If you are looking for a cheap DV cam but want to shoot nice video, this is the one for you, I use it for a TV program, the one CD does nice, just dont move the Camera :). Its great for filming family and friends, its a hard worker.

We bought this last June in spite of the few bad reviews thinking it was a bargain. We used it once to record my son's birth. After that the screens all went white and it wouldn't do anything, even give me a menu anymore. The manufacturer was no help at all over the phone; they act like they know nothing about their own products. I sent it off to a place in Seattle and just got the news today that the board on it is completely fried due to a short of some type and it's not worth the money to fix it. At least I have the one video that I made with it. For $450 it's a pretty expensive video. Stay away from Samsung... their customer service is the pits.

Just days after buying it, it started shredding up tapes, poor video quality, poor customer support, and when it doesn't eat the tape up, it can't even play it back properly without having serious playback problems. I have talked to others about this cam-- same thing. SamDUNG.

Even though Samsung licenses the technology from Japanese vendors, they suffer 1) poor quality control, and 2) terrible ergonomic design decisions, and 3) extremely bad customer support -- don't expect to find anyone if you need support such as warranty fulfillment. A much higher-quality JVC or Sharp doesn't cost much more, and gives you years of trusty service. The image quality on this model is pretty poor, prompting a Korean reviewer to call it worse than many 8mm camcorders. I can't comment on audio, but I'd be really really surprised if a Samsung can have better audio than a Panasonic, which Digital Video magazine gave a very positive review of.

So go with the best and get a reliable Japanese brand.

After looking at a ton of cameras I stumbeled onto this one. But I couldn't find too many reviews but the ones I did find only praised it, so I went out on a limb and bought this bad boy. And I'm glad I did. For the price this cam cannot be beat. The picture quality is excellent, not broadcast mind you but hey, it wasn't 3 grand. The zoom and auto focus work really well and so does the night vision. You can see in total darkness. The sound also picks up great because the mic points toward the front not the sky like many other cameras. A cool thing about this camera is that there is no red light when you are recording so you can get real candid shots. The battery lasts for a long time, one charge will last me a week when I film skiing everyday. And the charge only takes about 30 min. The tape load is on the bottom so it cannot be accesed while mounted on a tripod, but it's not a big deal. One thing I've noticed is that when filming in the cold you have to let it record for a few extra seconds or else what you were trying to get will be cut short. Other than that I haven noticed any problems. BTW it does not come with a firewire cord, or the lens attachment that appears in so many pictures of it.