Pros
Superb low light response.
Excellent Mac compatibility
Reasonable price
Generally good set of options in the menu.
37mm threaded front lens so it it is compatible with a large assortment of attachments
Reasonable HD performance
Also functions as a pretty good and easy still camera
Cons
Zoom speed cannot be slowed or controlled in any way. (I stand corrected on this point read below)
No mic or audio line input.
General Discussion
All things considered, this is a fine product. If you are a Mac person this will save you many hours of work. The MPEG4 file format is very mac friendly. But there are a few things to keep in mind.
This camera has an unusually large sensor; as such this has some interesting consequences. On the positive side, this produces stunning low light capabilities. Furthermore, one can isolate the subject from the background very easily by carefully controlling ones exposure and focus; few other consumer camcorders have this ability. However this places great strain on the auto focus. If one is simply wishing to place it in an auto mode and leave it there, it tends to have a lot of focus problems.
The zoom speed is too fast. Aside from the fact that I feel, that it is aesthetically unpleasing, in every case except bright sunlight, the zoom is faster than the auto focus. Therefore almost any attempt to zoom in while shooting will yield out-of-focus pictures. Consequently you must consider the zoom on this camera to be essentially useless.
For some inexplicable reason, they chose not to include an external mic/ audio in jack. This severely limits its usability.
David Courtney
Houston, TX
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