This camcorder is absolutely fantastic! Bell & Howell makes a real professional camcorder with this one. The videos come out in crystal clear 1080p High Definition Resolution. The camcorder also has an SD card slot that can hold SD cards up to 32GB. That gives me hours of video. I love this camcorder! I'll be watching for more Bell + Howell product.
I'll start with the worst.
This camera has no means of setting a manual focus; and the auto-focus is terrible.
It can't decide what it wants to do, and even on a tripod, viweing a still environment, the auto-focus goes haywire.
On top of that, each automatic lense adjustment triggers a very loud clicking and popping noise from the camcorder.
On playback, you'll find that this ruins ALL footage.
This in itself is enough to determine my single star rating. Do you even need to hear about any of the other drawbacks?
No, you don't.
The horrible auto-focus and loud internal motor noise ruin everything you shoot, or are ever hoping to shoot.
Avoid this camcorder at all costs, and please, spend your hard earned money elsewhere.All my comments should be prefaced with:
"for a $200 camcorder..."
5X zoom (as stated by the print around the lens) is one of this camera's strengths. I have heard of some cameras having as much as 60X zoom in this price range, but I always wonder how much of that is true zoom versus BS. This camera clearly displays the threshold where true zoom stops. It's enough zoom to stalk your neighbor with in a residential area, but not really from a high-rise to another. I can testify though that at the end of the natural zoom the video quality is identical to un-zoomed.
The microphone is horrendously bad in high volume environments. It is clear enough if the volume does not exceed a moderate home stereo, but if you plan to record your band then this camera will be entirely useless without a separate sound recording device. There is no input for an external mic, that I can find.
The interface leaves something to be desired. Of course it would be easy to get a camcorder with a much more complex interface, but calling this camera "point-and-shoot" is a bit of a stretch. It does not adapt to the light environment automatically, without adjusting multiple settings, and those setting are sometimes lost when you turn it off. The touch screen is a nice touch (pun intended), but I would rather they had saved that money and beefed up the mic, or casing.
...which leads me to the durability/craftsmanship. I have had this thing less than a year, and only used it sparingly, and yet my casing has already developed a hairline crack in a non-stress area (near the record verification light on the back). If your child gets a hold of this, I suspect they will immediately break off the flip screen. It can not handle being dropped at all, and the case it comes with is little more than a dust cover.
The flash is for still pictures only, but well-lit stills look really amazing as far as resolution goes. However, the camcorder is borderline useless for medium-to-poor lit indoor shots, unless you are unconcerned with having visible grains in your HD video. To me this defeats the purpose of HD. The resolution is acceptable when it is well-lit, but the lens is larger than many compact cameras, so I expect even more resolution. Good luck finding the setting to go from 720 to 1080 in the menu.
You will need a tripod, because hand-held shots shake like hell.
What is this good for? The flipscreen, at $200, puts me in a situation to attach this camera to a mic stand (with a special adaptor that costs under 20), and stick it out my car window (of course, heavily stabilized to minimize shaky shots). Or, if I was filming in a warzone or other place where my camera could get destroyed or stolen...the swiveling flip-screen allows some sneaky shots, the hand strap allows for a really good grip, and the price is nearly disposable. However, it has a tad more bulk for difficulty in hiding the camera.
Final positive notes: The battery life satisfies me if I fully charge prior to each shoot, because I can get 1-2 hours, especially when the battery is brand new. Charging the battery can be confusing though, because sometimes it seems like it won't charge without the flip screen open, and one time my power jack would not respond (light didn't come on). I suspect it was severely dead that time. Also, the screen size is extremely ample. I can extend it on a boom and still see the basic placement of my figures on the screen, as long as it is not too bright outside, because the screen can be a bit dim outdoors where this camera works best.
To sum it up, I am glad to have this second camera, which exceeds my Zoom Q3HD in battery life, 5X zoom, comfort of use, screen size, flip screen, and by having this excellent still picture option. It is worth the money for the still camera shot quality alone, but navigating the touch menu is a pain in the butt, the mic is stupid for live music (even muffled), and I honestly think 1080P should look a little better than this. You might want the version with the infra red feature, since it's not much more.
PS: I dropped my review by two stars from my initial impression, because it developed an obnoxious mic/noise problem that made me unable to use it for audio in ANY environment or on any setting. It makes these pop sounds that are impossible to work around. Really this thing is constructed horrifically with an awful navigation and poor construction. Buy it for your son (though you could still find something cheaper and better) as a first camera that he is likely to loose or break, but not as something to cherish or use for any semi-serious film work. Mostly just skip this one, really.
Everything stated by SUPERLongD in his review is true, plus more negative attributes, such as short depth of field.
This is, without a doubt the worst Internet purchase I've ever made based on price and some bogus reviews.
DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA AT ANY COST!!! You will surely regret it.But don't take my word for it. Watch the video review.
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