HD Camcorder comes with a Wrist Strap that helps the cam to cling on to your wrist, while capturing a picture or a video. So the chances of the cam slipping from your hand are slim and it adds good value for the money paid.

Features:

Lens:
The Camileo S10 features a 5MP CMOS camera which gives a crystal clear image with no blurs. The camera’s auto focus is also very quick and it detects the faces of people better than any other cam. The Camileo boasts a very detailed HD pictures with superior quality. The CMOS sensor also gives a picture that is so vivid in appearance.

Focus and Resolution:
Toshiba Camileo S10 1080p HD SD Camcorder has a fixed focus lens that helps you fix the object and hence, increases the quality of the image. The Focus ranges from 20 cm to infinity, giving you such a wide range of focus. The still picture resolution of 3200 x 2400 gives a fantastic image quality. The variable focus range of the cam enhances its capturing power a lot, making the lens work more naturally. Just as a human eye, the lens can focus itself on objects at different distances and can give you very sharp and distinct images. Also, the combination 1080p and 30 fps of movie resolution can produce high-definition videos, giving an impression of HD movies.

Zoom:
The 4x digital zoom is also another feature that helps you a lot, even though it gives a bit low quality output for videos.

Memory:
With the help of a SDHC card of 32GB capacity, one can get high quality video recording for more than an hour. It also allows you to store all the pictures and videos into a memory card. The built-in 128 MB NAND Flash Memory, which has a usable memory of around 96 MB, is an extra feature which allows you to store more pictures and videos than normal.

Capacity:
With the Camileo S10 Compact Video Camcorder, you can store up to 327 photos of 8MP, 446 photos of 5MP, and 817 photos of 3MP with a 1 GB SD card. You can as well store up to 15 min of video of 1080 p, 30 min of video of 720 p, 1 hr of VGA and 4 hrs of QVGA types of video. If you wish to have more picture storage, you can always integrate your SD card further.

Picture options:
The NightShot option can be used at nights or during dim light conditions, for better picture quality. It is supported by a Backlight, which has an LED that emits light to give better effects. But, this is not considered as the best of Backlights available, especially during bad light conditions. The pictures or the videos can be captured either in the classic colour format, in black and white format or in the negative format. The cam has a Self-Timer for approximately 10 seconds. The ‘+/- 1 EV’ exposure is also an additional feature. Hence, with the Camileo S10, there are always multiple options for you to choose.

Enhancement Features:
Video stabilisation also minimises the blur effects caused due to moving objects. The scene support helps you choose the right scenario in which the pictures are taken and then make the photos or videos apposite to the scene. The skin tone option allows you to set the skin tone of the persons in the photo. You can also set it to Auto mode and the cam sets itself up for the right skin tone. To store in your personal computer the pictures or videos you have taken, you need to install the software that supports this function, using the CD that is given inside the box.

Software Bundle:
The most important and attractive feature in Toshiba Camileo S10 4x digital zoom Camcorder is the Easy YouTube upload feature, which can be done with the help of ‘arcsoftware’, which is an unforeseen addition. With this software, you can immediately upload and share your pictures and videos onto YouTube easily. Here, the Camileo S10 scores over its competitors. You can also upload them to YouTube from your computer as there is a USB cable which helps you to connect to any computer easily.

HDMI Connectivity:
The HDMI cable connects to a HD TV, and a video cable to any video player, for playing your pictures and videos on the screen.

Performance:

Coming to the performance, the Camileo S10 is a very user friendly cam and it does not trouble the users often. The performance is excellent in the daylight. But at night, the quality of the picture or video decreases considerably and even if there is a backlight, the camera is not that effective in dim light scenarios. Many people have already commented on this stating that the results are not as good as expected, when it comes to indoor shooting. The zoom function degrades the quality of the image or video, particularly at night.

System requirements:

The system requirements are, your computer must have an operating system of Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/Vista. The CPU must be of Intel Pentium III or above, with at least 256 MB of RAM and 700 MB of hard disk space. The synchronisation can be done only by using the USB port.

Package contents:

The box contains the Camileo S10 High Definition Camcorder itself, USB Cable, Video Cable, HDMI Cable, Power Adapter, Warranty Leaflet, Quick Start Guide, CD, Wrist Strap, Pouch, Tripod and a Cleaning Cloth.

Battery:

The NP60 Lithium ion rechargeable battery can support uninterrupted video capture for about 100-120 minutes, which is very much considerable. The cam also has a power saving mode for about 3 minutes. A Power Adapter is given along with the cam and it gets fully charged in just a few minutes.
Also, the battery is irremovable, which makes it very difficult for people who constantly travel and if the existing battery is over, they need to wait till it gets recharged again and if the circumstances do not allow the charging of the battery, then they are in trouble. So, the absence of a removable battery is certainly a big minus.

Warranty:

The Company offers the customers a warranty for a period of 2 years. One can extend the warranty online by visiting the Toshiba website. It also offers a complete money back offer within 7 days from the date of purchase, if the customer is not satisfied with the product.

Verdict:

The Camileo S10 PX1506K-1CAM camcorder gives you a good value for your money. The new style, improved picture quality and a good collection of features are the highlights of the device. It has a high picture resolution and its rotatable screen also make it very pertinent to its cost. The screen is big enough and the 5MP camera is a very common feature nowadays. Its battery life is good. Though there are a few concerns over the performance of the camcorder, the device has a quality that is good enough for casual shooting. The battery being irremovable which is certainly not a good news, especially when you are taking it out for a holiday.

Regarding warranty, it is appreciable to have a warranty period of 2 years and many companies do not dare to challenge the customers for a complete money back offer. So, it shows that the cam is durable. Also, the Toshiba Camileo S10 is certified with FCC, CE, RoHS, GOST, SABS and SASO. But above all, the price is reasonable when compared to the other cams. Overall, the Toshiba Camileo S10 Camcorder is a good tool to have, both to the novice users particularly for outdoor shooting. But for the professional photographers, Sony Handycam will be the brand to look for.

Check other Toshiba Camcorder Reviews, Specifications in this website.

Toshiba Camileo S10 Pocket Size Camcorder – Technical Specification Table