Customer Reviews
A nice camcorder for the money, but . . . 
2008-04-21
Just got this camcorder and I really like it so far. It's tiny and light, easy to use and makes great pictures. But there are some irksome items that you should be aware of.
As others have noted, this camera produces video clips that can be difficult to edit, or even play, on a PC. You can use the rather lame Cyberlink "Power" apps that come with the camera. PowerDVD works OK for basic viewing. PowerDirector will do basic editing or it can translate clips to an MPEG2-HD format for use elsewhere.
In theory, this camera produces standard MP4-H264 files. (note: not AVCHD.) But, at least on my system (XP, Core2Duo PC, fairly fast), many programs that claim to support .mp4 files, do not work correctly with the ones from this camera. Hopefully this will be fixed, since these *are* supposed to be standard files. But right now, no dice. I tried Quicktime 7.4.5 and Premiere Elements 4 without success. (This is probably where the complaints about jerky playback come from - bet they're not using the supplied PowerDVD player.) However, I have read where others have gotten this to work on both Macs and PCs, so maybe I'm just unlucky.
Next issue - batteries. One BP-85ST battery comes with the camera. One full charge of this battery is approximately enough to fill 8 GB, about 80 minutes, assuming you are shooting in the highest-quality HD mode. (which you should be, otherwise why bother with this camera?) This is fine, but if you have more chips to fill, you will need extra batteries. Problem is, they are very hard to find. Amazon does not carry them at this time. (Don't make the mistake I did and buy no-name aftermarket batteries! They will not work, because the camera enforces the use of only the real Samsung batteries.) Amazon, get the batteries in stock, please! (Oh and BTW, the only way to charge them is in the camera, so how about an external charger, too?)
- Remember that this is an inexpensive camera, folks. Works best shooting outdoors or in bright light, where you will get very nice pictures. Low light shots are not great. The image stabilizer is pretty lame too.
Miscellaneous items -
- The camera takes standard 30mm filters. Keep a UV filter on it so you won't get tripped up by the stupid manual lens-cover feature again. I also recommend a circular polarizer for any outdoor work.
- The camera uses SDHC flash memory cards. Be sure you get class-6 high speed cards. Be sure you have a reader for SDHC; many standard SD readers will not read SDHC. In the best quality HD mode you get about 10-12 minutes per GB of capacity.
- The Samsung CA-E3 12 volt car power adapter works fine with this model even though it is not listed as doing so, yet. (You do have to use the little adapter plug that comes with it.) Unfortunately this unit is also very hard to find. Samsung needs to improve distribution of their accessories.
This is last season's model and the new HMX20 is arriving very soon; main difference, it's 1080 instead of 720. And of course it will cost more. It's your choice. I think this one is probably fine for most people. Certainly it's no Canon or Sony, but for budget HD shooting it's hard to beat at the current low price.
Absolute best camcorder buy. 
2008-04-18
Samsung SC-HMX10 8GB Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom (SDHC compatible) The camcorder performed flawlessly. Using the included software, I was able to watch my HD videos on my PC. (The system requirements on page 86 are very important) If you can read and follow the instructions, you will be amazed. I also considered the Sony CX7 but features vs. cost made the Samsung the better choice. I couldn't be more pleased and highly reccomend this camcorder.
About the file format 
2008-02-25
Ok one of the most common complaints about this camcorder is it's use of the new and relatively unsupported compression format. But there is an easy way around this and it's the software bundle that comes with the camcorder, PowerDirector. It's a simple video editing software versioned specifically for this camcorder. If you want to use a different program for editing or playing videos you can just drop a video clip into PowerDirector and then just export the untouched video to some other format. I chose the commonly supported mpeg 2 format and the file is made into a useful format with no apparent quality loss. Simple.
As far as I'm concerned there is no problem with the file format.
SO DISAPPOINTING! 
