Customer Reviews

Samsung SCL810 Hi8 Camcorder with 2.5 LCD

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

One good feature with this camera is that it has a built in light, so the camcorder works great during nighttime. One more goodthing is that it can playback tape on TV in both NTSC & PAL. One major drawback is that this camera does not have the feature 'Digital Image Stabilization' ( minimizes unwanted picture shaking ). Comapred to SCL810, model SCL860 comes with this feature, and SCL860 is only few bucks more, so I shall recommend SCL860 compared to SCL810.

I bought this camera as soon as we found out my wife was pregnant. We got it @ Target and have loved it. Especially for the price. The zoom is good -- 22x optical. I am not sure what the other reviewer is talking about with the cheap buttons-- the whole thing feels real high quality. I dropped it on cement once and it didn't do anything except scratch it. My wife likes the effects (negative, sepia, mirror, etc.) We have had the camera for 18 months and have had no problems with it at all. The battery actually lasts along time even when I use the flip out lcd screen. However with the spotlight on it does drain it about twice as fast. If you need a good reliable camera but don't want to plunk down big dollars, this is a great choice. My only complaint is the fade in/out button is under the flip out lcd screen, so if you want to fade you have to open the flip, a small annoyance. But all in all a great camera that has worked flawlessly since I bought it.

I bought this camcorder about 1 and a half years ago because I really wanted to start making movies. So, I went to target and bought it for 200 dollars which is a great price for a camcorder. It has 22x optical zoom and 880x digital zoom. I took it home and tried to make a short test movie. It was easy to use, had a great picture, and good sound. It continued to work until one day, I made a movie and when I watched it, it didn't have sound half of the time. I took it to many places and no one could figure out what was wrong. Other than the sound not working it was great and had many diferent features. One of the features was DSE or Digital Special Effects. They are:

Sepia: adds a brown old tone to the screen
Black and White: the way films used to be
Negative Art: reverses the colors in the picture
Mirror: a mirror image of the picture
Art: makes the picture look drawn
Mosaic: the picture - made out of squares
16:9: stretches the picture vertically
Cinema: a lot like widescreen

When filming out or indoors there are different Program AEs you can use when the light in the picture changes. If you dont like switching them, you can set them to AUTO. The PAEs are:

Sports
Portrait
Spotlight
Sand/snow
HSS

Many camcorders have different faders, unfortunatly this camcoder only has one, Black fader. It is however, easy to use and is a good special effect for the end of the movie.

Another featre is BLC or backlight. I use this when I'm filming at night or in a dark place. It really helps to brighten up the picture. If you use it light places, it might make the picture too bright.

If you are shooting a home video of your family or freinds there are some titles programmed into the camcorder to display at the beginning of the video. These titles are also available in French, German, Italian, Spanish and Russian. They can be White, Yellow, Cyan, Magenta, Red, Green, and blue. They include:

Anniversary
Congratulations
Graduation
Happy Birthday
Happy New Year
Having Fun
Its the Weekend!
Merry Christmas
Our Baby
Our Daughter
Our Son
Vacation
Party
Picnic
Thanksgiving
Weekend

My last advice is that if you buy this camcorder, be careful with it or the sound might die.

I have bought a refurbished SCL810.

For the price you pay, you get a very good product. Value for money, I would say. I was also considering SONY products, but they cost atleat a 100 bucks more for similar features.

What I liked about the camcorder was that the decent picture quality in poor lighting.

I have recommended this camera to one of my friends and even he picked up one piece.

Do not buy this camcorder, if you want to use it exhaustively. Because it lacks many features that a $600 camcorder does not offer, like still shots.

The specs erroniously mentions that this is a dual system camcorder (NTSC and PAL). What they offer is a PAL 60 system compatiability, which I do not think is what is generally followed in countries like India.

Good: Good picture quality. Very cheap Hi8 camcorder. Good built quality (you can feel the sturdy construction). Good battery life.

Cons: No high end features like Still camera functions. No standard PAL system compatiability.

In short this is a great cam. I got it for my brithday,and it is so much fun, you can get it cheap I got it for $130 new from Bestbuys over thanksgiven it is a great for beginer cam,
buy it even for a child will have fun with this hay look i am only 14
the first peson who wrote in is so wrong

There I was, ready to open a box filled with goodies- including a new camcorder. I opened the box and was excited to find the thing worked, okay. Soon, though, the fun died when I charged it, "Wow," says I, "This charges quickly!" After video taping a few different things I realized, "Hey, it doesn't even last a half an hour, fully charged!" Don't get me wrong, it has a terrific zoom, 22X optical, and it has some decsent digital effects. The sound quality is high and good, and the LCD displays a clear picture. Not bad, but it could be improved...

I just recieved this little camcorder for a Xmas gift and I love it!! Its easy to use and fun too!! The size is perfect-the color and clarity are good too!! I would recommend this product to all!! No complaints! :0)

...and I don't mean the blues! I am very pleased with this recorder. I recieved it, charged it and videoed a wedding the next day. The picture quality is great and the battery life is actually more than 30 minutes. I used the camera intermittently from 10:00am-3:00pm. I kept the LCD on most of the time and played with almost every feature. The buttons may be poorly placed if you are trying to playback while holding the camera which is not a big issue for me. For people who simply want to capture special moments, this camera is fine and does not put a dent in the budget. I am going on vacation in NYC and this recorder is going with me.

Very Nice and Portable unit for the money. I compared it with the sony and for 70.00 more you basically got a stabilizer and infared night shot. Big Deal!!!!!!

My husband bought this camcorder for me for my Birthday, and I love it! It is very easy to use and the quality for the price is great! This is the first camcorder, I have owed and for the price, I don't think you could beat it!