Customer Reviews

Samsung HMX-R10 HD Flash Memory Camcorder with 5x Optical Zoom (Black)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have had this one for about 2 weeks.... this replaces a bigger 1080i Sony HDR video camera (built in 30 gb spinning hard drive) that we purchased may 2007 for $1600 AND LOST... For this current price, this can't be beat. I have had the chance to review both the movie quality and photo quality and still pleased., although it may be slightly inferior to my previous camera.
IT would not be fair to compare this camera to my older Sony, (kind of like comparing a nice point and shoot camera to one that that is an SLR)...
However, I would still buy this one for the price point..
Things that are different are:
Image stabilization.... Althought this one is so bad, it is not as forgiving as the Sony....partly because it is smaller, weighs much less and less likely to use 2 hands as we were with the Sony.
Compared to the Sony, this one is faster, more responsive and faster to download to and from.

The biggest thing about this camera is that this is a "point and shoot" video camera and not something that you will be using to film weddings professionally. For us, that was our primary use.
This camera does take gorgeous 1080i movies, however, the image quality is lessened indoors or under suboptimal lighting. You can take photos while shooting video, however, the picture resolutions are downgraded during this and we are starting to avoid doing this.
The Flash memory card is great!, the speed at which it "comes to life" is great.
The camera has a feature called Ique or something, that basically "optimizes" settings for those that don't know how, or too lazy. As of now, we leave this setting on all the time.
The battery life is about 90-100 minutes... We charge it every 3-4 days.
Although there is no lens cover and it is "scratch resistant" this is something that I am a little leary of, and I can see how it can get scratched.
I was thinking about the angle at which the camera is set up, It is okay, it doesn't take much to get used to, but in playing around, I find that the if the camera was flipped 180 degrees, this would be optimal and even more ergonomic (if it were like a pistol grip)... It is not really feasible to use it like this, because the movies come out upside down and the view screen is on the wrong side...

Finally, although this has a high megapixel still photo, when I was using the 12.0 megapixel setting, I found it almost impossible to keep it still enough to prevent blur.. I end up using it on 6mp...I am satisfied with these photos.

One last thing, when i went to repurchase this new camera, at first I was really interested in getting one "with a bigger built in hard drive" than my previous Sony with the 30 gb hard drive.... I think this was faulty thinking...if you had a larger hard drive.. you would be more likely to not download (or backup) the movies and risk losing them if something happened to your camera. (we lost 2 months of photos of a newborn from the last camera)... Second, I would strongly urge you to consider flash memory camera, either a SSD or flash based media. because of speed, battery and size and safety..

Incredibly small! Good quality. Does NOT have a hand strap, uses a little wrist strap instead. It makes holding it much tougher and getting to the buttons as well. Lots of settings up to FULL 1080p, future proofing your purchase. I still have an excellent Sony MiniDV which can shoot standard definition in a 16:9 format and still think think AVCHD has a ways to go. If you have a bluray burner and player, then it's a no brainer. For anything else the importing, editing and burning/archiving process, is a chore. And we all thought technology was going to free us! It seems each iteration gets more complex and time consuming. Nice machine but I still don't know. Let me know if you have software where you can just drag video and images off the card to your desktop and burn a DVD or bluray in 10 minutes. Otherwise I think it's a convoluted process that takes too much time.

Update: Returned it. Just could not get to the buttons comfortably. 5X optical zoom is a bit limited.

Just wanted to say, This camcorder is definitely worth 399. Great vids on all settings. Fits nice in my hand. Great for the average person who just wants to capture memorable family moments. Its my first camcorder so I can't nit pick recording quality like some of these reviewers who are never satisfied. I watch the vids on my panasonic plasma and the quality seems excellent to me at this price point. If you want professional quality HD videos why are you considering a 400 dollar camcorder? I took it to a concert in a dark night club and I was very suprised at the quality even in low light conditions. I am very satisfied. Note; you can use Quicktime player or Itunes to watch the videos.

I will try and update this as I learn about all the features of this camera. Let's start with resolution. I have not figured out how to record at 1080p. The resolution settings go up to 1080i and then start to extrapolate to higher resolutions(I suspect all but brand new computers will have problems with this.) The video quality is the best of all the cameras I have tried. I have not plugged this in to my full HD TV but on my large LCD monitor, the pictures are astounding. I have figured out how to make low light videos that are once again breathtaking.

