This camcorder has passed my test, very successfully. I give it very high marks and is well worth the price! I brought it for my Philppine vacation and...boy, did I make the best of it!
I played around with all the feautes, ended up using what suited me best, e.g., widescreen format (awesome), night owl (so,so, need to keep camera still), framed photo capturing, fade to black inbetween shots (great feature-makes your shots seem professionally filmed), and wind reduction, are along the others I learned to use and have adapted. Being able to switch from video mode to memory mode (for taking digital stills) has never been easier. It takes a few seconds to adjust but its quick enough. What I would do is capture some events in video and wish to also capture it in digital stills so that I can develop it. Just a small switch allows me to do this.
The functions/features may seem complicated at first, but like anything else, you got to "grind" the info at hand and get use to it. Hey, its the only camcorder on my trip, so I had to make the best of it! The only disadvantages it has that I found, but easily tolerated, is the image focusing. The camcorder sometimes has trouble auto-focusing when it can't seem to find its target or focal point. Its also hard to take sharp dark video and image shots when the "Night Owl" is set. Its required that you keep the camcorder still as best possible, or else it will come out blurry. As you'll find out, its hard to keep a camera very still! But in the brightest of days, especially found in the Philippines, the outcome of pictures and video, is impressively sharp. Outstanding, digital quality video!
Overall, the advantages very much outweigh the disadvantages unanimously! Its very stylish, would just place it in my pocket and ready to shoot whenever. Its got a full load of features that are very much necessary and impressive, allowing a professional outcome. Most important of all, the camcorder produces great quality digital video!! Can't say much about the digital 1.02 Mpx, but its good enough for a camcorder. The emphasis of this review is pretty much its digital quality video, it is quite impressive!
I've personlly returned to this site to make this review because I feel that I owe it to other fellow customers of how much I appreciated this camcorder. I do own one and will not return it, unless in need of repair, of course.
