Customer Reviews:
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 nice looking camra but not all what it makes out to be September 5, 2005
7 out of 17 found this review helpful
i got this camera inthe airport goin to egypt so i got it tax free which was good. now the camera look ssoo cool, u cant beat it u just cant, and it really is so easy to use. but there r a few downfalls. first the noisy camera lens motor. in reply to one of the other reviews, when u play it on ur pc or tv it is very much noticable, like a clunking/ crackling sound, in all my videos when ever i zoom in or out u hear it without doubt, which ruins a video. pictures that u take are really great and detailed, but i have come acorss with problems concernign the flash, iv heard it has a short range and that did show; i took pictures of people that were less than 3metres away from me in a pure white coloured walled room and the color of the walls were well, not white, but with my other still digital camera it was perfect. another thign is if ur goin on holiday without ur laptop u really need more than the 1gb card supplied, go on ebay for greta deals u can evern get 2gb ones for real cheap. another thing, andit seems every1 is complainign about it is the nigth mode, it was rally really bad, the salesman said it was a really good night mode where it would be all green liek u see in the movies, but it coudlnt be further. Even though ur not supposed to, i denied i had a camera as i went up inside the big pyramind, and as i was taking videos in night mode there was such a minor difference, quite dissapointing. the biggest dissapointment is the lens motor it really puts this gizmo down, looks cool and u can fit it in ur pockets no problem, and i thinkit can even be used as a webcam, i havent tried it yet though. im like you, im reading on the reviews of this device as i still have time to return it with full cash refund and i think i am gonna do that and just wait until either sanyo or some1 else coems out with a better 1. by the way if ur goin on holiday and ur d card is full look for a kodak store or camera store, i got my images and movies transfered to CD. o, one more thing, the battery. lol. it lasts for nder 1 hour, and it gets HOT! i was invited to a friend of mines masters degrees presentation where he gets asked questions and such, andf it recorded only about 47mins, on a full battery charge, and it was hot and the room wasnt air conditioned lol and it was in egyptian evening heat. and the device took a long tim eto cool down again, so u woul ddeffinetyl need extra batteries for long recordings, im now gonna have to ask for a copy of the analong VCR video they took, get a copy of that and then ask one of these places to digitize it. i heard form a review this device got a 68% rating, but im gonna keep looking for other reviews. Hope this as helped you.
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Looks cool, but try it out first. August 12, 2005
15 out of 17 found this review helpful
I wasn't expecting a lot out of this camera when I first got it. But when I opened up the box, and saw all the things it comes with I was so excited to use it! I used the quick-start guide to charging the battery, but it said that you had to have the camera on the docking station. Read the instruction manual for charging the battery, and it is less complicated.
The first thing I noticed was the LCD screen is large and the images are clear!! You can even flip it over and take a picture or video of yourself! There is no viewfinder, so you have to rely on the LCD for everything, so I'm sure this takes up a lot of battery power. Also, since it's new on the market, you have to explain to someone how to use it if you want them to take a picture of you. One of the reviewers here said that it turns on when you open the LCD, but that's only on standby mode, so it doesn't power off when you close the LCD. Speaking of power, the battery life is not great, but it charges up quickly!
Although this is operable with one hand (using your thumb mostly), the buttons are close together, and it's not really intuitive at first. There are 3 buttons on the back for shooting still, zooming, and shooting video -- in that order, left to right. So if you are used to the still camera having a button at the top, it can be annoying. But once you get used to it, it's fine. Also, the menu button is tiny and to go through the menu you use a little joystick-type of button to scroll. So if you have large fingers, try it out at the store first to make sure you can get used to it.
I love the feature of taking a still picture while recording, but note that the video pauses while the still picture is being taken (which is only 1-2 seconds). I also noticed that you can hear the camera sounds when taking video, such as when zooming in, or switching modes, etc. but I haven't viewed the video on a laptop or tv to actually tell whether those sounds are disruptive. Another feature I've used is the macro. I took a picture of an ID card that had some fine print on the back, and everything came out legible!
The camera also "talks"... it tells you when you are in record mode or playback mode, but it's really hard to understand because the volume is VERY low. You can mute the beeps and voice, and increase or decrease the volume.
There are numerous other features that I haven't used, mostly for taking still shots, but one thing I noticed is that you have to use the menu to access the features. For example, if you want to delete a picture, change the flash setting or use the self-timer, you have to scroll through the menu. There are 3 menus, and it can be frustrating in the beginning trying to find what you want to do. You risk missing that perfect shot if you're not familiar with the menu! But once you learn where things are, this camera is fun to use!
Oh, and be prepared for all the "oohs" and "aahs" that your friends will say when they see you wielding this cool-looking device!
 Good gadget, probably best in market July 15, 2005
37 out of 37 found this review helpful
I bought this camcorder off ebay before it is on sale in the states. really good gadget and worthy the money IMHO. you would be supprised of its size. and won't touch a mini-dv once you have got used to its size. it offers probably the most functionalities available now from any manufactures. Samsung's new one offers (not available in states yet again) higher resoultion for video but only 2M for still. The panasonic sv-av100 is totally a waste of money compared with this. I don't feel 720x resoution and 640x res. makes any difference at all.
very easy to operate, one hand operation totally. hinges are made from metal and doesn't seem to be fragile. the ability to take picture WHILE recording is cool. it does not need any high speed sd card. records about 1 hour with 1 gb card. quality is fine for me, at least not worse than entry level mini-dv i have used, and similar to MPEG2 movies recorded by other digital cameras. you can download from internet a small program (free) to change the recorded movie to .avi format so that playable directly in media player without any post-processing. still picture quality is as good as other consumer cameras that i have used. battery lasts less than 1 hour (but almost) for continuous shooting from fresh charge. but replacement DB-L20 is very cheap on ebay < $10 including shipping. it does stand by itself on flat surface if the lcd screen is folded down. also it powers on as you open the lcd.
low light shooting still a problem (not for still since it has ISO100-400 and flash). barely usable on street light. but the firework recorded in july 4th was ok under its fireworks mode. Don't feel the image stabilization useful at all. but probly should not expect much from a digital one since I am used to canons' optical ones. it does get reasonable hot after a while
bottom line, it finally allows me abandon consumer level digital camera/camcorder and move to DSLR knowing that I will have a small good quality gadget with me all the time to take care of everyday shooting.
If you need to record movie at night or in house , forget it July 11, 2005
20 out of 31 found this review helpful
I bought this camera 2 months ago. It is light, nice, very small camera. I inserted 1 GB Sd memory and waited 1 hour movie. Failed, 40 minutes later low battery ,and then 10 minutes later Sd card low messages appeared. I recorded 50 minutes movie maximum.
Second test was in house but result is big grens-points. It can't record DVD quality. If you connect this camera to 42" TV, you can see distorsion and bad picture. Photo mode quality maybe nice than other 5mp china cameras, but this concept model need more engineering.
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