A full 1080p HD camcorder with 5x optical zoom
Technology never stands still and only a couple of months after sourcing our original HD Digital Camcorder (and what a camcorder it was!), here at Max.TV we’ve done it again and found an even more feature packed and high performing digital camcorder. This new version features the ‘barrel’ shape of the new generation of semi-pro camcorders (like the Canon Legria) and has a feature set to rival them too.
Capable of recording full 1080p High Definition video, the quality of the footage captured by this tiny device has to be seen to be believed. Thankfully, YouTube have recently added the ability to stream HD footage and so we’ve uploaded some clips shot in the carpark of Max.TV the day we received the camcorder (a sunny October lunchtime). We believe this totally untouched footage speaks for itself so take a look at the video clip below.
As you can see the sharpness of the picture and vividness of the colour is comparable to cameras costing five time the Max.TV price for this camera.
The close up of the bee was made possible using the 5x optical zoom the camera is equipped with. For the uninitiated, ‘optical zoom’ is where the lens is mechanically moved inside the camcorder to create a genuine crisp, sharp zoom (generally found on high-end camcorders) rather than the blurry and grainy ‘digital zoom’ more commonly found on mobile phones and compact camcorders.
Why buy a High Definition camcorder, and specifically a 1080p one?
Only the very latest generation of digital camcorders shoot in crisp, clear High Definition making an upgrade to a camera like this essential if you want to make the most of a High Definition TV. Not only will an HD camcorder allow you to get the most out of your equipment today, it will also ensure that your precious memories are being recorded in the format of the future, allowing you to enjoy them in best quality for years to come.
The term ‘High Definition’ or ‘HD’ can actually used to describe a number of different resolutions formats; these being: 720p, 1080i and the highest quality of all 1080p.
When you see a camcorder described as ‘Full HD’ this refers to the fact that the camcorder can shoot video in the very highest resolution supported by the ‘HD’ standard, this being 1080p. As indicated by the name, our new 1080p HD Digital Camcorder records in full HD, 1080p, which is the highest quality HD footage possible!
The camcorder itself is tiny making it hard to believe that all this technology has been packed into such a small device. The vast majority of functions are accessed through the high resolution touch screen (as with many high-end camcorders) making navigating the menus easy to learn and do.
The camera records directly onto affordable SD memory cards meaning that there are no moving parts (so no sound of the tape turning heard in the background of your movies!). It supports SD cards up to 16GB which means you can capture hours of footage onto a single card. Once full you simply copy the files to your PC either by connecting the card to a card reader on your PC or using the USB cable supplied.
Recording your footage
You can set the camera to record in one of four resolution settings: Web(320x240), WVGA(848x480), HD(1280x720), FULL HD(1920x1080).
The record button is easy to access even when using the wrist-strap, and The impressive 5x optical zoom is operated by an equally easy to access zoom ‘rocker’. The picture is displayed on the fold-out high resolution screen so you can see exactly what you're capturing.
The automatic white balance is very effective and responds quickly to changes in the ambient light (such as going from indoors to outdoors) ensuring life-like colour no matter what conditions you're recording in. Additionally, you get all the special effects you'd associate with a digital video camera such as 'Black & White', 'Sepia' effects although we'd always choose to apply treatments like these editing program afterwards where you've got more control.
Because the video camera uses the very latest H.264 version of the MPEG4 codec, compression is excellent with a huge amount of video fitting on a memory card with almost no loss of quality.
Watching your footage
Amazingly for a camera of this price the HD Digital Camcorder includes not only an HDMI connector but the HDMI lead as well (being quite pricey these are normally not included with HDMI equipped gear). This means that if you've got a High Definition TV with an HDMI input (most do) then you can connect the camera straight to your TV via HDMI to playback the footage in crystal clear full HD!
If you'd rather copy the footage to your PC and watch it from there you can do so either by connecting the SD memory card to a card reader in your PC or connect the camera to your PC using the supplied USB lead. Either way you can drag and drop the video clips (along with any stills you've taken) to your PC in seconds. Once they're on your PC you can play the clips using just about any media player or edit them into a finished movie and burn them to a disc (you would require software and a DVD burner to do this, Adobe Premier Elements is a truly amazing a reasonably priced piece of software if you’re serious about your video editing).
Stills camera
Virtually all digital video cameras can take still images as well as record video footage and this camera is no exception, other than that the images it takes are actually very good owing to the 5 Mega Pixel sensor the camera uses which produces 12MP images (4000x3000) through interpolation. The result is a still capability that makes a viable alternative to carrying both a stills and video camera, even if you intend to have the still photos printed out.
Voice recording
One more feature the camera has is that it can be set to record audio only making it double up as a handy voice recorder. Saving to high capacity SD cards means that many hours of audio can be recorded to a single card.
Features
- Full HD 1080p Camcorder
- HDMI connector and HDMI cable included
- 5x optical zoom
- Motion Detection recording mode
- Lithium Ion battery
- Night mode
- Records to solid state SD and SDHC memory
- 8 Mega Pixel stills capability (12MP with interpolation)
- Voice recorder mode
- LCD touch-screen control