Date post: | 19-Mar-2016 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | minamo-guhara |
View: | 212 times |
Download: | 0 times |
Link : http://www.dreamwarecomputers.com/reviews_2009/samsung_r10/index.htm
Samsung R10 1080 HD Flash CamcorderReview by: Steve June 2009
Introduction:In the past year or so we've seen Samsung make a jump into making all their camcorders flash based and eliminating the older and less convenient miniDV/miniDVD formats. In that time I've reviewed a few of the models in their lineup and even decided to get myself one to replace an old and failing camcorder of mine. In only a few short models I've seen them really build up this camcorder arsenal into a fairly strong product line - something that will go along great with all the new Samsung photo cameras we'll see emerging this year. Their latest flash camcorder, the R10, looks like something straight out of the future. With a compact body size, silver colour and angled front lens, it jumps out as not following the trend of the other Samsung flash camcorders currently on the market. Let's check it out further and see what it's all about!
In The Box:
(1) R10 Camera(1) Battery(1) Wrist strap (1) Carry pouch
(1) AC charge adapter w/AC cable(1) USB cable(1) Component cable (2) Ferrite cable wraps(1) Manual/warranty package
Specs:
Signal Type
Signal Type NTSC
Storage Media
Storage Media SD / SDHC slot
Image Sensor
Sensor Type CMOS
Sensor Size 1/2.33''
No. of pixels 5,3 M / 9 M (video / still)
Lens
F Value F3.5 ~ 3.7
Optical Zoom 5x
digital zoom 100x
Filter Diameter glass 0.55 mm
Type Full HD lens
Display
Main Screen
Device Type touch LCD
Size 2.7'' (wide)
No. of pixels 230K
Viewfinder
Device Type No
Size No
No. of pixels No
Light
Light No
Flash
Flash Yes
Shoe
Shoe No
Video Recording Feature
Video Spec.
Recording Format H.264 / MP
Recording Resolution
video HD: 1920 x 1080 @ 60i (SF / N), 1920 x 1080 @ 30p (SF), 1280 x 720 @ 60p (SF)
video SD: 720 x 480P @ 60p (SF), VGA @ 30p (SF)
Shutter Speed
Manual Shutter 1/60 ~ 1/10000
Auto Yes
Slow Shutter Mode (LSS)
auto, 1/30, 1/15
Image Stabilizer EIS
Focus Auto Focus Yes
Manual Focus Yes
Power Night Capture No
Video Still Capture Yes
Back Light
compensation Yes
Low Light Sensitivity 15 lux (slow shutter)
White Balance Auto Yes
Manual auto, daylight, cloudy, fluorescent, tungsten, custom
Audio Recording Feature
Audio Format AAC (stereo)
Sampling Rates 48 kHz
No. of Channel 2 channel
PC CODEC PC Decorder Yes
PC Encorder Yes
Others Worldwide AV Output No
Speaker Yes
Volume Adjust Yes
Built-in Microphone Yes
Wind Filter(WindCut Plus) Yes
Real Stereo Yes
Audio Effect
Voice No
Music No
Wide No
Echo No
Audio Dub No
Operation
Play/Still Yes
Stop Yes
FF/FPS Yes
REW/RPS Yes
Line Recording No
Slow Motion Yes
Frame Advance Yes
Shuttle Search Yes
Auto Rewind No
Zero Memory No
Slide Show Yes
Protect Select Yes
All Yes
PB Option Select Yes
All Yes
Delete Select Yes
All Yes
Still Imaging Feature
Still Image
Format JPEG
Resolution
12 M: 4000 x 3000 / interpolation9 M: 4:3, 3456 x 2592
6 M: 16:9, 3328 x 18725 M: 4:3, 2592 x 19443 M: 4:3, 2048 x 1536
2 M: 16:9, 1920 x 1080VGA: 640 x 480
Quality super fine
Recordable Media SD / SDHC card
Interface
PC USB Yes, USB 2.0
IEEE 1394 No
Video Composite Yes
S-Video No
Component Yes
HDMI Yes (ver 1.3 c / Anynet+)
Audio Ear Phone Jack No
Memory Card Card Slot Yes (SDHC)
Memory Application
Movie Clip Recording Yes
Memory Application Compatible Card SD / SDHC
Built-in Memory No
USB Application
Motion Picture Streaming Format No
Resolution No
PC Camera No
External Storage Yes
Direct Print System DPOF Yes
PictBridge Yes
Others
Indicator
Power LED Yes
Tally Lamp Yes
Recharging Indicator Yes
Function key LED Yes
AF Assist Lamp No