2008-01-13
I was so excited to buy this camera for my husband for Christmas as we have a new baby and a new HD tv and DVD player. The camera is great and so easy to use. The only problem is that you can't actually watch any of the videos you take. What is the point of having a camera if you can't watch the videos?? The software CD that comes with the camera to allow you to watch videos on your computer doesn't actually work as the videos would stop and start and were herky jerky. And we couldn't burn it to an HD DVD because our computer does not have one. So what is the point of paying for and HD camera if you can't actually watch it in HD? We now have to return it and wait until they come out with a way to record HD movies and actually transfer them to your computer or on to a DVD so as to watch it. Save your money!
Great little camcorder 2008-01-05
I reviewed this camcorder on another camcorde site, but not alot of people peruse that site, so I thougt I would post the review here as well.
I didn't purchase this camcorder from Amazon, (but only because someone got it for me as a gift from another store) but when I was looking for advice on this camcorder it was hard to find.
I'm putting my review here in hopes that it helps someone who wants to buy this camcorder but cannot find any helpful reviews on this camcorder, because it's so new.
Here it is....
Okay, since the place that the camera was bought from has a great return policy, I thought I would open it up to see just how good or bad it was.
Let me say that I am by no means qualified to compare pixels, low light, etc etc etc...my review is based on my being a father and amateur that just wanted a easy point and shoot camcorder that records pictures and movies in great quality.
Upon opening this camera, let me say that it's the smallest thing I've ever seen. It would fit into a fabric sunglass bag (oakleys), that's how small it is.
I shot movies outside in full sunlight and inside during the day and the movies came out great!
I also tried to shoot in low light situation and it worked pretty good as well. I have nothing to compare it to, but whatever I shot looked pretty good.
I also tried it at night time and this is where it was kinda weak. Alot of details couldn't be seen, but being that it was Christmas, I took it to our local city hall and shot the surrounding decorations and I could see everything on my t.v.
The night time shooting is decent if there is sufficient ambient light. I did notice that when I shot video in almost complete darkness (streetlights only) I couldn't make out any details. The zoom was plenty fast and most of all (to me anyway) the performance was great.
Overall, picture quality was AWESOME....I don't know where the other reviewers (especially on Amazon) are shooting their videos but I was very impressed with my video quality.
Now, this doesn't say that it's perfect.
There are some definite flaws to this camera.
The battery for one. The battery will (according to the manual) shoot for about 20-30 minutes with all the zooming and stuff. I shot for about 10 minutes and I had no problems, but if I had to shoot all day without a spare, I wouldn't be happy about it. I thought that this was way too short. I wouldn't have minded so much if they sold an extended life battery but they don't (heck you can't even find a spare battery for sale, anywhere!)
Also, to take a picture, you have to push a button and switch from Video mode to Picture mode, and this takes approximately 1-2 seconds to switch over. I really didn't like that feature.
Since I don't have a high Definition dvd player, I had to hook the camcorder to my t.v. to watch the movies in hi-def and to do this, you have to open the lcd screen and plug the cables into the side of the camera.
The unfortunate thing about this camera was the format in which it records to. I have to agree with a lot of people that this new hi def format is a killer for most computers. I have a PIV 3.2 with 2 gigs of ram and while trying to make a movie in hi def, my computer would lock up and take forever to process the movie. However, if you convert it back to SD using the cyberlink software that is provided, you will notice that it looks almost as good as the hi def with half the processing time.
Since this is the format that most hi def camcorders are using, I don't see how anyone can fault Samsung for it.
So here are my pros and cons for this camcorder;
Pros;
Size....fits in the palm of my hand and it's super light
Performance/video quality....awesome, great quality
Cost....about 300 dollars cheaper than the Canon I'm going to get in the future
Media...records to a 8 gb internal memory or you can use sd cards to record to
looks....looks cool
Ease of use...touch screen, easy menus, point and shoot, perfect for those that don't want to have to learn how to use a gazillion different functions just to take videos of their kids...
Cons;
Battery...small, does not last, and unable to find xtra batteries
Photos...unable to take snap shot during video recording..takes too long to switch over
Use..ridiculous that you have to open LCD just to hook up cables to t.v.
Requirements...not the cameras fault, but still, I'm unable to watch the videos I shot on my computer and you will need a newer computer just to process the data. This HI Def format is great, but I would wait a bit for more support for it.
