Buy Cheap Samsung Products

The samsung S-HMX20C really rocked during our vacation in hot Africa. (2009-01-06)
The camcorder was a hit. It was lightweight, took excellent HD video clips and wonderful pictures under night conditions, easy to dowload to a PC or external hard drive. Only draw back is that the software is not easy to use and requires more than 2GB memory to handle very large clips for HD production. Looking for suggestions in that area. Thanks

good basic camcorder, some flaws (2008-12-31)

This camcorder has many interesting features, shoots pretty good video for its price range, has a touch screen interface, and a battery with reasonable shooting time. It is designed primarily for use with a computer, and does all its connections through a docking station. A remote is also included, which is very handy.

Included are cables to get USB, RGB component video, s-video, and composite video out of the docking station. There is no Firewire connection. This makes it impossible to use it with standalone DVD or DVR recorders if you want the full benefit of the camcorder's resolution. Not a wise design choice, in my opinion.

There are few, if any, consumer level standalone recorders with RGB inputs, which severely limits this camcorder's use with that gear. I guess the assumption is that everyone uses computers for video these days, which may be a trend, but is certainly not universal by any means. USB has not been adopted as well as Firewire in the video world (at least not yet).

It has 8 gigs of onboard memory, which can provide some long recording times at different resolutions. (The quickstart manual does not give exact figures for this, and I find CD based manuals a pain to use.) One can also add SD memory cards in a slot in the back which can be accessed while it is on a tripod (as can the battery).

The video and audio quality are quite good, and the mics don't pick up a lot of camera noise, despite being placed on the lower left and right sides of the lens barrel. The autofocus has a hard time with movement, so go manual if you don't want a moving subject blurring in and out of focus all the time.

The touch screen is easy to use, although I am not a fan of having to wade through layers of menus to change a setting when I am trying to shoot something. Also, LCD viewing screens are problematic for those of us with glasses, although that is a universal problem, not just limited to this camera.

While the shape and size are quite handy and easy to hold in some ways, I found the ergonomics of shooting quite uncomfortable. Having to hold a cylinder parallel to the ground out away from the body is not ergonomically sound by any measure. The hand hold does rotate down to the back, but that doesn't help much. It feels awkward to use, period. A small tripod used as a pistol grip would be helpful, as would a beltpod or similar device. It works quite well on a small tripod.

The lens cover is automatic, and there are no threads for filters or other accessories.

The still photo function works fairly well, although again, the ergonomics make for very difficult shooting. A tripod is recommended for steady shots, as is using the remote. It does have a higher still resolution than most video cameras, but I still find my Canon 720IS a better choice to carry for a camera which does both. (Smaller, AA batteries, easier to hold and use.)

Also included is Windows software for editing video and making DVDs, but I wasn't able to try it. There are many other great looking features which I have not had time try, but they all involve digging through the CD-based manual on a computer.

While it does shoot great video/audio, I rate it only 3 stars because of so many poorly thought out design choices. I'm sure it got a lot of "marketing" design input so that it was sleek and sexy looking, but I prefer substance to sleek looks (which shows my age, I guess). Designers these days seem to have forgotten one of the cardinal rules of good design (and Nature), "form follows function."

If you are one of those people who does everything through your (Windows) computer, then you will probably love this little beastie. If you are a serious video user with standalone Firewire DVD/DVR gear, you will be very disappointed by the lack of connectivity. It shoots well and can be a lot of fun, but the limitations can be frustrating. Firewire connections would have gotten it another star from me.

Perfect for what I (and my son) was looking for... (2008-12-21)
I was offered a Samsung SC-HMX20C 8GB High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom via the Amazon Vine program for review, and it had some intriguing possibilities. Easy-to-understand menu structure, and great video quality. I'm far from a vid expert, so I won't be able to intelligently detail pros and cons that someone who shoots professionally. But the design lends itself to my son's expectations perfectly...

He rides a fixed gear bike and has competed in a number of alleycat competitions. He's also quite adept at trick riding, and has often wanted to do some YouTube videos. The Samsung ergonomic design is perfect for shooting those types of clips. The tubular shape fits perfectly in the palm of the hand for excellent angle control. It can also be held with the hand facing downward to get ground-angle shots with no strain. The view screen swivels for easy viewing as he's shooting under different conditions. And best of all, the zoom controls are located perfectly for one-handed fingertip control. All in all, he's extremely excited about the camera and the results he can get for shooting his way to YouTube fame.