Disc Access Lamp No
Tripod Screw Yes
Lens Cover No
Charging in working No
Color Variation black / silver
S/W and PC OS
OS Compatible OS Windows Vista / XP
Bundle PC S/W 1 built-in S / W (Intelli-Studio)
Bundle PC S/W 2 No
Bundle PC S/W 3 No
Accessory
Power
Ac Adaptor/Charger Yes
AC Cord Yes
Battery Pack Yes
Strap
Hand Grip Yes
Shoulder Strap No
Neck Strap No
Case Carrying Case Yes (soft pouch)
Cable A/V Cable Yes (multi 10 pin)
USB Cable Yes (multi 10 pin)
Others
Remote Control No
Bundle Recordable Media No
Intruction Book No
Pocket Guide Yes (quick guide)
Power
Power Supply Type output (5.0 V, 2.0 A)
Power Consumption LCD off, VF on 3 W
LCD on, VF off 3 W
Battery
Cell Material li-ion
Model No. IA-BH125C
Shape Type hidden type
Running Time (For This Model) approx. 80 min
Dimension & Weight
Dimension 38.3 x 56.8 x 128.2 mm
Weight 229 g
Other Feature
Worldwide AV Output No
PB Zoom Yes
Features:Taking a slightly different colour path than the past Samsung flash camcorders I've reviewed, the R10 has an entirely silver body - different from their usual gloss black. If you look close enough at the side where the screen folds out, they've given it a brushed aluminum pattern on top of the plastic. All the writing is etched into the plastic with only the Samsung and HD logos being glued on. If you look long ways down the camera you can see that it's actually quite thin. I'd have to say it's thinner than almost any other 1080 handheld flash cam I've previously used.
A closer look at the body reveals that it's very simple looking when it comes to the buttons. There's only three physical buttons on the outside of the body; photo, mode and record. Beside the record button is the first of two zoom toggles. Open the screen, and inside you'll find a power button, display/iCheck button and EasyQ button. On the frame of the screen is the QMenu button (discussed more later), a second zoom toggle and a second record button. With the R10's main features being operated and programmed via the touch screen there is quite simply no need for a large number of physical buttons.
A small cover on the back edge of the R10 can be opened to reveal the DC charging plug, an AV jack and a built-in HDMI port. It's nice to see the built in HDMI back again, Samsung had done this on their HMX10A but removed the feature from the HMX20C, and now it's back again on the R10.
When you first look at the R10 you are likely to think "something looks really weird at the front of the camera". Well, in a way this is very true. The lens is mounted on a 25 degree upward angle. Want to know why? Hold your hand in the position where you would normally hold a video camera to film something - it isn't perfectly level is it? Since most people hold their video camera's about a foot or so away from their breast bone, the hand itself has roughly a 25 degree downward tilt. To compensate for this, Samsung gave the R10 lens a 25 degree upward tilt. It seems weird at first, but when you actually give it a go, it feels very natural. The lens is actually behind a glass cover on the front of the camera, which further adds to the slightly unusual look up front. Although this glass is scratch proof and designed to protect the lens itself, I still don't agree with Samsung's idea to not include a lens cap. Although it may not help much with scratch reduction, I still would like a lens cap to keep this glass clean and free of fingerprints.
Unlike some of the past Samsung flash camcorders I've reviewed here, the R10 does not have any internal memory. You must provide memory yourself via SD and SDHC supported cards. Downloading to your computer is made easy by the R10 appearing the same as a USB flash drive would when connected to your computer.