Would I recommend it...heck yeah! BUT....only if your computer can handle the processing (unless you just want to convert it to SD, then it doesn't matter). For the money and for what it can do, it's a great little camera.
Did I keep it...No, but only because of the fact that my computer obviously couldn't handle the files and since I don't have a high def dvd player (yet) I didn't want to keep plugging the darn thing into my t.v. just to watch it in hi def. The battery life was a small factor as well. My friend has a Sony hdd camcorder and he has an extended battery on it that will last for almost 4 hours (he says so) and that makes me want one that will last that long as well.
I'm going to wait until the support for hi def is more readily available and I also wanted the capabilities to record for longer than 1 hour without having to buy a bunch of SD cards...a hdd camcorder will not incur any additional costs to do so.
Eventually, I will buy a hi def camcoder, and who knows, in the future maybe I'll buy this one again if the price drops and more parts are available for it...i.e. batteries..
Hope this insight helps someone who is considering this camcorder, because it really is a cool little camcorder that records videos well.
Thanks for everyones advice on this matter...
unbiased review 2008-07-04
I am very annoyed by all the negative reviews that are not the cameras fault but USER DEFAULT. That's not to say the camera is perfect but it comes close esspecially for the price $397.00!
I want to clear up some of the problems other people were having based on them just not reading directions or their tvs, pcs etc. having issues.
First of all you have to have a HD tv with a HDMI cable. It does not come with the HDMI cable! They can be very expensive and but if you have HDTV you should already have one to be able to view your cable, sattelite or bluray in HD so rest assured.
Hooking up the video camera to the HDMI cable was so easy... you just unplug your HDMI cable from whatever it is in (cable box, dvd player) and plug it into the port, put it on the right input & turn on the camera! voila! very simple and easy.
Like someone else reviewed they are VERY specific on the specifications the computer has to have in order to run the software it comes with! And even if your computer meets those standards if it is bogged down with lots of programs, pictures, games etc. it is not going to work correctly!
This is pretty easy to get around though you can edit your videos on the camera and just hook up your camera and burn it to a dvd (which you should already have on your computer if you have a dvd burner) that way you dont have to have the software on your computer if it is slower or doesnt meet the standards.
I do not reccomend this camera for anyone who wants to record in low light situations! It is not terrrible but it is not good. As far as recording in dark situations I would rate it a 5 out of 10. But I do not plan on using it in the dark much if ever so this isnt a issue for me. I do plan on tweeking the settings more though to get it to look better in low light but it might also just be easier to turn a light!
Another complaint is the zoom and focus. It is only 10x zoom... This is fine for everyday use but if you plan on using this for concerts or anything far away this may annoy you. Also I hate how it sometimes takes a little bit to focus this might be something I can get in there and fix with the advance settings and you can always edit that scene out which I have already done directly on the camera.
Now with the complaints out of the way I want to rave about the camera!
First the Clarity! It is unreal and even my husband was shocked. I couldnt belive the detail it could focus in on on our daughters Elmo stuffed animal... You could see the details of the fuzz and stiching it was amazing! It was raining when I got the camera and I sat inside and opened up the door and focues in on the rain dropping and for a distance it was crystal clear! I am going to try and upload still pictures of this to share on this review later.
I love the touch screen it isnt the kind where you barley touch it you actually have to tap it which I like because a overly sensitive touch screen can be very annoying and cause problems.
The size is perfect... it's very small but not annoyingly small. It comes with a soft pouch and it fits perfect in my purse and I look foward to being able to keep my digital & video camera in my purse when I leave the country in 2 months.
The swivel grip is a nice touch and we have already used it when taping our infant on the floor.
I reccomend this camera to anyone who has HD in their home and want something cheap & easy to use. It isnt anything professional and isnt perfect but it is very close and for $397.00 you cant beat that. I had the choice between this camera and a few other standard cameras for the same price... why not get the HD camera that is capable of standard recording and hd? It is also very trendy looking so for all you starbucks artsy people this will definitly impress your friends with it's cool design and touch screen.
