Outstanding HD camcorder at very reasonable price

I purchased this camcorder to take pictures of my grandchildren. I was amazed at the HD picture quality that came from this inexpensive camera. HD videos were exceptionally sharp and clear, with good color saturation, and surprisingly low noise. A 4GB SDHC card holds about 2 hours of HD video, plenty for my needs. Files are saved in Apple Quicktime .MOV format. Viewing the HD from the camcorder is easy with the component cable provided--just plug into an HD plasma. I created a DVD (standard definition) using DeVeDe (Linux version 3.5). Even though the DVD was not HD, it looked spectacular--better than any DV camcorder I have used. Both the HD video and DVD were widescreen format and looked great on my flat panel TVs.

The camcorder records HD full 1280 x 720 at 30 frames per second, progressive. Unlike a DV camcorder that records at 60 fields per second, images will have a film-like judder if you move the camera a lot. For the best results, you should shoot like you are using a film camera (24 frames/sec) with minimal movement. This is not a defect. Many professional cameras shoot at 30 or 24 progressive frames per second.

I didn't bother using the standard definition mode, since I wanted my original files in HD. The LCD monitor provides a good representation of the image and lots of vital information. Low light performance was adequate.

There is no optical zoom lens. The digital zoom has limited use, since zoomed-in images lose their sharpness. Again, with good shooting techniques you can work around this limitation. The resolution loss of the digital zoom is less noticeable if your final output is standard definition (DVD.)

I was also surprised with how good the still pictures looked. The strobe flash provided good illumination of subjects' faces. I wouldn't compare this with a good digital still camera; the stills are just an extra bonus.

The audio pick-up is very sensitive--good for normal talking and room sounds. Louder sounds were somewhat distorted. I haven't played with any audio settings, so I don't know if the audio can be improved. But I didn't see it as being a problem. (I wouldn't use the camera to record a concert, however.)

The battery is the NP-60 type 3.7 V lithium-ion, and had good operating life. These batteries are very common ($10-20) I picked up an extra one but haven't needed to used it yet. Besides the wall charger, there's a convenient USB cable included that will let you charge the camera from your computer--great when traveling since the wall charger is one less thing to carry.

All in all, this camera is an incredible value. With all televisions going widescreen and HD, there is no reason why you should be shooting important life events with anything less than an HD camera. While this camera lacks the niceties (image stabilization, zoom lens, etc.) of more expensive models you can get really good recordings if you use good photographic techniques and proper lighting.