This Sharp Viewcam is neat!
Written: Aug 17 '04 (Updated Aug 21 '04)
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Pros: Moderate price. Small size. Ample features. Excellent quality recordings. Large, bright LCD screen.
Cons: No night light. No accessory hot shoe. Proprietary battery.
No IEEE1394 (firewire) cable included.
The Bottom Line: This is an excellent value and excellent performing camcorder. Highly recommended.
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| pvr8's Full Review: Sharp Viewcam VL-Z5U Mini DV Camcorder |
I bought this SHARP VL-Z5U camcorder two weeks ago because I wanted to replace my ten year old Sony 8mm camcorder. I saw this camcorder on display as a closeout item. The first thing that got may attention was the size and ergonomics of this camcorder. It can actually fit in the palm of my hand, making single handed operation very easy. This camcorder also has a swivel feature that allows the lens to be rotated to different positions for capturing movies or pictures at unique angles. The SHARP VL-Z5U VIEWCAM camcorder has a very high-tech appearance. It is definitely an eye-catching piece of equipment.
This camcorder uses mini-DV tapes for movie storage and multimedia or secure digital (SD) cards for still digital photograph storage. Still photos can also be saved to the mini-DV tape. Although this camcorder is capable of taking digital photos, the quality of the photos isn't very good for anything other than use in email or internet posting. I think the digital camera feature is good for catching that unexpected still shot and e-mailing it to friends, family, or business related persons.
The SHARP VL-Z5U camcorder has a 2.5 inch LCD screen that's very bright and sharp. I didn't have any trouble seeing images on the display in bright sunlight. There’s also a color view finder. This camcorder has a very impressive 10x optical zoom and a whopping 500x digital zoom. I used the optical zoom and I found it to be extremely quick, I had to get used to its quickness.
This camcorder has a lot of useful features that aren't made known until you read the included operations manual. One of the useful features is the ability to connect to a computer for streaming via firewire connection. The camcorder can also be used as a converter that will convert analog to digital, this will allow a user to convert old 8mm or vhs tapes to mini-DV recordings. This camcorder can record in standard or 16x9 widescreen format, and has digital scene recording modes.
The SHARP VL-Z5U camcorder weighs approximately 1 lb. And it comes packaged with: ac adapter, battery pack, 2 lithium batteries, 1 s-video cable, 1 usb cable, 1 8mb secure digital card, remote control unit, lens cap, and editing software on cd-rom.
So far, I have captured about 1.5 hours of video under a variety of conditions. I was really happily surprised with the quality of the recordings. The movies are very sharp and crisp. The colors are well saturated and natural. The camcorder operates silently. I could not hear any camera sounds while I was filming. It's very important to know that this camcorder does fall short in one area, it cannot record in total darkness because it does not have a built-in night light, but it does a good job in low light when the gain feature is activated.
After doing a lot of research, I found that this camcorder is priced well below other models with comparable features. I think this is a great camcorder for novice to intermediate usage.
I really like the ease of use and the compact design of this camcorder. I can carry this camcorder around for hours without getting arm or hand fatigue, and it can fit into most jacket pockets, and even some pants pockets. Anyone who is looking for a moderately priced camcorder that's very portable, feature rich, and renders quality video and audio results, should definitely take a close look at the SHARP VL-Z5U VIEWCAM camcorder.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 300.00
Recommended for: Trendsetters - Hip and Stylish Gadgets
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Epinions.com ID:
pvr8
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Member: Preston Rhem
Reviews written: 22
Trusted by: 0 members
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