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Product Reviews:
Samsung SCD353 MiniDV Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom |
Rating: 1 (out of 5)
Summary: LCD DISPLAY QUIT WORKING - BAD QUALITY
Comments: purchased this camcorder at Best purchase a year ago. I made the purchase based on a long standing faith in Samsung products. The image quality was terrible. There is no light, so it is hard to keep a focus unless you are outside in bright daylight. Sound quality was okay. however after1year of light use, the LCD display quit working. I'll never purchase another Samsung camera. I called Samsung they charge $160.00 to fix it. Brand new1is $200.00. It happened with a lot of people. BAD BAD BAD.
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Rating: 3 (out of 5)
Summary: Basic video plus external mic input
Comments: I purchased the SC-D353 in 2006 with budget in mind, since recent graduates like my wife and I have lots of debt and not much in the way of spending money. This camcorder was essentially the least expensive video option I found at the time that did have an external mic input.
For the price, the camera does the things I am looking for. I am looking for acceptable, not great, video definition, and it does deliver reasonable video quality when there is adequate lighting. It falls short when dealing with low light, or when a single subject is lit however the rest of the frame is dark. The lens system and autofocus are not well-integrated; once1zooms more than about 2/3rds of the way to the long end of telephoto, the autofocus hunts for several seconds before regaining focus. I suspect that the lens design is not a zoom lens, however rather a hyperfocal lens. A zoom lens retains the same focus through the range, however a hyperfocal lens changes focus distance as focal length changes. At least, that would explain why the autofocus hunts if a quick zoom occurs.
About the audio... thebuilt in microphone is reasonably sensitive, however, and it is a large however, the camcorder self-noise while using the tape drive is excessive and simply renders thebuilt in mic unusable. I do not have Memory Stick memory cards, so I do not know whether that problem goes away when recording to the card. It is a great thing that this camcorder has an external mic input, because it badly needs it. I have used small dynamic stereo mics up through a Sennheiser shotgun mic with this camcorder, and as long as1either puts enough distance between the camcorder and mic, or has a mic with a great rejection of local noise, it does OK for audio, though its automatic level control tends to run a bit hot.
The other reviews are correct that the supplied battery delivers just about an hour of operation if1only uses the viewfinder, a chunk less if1uses the LCD screen. This limits the utility of the camcorder, since, as the other reviews also point out, the camcorder itself is the only supplied charging solution, and the camcorder must be switched off in order to charge the battery.1can operate the camcorder via the supplied adapter, though, so some use indoors near an electrical outlet would not be impossible, however who wants a power cable dragging along with them while taping video?
The menu system supplies a number of features, almost all of which I am too occupied to use in the field. It also does not store settings, so e time you remove power, leave time to set up your favorites again. The1feature that needs a howeverton, the Digital Image Stabilization, only supplies that howeverton with several other automation choices. The "EasyQ" howeverton does turn on DIS, however it also turns on autofocus and a couple of other "amateur" features. If you want DIS and, for instance, manual focus, you have to go through the menu to do it. I have never made use of the "digital effects" settings. If I need effects, I can apply them later in Vegas.
Here's what I have done with my unit to make it more useful for me. 1st, I invested in a third-party Li-ion 2250mAh battery and external charger, which cost me about $20 plus shipping. I can use both batteries, however I have found little need for the original, since the new battery lasts for well over2hours, even almost allly running with the LCD screen active. It does, unfortunately, interfere mechanically with getting one's eye up close to the viewfinder, however I can use it with the viewfinder pulled back as1does to access the diopter adjustment and the LCD screen is generally more useful for monitoring anyway. Second, I purchased a 30mm to 52mm step-up adapter. This, also unfortunately, could not be installed with the camcorder in mint condition. There is a raised ridge of decorative plastic on the front that comes up to just under the lens, preventing the flange of the adapter from resting perpendicular to the lens. My solution: use a Dremel-style motor tool to take off the 2mm or so of plastic so that I can actually screw in the adapter. I took care not to go deep, and there is still a point where it appears like I have opened a small hole to the interior. I am not so much worried about what may get in afterward, however rather whether I was generating any plastic bits that fell in. Forget about a warranty if you do this, too. What the 52mm adapter gets me is the ability to use the high-quality accessory lenses that we purchased for our Canon S2 IS camera, specifically the 0.66x Raynox wide-angle lens. (I used to have a Century 0.8x, however that weighed a couple of times what the camcorder and the new heavier battery do.) With the wide-angle accessory lens, I can get a much better view at the wide end with no vignetting, and the zoom works fine without excessive AF hunting when zooming even out to the extreme telephoto end. Third, I purchased a HTDZ HT-320A microphone, a "uni-directional electret condenser" mic. I am used to cheap audio equipment sucking badly, however the HT-320A made for a pleasant surprise. Its self-noise is actually not too bad on the unit I got; though not in the Sennheiser shotgun mic class, it also costs about a tenth of what the low-end Sennheiser costs. It is certainly an adequate microphone to pair with the SC-D353 camcorder. Between these accessories, I am much happier with the camcorder than with it as it came out of the box. I plan to deploy this, minus the wide-angle accessory lens, on a bracket over my Nikon DSLR this summer at dog agility trials, where people often want video of their dog's performance as well as still photos.
Bottom-line: If you are on a budget and only need recognizable video, not great quality video, this unit can do the job. It's certainly a contender for putting together YouTube video compositions.1should also plan to use an external microphone. I'd endorse the purchase of a higher-capacity battery and external charger. If you want to expand your view with great quality accessory lenses, you may need to perform surgery on the camcorder case.
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Rating: 1 (out of 5)
Summary: great for 6 months
Comments: My SCD353 worked OK in 1st 6 months or so ( less than 10 hrs recoding). Then the picture quality become more and more blurry. I purchased a cleaning tape trying to fix it however no use. |
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: great camcorder
Comments: this camcorder is a great product, have a great zoom, for the pictures the quality is low, however is a great device. |
Rating: 3 (out of 5)
Summary: great product however battery dies quick!!
Comments: Easy to use, setup and convert videos to PC. The problem is regarding battery life... Average rate is great. |
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