The QMenu is essentially a user programmable set of four hotkeys that show up on the touch screen when the button is pressed. This gives you access to any of the camera's critical features and settings with no more than two button presses. For example, my current QMenu has a resolution button, exposure control button, back light button and focus control button. I'd like to note a few changes in this QMenu from older Samsung camera models: it's been cut down to four items instead of the old six and it is now user editable (you never used to be able to change the options in the menu). I must say that I absolutely love the ability to now modify what I have control of in the QMenu but the reduction from six items down to four means that if I'm a power user, I may still have to do a lot of menu navigation for more of my commonly used features. Of course a complete menu can be brought up at any time by using the menu button on the lower corner of the screen.
The R10 is capable of recording both high definition and standard definition movies ranging from VGA (640x480) up to 1080i/p. Audio is recorded in stereo AAC format at 48kHz. Below is a summary of all supported recording modes and the qualities they are available at. Note: SF is super-fine and N is normal when it comes to quality, and i is interleaved and p is progressive when it comes to resolutions.
HD: 1920 x 1080 @ 60i (SF / N), 1920 x 1080 @ 30p (SF), 1280 x 720 @ 60p (SF)
SD: 720 x 480P @ 60p (SF), VGA @ 30p (SF)
Still image capture quality ranges from VGA up to 12 megapixels (interpolated), the camera's native quality is 9.0 megapixels. All photos can only be taken in the super-fine quality setting. There is a flash on the front of the camera that can be set to off, auto, red-eye reduction or fill modes (quite a bit of variety for a camera designed primarily for video!) An outline of all photo quality settings and resolutions is shown below:
12 M: 4000 x 3000 / interpolation
9 M: 4:3, 3456 x 2592
6 M: 16:9, 3328 x 1872
5 M: 4:3, 2592 x 1944
3 M: 4:3, 2048 x 1536
2 M: 16:9, 1920 x 1080
VGA: 640 x 480
Both video and picture modes have face detection. This means the camera will automatically sense the faces in the picture and work extra hard to make sure they all stay in focus.
Installation:IntelliStudio is another one of those new features that we're seeing emerge on the R10's
design. Embedded on the flash memory inside the R10 is video/photo playback and editing software called IntelliStudio. Much like U3 on USB drives, this program will execute and run directly from the camera on any Windows XP or newer system (sorry Mac users!).
Testing:Since the R10 lacks the traditional hand strap to slide your hand into, I did find it somewhat awkward to hold onto at first. The feeling of a hand strap being there also gives me the security that if something were to happen causing me to open my hand while filming that my camera would not simply fall to the ground.
The quality of the video I recorded was superb and I have no complaints from that area of functionality. Keep in mind if you're shooting in high definition that you will need a fairly new computer to be able to play them back due to the super high resolutions (when compared to most computer resolutions). Of course the ability to switch the R10 into standard definition will allow you to use it much the same as any older video cameras - just with the convenience of flash memory instead of tapes!
When you're in video mode, the photo button will simply grab a snapshot of the current frame. These are not high quality snapshots though, to attain full image quality you must be in photo mode. When you flip into photo mode, you now get a whole new set of options in the menu and QMenu. I switched the camera over to the highest quality, 12MP, and took a variety of shots with the flash on and the flash off. I placed a few of these
shots below for you to check out! Although the pictures appear to have fairly good colour, and in a high resolution, they still do not match up to those from a true digital photo camera. They get grainy very fast and you can almost notice this in the shots before zooming them. This all comes down to how the lens is designed - since it's a video lens designed for 1080 video, a high-quality digital still photo lens is simply not in the same ballpark.
Conclusion:For a price cheaper than most competitors, the Samsung R10 has shown to be a solid 1080 high definition flash camcorder for under $500USD. Alongside the usual camcorder features found on most camcorders in this range, the R10 jumped out to me with it's unique 25 degree lens angle and built-in PC editing/playback software. Although I wasn't left too fond of not having a secure hand strap or a lens cover, this will likely be something that won't bother everyone.
Pros:Great quality 1080 videos25 degree lens angle is an innovative idea to reduce wrist strain!Some minor firmware and software improvements over past Samsung flash camcorders stand outIntelliStudio built-in software Photo quality is good and photo mode gives you a variety of options (keep in mind it won't compare to a digital photo-only camera though)
Cons:No proper lens cover! No hand strap. This also made using the buttons on the back of the camera extremely hard without crossing my other hand over to operate them.