Film in style at a low price (Samsung VP-D20)

Name: marcellep

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Product:	Samsung VP-D20
Date:	30.07.05 (1102 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Size, weight, performance,

Disadvantages: Zoom

I bought this camcorder about 18months ago from my local curry’s store. At the time I bought it I paid £299.97. Searching the net today I see that you can buy it for as little as £199.40 from Ebay

I choose this model as it looked small, sleek and stylish. I spent a lot of time looking at camcorders. When searching for the camera I always compare prices, looks, weight, design, manufacturer and most of all the specification.


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Why this model?

I choose this model over many other due to the way it looked and mostly because of the size of it. Of course the specification had a lot to do with me buying this model too. At only £299.97 this particular model offered a great specification at a great price.

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What this model offers:

LCD Screen~ a screen situated at the left hand side of the camcorder as you are holding it. Having this screen allows you to view what you are recording or playing back without having to look through the view finder. Screen size is 2.5 inches which is ideal for anyone.

My conclusion~ I could not live without this little screen, its so much easier to record and playback your clips. The quality is also superb whilst using the LCD screen. I can honestly say that I always use the lcd screen all the time when recording. With the colour lcd screen it makes it more realistic when filming. You can also move the lcd screen 180 degrees to allow you to film yourself.

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Standard eye view finder~ this part can be adjusted up about 2/3 cms to suit the person filming.

My conclusion~ not a thing I can honestly say I have used a great deal. I don’t like the idea of have a camcorder so close to my eye; I always fear that I walk in to something.

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Optical zoom~ this is maybe the part this model loses a few marks, with only a 10x optical zoom it’s not the best on the Markey. But once again I can say that it suits my requirements very well. Now to try and explain what the optical zoom means. I believe that the optical zoom uses the camera own lens to magnify the image without losing any quality of picture.

My conclusion~ this is certainly not the best zoom available on the market. But as I said it’s good enough for me. I will give a example of how good it is~ I can sit at one side of a football pitch behind the goals and zoom in to the other goals and still have a super picture.

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Image stabilizer~ is a feature that removes the shakiness that you often get when zooming in on a particular scene. This feature is often referred to as steady shot

My conclusion~ a super feature that I make the use of all the time, being an amateur that I am at filming this feature really helps me. I have seen such a difference when the feature is not on. I notice the difference with this feature when I am using the zoom to its full capacity. With this feature you can be reassured that you will still get the best possible quality whilst zooming in. * Note this feature will not stop the picture from shaking if the persons hand is shaking who is filming.

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Low Lux~ this is the minimum light required to film with this camera. This camera low lux level is 3.

My conclusion~ not fully understanding this feature of the camera I can just say that this camera does not do all that well in the dark unless you use the night shot feature.

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Night shot~ with an extremely bright light positioned at the front of this camera it allows you to film in extremely dark places. The light is a normal spot light and is not infrared therefore you will still get a good quality film should you need to film in the dark. * If used for a long time the light will get very hot to touch

My conclusion~ I love it so much, I have used it on several occasions whilst filming in the dark or in poor lit areas. The down fall with this kind of light is that when you are playing the video back you can tell that the person or object has had a spot light on it. The quality is still very good. I certainly prefer this design of night light over the infrared as with the infra red everything appears black and white

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Audio format ~ with this model you can expect great sound as it has 12/16 bit PCM digital stereo audio. This is thought to be the best sound quality you can have on a camcorder.

My conclusion~ great sound on this camera allows me to enjoy the video clip so much more. This camera picks up every single bit of noise and yes it still makes us all sound terrible when you play back. I find that when filming at a party the sound is super it picks up all the music as well as all the vocal comments that people are making. * warning if your going to gossip when someone is filming, do one thing check out the model.

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Photo ability~ yes it has this too, you can hit the photo button and you will take a still picture of what is in the view of the lens. Pictures are recorded straight on to the tapes and the only way to view them is by using the playback mode.

My conclusion~ This is a feature that I tend to you a lot, I like to start the filming with a still shot then go in to motion pictures and then end with another still shot. It’s a very easy feature to use all you need to do is hit that button and that’s you got a picture on the tape.

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Long play/ Short play~ double the amount of time you have on the tape by filming in LP mode.

My conclusion~ I always film in Lp as it allows you to film so much more on the tape. Filming in LP will not affect the quality of the filming in any way. When you have a standard 60 minutes tape it will double to 120mins when in long play mode

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Specifications and sizes~

Battery Life is 2hrs continuous record or playback, this camcorder has a rechargeable battery which will take about 3hrs to charge fully.

Lens focal length~ 2.7-27mm

Picture pixels~ 800k

Recording Format~ Mini Dv

Camcorder sizes~ 2.3inc (w) x 6.14inc (d)

Weight of camcorder~ 1.1lb

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Now in addition to all the above features and benefits on this great little camcorder you still have the following

Ability to film in black & white, Sepia, Fuzzy, mirror image and a few more

Remote control which allow you to control the camera from a distances

Ability to have greeting on the shot your filming, I.e. Happy Birthday, Good Luck etc

A super step by step instruction book is also provided with this camcorder.

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Connections that the camcorder has~

Dc in~ to allow you to charge the battery

Mic input~ allows you to have a microphone attached to the camera for better sound

Audio/video~ to connect the camera to the video player to record your film on to a VHS tape

S-Video~

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Ok so you’re going to buy it, now you want to know how it works!

SIMPLE

First things first you need to charge the battery for 5hrs as per the instruction booklet. Once the battery is complete you need to install the tape in to the machine. To do this all you need to do is simply turn the camera up side down and pull back the button that says eject this will open the bottom of the camera to allow you to put the tape in.

Camera charged and now you have the tape in

As you look at the camera you will see that there are a few controls on the right hand side which you will need to operate in order to film. So to power the camera up all you need to do is press the green button in and at the same time slide the dial up to camera. When that’s done you will now be able to either look through the view finder or open the lcd screen and see what you want to record. When you are ready to record you just need to hit the red button with your thumb whilst looking at what you want to record. When you select record the camera will bleep and you will see the word record appear on the screen.

That’s you recording~ Go on use your index finger to hit the zoom button which is situated at the top of the camera. When you feel the button with your finger on the top of the camera if you push it away from you it will zoom in and if you pull it towards you it will zoom out.

Stopping recording is so simple just hit the record button again and that will end that session.

Straight forward so far (agree?) Ok so you want to put your film on to VHS video then all you need to do is use the cables supplied to connect the camera to the video player. Insert your VHS tape in to the video player and then press record on the video player and at the same time press play on the camera. If you watch your video channel you will see what you are recording.

After you have recorded on to a VHS tape you are able to re-record over the digital tape again and again.

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My final conclusion~

This is certainly a bargain at the price I paid for it, with al the features that it has and the fact that it is so easy to use. I really believe that anyone could use this camera without any major problems. It’s a light weight and small camcorder in comparison to many other ones that are available on the market. Since I have had this camera I have never had any problems with it. I have to add that I have a 2yr old son who loves to play with the camera and yes he has dropped it a few times and it’s not caused any damage or problems. I would not recommend that you drop your camera.

I apologise that this review is so long but this camcorder has so much to offer

Summary: The look and design

Reliability:
Ease of use:
Sound quality:
Features:
Picture quality:
Battery talk time: