Customer Reviews

Samsung SCD180 MiniDV Upright Digital Camcorder with 2.5" LCD Display, 10x Optical & 8MB Memory Stick

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was looking for a good and handy camcorder for a while. Have been eyeing Canon, Panasonic and Sony (PV-DC252, Elura 40MC, TRV-25). Frist I got a very good deal on ZR-45MC which had plenty of features, small size. But the video was too grainy and low light performance was less than acceptable. Color reproduction was not realistic and impressive. After a month-long debate I opted to return it.

Though I saw SC-D180 during that time with not many reviews on it, I went ahead and bought it from JandR.com. Now I am happy that I decided to return ZR45MC for this great little cam. SC-D180 is way better than Canon ZR45MC. Following are some of the features I liked...

Things I liked
=========
1. Size is quite small and handy and is almost the same as my Canon-G2. (My camcorder has a light golden brown matte finish which goes very well with my G2).
2. It has a very high density 2.5" TFT-LCD view finder (200k). The image is so detailed that it looks bigger than 2.5". LCD brightness and color can be adjusted.
3. Lens is threaded and accepts extra attachments.
4. Standard USB and IEE1394 (Firewire) connectivity.
5. Has a video light shoe at the top (not intelligent or powered).
6. Has two zoom controls which gives you flexibility in handling the unit.
7. Supports Memory Stick for snap shots and has acceptable quality snap shots in day light. (But you can get better quality still images with even the cheapest digital camera in the market).
8. Can transfer still-frames from the video to Multimedia card during play back (using remote).
9. Can automatically search and transfer all snap shots recorded on the tape to Memory card.
10. Comes with a nice remote for recording, zoom and playback.
11. Supports manual control of shutter and exposure settings. (They are the terms used in the cam. Exposure settings may be similar to Aperture settings).
12. Easy access for on/off kind of settings like EIS, date display, remote, manual Exposure, currently selected special effect etc. can be controlled by the jog dial control without going into the menu.
13. Supports manual focusing. And the response of the jog dial control for focusing is much better than some other camcorders with this facility.
14. Has Backlight compensation - accessible by a button control on the back
15. Many digital effects: Art, Mosaic, Sepia, Negative, Mirror, B&W, Emboss, Cinema. One which deserves special mention is the Make-up. It works in such a way that in a field you can decide to have all B&W images except for a selected color (Red, Green, Blue or Yellow). That means you can have special effects like a person videoed in B&W is holding a red rose (but the redness of the skin tone may also result in color) !
16. Fade effect is accessible with a separate button on the back.
17. Has three modes - Normal, Easy and Custom. Normal mode is where you can make all the changes for the current video. Easy mode is fully automatic. In custom mode, you can store all settings for later use. Pre-defined custom mode can be brought to use by utilizing a single button.
18. Can eject or load tape while the cam is already mounted on a tripod.
19. Connectivity for external mic and headphone.
20. Easy menu navigation (similar to Windows Explorer tree-structure).
21. Very effective diopter adjustments for viewfinder.

My impressions
============
1. The supplied battery runs for about and hour with the LCD on (I have not timed it).
2. 680k pixel produces good video. Low light performance is more than acceptable. Very less grains in low light compared to Canon ZR45MC (or ZR50MC for that matter). Compares very well with some of the Panasonic and Sony models.
3. Sound recording is not great (probably because the mic is located at the top), but acceptable for normal situations; I did not do an extensive comparison on that.

Things I didn't like
=============
1. Mic at the top. Sensitivity may be a little less and you may lose stereo effects.
2. Motor noise in the recording (though much less than ZR45MC). I guess that is a problem with all small camcorders.
4. Battery charging is inside the camcorder. I like to use the power adapter for charging the battery externally (like Panasonic models), freeing the camcorder during that time.
5. Accessory shoe is not intelligent or powered
6. No manual white balancing. Only three settings for white balancing (AUTO, INDOOR and OUTDOOR). There is a HOLD option too on the white balancing. Not sure if we can somehow use it for manual white balancing.
7. You can only "on or off" digital zoom. In some camcorders you can decide to have 2x or 3x of digital zoom in addition to the optical.
8. Since the camcorder is already equipped with fine optics with 12x zoom, it would have been really nice to have better quality still images.
9. Cannot lock the exposure settings by pressing the Photo button half-way thru, like many digital cameras.

If you have further questions, email me at hasukuma(at)iname.com

I decided to upgrade from an older Samsung Hi-8 (i think) to Mini DV. This was the cheaper of the choices and had the same featues as the $1000 units. This unit is small and faily lightweight. the batter it came with isnt the one on the box...it's slightly larger and doesnt match the camera body's color.

the LCD is really crisp and shoots great.

The audio mic could be a bit more receptive..too bad it's on the top of the unit and not in the front. THERE IS A SEPERATE MIC-IN JACK ON THE SIDE OF THE UNIT FOR BOOM-MIC's...

The menu system is very easy. It has the basic cheesy effects...the only valuable one for me is the fade-in / fade-out.

The lens ring is threaded so you can put lens-attachments on (wide angle, fish-eye etc).

The viewfinder is B&W, but i dont think i'll use it much...especially with the nice LCD screen...which is very crisp.
The viewfinder pulls out to magnify the image.

The s-video port is in the front while the UBS & Firewire ports are on the side.

the dual-zoom buttons (zoom buttons in 2 places) is kinda nice..especially if you're using a tripod and prefer to control the cam from the back rather than jolt the front of the cam.

the audio-output is decent (built-in speaker)...it's good for proofing your footage but not loud enough for a group of people to gather around for a viewing.
The is a headphone jack on the side of the unit which can be used for personal viewing or perhaps to setup a set of cheapie amplified PC speakers if you're in a pinch.

Came with a USB cable (NO FIREWIRE CABLE) and video/audio composite cables. As i dont have firewire, I plan on using the analog output to my PC's capture card.

The menu dials are very tight and should hold up...not sure about the main command dial though..it seems a bit loose and shaky. Gotta be gentle on that.

Feel free to email me if you have any questions...i know there isnt too many reviews about this unit on the web...yet

Selected to be received as a Xmas gift and absolutely love it. Small compact design, excellent video quality. Connectivity options galore: Firewire, USB connections to PC, S-video, audio outs can connect to analog-in of PC or directly to TV or a VCR.

I neded to do some video editing and connected camera via Firewire to PC and was able to control camera from within application without a problem. Created excellent looking AVIs and MPEGs for burning to DVD and CD.

For photos, you need to select highest quality setting, otherwise pics don't look too good. Memory Stick slot very convenient and easy to insert/remove.

Alot of nice options via the menu for special effects, format, sound, etc.

Great DV camera and excellent quality. Highly recommend.

I originally bought this camera for price and size and with the limited exposure to this particular camera, It was sort of a gamble. I have a digital camera for still photographs and needed a camcorder small enough to take along so as not to have to carry my Hi8 that is 2 1/2 times the size. This package really suited my need. I was able to carry both cameras in a medium size gadget bag along with enough film for both cameras to last us the 17 days we were gone plus the charger, etc...
The pictures from the camcorder were every thing that I had hoped they would be. I had one extra battery with me for the camcorder, and the B/W viewfinder proved to be more than convienient extending the life of the battery. The optical zoom was a pleasant surprise, giving good sharpness throughout the zoom range. The picture quality seems to be much better than my Sony Hi8, but from the literature, that was supposed to be expected.
I have large hands, and the camera fits quite well.The electronic stabilization is excellent. I'm not the steadiest when it comes to picking out things in the distance. I took only 11 pictures using the memory stick, but I prefer to use my digital camera for that purpose. The pictures from the memory stick were exceptable quality for 4x6, sharp and clean. The sound quality in the 12 bit mode is excellent, and adding background music to the sound track was simple with fantastic results. I have only had this camcorder for 3 months, but it has replaced my Sony Hi8 almost completely. ( the Sony is excellent, just very large ) I forgot to mention that I used the remote unit quite a bit. That, my friends, was fantastic. I carry a small tripod with me for those shots that you want to be in.
Overall, so far, I am more than satisfied with the camera.

By considering the price, features, options, and DV quality, it is one of the best choice.
I agree with other user's reviews on good/bad sides.
It is well made and is very small.

Originally, I wanted to buy Canon ZR-45MC. However, it has 460K pixel CCD. Then, I found this great cam for great price with many features (including 680K CCD). Fit and Finish is excellent. It has small size, excellent picture (better than my old 8mm and Super VHS), easy manu with pull downs (it took less than 30 minutes to figure out the menu), connectivity with USB and Firewire (no Firewire cable - shame), dual zoom switch with remote, and good button and switch position (some editing button is small). Some disadvantages are mike is too good and on the top of cam (picks up every noises, including motor, even though this cam is more quiet than many cam), no intelligent shoe (I wanted intelligent mike, but I still can get directional mike, no problem), Still camera has some use for quick composition (why would I use this camera when I can use my 5 meg camera?) and zoom is slightly too fast (little difficult to control the speed). Overall, this is best cam for the price...This is definitely a keeper.

I got this Camcorder in Jan. of 2003. I use it all the time. I make music videos and short movies for leisure and they turn out great. I haven't had any problems. It works great on the computer too. Some of the reasons I got this camcorder was that it was cheap for some features like external Mic Jack and audio dubbing.