The camera has a touch screen which helps change settings really well. It is a LOT smaller than it looks and the hand strap vs wrist strap don't matter much. The slanted lens has not made an overall difference either. I am still struggling to move my videos to PC, but otherwise really don't have many complaints. Do invest in a better case and strap though because those are cheaply made...although most cameras don't come with decent carring cases. I would recommend this item to everyone...check out prices because I got mine for 359...also a perk when I see the price it is going for now.

The R10 is very good product and a great value for money. I purchased it here as an open box item for a steal.. (even better) however it is not the best. I would give it about 3.5 out of 5.

Picture quality is great in daylight, decent for indoor during the day; or using flood lights, Image quality is poor at best using fluorescent or incandescent lights, and don't even try to shoot outdoor with low light using this camera.

Pros:
- 1080i / 60 fps camera for less than 350$
- Compact design, Clean lines
- High quality LCD
- Generally intuitive user interface
- Great daylight picture quality.

Cons:
- Zoom button is not pressure sensitive like the Sonys' so no matter how lightly you press it, the camera will zoom at the same speed which might cause motion sickness when watching on a 60" HDTV (my 300$ 5 yr old Sony SD has this feature where I can control the speed at which the camera zooms, which makes for professional looking videos)

- Placement of the Record, Zoom, and the Still photo buttons, they are centered neatly which makes it impossible to use them without shaking the camera at lease a tiny bit, which makes Videos look very bad and jittery.

- No editing software bundled with this, (be prepared to spend about 50$ on software if you don't own a Mac and would like to Edit and create movies from the video)

The Sony HDR-CX100 sells for more or less the same price and has a couple of additional features, plus has 8 GB in-built storage and more optical zoom If you are not too crazy about the R10's design and size; I would strongly suggest that you investigate that one before buying this. I am too lazy to return this and try the CX-100 at this point so going to keep it.

// Update: This camera does not come with a remote.

I got the camera from different retailer but I love it.
It beats the hack out of Panasonic HDC-SD9 (borrowed from a friend for a test drive)in PQ department.
It's much better on low light as well. Of course it gets grainy but if you play with presets you can get dissent picture. I like the form factor! It fits perfectly in my pocket and loads faster than my canon elph digital camera even when not in standby mode.
I figured that the zoom on the flip out screen is more precise
And guess what it's 1080p as appose to 1080i only for the SSD models from samsung.
Anyway I thought I'm going to miss the remote that I have on my old canon minidv camera but PS3 recognizes the camera as usb drive and I can use the PS3 interface and remote - doesn't get any better than this.
I guess it uses h264 main profile level 4 which is enough - I've seen it go even over 20 mbit/s which should be the cap. And I've seen not many scenes in br disks to go over 25 mbit/s.
I'm finding cool features every day ...and yes I read the manual and review from camcorderinfo.

Had this product for a few years, but have just used it as a regular point and shoot. I love the HD quality, but it has to be in great lighting or the quality is grainy. I would also like to figure out how to use the high speed feature without having such a grainy, low quality.

I really love it its good looking camera with great quality from the time i got it we having a lots of fun its easy to transfer media to computer and pic come out great!

This camera does not work very well for indoors, despite adding all kinds of lighting most of the video background remains black or without any real definition.

The tilt lens will also require some getting use to.

the hand strap is a pain and I have smaller hands, but the manipulating of the buttons is cumbersome with just the hanging strap. I'm not sure what the logic was on this.
Beyond that, the camera works great! Very intuitive, simple and easy to use overall.
Image quality is great! Like most cameras, it gets a little grainy in lower lighting, but still pretty okay.
The still pics work just as good as any camera, it's like buying two for one, good value. I like the fact that two sides of the camera are flat, I can actually put in in some of my pants pocket and cetainly fits well in a jacket pocket.
I wish it had a standard HDMI connector, I will have to order a mini connector.
I does work great via USB through PS3 and can use the wireless PS3 control to view videos.
For [...] bucks, it is great value for HD.
I would certainly recommend.