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(More customer reviews)I have used various kinds of camcorders over the years, VHS, mini-dv, dv, never flash.
The major reason I wanted this camera was because of the amazing ability to record video, and take it off your camera, being able to use it, right then, no editing, no having to capture the video using premiere or final cut, just boom, plug in camera, instantly watchable video.
If your an amateur filmmaker (or aspiring) this is HUGE. You do not need to worry about tape. The flash card will NOT get damaged and eventually need to be replace. Film is now "free" meaning you can shoot what you want, whenever, all day, and not have to worry about the "cost". This alone makes this camera very valuable. The fact that it uses open formats such as h.264 and mp4, ensures 20 years from now, you will have no problem opening and playing the videos this camera produces (unlike other cameras which capture in formats other than open formats).
This camera does do that. You shoot your video (which is so very easy) and it saves each file as a h.264 compressed mp4. This file will play on many different devices, and you can take that mp4 and put it on dvd, post it on the web, whatever, the possibilities are endless. The audio mic does a great job, it has a wind mic feature which solves some of the problems from using the camera outside in the wind.
It has an anti shake feature (image stabilization) so the video appears more steady. Overall this is a very good camera, and I'm happy with it. There is however, a few flaws, one of them (for me) is very major. I got this camera so I could do some fun things with it, without having to spend countless hours editing the footage, making it better.
I do some 3d animation, occasional acting, and give lectures. One thing I was looking forward to was setting up the camcorder, and reading lines, and or acting. Hooking up the camera, and seeing the video, taking notes on what I need to improve on, to become better. You can do this (maybe I'm just vain) but to do this, you need to shoot in 4:3 mode, or the new YouTube mode. If your a singer and you want to capture your performance, it could not be easier than with this camera. Everything is perfect, pre-formatted, and ready for the web. The "problem" is you cannot do ANY of this in widescreen. The camera forgets to set the 16x9 flag, and as such your video comes out squished. (when shooting in "non 16x9 mode" everything works as it should, the video is fantastic, and works out of the box the way it should, simple solution, use 4:3, or import your footage in another program and export it back out corrected (which you will likely do anyway for anything important, such as color correction, adding titles, creating fun transitions, etc))
I have a mac, and as such, this cameras software is not compatible with it (says so on the box, I'm not complaining). When I import the video footage into iMovie, it recognizes the video should be widescreen and fixes it. This is still quicker than shooting on mini-dv, but it is an additional step. Maybe the software included will do that on windows, but I cannot say for certain (I also had problems importing the video into Adobe Premiere CS3)
Lets go over what I call, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Good:
-This camera looks like a camera.
-It is very stylish, and looks stunning in real life.
-It is very small, you can keep it in your pocket, carry it in your car, throw it in a bag, the possibilities are endless (it is very discreet)
-3 hour long battery life, wow, just wow.
-Shoots to SD card opposed to mini-dv (you do not loose much if any real quality, and you gain so much more as discussed above)
-Manual ability to close the lens cover (some people are complaining about it, but since I had a camera that automatically did it which had a malfunction and no longer works, I highly enjoy doing it manually)
-Quality (as with everything on this camera) is very high.
-You get a nice bag to put the camera in (it is more a pouch, which protects it from dust, and lets you carry it by the handles)
-The grip swivels so you can hold the camera in different ways.
-The LCD swivels, you can view yourself on camera while capturing video, and you can flip it and reverse it to see the video on the camera (opposed to leaving it open)The Bad.
-The Manual comes on PDF (this is not bad for me, as it is environmentally friendly, but for people who like to read the book before messing with the camera, will need to print it out)
-Does not include software for the mac (though this could be considered a pro (one less thing to install and learn), as we have imovie, and it is more than capable of working with this camera, that makes this a non issue, just listing it)
The Ugly
Widescreen mode does not work the way it should. And this is HUGE.
Unfortunately for this camera, today, youtube now runs in widescreen. This camera is set to do everything in full screen (for youtube), and the widescreen flag is never set when your shooting in widescreen mode. As I mentioned above, you can fix this, but it does not work out of the box.
I'm hoping this gets fixed with a firmware upgrade (none has been made yet) if enough people complain about it, I'm sure they will fix it.
Another great feature is one I saved for last. This goes back to those who would like to be filmmakers, and for those who would love to make professional quality videos.
I'm a photographer, and one of the most important things you learn in photography, is how to composite your images in interesting ways. One of the most important and powerful ways is the rule of thirds. This is the one key, the one element, that can change your images (or video) from rank amateur, to high end amateur or pro.
With this camcorder, samsung (much to everyone's surprise) includes this amazing feature I see no-one here talking about, called grid mode. In it it sets up the lcd and shows a visual diagram in the form of a grid (think horizontal tic tac toe board). you can position your subject into those grids using the rule of thirds (upper right grid, lower left, upper left, lower right, just not in the middle). This makes everything you shoot, look professional and high end, without even thinking about it.
This is huge. My mom can use this camera due to its simplicity, and after I explained to her the rule of thirds, even she can make fantastic amazing looking video. I already bought one of these for her, and my grandparents. This is a truly amazing camera.
The only reason it does not get 5 stars from me, is the widescreen issue. If this gets fixed during a firmware upgrade, they get a 5.
Out of all the cameras in this price range, this should be a no-brainer, don't even think about checking the others out.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Samsung SC-MX20 Shoot & Share memory camcorder w/34x Optical Zoom (Blue)
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