Samsung MX-20

[RAKP]

Hi everyone, thinking of buying this camcorder. My question is would it be easy enough to burn footage i take onto DVD? Could anyone give me some some hints as to what software to use. I would much appreciate your help on this one.

[senu]

There is a write up on it in the stickys on this very forum

Any software that accepts mpeg4 ( H.264) should be able to help you create a DVD if the bundled Cyberlink software proves underwhelming
Most current titles can

I must say as much as I liked the MX20, if making SD DVDs is your primary output rather than PC or You tube, You might want to consider Canon FS100 or even a MiniDV tape model for quality
The mpeg4 from Samsung is compressed in order to fit a small SD card. As such you can get 1 hr off a 2Gb card
Given that you can get one hr of mpeg2 ( for DVD onto a 4.7Gb DVD disc,), you would be getting ( as standard) less than best DVD quality to start with unless the mpeg4 compression is so good that it rivals mpeg2 ( I think it would struggle but there are poor examples of mpeg2 as well) , especially the very pocket friendly models
Have a read of the write up and have a think

[RAKP]

Thanks Senu, you are a very highly valued member of this forum... Thats obvious to me. Regarding the FS100, this would be my original choice but finding it hard to find a good deal on it that is actually in stock! I also considered mini dv but i don't have firewire on my laptop.

[RAKP]

Oh dear after double checking... It appears i do have firewire on my laptop. Can anyone point me in the right direction with regards to a good quality MiniDV camcorder, i know nothing about these things so any recommendations would be much appreciated.

[senu]

Not too many
But the Canon MD 205 seems to crop up regularly and it is relatively inexpensive at about £150
If yo

[RAKP]

Thanks Senu, is there much difference between the MD205 and the MD235?

[senu]

Originally Posted by RAKP

Thanks Senu, is there much difference between the MD205 and the MD235?

No
Not in anyway that matters
My last post had outlined the Pros and cons of MiniDV but got " truncated" in cyberspace
Tape is considered old hat but for VFM you still get a good camcorder for decent money
Tapes are plentiful and videos easy to edit and DVD from them should be decent quality
The downside is ( apart from perception of older technology)
Real time capture to PC ( 1 hr of footage = 1 hr to capture)
Large file sizes ( 13 gb / hr which can can delete once used)
rendering time may be up to 2x real time ( ie 1 hr video may take 2-3 hrs to render
However you get stable software and dont need a state of the art PC
Tape is being outmoded but because it has wide user base ( and is still used at semipro Pro level for now) it will linger for a while yet
Sony and Panasonic also make models which may be comparable but the Mic -in ( meanin you can use an external microphone) on the Canon makes it popular
HDV ( Hi def tape) camcorders are also quite good SD MiniDV camcorders if you can stretch to them

[RAKP]

Thanks again Senu, so what would be the average time for transferral and rendering from an SD card from the FS100 for example?

[senu]

Transfer is drag and drop and is simply a USB data transfer dependent on speed of card and amount of data to be transferred

Beyond that there is no average time for rendering as it depends on
a lot of things done during the editing process
In that it is no faster than using tape, as once on the PC the files are treated identically
Certainly if the mpeg2 files don't need any rerendering ( ie no editing) it is a lot faster

Some of us simply copy to DVD using a settop recorder ( bypassing the PC) if no editing is needed and we don't need a fancy menu

The above post was not meant to put you off tape, just to make you aware of why some folk don't like it compared to the " easy" USB copying.
In fact it isnt a big deal once you get used to it TBH

[RAKP]

Thanks, Senu... I never thought of transferral through my DVD recorder! I have a Panasonic with an SD card slot, though i'm pretty sure it wont handle HCSD. Would that just be a case of connecting the camcorder to the DVD recorder and recording the footage as it plays? Sorry if i'm hitting you with silly questions i'm a complete novice with cameras. If it's not made of wood, i struggle.

[senu]

Originally Posted by RAKP

Thanks, Senu... I never thought of transferral through my DVD recorder! I have a Panasonic with an SD card slot, though i'm pretty sure it wont handle HCSD. Would that just be a case of connecting the camcorder to the DVD recorder and recording the footage as it plays

Yes : play on camcorder, record on settop recorder
Although I have a settop recorder with HDD and tend to record to it first in case I need to do some trimming ect befor making a disc
Otherwise it is a pretty tidy way of going from camcorder to DVD
With the tape models It is wise to keep it all digtal and use firewire ( provided the recorder has a Dv input)
Otherwise you have to do it via s-video . Composite analogue is not great quality
footage on DVDs produced this way can still be "copied" to a PC for editing and making a " proper DVD " if required but this is a quick way of creating a DVD from camcorder footage

[RAKP]

Senu, you have been a great help and thanks for taking the time to respond to my questions.

[CrazeUK]

Hi
I am considdering buying one of these used.

Are they any good?
What price was it in the UK and when?

[senu]

Originally Posted by CrazeUK

Hi
I am considdering buying one of these used.

Are they any good?

Read the sticky review I did Nov last year in this very forum

What price was it in the UK and when?

It was about £150-180 then Im not sure it is still in stock ( looks like its been replaced but you can have a search

[crichard]

Having got one of these Camcorders (MX-20) I would personally recommend avoiding it if you want your final edited video in 16:9 widescreen or want watch it on a popular media player such as the Sybas popcorn hour without tracking down video file conversion tools to deal with the odd interlaced and squashed files that you'll find when you try to watch the video.

You'll need to convert the files from Samsung's implementation of H.264 to another format, say MPEG2 before you can really edit or watch the video properly. Of course by converting it you'll have lost some of the original quality and why convert something from one format to another when software and media players happily decode H.264 files (but not the MX-20). By the time you've run the conversion on your video files you might just as well worked with tape in the first place.

The cybermedia tripe that came with the machine was an unfunny joke that made Pinnacle's Studio 7 & 8 products look professional.

When I asked Samsung UK's tech support people what application they recommended that I watch my files with they declined to provide any recommendations citing that all the software players I had tried were the source of the problem, and that I needed to go out and find that elusive application that was compatible.

If you have a 4:3 telly and plan to record and watch in 4:3 and you want the benefits of getting video off of flash memory then its ok.

I appreciate people taking the time to preview products for everbody's benefit, but I really wish they'd go that little bit further when they test a camcorder.

In the meantime the £130 camcorder will now sit collecting dust while I hunt down a proper flash camcorder that I can watch the video on a media player or a PC/MAC without having to put up with the limitations applied by the manufacturer, as much as it pains me it very unlikely to be a Samsung product.

Carl