Samsung doesn’t have a good hold in the camcorder market like JVC, Panasonic, Sony or Canon but they are trying hard with different varieties of models. Samsung HMX-R10 HD is a compact camcorder and is priced reasonably. It comes with plenty of shooting features for making it comfortable, the manufacturer has angled the lens at 25 degrees in order to reduce the strain that your wrist might have to bear. If you are fine with this, the camcorder will work well for you. This camcorder is not as good as prosumer models in terms of quality but it is still better than the pocket minicamcorders. Video quality of the Samsung HMX-R10 HD is quite good. Quality is the best when you are in 1080/60i model and also the 720/60p resolutions. The latter is more consistent. If you shoot in 1080/30p resolution, the videos will be choppy/jittery and unwatchable. As expected, clips in 1080/60i were smoother  [...]

Flip SlideHD costs $279.99 and it is quite expensive as compared to the competition. The high price can be attributed to the big three inch touch screen LCD and big 16 GB of internal storage space. Apart from the touch screen, the screen of the camcorder slides up at an angle so you can keep the device on your desk and watch movies just like some high end smartphones. Shooting and sharing of videos is still easy thanks to the user friendly interface but apart from that, there features are not enough to command the high price tag. It seems like the manufacturer is trying to brag about the big screen. You use the touch screen for most of the controls but there are a few physical buttons. On the Flip SlideHD’s right, there is the tiny power button and on the left you get the switch which pops the USB connector out. On the bottom, there is a headphone jack, tripod threaded mount and mini-HDMI  [...]

The Pure Digital has launched two mini-camcorders – (1) Flip Video UltraHD that shoots 1280×720 (720p) high-definition video, and (2) the Ultra that records VGA (640×480) video. $174 priced the UltraHD has HDMI port and 2 inches anti-glare (transflective) display. It runs on two NiMH rechargeable batteries and can also be charged automatically on connecting at the USB port of the computer. However, the company does not provide any HDMI cable, while the Kodak Zx1 comes with HDMI cable and costs $50 less. The Flip Video UltraHD can record 720p high-def video at 30fps (H.264 compressed). We are disappointed that the UltraHD does not have any memory card slot for external storage. The internal memory allows recording only 2 hours video. Therefore, it is better to keep a laptop with you when you are traveling and need more storage. The included software provides an impressive way  [...]

In an Apple nod, the Flip Video has dubbed the MinoHD Second Generation model. It is made up of metallic body rather than plastic. It offers double the amount of memory and large antiglare LCD display as compared to original MinoHD. The MinoHD Second Generation costs $229 and has inbuilt mini-HDMI connector to view the recorded clips on HDTV. However, you have to purchase an additional HDMI cable for the same. On the contrary, the Kodak Zi8 comes with a HDMI cable. Noteworthy that FlipShare software supplied with the camcorder is compatible with Windows and Mac computers. 2 inches antiglare LCD display of Flip Video MinoHD Second Generation has 960×240 pixels resolution. The display is visible clearly even in direct sunlight. Live original MinoHD, the touch-sensitive navigation controls on the back and flush inside the surface. The back surface works as fingerprint magnet to capture smudges  [...]

Sony HDR-CX500V and CX520V have better features than their siblings HDR-XR500V and XR520V. Both of them have different control panel layout and user interface as compared to its predecessors. Sony HDR-CX500V and HDR-CX520V has same features and design, but only differs by inbuilt hard-drive and their price tag. The CX500V includes 32GB hard-drive that costs $999.99, whereas the CX520V has 64GB that costs $1299.99. Sony’s another model HDR-CX550V has different lens, audio slots and electronic viewfinder as compared to CX500V and CX520V. The HDR-CX550V will give tough competition to Panasonic HDC-TM700 as both have EVF in $1000 price-range. Sony HDR-CX500V has 3 inches touch-screen LCD display. You can use the finger tap for record and zoom options. GPS switch, disc burn, Night Shot, playback and power buttons are located on the corners of LCD display. You will find USB connector,  [...]

Sony has not performed well in growing low budget pocket camcorder until now. Flip Video has a good hold in market with its candy bar design vertical camcorders and its price ranges from $150 to $250. Sony’s NSC-GC1 Net-sharing Webbie camcorder was a big flop. Now, Sony is back with new pocket camcorder Sony Bloggie MHS-CM5, which has pistol-grip design like cameras from Aiptek and Sanyo. The Bloggie has same features like its predecessor Webbie, which include lithium ion battery, 2.5-inch flip LCD, 5x optical zoom and 1080p video capture. The advantages of this Bloggie are mini-HDMI connector for HD video output and onboard USB connector. You can simply plug this USB connector in computer’s USB port without a cable. The Bloggie can be charged through USB connection to computer. Sony Bloggie MHS-CM5 can record real HD videos with 1920×1080 pixel resolution in H.264-compressed  [...]

JVC Everio GZ-MS120 is a sub $300 class of camcorder and it is for people who are fine with SD quality or want to upload photos on the web. Such camcorders are now struggling to compete with the cheaper pocket video camcorders which capture 720p video. Optical zoom and storage are the only two features now which give such camcorders an edge over the mini camcorders. The highlights of this device is the presence of 35x optical zoom and two slots of SD/SDHC which lets you plug in two 32 GB cards, giving you a 64 GB storage space in all. There is no internal memory though. If you like Flip mini camcorders and don’t mind the big size, get this unit. It is not capable of recording HD videos but is an excellent option if you are looking for SD recording for putting clips on websites like YouTube. The bundled user-friendly software further helps you to put the videos on sites. The battery  [...]

There are cheaper hand video cams coming in the market and they are catching on fast on the sales of the minicamcorders, so the latter are thinking of new ways to keep a hold over the market. Optical zoom and storage are the two features where hand video cams cannot improve and hence these two remain the main selling points when it comes to mini camcorders. JVC Everio GZ-MS130 is all glory in both of these features, the camcorder has 16 GB of internal storage space which should do for storing video applications and there is 35X optical zoom and these two are hard to achieve for a hand video cam. The resolution of photos are 640x480 pixels very much typical of entry level mini camcorders. The camera automatically powers itself when you open the LCD and it shuts down when you close it. You can upload photos and videos to YouTube through camera and when you activate the option on the video  [...]