Hands-on with Samsung's SC-HMX20C 1080p camcorder

Check it, boys and girls. Engadget HD just got Samsung's flagship camcorder into the labs, and there's a whole pile of images waiting just on the other side for you to indulge in. Click on over, the water's fine.

[jdarby @ Jun 11th 2008 3:33PM]

broken link!

[jdarby @ Jun 11th 2008 4:20PM]

hmm, i was expecting some samples of the camera's output, *sadface*

[Danakin @ Jun 11th 2008 3:34PM]

how wonderful and expensive...geez

[Danakin @ Jun 11th 2008 3:35PM]

just click on the "READ" link not the "Click on over" one.

[required @ Jun 11th 2008 3:41PM]

both links are quite lite if not void of substance

[mrhahn @ Jun 11th 2008 3:38PM]

Wouldn't mind seeing a sample video taken with the camera...

[gabe @ Jun 11th 2008 3:42PM]

Not into video cameras
- it still has that 'father videotaping the kids' stigma

really who goes through home videos

[Simon P @ Jun 11th 2008 4:30PM]

fathers with kids thankyouverymuch

[OSnix*-geek @ Jun 11th 2008 4:31PM]

Some people "film" things with the concept of them being viewed by more than just the "family", you know like film makers, but don't have the budget to bust out a RED camera, but want better than NTSC resolution.

[OSnix*-geek @ Jun 11th 2008 4:33PM]

P.S. Do you live in the dark ages.... youtube, vimeo, revver, imeem, ourstage, daily motion, break, viddler, blip, need I say more?

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ Jun 11th 2008 5:13PM]

Uhh, you left out "adult" content.

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ Jun 11th 2008 3:45PM]

Made in Indonesia? No thanks Sammy.

[solarbuddy @ Jun 11th 2008 3:54PM]

Showing a bit of first-world bigotry, aren't we, Tobias? Indonesia (like India, Malaysia and other homelands of your brown brothers) are turning out first-rate stuff. It's been a long time since I've see a "proudly made in the USA" sticker on something as good as the products coming out of SE Asia.

[indeed @ Jun 11th 2008 4:03PM]

Indonesia is fine. Thanks Sammy

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ Jun 11th 2008 4:10PM]

In my experience, cheaper electronics come from developing nations when being manufactured by the likes of Sony, Samsung, Panasonic...etc. They tend to have a cheaper grade plastic, and a cheaper feel overall. This is my personal hierarchy for quality:

1. Japan
2. S Korea
3. Taiwan
4. China
5. SE Asian nations

I have nothing against the people of those countries, it's just that they tend to produce cheaper electronics. I would guess it is due to the fact that the manufacturers have their more advanced (and costly) manufacturing facilities closer to home.

I also didn't include the US or Canada as hardly any consumer electronics are made there anymore.

Calling me a bigot for my critique of CE is over the line as well.

[Simon @ Jun 11th 2008 5:19PM]

I would reverse Taiwan and S. Korean.

We have so many Samsung/LG monitors in the office broken before warranty expires couple of times but none of our cheap MAG or Acer monitor has any problem last over the warranty.

Not to mention the cell phone by Samsung doesn't last as long as my HTC or BenQ.

The only thing I would use from S. Korean is their memory.

[bob @ Jun 11th 2008 3:58PM]

Is this the same as the samsung vp-hmx20c? I just ordered a sony HDR-TG3E and i may be regreting it, Is this much better as it looks about the same size :s

[indeed @ Jun 11th 2008 4:04PM]

Yes, that's the same camera. The european version i think (50p?)

[Low Ranked @ Jun 11th 2008 4:07PM]

"...and girls.."

WHERE?!

[miko34 @ Jun 11th 2008 4:20PM]

8 Gigs of space huh... What is that? Like 40 minutes of 1080p HD?

I'll wait until it reaches around 32 Gigs of storage... though the size is nice.

[james @ Jun 11th 2008 4:47PM]

Sony's start at 40gb for HD camcorders. I agree either 8gb isn't enough for high quality HD or it'll take hours of highly compressed poor quality HD.

[gad get @ Jun 11th 2008 4:36PM]

So it's an actual 1080p camcorder and not a 1080i wannabe? Niiice!

[gad get @ Jun 11th 2008 4:40PM]

"1920x1080
Progressive HD"

That could only mean 1080p. Woohoo!

[Sean @ Jun 12th 2008 12:49AM]

I don't think it really is 1080p. A lot of handycams can capture 1080p videos, but all of them records in 1080i an the end.