I purchased this camcorder 8 months ago, 2 months ago I experienced snow flake effect when recording, I called Samsung to repair it they referred me to a local dealer the dealer was not able to fix it so I called Samsung again they asked me to ship it to NJ, for repair so I did, with charge for service repair and the cost of shipping I accrued from a lack of qualified Service centers locally. They have been holding my camcorder for one and half months. I have called them several times and even talked to the manager but I can not get a answer as to when I will get it back or other wise.

I was looking for a good and handy camcorder for a while. Have been eyeing Canon, Panasonic and Sony (PV-DC252, Elura 40MC, TRV-25). Frist I got a very good deal on ZR-45MC which had plenty of features, small size. But the video was too grainy and low light performance was less than acceptable. Color reproduction was not realistic and impressive. After a month-long debate I opted to return it.

Though I saw SC-D180 during that time with not many reviews on it, I went ahead and bought it from JandR.com. Now I am happy that I decided to return ZR45MC for this great little cam. SC-D180 is way better than Canon ZR45MC. Following are some of the features I liked...

Things I liked
=========
1. Size is quite small and handy and is almost the same as my Canon-G2. (My camcorder has a light golden brown matte finish which goes very well with my G2).
2. It has a very high density 2.5" TFT-LCD view finder (200k). The image is so detailed that it looks bigger than 2.5". LCD brightness and color can be adjusted.
3. Lens is threaded and accepts extra attachments.
4. Standard USB and IEE1394 (Firewire) connectivity.
5. Has a video light shoe at the top (not intelligent or powered).
6. Has two zoom controls which gives you flexibility in handling the unit.
7. Supports Memory Stick for snap shots and has acceptable quality snap shots in day light. (But you can get better quality still images with even the cheapest digital camera in the market).
8. Can transfer still-frames from the video to Multimedia card during play back (using remote).
9. Can automatically search and transfer all snap shots recorded on the tape to Memory card.
10. Comes with a nice remote for recording, zoom and playback.
11. Supports manual control of shutter and exposure settings. (They are the terms used in the cam. Exposure settings may be similar to Aperture settings).
12. Easy access for on/off kind of settings like EIS, date display, remote, manual Exposure, currently selected special effect etc. can be controlled by the jog dial control without going into the menu.
13. Supports manual focusing. And the response of the jog dial control for focusing is much better than some other camcorders with this facility.
14. Has Backlight compensation - accessible by a button control on the back
15. Many digital effects: Art, Mosaic, Sepia, Negative, Mirror, B&W, Emboss, Cinema. One which deserves special mention is the Make-up. It works in such a way that in a field you can decide to have all B&W images except for a selected color (Red, Green, Blue or Yellow). That means you can have special effects like a person videoed in B&W is holding a red rose (but the redness of the skin tone may also result in color) !
16. Fade effect is accessible with a separate button on the back.
17. Has three modes - Normal, Easy and Custom. Normal mode is where you can make all the changes for the current video. Easy mode is fully automatic. In custom mode, you can store all settings for later use. Pre-defined custom mode can be brought to use by utilizing a single button.
18. Can eject or load tape while the cam is already mounted on a tripod.
19. Connectivity for external mic and headphone.
20. Easy menu navigation (similar to Windows Explorer tree-structure).
21. Very effective diopter adjustments for viewfinder.

My impressions
============
1. The supplied battery runs for about and hour with the LCD on (I have not timed it).
2. 680k pixel produces good video. Low light performance is more than acceptable. Very less grains in low light compared to Canon ZR45MC (or ZR50MC for that matter). Compares very well with some of the Panasonic and Sony models.
3. Sound recording is not great (probably because the mic is located at the top), but acceptable for normal situations; I did not do an extensive comparison on that.

Things I didn't like
=============
1. Mic at the top. Sensitivity may be a little less and you may lose stereo effects.
2. Motor noise in the recording (though much less than ZR45MC). I guess that is a problem with all small camcorders.
4. Battery charging is inside the camcorder. I like to use the power adapter for charging the battery externally (like Panasonic models), freeing the camcorder during that time.
5. Accessory shoe is not intelligent or powered
6. No manual white balancing. Only three settings for white balancing (AUTO, INDOOR and OUTDOOR). There is a HOLD option too on the white balancing. Not sure if we can somehow use it for manual white balancing.
7. You can only "on or off" digital zoom. In some camcorders you can decide to have 2x or 3x of digital zoom in addition to the optical.
8. Since the camcorder is already equipped with fine optics with 12x zoom, it would have been really nice to have better quality still images.
9. Cannot lock the exposure settings by pressing the Photo button half-way thru, like many digital cameras.

If you have further questions, email me at hasukuma(at)iname.com

Product is defective right out of the box. Now I have to ship it to Samsung's service department to fix it. Poor quality control.