Samsung SCD107 MiniDV Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom

The Samsung SCD107 offers average-to-good video quality in a flexible, feature-laden package. If you are looking at camcorders south of $400, read on. Good engineering and rational design tradeoffs make this more than the sum of what came out of the parts bin.

PICTURE QUALITY

You can find better video quality (especially by paying a couple of hundred dollars more), but most people will find the picture satisfactory. If your research thus far has taken you deeply into the world of pixels, scan lines, VGA vs. XGA, and CCD numbers, this won't get on your short list on picture quality alone. That said, the camera works particularly well in low-light situations, and there is a "NITE PIX" feature for very low-light applications.

The "Digital Image Stabilizer" feature doesn't do much if you have shaky hands, you should try a tripod (usually not a bad idea anyway). There is no manual focus, though you probably won't miss this because the auto-focus works so well. The 20X zoom is plenty, and the 900X digital zoom is overkill the limiting factor is resolution, so don't expect to see footprints on the moon.

SCREEN

The first thing comparison shoppers notice is that the 3.5-inch color TFT LCD screen is bigger than most in this price range. This helps you frame a shot, gauge picture quality, and review just-taken film, all advantages over tiny screens. It is bright, clear, and rotates through 270 degrees (not 210 as stated in the supplemental info above). The color LCD viewfinder reproduces on-screen info and is a useful way to conserve battery power in the field.

EASE OF USE

Using the camera for the first time is fairly straightforward, even for the non-technical. The most commonly used controls are top-mounted (zoom, camera shutter control, NITE PIX feature on/off, slow shutter), where you would expect them. Other controls are located thumb-side or flush behind the LCD screen.

Getting more than the basics from the camera requires a steeper learning curve, as you must navigate through acronym-rich menus and sub-menus. Even if you pride yourself on NEVER reading instruction manuals, a word to the wise: Pick up the manual. Open it. Read it. If you don't, you will miss some non-obvious functions and features you're paying for. This may seem worse than, say, stopping to ask for directions while driving, but tough it out.

BATTERY

The lithium ion battery pack included gives you 90 minutes of continuous recording time with the fold-out LCD screen, or 120 minutes using the viewfinder. It takes two hours to charge. You might want a second one of these, or even the upgrade battery (SB-LS220), which goes 190 minutes with screen, 250 minutes with viewfinder, and takes 3 and a half hours to charge. A red LED on the camera blinks to let you know how charging is progressing (e.g. one blink/second means less than 50% charged; three blinks/second = 75%-90% charged), which is a nice touch.

RECORDING MEDIA

There are two ways to record moving pictures: Onto Mini DV tapes (60 or 90 minutes on a DVM60), or onto a memory card (SD/MMC or Memory Stick/Memory Stick PRO). Using the memory card in this way has huge limitations; you are better off just using the tapes and saving the memory card for still pictures.

STILL PICTURES

You can use the SCD107 in still camera mode for casual snapshots, but it is not a replacement for a multi-megapixel digital camera. The 512MB SD ("Secure Digital") card I bought separately holds 2,997 stills in "super fine" mode and a truly absurd 9,000 in low-rez "normal" mode. Stick with super fine.

AUDIO RECORDING

Audio recording quality is excellent through the built-in top-mounted stereo condenser microphone. Many built-in microphones pick up mechanical noise from the tape mechanism, but I didn't notice any, even in quiet settings. Use the money you might spend on an accessory microphone and get a tripod or a memory card instead.

MISC

The remote control is useful, but much more directional than a typical TV remote. It won't work unless you aim it right at the camera maybe it just likes to be seen in your group photos.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

If you need the sharpest picture available, you should probably spend $200 more. There are necessarily tradeoffs at this price range. However, if you just want a well-rounded, feature-filled camera that is a pleasure to use, by all means consider the SCD107.

I love this camcorder. First off, it's a great deal. I did a lot of research and found this to be the best deal out of the lower cost camcorders. The 107's brother (the 105) is also a good camcorder but the features of the 107 really puts it over the top. The large LCD is great. Playback is awesome on the huge screen. The photo feature is nice to have but I would still use a digital camera in most cases. It can also record MPEG4 with audio. The low-light feature works great. The audio is great and has an input for mics or music. The analog input is great and pretty easy to use. It's a good way to get old home videos on your computer without a capture card. Also, despite other reviews, I think the picture looks pretty good. One tip of advice is to only use the DIS when you have to. If you leave it on that's when it's starts to look grainy. I don't know what else to say. Too many features to mention. Great camera. Would suggest to anyone.