I'm very happy with the camera for what I had in mind, and I'm sure we'll get plenty of use from it over time... or until he runs over it... whichever comes first.

Great Quality & Durability (2008-12-18)
Samsung SC-HMX20C

I'm in no means a professional at using video cameras, nor am I willing to spend the kind of $$$ required for such equipment, but I did want a video camera that would record in HD, not break the bank and still offer plenty of cool features and acceptable performance.
I found what I required in this Samsung HMX20C. Priced right for what you get at around $600-800, offers good battery life of about 90 minutes and enables you ease to carry by slipping it into your jacket pocket, hold about 2 hours of video in 1080P mode, edit ability through your Windows XP, a full 8gb hard drive built in so additional cards will not be necessary unless you plan on being gone away from your computer for more than a day and it offers slow motion if you need it, although not while in HD mode.
I've used the little Samsung for my daughters programs at school inside of a well lit auditorium and outside in good daylight and I was very impressed with its performance. I have not tried it yet indoors in poorly lit areas, but if it performs nearly as good in doors as it does outside, I'll be content. The optical zoom of 10X is more than plenty adequate.
I like Samsung products, as I have always had very good luck with their performance and durability. This camera was dropped once while handing it over to my daughter. I was a little worried because it fell about three feet onto concrete, but I was extremely happy to see it worked flawlessly even after the drop with no damage what so ever or even a scratch.
I don't believe you will see this camera in the hands of any professionals, but for using it for basic functions at school, at home or for any family type of get-together, you'll be completely happy with it.
I rate this camera a 4-Star. I could have given it a 5-Star except like so many other new electronic products, they tend to load it with a lot of whistles and bells that will probably not get utilized much by everyday type photographers.

It's a nice unit, but has some major flaws... (2008-12-17)
Imagine that you're out on a date with a beautiful lady. Everything's going great and you're having a wonderful time. And then something weird happens and the whole night sort of folds up. That's how I feel about this camcorder. The specs make it sound great, but the bottom line is how the pictures come out and that's where I've been disappointed.

First the good stuff... If you're outside and have a tripod (or monopod), the pictures are terrific. At HD 1080p, they're sharp and the colors are great. Take it to your kid's sports activities or a picnic, Bar-B-Q or camping trip and you'll be really happy with the results. The docking/charging station can stay at home and remain plugged into your home theater system...when you get home you just place the camera on the little pedestal and you can play your movies and (assuming that you've connected the USB port) upload files to your computer. Using the camera is equally simple. The display is a touch screen. It's really easy to navigate through the menus and control the camera. I've found it to be much easier to use than other cameras with lots of buttons. (Of course, a traditional "record" button is still found on the back of the camera body.) The use of the internal flash memory, along with additional SDHC cards means that the camera is absolutely silent. If you're trying to be unobtrusive, you can also disable the red recording light...that's useful when you're trying to capture a candid shot.

Now, the not so good stuff... First, my indoor pictures, shot using the available light, haven't been that great. The still pictures, in particular, show a lot of multicolor noise. The noise affects the movies (although it averages out somewhat in the moving image, there's still a loss in overall quality) but the still frames have been unusable. I'd give it a "C" for indoor movies, but an "F" for indoor stills. Frankly, this was really surprising since both the Samsung's image sensor and lens opening are quite large and I'd assumed that the low light sensitivity would be good. (I wouldn't give so much weight to the still picture capability if it wasn't so prominently featured as one of the camera's features...the reliance on which resulted in blowing a lot of pictures at my father's 80th birthday...)

Next, the image stabilization is next to worthless. If you can hold the camera almost still, it'll take it the rest of the way and provide a stable image. In practice, I'm not sure that anybody can hold it that still for very long...I certainly can't and I've had a lot of experience with movie cameras. I have a much less expensive Canon (the FS-100) where the image stabilization works a whole lot better.

Last, the widest angle of the zoom is barely wide enough for shooting indoors in close quarters. It's fine for a single person or two, but group shots are impossible unless you can back up far enough. You can, of course, always pan the camera across the crowd, but that's not exactly the same thing.

So...this camera is worth looking at, but think about your needs critically before purchase. Compare the different manufacturers and, if possible, try them out before you buy.