I bought this little camcorder about a month ago to take with me on safari. I have been extremely impressed... it took only about 5 - 10 minutes to familiarise myself with how to work the camera. It only has 6 buttons on it, so very easy to use and understand. All the more complicated functions are contained in the menus which can be displayed on screen and navigated through using the handy 'joystick' button.
The quality for both still and moving pictures is very good, although the one-handed 'trigger' style operation can be hard to keep still if you are inexperienced like me!! Has some useful functions like wind-noise reduction, image stabilisers (1 for camcording, one for stills), different shooting modes depending on weather / surroundings, black and white / colour, voice recording etc etc and all of these functions are easy to work out without having to trudge through the manual. There is also the capability to take a still picture whilst in the middle of shooting a video - however, doing this causes the video to freeze for a couple of seconds, and if you have the shutter sound switched on then this can be heard on the video. However, this is easy to get around because you can save a still from a video after you have finished shooting by pausing it and capturing the image, so there is no real need to do the 2 at once.
The camcorder is unbelievably small and light, and it is waterproof which makes it hardy for skiing trips, rainy days or beachside filming (not for underwater filming though...).
The only downside I found was that the battery ran out quite quickly, although I was using it a lot on safari! A full battery lasted about a day and a half of intermittent shooting (but I'm not sure how many hours this was)... I think it might be because I left it on standby in between shooting instead of turning it off completely - either way I would recommend investing in a spare battery if you are not going to be able to recharge regularly. Another slight negative is that it is hard to hear the audio when you play back on the camcorder. However, you are supplied with a cable which connects straight from the camera into the TV, and the audio is good quality when you watch it this way.
Overall, this is a fantastic little camcorder and really good looking too! If you are not sure which to go for out of a camcorder or a digital, this is a really good option too as both the video and still photos are of a good quality (6 megapixels for videos, 5 x optical zoom). I bought mine for under £200 which I think is an absolute steal. Highly recommended!!
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This 6 in 1 travel charger is an essential item for anyone with a digital camera. Ideal ... more
with a spare battery (which we have available separately); lets you charge a replacement battery whilst still being able to use your camera at home or on the move. ...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Jan 22nd, 2007
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