small enough to take everywhere.....it's been all over the world and through some tough climates and still works great! Large LCD for viewing eliminates the need for a view finder, which most people don't use with todays DV camera. Functions easy to access. Takes 37mm filters. Suggest purchase of two batteries so you can cut back on down time when shooting. Liked it so much....getting one for my son in the military!! Looking for underwater case...if available.

Excellent choice for a digital movie camera. Takes stills from 1 to 16 frames per snap. Hook up to a TV to view movies or review thru the lcd screen, Never had any problems.

I have had the Viewcam for a year now, and feel that I can make an adequate review of it now. So here it is. Problems/Repairs: 0. Things that impressed me: Resolution quality over VHS/8mm, low-light capabilities, sound quality, overall size, and that cool swivel action. Things that did not impress me: Cost of DV tapes, Resolution quality compared with newer miniDV cams, still shot pics, battery life. Overall: This is a very handy little camera, and I have enjoyed using it. It had firewire, which is the only way to go if your editing on your PC - and the picture/sound quality is far superior than any other format (don't let the whole Digital8 thing fool you). The price on Amazon was a steal at the time, and I do not regret getting it at all.

This camcorder brought us three unpleasant surprises:

1. It is not completely compatible with Apple Computer's iMovie. The first few seconds of video are lost and cannot be imported after every Stop/Start break in the camera footage. It also leaves lots of square artifacts at the beginning of an export to tape. Both very frustrating.

2. After two years of admittedly heavy use (hey, when else will he be a baby again?), the auto focus mechanism went quite mad. It simply wouldn't hold focus under any circumstances. This sort of thing happens, I suppose, but then for the big surprise...

3. There is, in all of the United States, exactly ONE place that Sharp allows to work on their digital camcorders. Our camera has now been there for six weeks and the best we can get from them is that "the part is on order."
On order? These guys are the only repair facility for the entire U.S. and they don't have parts stocked?!? This isn't a little garage outfit that would go broke stocking spare parts for every camcorder ever made; this is a monopoly that knew darned good and well that anything that went wrong with this camcorder model was going to come to them. They should have had a ready supply of parts.
Repeated calls to them got us nowhere. A call to Sharp Customer Assistance got us nowhere.

If you like surprises like these, then this camcorder and the rest of the Sharp line are for you.

I owned this viewcam for about a year and enjoyed it for the most part. It does have some serious quirks that any potential buyer should be aware of. Apparently this viewcam is known for recording the sound of the camcorder recording, resulting in a background hum on your tapes. I found other reviews that stated the same problem. Sometimes the hum is too loud and drowns out the audio you are trying to capture. Another problem is locating a head cleaner. The manual claims that they are available and after searching every major camera store around, I was unable to locate one. When the heads get dirty, your video quality quickly degrades and becomes "blocky" and distorted. Then I experienced a problem with playing back my tapes. The sound came and went and I could not transfer the video to my vcr because of video interferance and no sound. I tried to locate a service center to repair my viewcam and found out there are only 2 authorized service centers in the US! One center you have to send a check for [money] and be willing to spend at least that much to have your camcorder repaired...if its more, they will call you first. They would not tell me how much they charge for labor per hour and said it is all worked into the overall cost of repair. The other place you have to send [money] to cover the cost of the estimate but it can be applied toward the overall cost of repair. Needless to say, my estimate came back at nearly [money]!

All I can say is, buyer beware. I opted not to get the camcorder fixed and bought an analog camcorder that I am even more pleased with and service is available locally. I don't feel that this Sharp Viewcam is worth the money and the headaches associated with a miniDV digital camcorder.

Hi, I bought this camera to take it on a Millennium trip to Isreal, Egypt, Greece...and it did not disappoint. Amazing. I think I've replaced the battery only once. IT comes with a charger so make sure you get that too. Easy to use. Be careful when loading the tape so you down force it. Never had problems with it but it looks pretty delicate when you see the fancy mechanism. Great almost 3 inch playback. Great zoom. Now all I have to do is edit all of these tapes. Saw that it isn't the best for Apple's MOVIE program but I'm going to use directions on HOW THINGS WORK -- for editing Mini-DV -- wish me luck. Swivel makes it easy to shoot vertical or horizontal. Easy to give to a pal to use. Like that you can get 90 minutes on one tape. Be careful, I recently somehow taped over a vaulable tape so pull that little green tab on your digital video tapes so you can't re-record accidentally. SO MUCH FUN -- makes even an event you DON"T WANT TO GO TO -- ie some party or wedding or something a lot of fun. Because the results are so good and the SOUND IS AMAZING. REALLY AMAZING SOUND for mini-dv -- plus you can put it in a tote bag or a large purse if you're a lady. No need for big camera bag. The stabilization tech eliminates need for tripods etc and it seems to work just as well inside a room at night vs during the day.....worth every penny -- and if you can get one used--well-- do it today!! js.