Samsung SC-HMX10 – large one with rotating grip
Thumbs Up:
Relatively close focus; manual exposure controls; sharp video
Thumbs Down:
Slow auto-focus; exposure adjustment problems; mediocre low-light performance quality; no optical image stabilization; annoying touch-screen
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
The Samsung SC-HMX10 is a 720p high-definition camcorder than has 8GB internal flash memory. It has 1/4.5” 1.61-megapixel CMOS optical sensor, infrared remote control, 15 lux minimum illumination, 2x digital zoom, digital photo shooting mode, widescreen video capture, and electronic image stabilization. The maximum shutter speed is 1/10000 second and minimum is 1/60 second. The memory card slot accepts SD memory card, and MultiMedia Card.
The effective video resolution 1-megapixel, while the still resolution is 1.56-megapixel. The Samsung SC-HMX10 supports JPEG image format, and MPEG4 & H.264 video format. The analog video format is NTSC. The image storage resolution options are JPEG 2048×1536, JPEG 1440×1080, and JPEG 640×480.
The Samsung SC-HMX10 has 2.7 inches touch-screen display. It has inbuilt stereo microphone and lens shield. The additional features are Display brightness control, Display contrast control, Backlight compensation, USB 2.0 compatibility, progressive scanning, Pictbridge support, inbuilt speaker, Auto power save, and DPOF support.
Zoom lens has 3.2-32mm focal length and F/1.8 aperture that features 10x optical zoom. The camcorder has 30mm filter, inbuilt lens shield, and TTL contrast detection auto-focus. The zoom adjustment is motorized drive, and focus adjustment is Automatic and Manual.
The shooting programs are Hi-speed shutter, Portrait mode, Sport mode, Beach/snow, and Spotlight. The white-balance options are Automatic, Custom, and Presets. Its presets include Tungsten light, Fluorescent, Daylight, and Cloudy. The HMX10 has three types of exposure modes: Automatic, Program, and Manual.
The connector set includes 1 x Composite video/audio (input/output) , 1 x USB , 1 x S-Video output , 1 x Docking station , 1 x Component video output , 1 x Microphone , 1 x HDMI output. The camcorder has 850mAH lithium polymer rechargeable battery. Accessories supplied with USB cable, A/V cable, battery, drivers & utilities disc, power charger, remote control, docking station, and user manual.
Razzle Dazzle:
The Samsung SC-HMX10 is 2.7 inches tall, 2.4 inches wide, and 4.8 inches deep and weighs 11.6 ounces. It feels quite solid despite its plastic housing. The camcorder is a bit taller than other flash-based units.
Inside Dope:
$699 priced the Samsung SC-HMX10 is a flash-based high-definition camcorder. It features all-in-one diminutive package, microphone input, manual exposure controls, 8GB inbuilt memory, and 720p video. The HMX10 camcorder can focus relatively close and has full manual exposure controls. However, it does not have optical image stabilization, 1080i video and performs mediocre in low light. The SC-HMX10 has sluggish auto-focus and small sensor. We like that its grip can rotate about 150 degrees that allows aligning the camcorder at any angle. The first rotation drops the camcorder by 5 degrees and then increases the heights. It is one of the cleverest designs we’ve seen.
The Samsung SC-HMX10 provides comfortable and nice easy gripping due to its large size. The buttons including record, mode, power, photo, and zoom switch comfortably fall under forefinger or right thumb. As already mentioned, you can rotate the camcorder up to 150 degrees that is very useful.
The SDHC card slot and the battery are located behind a tethered cover on top. Like cassette-based models, it is very convenient to have media slot and battery on the top if you are shooting using tripod. The Samsung SC-HMX10 also has inbuilt lens shield with its mechanical switch. This is also a plus point for the HMX10 in its range.
The Samsung has included the 2.7-inch touch-screen, but it is not quick responsive. In contrast, the menus are well-organized. On switching the mode, the Samsung SC-HMX10 takes few second to initialize for mode-specific video, photo or loading thumbnails. This slow speed is quite annoying, especially when it causes to miss the shots.
The manual controls for focus, gain and shutter speed are not as useful as for other camcorders. The touch-screen does not allow any sort of magnification that makes the manual focus completely useless. We like that the Samsung SC-HMX10 has a video light. It has 29 exposure steps, but they work linearly to clip off to black without any notification. This will decrease the available adjustment range.
You can record the non-interlaced 1280×720 pixels video through MPEG4 AVC/H.264 encoding mode. As the Samsung SC-HMX10 records 720p video, it accepts Class 2 SDHC card (2MBps) instead of better one or Class 4 (4MBps). It is unlike standard AVCHD camcorders as they record 1080i video with higher bit-rate. The 8GB card in the SC-HMX10 can store 88 minutes of Best quality as compared to 20 minutes of 1080i video by AVCHD model. Please remember that the Samsung SC camcorder will record single clip of 2GB.
The bundled CyberLink suite worked perfectly for playing the recorded videos. We will recommend you to use the appropriate software while using video clips recorded on the Samsung SC-HMX10.
The Samsung SC-HMX10 performed average in its price range. We faced some difficulty while adjusting the zoom due to loose switch. The auto-focus was a bit sluggish in good lighting and faces some problem while differentiating background and foreground subjects. The focus pulses even after being locked in low light. The audio sounded good but we noticed some static.
The overall video quality was average. It was relatively sharp and colorful, but was not fully accurate. It looked pleasing and saturated while playing back on computer. The still picture looked OK even at low resolution. The exposure was inconsistent across the frame, but highlights blown out completely in sunlight, mushy low-light videos, and sallow skin tone outdoors.
Nitty Gritty:
The HMX10 is a good high-definition camcorder, but also has some drawbacks like its annoying touch-screen, below average low light performance, missing optical image stabilization, and slow auto-focus.
If you are looking for rotating and affordable camcorder and can overcome the mentioned flaws then you can select the Samsung SC-HMX10.