[rutgersjpm @ Jun 11th 2008 4:45PM]

Can someone tell me whether or not this bad boy has a tripod mount on it? According to the Samsung site it does not, but that would just be utter stupidity.

[gad get @ Jun 11th 2008 5:08PM]

Well, if the Samsung site says it doesn't have one, it probably doesn't. I'm sure they're pretty careful not to advertise incorrectly in a way that turns customers away because they think it's missing a feature it actually has. THAT would be pure stupidity.

[Todd in Sonoma @ Jun 11th 2008 6:52PM]

One of the pictures shows a blurry bottom of the camera at an angle, and it sort of shows a vestigial tripod mount.

Having the Samsung website neglect to mention the tripod screw and having the Samsung website stating in fact that it indeed doesn't have one is two different things.

[gad get @ Jun 11th 2008 6:56PM]

Touche.

[bill @ Jun 11th 2008 4:46PM]

Does it have an optical viewfinder?

If not , then so what. The LCD isnt viewable outside on ANY camera Ive ever looked at. Why do they make them with LCD only.?

Just saw the new home HD camera from RED. its going to cost about 3000 but its a lot less than the big pro stuff. Sounds interesting.

[Todd in Sonoma @ Jun 11th 2008 5:23PM]

ANY camera? I literally just took my JVC Everio outside in the direct, bright sunlight and I could compose my shot just fine.

[behhh @ Jun 12th 2008 9:11PM]

Correct me if I'm wrong (or, if you've heard things I haven't… details on this camera still seem… flexible.) but last I heard, the RED Scarlet does not have an optical viewfinder either. In fact, I don't believe it has -any- sort of finder unless you buy the optional 4.3" LCD monitor for it. Don't get me wrong, I'm eagerly anticipating this camera myself, being used to shooting on JVC GY-HD100s that are more expensive, and shoot HDV. But as your argument against this Sammy is that it doesn't have an optical finder, I think bringing up the Scarlet is a bit misguided.

[slarity @ Jun 11th 2008 4:57PM]

Nice canon sd850 :)

The sammy looks good, but I saw component not hdmi?

[Todd in Sonoma @ Jun 11th 2008 6:49PM]

The docking station has HDMI.

[eddie_nutritious @ Jun 11th 2008 7:16PM]

Are we sure that this thing is actually capturing 1080p and not just recording 1920x1080 interlaced and then outputting it as progressive? I think there's a JVC model out there currently that does this, making people think they're getting a real 1080p image.

Also, I read that this Sammy only records at 12Mbit/s at the maximum recording quality. Canon and Sony go up to 17Mbit/s, don't they? If that's the case, any benefit from having 1080p will be rendered useless by extra compression. Maybe this is because there's no HDD and you're going to be limited to SDHC cards?

There also isn't any sign that this thing uses AVCHD as the format, meaning editing software compatibility is going to be tough.

It'll probably sell though. I can see Joe Average walking into Best Buy and seeing the ubiquitous black and gold "Full HD 1920 x 1080" sticker and not even considering the Panasonic, Canon, or Sony because they're only 1080i (even though they're probably better). Ahh, marketing.

[Egfrow @ Jun 11th 2008 7:38PM]

Isn't South Korea's cabinet threatening to resign unless US beef is banned from being imported. US beef is being accused of being poisoning the Korean population via a rumor spread via Internet gossip.

Seems like a one way street to me.

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ Jun 11th 2008 8:52PM]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death
They can't even get that under control. I suppose it's the price they pay for having lead the world in internet penetration. A plague of interconnected idiots.

It's sad that such a small minority of Koreans are the ones the world constantly hears from. Hardly anybody outside of Korea knows a thing about Yi So-yeon.

[Evan @ Jun 11th 2008 9:03PM]

I can't believe they plaster "CMOS" on the thing. CMOS is inferior to CCD. Stamping "CMOS" on a camera is like having a badge on your car saying "only 4 cyclinders".

[blagel @ Jun 12th 2008 9:20PM]

[citation needed]



Seriously, though, CMOS imaging technology has gotten a lot better. To simply say that CMOS is "inferior" to CCD is pretty simplistic. There are advantages to either. Here's an (old yet still a good starting point) article re: advantages/disadvantages of either… http://www.dalsa.com/shared/content/Photonics_Spectra_CCDvsCMOS_Litwiller.pdf

[Silenthalo @ Jun 16th 2008 2:52AM]

Get it while its grossly mis-priced @ $553 w/free shipping:
http://www.preferredphoto.com/viewproduct.aspx?ID=9850159