Sharp VLWD450U MiniDV Digital Camcorder w/2.5'' Viewfinder & Built-in Digital Still Mode

The quality of the 26x zoom is incredible, and even the lower powers of digital zoom that this camera has are incredible. Imagine being able to clearly read 3pt type from 15 feet away on the viewfinder. And that's just the beginning.

Unpacking the box, I found out that I was glad that I'd purchased a USB smartmedia reader. The only cables supplied were the standard dubbing cables and a serial transfer cable. Standard serial transfer being slow as it is was not an option. That cable is now stashed collecting dust.

The camera was easy to set up and get running right away. I popped the 8mb smartmedia card in its slot, the battery in it's little hideout, and a new blank tape in the tape compartment. The single hardest thing was figuring out how to attach the lens cap to the hand strap. Velcro is your friend (the hand strap pad velcroes shut over the strap adjustment, by undoing the strap pad, you slip the cap cord onto the strap. A very neat, if unintuitive, design)

Still pictures: 640x480 is limiting, but I mostly use this for web work and don't like to publish anything much larger than this. I would like to have some extra area though to make sure I get everything and crop down. Quality is superb in good direct lighting, decent in low light or indirect light.

Video Capture: Surprisingly clear. The camera, as with all such devices, makes a good webcam if you have the right interface hardware. I use a WinTV card for vid capture and discovered that the 450 will 'follow' action around if you leave it still on the tripod. Good for those people with a cam setup that move around a lot. It will automatically pan within its scan area just a few degrees to each side, but enough, usually, if set up correctly.

VCR Mode: A neat feature that I was totally unaware that the machine had until I got it home. If you plug the 'output' ports in so that they're receiving information instead of sending it, you can record on the camera like a VCR.

All in all: I'd recommend this little cam. My only complaint was being limited to 640x480 on still pictures. Cabling was standard and not unexpected. Optics and zoom are exceptional, 26x optical zoom is a big plus. IR and zero-light features are great. Still pictures, though limited in size, can fit 500-1500 depending on quality on a 64mb SM card.

4 1/2 stars

I had the opportunity to use this camera to shoot a wedding ceremony. Never having used a camcorder before, I was hesitant to agree to record such an important event and moreso on a new untested camcorder.

Although the instruction manual was a bit confusing at first, once I got the basic functions down the rest fell into place. The camera is lightweight enough so arm fatigue isn't an issue, yet sturdy enough to hold up to jarring when mounted on a tripod. The auto-focus worked quickly during zoom in/out with no distortion at all when zooming in. All controls are well placed, each with a different feel so the user can concentrate on the subject instead of searching around for the right button.

I found the display screen to be a little small and in certain lighting positions difficult to see. On the plus side, the screen flips so the user may be in the recording and still have control over it. Additionally, there is a very small remote control which will work up to 16 feet from the camera which removes the need to constantly be behind the lens. This was probably the best feature of this camcorder.

The rechargeable battery which came with the camcorder kept it's charge for only 90 minutes or so and took at least that long to fully recharge. Although there is an adapter to run the camera from an electrical outlet, I would definitely suggest purchasing the extended life battery which is an optional purchase.

With many advanced features which I didn't go into in writing this review, the Sharp Digital Camcorder is an excellent buy for the beginner or advanced user.

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I looked long and hard at different cameras in this price range, what I found was you needed to spend $ for a really good camera. This camera is very good. There are excellent low light features that make a world of difference in how your video comes out. I am disapointed in the actuall quality 460,000 CCD. I was going to buy the Panasonic for that reason but that camera had no low light features. After my first made video I could see how dark it came out while shooting in the house, which I though was good light? Don't be fooled that low light features are not important. I reshot the video with the Gamma on and it was as clear as daylight. The controls are easy to use a little cumbersome but after a few minutes you can figure them out. It is light easy to operate once you set the time etc. The extended microphone also makes a great difference in the sound quality. It picks up every sound clear as a bell. The still pictures are horrible so do not buy this camera for that feature. They are grainy and distorted and not good at all. They are easily transferred to your computer though even without a USB cable. I wish they added some video editing software but you can't ask for everything for this price. I am very pleased and would reccommend this camera.

Please purchase the bundled "Pinnacle DV software" and IEEE1394 card version 7.0. It is about $ but awesome and well worth a few extra bucks. You can make full fledged movies with music, voice over, editing, text, etc all with a click of a mouse!

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Pros: Price is definitely was the deciding factor for the features that came with it. Great battery life, light and easy to use

Cons: Have problems during playback, After 15 minutes of playback, display starts breaking up and eventually turns to blue, will play AFTER awhile. Secondly, SHARP's CUSTOMER SERVICE and TECHNICAL SUPPORT is NO GOOD, USELESS and are only trained to send your camera to the NEAREST Service Center which is 300 Miles away at my own EXPENSE (less than a month old camera, brand new)

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The Sharp VL-WD450U has a firewire port, but you need to go to the computer store to get the cable. I have a Mac with the iMovie editing software. Apple doesn't list the Sharp camera as one that is known to be compatible with the iMovie software. I plugged it in and it works fine.

Also, the software that comes with the camera is PC Windows oriented, so I couldn't use it. But reading the still images onto your hard drive via a serial port is not a great idea anyway. I went down to the computer store and bought a nice little USB device that plugs into the keyboard USB port ... You insert the 8MB SmartMedia card into it and it acts like a floppy drive. Each image is a .jpg file. Just click on the image and it pops up on the screen.

The camera is working fine so far. The 27X zoom is great. (Use a tripod) The only problem is finding a local source to buy a backup lithium battery. They don't sell them at the drug store or Wal-mart.