Pros:

Large 3.5" LCD for great playback

Analog Input to save all those old videos

Great Night Recording

Great Audio

Microphone/ Audio Input

Picture looks more than fine for most people

Photo and Video recording on memory card

Cons:

Light isn't that bright

Video can look a little grainy but mainly when DIS is on

Buy Samsung SCD107 MiniDV Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom Now

I bought this camera to replace our 7 year old VHS-C camcorder. It had most of the features that I was looking for: MiniDV, Optical zoom greater than 10x, batterly life greater than 1 hour, LCD geater than 2.5", built-in light, and memory card for digital pictures.

I returned it for one main reasonvideo quality is equal to that of my current camcorder. It gets worse under certain circumstances. (Disabling DIS didn't improve the picture quality.)

Every feature that was attractive to me turned out to be inadequate. Large LCD screen, but the image is not pleasing. Built-in video light barely lights closeby objects. No facility (shoe) to place external light or flash.

Still images are another big disappointment. I realize that I shouldn't expect great still pictures from a camcorder, but I don't think they should come out this blurry, dull, and hazy.

Memory card slot can accept various different media (SD, memory stick, etc.) I think this is a very neat feature.

I was amazed by Nite Pix feature. Yes, you can record video in absolute darkness, but the objects have to be within close proximity (6 feet or so).

Fading option (between footages) is extremely disappointing. You have to keep the fade button pushed until the image fades out, then push the standby button, and then release the fade button. You have to do the same when you start recording again. Completely manual operation.

We own many Samsung products and I am very satisfied with each one of them. This product is not going to change my opinion on Samsung.

Read Best Reviews of Samsung SCD107 MiniDV Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom Here

I'm not sure how people are giving this camera 4 and 5 star reviews but I was sadly disappointed with it.

The only reasons I'm giving it the two stars are: 1. The screen size and 2. The price.

I own a Samsung TV and DVD player and have found them both to be excellent values for the money so I decided to ignore the negative reviews that I had seen and pick it up anyway.

The picture looks great on the LCD screen assuming that you're at a good angle to view it but as soon as you put it on a tv or pc you will see the lack of image quality. The manual was poorly written especially in regard to transferring video via the Firewire/IEEE 1394 connection. The software it came with doesn't suppport the Firewire though it doesn't mention this at all in the camera manual. Also the camera's driver isn't verified for Windows XP. When I hooked it up via the USB the camera was dropped from the device list after about a minute due to driver.

After much hassle I returned it to the retailer that I bought it from who was nice enough to waive their 15% restock fee specific to camcorders and similar items so that I may purchase a Sony DCR-HC30 which I am much happier with. The store mananger explained to me that they had complaints from at least 5 other people with the same problem.

Some other things to note:

The SC-D107 has one of the biggest screens out there but also one of the smallest viewing angles.

It has one of the largest optical zooms for the price, which isn't much good if the recording quality is low.

Lastly, it has one of the largest digital zooms out there(900x), again useless because anything past about 100x is so grainy that you can't tell what you're looking at (you'll note that Sony doesn't make a camera with greater than 120x digital.)

Try to avoid this one if you can afford something better.

Want Samsung SCD107 MiniDV Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom Discount?

I bought this camera about six months ago (June 04) for $429.00 and have used it extensively both outdoors and indoors.

I looked at many cameras in the $450 price range with similar features. The one thing that stood out on this camera was the 3.5" LCD display. It was so much easier to frame a scene with this than with the 2.5" display on competing models that I decided to buy the Samsung.

I found it easy and comfortable to use; the electronic stablisation works very well; the battery life is fine for recording a single 60min tape. Playing back recordings on the LCD screen is a pleasure. The image looks great and the sound is clearly audible on the builtin speaker. I was initially very happy with my purchase.

Imagine my disappointment then, when I got home and played back the recording on my TV it was no better than my old analog Canon ES50. At first, I was sure I had hooked it up incorrectly. But alas no: I was correctly using the s-video connection.

Not willing to lose faith, I then hooked it up to my PC using a 4-to-6 pin firewire cable (purchased separately). Well, the picure looked fine in a small window but soon as I went full screen it was pretty grainy and pixalated. It's not even VGA quality.

My number one reason for buying a DV camera was to get a sharper picture than with my analog camcorder. I'm afraid I made the wrong choice and, despite some nice features, I cannot recommend this camera because of the disappointing picture quality. Incidentally, I notice that the specifications page in the manual says nothing about lines of resolution and the size of the CCD (according to camcorderinfo.com it is 1/6").