Samsung HMX-R10 - opinions?

[edickon]

I know this little camcorder is new on the scene but has anyone had a chance to try it out yet? The big sensor size is attractive for a small package, and it should be simple enough for my wife to use . Any help appreciated.

[jackarmy]

Bought one of these from Play.com for £324.99. In the box there was a note asking to complete an online survey about the Camcorder and get £20 back.

So far it seems great nice and small. The quality seems very good at 1080p. Here's a clip I took at 1080p then converted down to 720p.

[alaniho]

i was thinking of getting this as it is down to £299 in Currys now.

Its only got a 5x optical zoom but does any one have any comment about how it fares indoors or in low light???

[Jetmans Dad]

I have just come back from a trip to London where I tried out my R10 for the first time ... got some pretty good footage in the Flight Gallery of the Science Museum which is a relatively dark place. Very happy with it.

One question though.

As I don't have either an HDTV or PC monitor at the moment (monitor resolution only goes to 1280x1024) I shot in SD mode, but when I came to copy the files to the PC, they played back (and looked fine) quite happily in Quicktime, but the resolution of the files appears to be 853x480 and not 720x576.

Because of this, I have been unable to edit any of it, because the various editting packages I have tried out all assume that the video files are at 720x576 resolution and squash the pictures into that shape.

Why are my raw files at a different resolution to the one that even the Samsung User Guide says they should be? Anyone know?

Thanks,
JD

[A n d r e w]

853x480 effectively conforms to a 16:9 aspect ratio. I expect that if you make your project settings 16:9, then you shouldn't have a problem.

What editing software are you using?

I'd record in HD if I were you - the higher resolution will look better that SD even on your computer monitor, and you can easily downsize in software.

[nyck]

The only thing that put me off was the zoom button postion.I prefer it on the top and it's on the back on this model,for me it seemed arkward zooming in/out with my thumb.
I ended up get the SMX-C10, not HD and no photos but was only £119 from Pixmania

nyck

[Jetmans Dad]

Originally Posted by A n d r e w

853x480 effectively conforms to a 16:9 aspect ratio. I expect that if you make your project settings 16:9, then you shouldn't have a problem.

What editing software are you using?

Serif MoviePlus X3 ... which doesn't appear to offer a 16:9 option, but a variety of different resolutions (PAL DVD, PAL DVD Widescreen, NTSC DVD, NTSC DVD Widescreen etc.) none of which have a resolution of 853x480. You can modify the resolution to whatever you want, but then the problem is as below.

The format for the videos saved from across from the R10 is MP4. When you open these files and play back in Quicktime they look perfect and, according to the Movie Inspector, the resolution is 853x480 (which as you say conforms to 16:9).

However, when I import into MoviePlus (or a couple of other trial packages I have downloaded) they state that the frame size of the videos is 720x576, and when they are imported they do not even fill the 720x576 project frame but leave black bars down both sides with the image squashed into a non-widescreen shape in the middle of the frame.

All that said ... the User Manual for this camera indicates that SD recordings should be 720x576!!!

I have done nothing whatsoever to these video files except save them from the camera onto my HD.

I will try filming in HD and see what happens then, but does anyone have any idea how I can resolve this, as there isn't even an FAQ for this camera on the Samsung website?

[Jetmans Dad]

Originally Posted by nyck

The only thing that put me off was the zoom button postion.I prefer it on the top and it's on the back on this model,for me it seemed arkward zooming in/out with my thumb.
I ended up get the SMX-C10, not HD and no photos but was only £119 from Pixmania

nyck

Agree that it can be a little awkward to get your hand into just the right position to zoom without disturbing the picture too much, but you do get used to it after a while ... and I have found the additional zoom controls beside the screen very useful.

Probably helps that this is my first camcorder.