Samsung SC-D107 Mini DV Camcorder

Pros: Very usable, even for novice filmmakers.
Cons: No firewire cable included. No SD card included.

Picked this up from newegg.com for $349 plus shipping. Came in sealed retail box. My only beef is that the memory card and firewire cable is not included in the box and must be purchased seperately. I purchased a Canon ZR-60 and Panasonic PV-73 and ...

Pros: Easy to use, impressive quality of the recording
Cons: Expensive to buy the memory card if you want to go digital.

This camera was my first attempt at using the miniDV format and we couldnt have been more pleased. I got it at Costoc for $286 which was alot less than the others but was impressed at the number of features. I had a VHS-C camcorder before and quickly saw ...

Pros: Flexibility of many inputs and outputs, size of screen, and features.
Cons: Still image quality, unimpressive video quality.

The Samsung SDC107 fell into my lap at a great deal so I had to give it a try. The miniDV format was what I was using already to produce our public access show According To Whim. I had moderate luck with the Sharp I was using but I wanted more than ...

Pros: Small, many features, big LCD, night vision
Cons: Horrible digital snapshots, not so great filming quality (colors, dull images, etc)

Camera The camera has a lot of features, including USB and IEEE 1394 (firewire) connectivity. (When possible, avoid using USB to upload video. The quality of USB streamed video is poor.) Most of the buttons and switches are easy to reach, and the ...

Pros: Cheap
Cons: Horrible customer service, product always breaking.

Last year I purchased a Samsung SCD23 a little over one month later the camcorder broke, it recorded and played little lines through the picture. Since we didn't have the extended warranty we had to send the camcorder to samsung to have them fix it for $45 plus shipping. A few months later they sent us a refurbished SCD107 that was broken when we opened the box. This one had problems with the rewind mechanism. So we sent it back and they sent us yet another broken camera, this wouldn't focus. We sent that back and received one that wouldn't record, sent it back and now received one that won't turn off. I have had the camera for a little over a year and have only been able to record one 60 minute tape because the camcorder is always in for repair.

All these cameras were broken when they arrived at my home. I will never buy a Samsung product again and think you should be warned about buying a camera with so many problems.

Pros: Great camera for its price range.
Cons: Takes moderate quality still pictures.

Had this camera for a week now. Worked great for capturing the kids' soccer games, a school play, and just general tomfoolery around the house.

We are looking forward to a summer vacation and plan to give the camera a serious workout.

Couple of points to consider:

1) Great camera for its price range ($427 & free shipping from Amazon.com) -- you need to drop ($900 to move up significantly in quality of picture).

2) You'll need a Firewire (IEEE1394) card for your computer, if you want to bring in your digital videos and edit them, or burn them to DVD.

3) The camera takes still pictures, but I would invest in a quality 3 or 4 megapixel digital camera for that and only rely on this video camera when you are caught unprepared.

In summary, I am very pleased.

Pros: I love all the input and output interfaces, even more interfaces than expensive cameras.
Cons: Bad color quality, no adjustment to white balance helps. NO change in lighting helps either.

It has all the bells and whistles you need but the bottom line on color quality is the colors are faded and off. I bought it because of the interfaces offered. I have used the camera for a while and I am very disappointed with the image color quality. Whatever I shoot it always has a definte blue cast. I am not stuck on night shooting, it happens when I am shooting outdoors in 9 AM morning light same problem. Shooting indoors with the cameras lights on almost gets the color right. I have taken color targets outdoors and the color is definitely off. I have tried auto balance and I have tried outdoor white point adjustment. I wish I had bought a 3ccd camera as this may help the color quality.