Toshiba H20 Camileo

[gixxerman]

I've just bought one of these camcorders from Tesco Direct, amazing value & spec for the price, I think.

The one glaring (and worrying) omission for me seems to be the total lack of a lens cap.
I've also looked on the Toshiba site and they don't list one at all.

So I'm wondering if anyone knows of another camcorder's cap that might fit?

The diameter of the lens unit seems to be 53mm.

If anyone can suggest a suitable cover I'd be very grateful.

Similarly a handy (and properly padded) carry bag with space for extra batteries and SD cards would be nice if anyone knows of a decent one.

Thanks.

[JamboV6]

Been looking at that camera too. have you tried it yet, what the picture like on the tv?

[gixxerman]

I'm having fun with mine.
I bought it because I'm going to take it on holiday and I'm just not risking spending big bucks on a camcorder that might get lost/nicked.

In-doors with low light it can be slow to focus but I bought it fully understanding & knowing that I wasn't buying, say, a £300 - £600 Panasonic.
Obviously you can't have too many goodies with such a budget price but the spec & performance is incredible, considering.
It was also a pleasant surprise to be supplied with all the necessary cables (HDMI > mini-HDMI & USB > mini-USB included), but it is a pity there's not a seperate mic jack.
Out-doors in daylight seems to be it's forté.

Unlike one person reviewing on Amazon I had no problems hooking this up to my XP SP3 PC.
The software suppied does the job perfectly well from what I can see and I have no complaints.
The PC recognises it as either a new storage drive (the SD card) and will get the pics on it (I though the stills looked pretty good) or you open the Arcsoft program to view your video.

The images look surprisingly impressive on our 40" 1080p TV, I've tried 1080p & 720p.
The colours look good and there's very decent detail
(although without a back to back test of an SD camera being upscaled I can't really comment on how much better).

Put it like this, it's miles better than the old VHS camcorders I was previously used to & also the S VHS one I've played with.
It feels nice too, not too heavy but not too light and flimsy either.

I've ordered 2 x class6 8gb cards & a class 6 16gb card for it and a few spare batteries.
Apparantly class 6 SD cards are recommended because of their speed and they stop stuttering (although having said that one person I've seen commenting reckoned the £16 class 4 SD 16gb card on sale at Play right now gave them no problems.
Hopefully the bag I got on Amazon will do the trick & cover all my needs
(Hama Compact Camcorder Case ).

I'm still concerned about not having any sort of lens cover, though.
Even a little push-on plastic job would be better than nothing.

[JamboV6]

Yeah im looking for something for when we go to NY If id use it more then id look at the panny. Whats the motion like as i believe the stabiliser doesn't work at 1080?

cheers
James

[gixxerman]

Yes, odd one that.
Stabilisation works on 720p but not the higher setting.

I just avoid fast panning, I knew it wasn't a strong point so I'm not disappointed.
It's not the worst I've ever seen but it's obviously not a leading performer at this.