I think for the $397.00 price tag this is the best camera you could get. If you want to shell out $1000 for a HD camera then go for it but if you cant afford that and were already looking to just get a normal camera for under $500 then this is the camera for you. I also wanted to add there are 3 recording resolutions HD, Standard and below standard... Standard looks almost as good as HD & below standard looks pretty darn good too! the only diference is you get more recording time on the 8gb drive and like 5 minutes more battery time.
I do plan on getting a 8 or 16gb SD card but only because I am going to the Bahamas and I want to make sure I can take lots of HD videos of the beach :-) I think the average person can get away with the 8gb hard drive and a 2-4 gb card. It does come with a card that tells you how much time you will get out of the hard drive in all the modes & how much time you will get with a 2, 4, 8 & 16gb sd card which I think is nice they included that information.
I am sure I will update this review as I use the camera more and hopefully get a good still image of my HD recordings to share with all of you.
I was worried about buying this camera because of the mixed reviews but I went through and read all of them and when I saw most of them were user default I figured this was the best option for the price and boy was I right!!
~Oh one more thing I gave it 5 stars based on the price. If I had payed full price I would have given it a 4
Hard on Macs... but I love the camera. 2008-06-26
I love this camera, the picture, the size and all. But its definitely not too Mac friendly. If you get one DO NOT try to import using imovie, or you'll get a whole slew of problems (it'll try to convert the files to an AIC format, and then usually will crash). You can easily drag the files directly over from the camera though, onto your computer. And Quicktime handles the files really well, especially if you have Quicktime Pro.
The codec the camera shoots on is weird and hard for the computer, so if you want to edit, or even make a DVD of your video you'll need to convert the files (you can edit in Quicktime without converting... if just want simple edits). I work in TV production and have a whole slew of conversion tools, my favorite is Compressor, but you can also convert the files using Quicktime export...
Conversion takes a while, but when its done... you end up with really nice footage. I really love the camera. Was a little bugged by the fact it wouldn't just import using imovie (especially since it looks like it'll work when you try), but love the picture and everything else about the camera. The photo function takes great photo's, and they import just the same as any camera with iphoto. And hooked up to my HD screen, the picture is great. I have the little base station connected to my TV at all times so setting up takes less than 2 seconds. And using cards as a sort of DVD-medium between the computer and my TV has been nice.
Its a nasty process to get it too DVD or editing, but the codec it shoots too is relatively new, so I imagine it won't take much longer for an update to Mac owners that want to use imovie or Final Cut. After that... I absolutely love the camera.
This camera is small, sweet, works with Mac just fine 2008-06-14
I've never seen a camera this small. It works great! Hook up the USB cable to the Mac, there are the files, they play in Quicktime and iMovie uses them as-is (it does scan them on import to generate thumbnail images, but otherwise it's a native format on Mac, it would seem).
This is exactly what I needed - HD, H.264 (MP4) format so I don't have to convert the files... just copy over and use. Great price now too. $400 - can't beat that.
Great, portable HD video capability for little money 2008-05-22
Note: In the interest of full disclosure, I was invited to participate in the review program for Samsung's SC MX10 camcorder
When I opened the box that the camcorder came in, it was pleasant to hold up: the design adapts comfortably to the hand, feeling like it belongs there. Its ergonomic design brought to mind the way I felt when I felt used the Logitech MX Revolution Cordless Laser Mouse.
It was not necessary to read through the user guide to learn how to hit the ground running and start shooting great-looking videos. As a result, I have yet to exploit some of the more advanced features. Yet the basic features and the intuitive interface have made it a joy to use, mostly the touchscreen interface and the ability to flip the visor 180 degrees to allow you to see yourself while shooting solo.
Beyond the cool features which make it incredibly easy to use, this camera has freed me from the desktop where I was tied until now to shoot my videos through my Mac's embedded iSight camera, letting me shoot professional-looking HD podcasts in places beyond my desktop. [...]
The one thing I have not been terribly impressed with have been the photos: I have not found the SC MX10 to even be a match for my Sony digital camera. But then again, the Sony camera's video capabilities are no match for the Samsung either. So, I really have no major reason to complain about the SM MX10 because it's perfect for what I am using it for: great-looking portable HD video shooting capability without paying an arm and a leg for it.
A good value 2008-05-20
Dealing with the native format that these high def camcorders record in can be frustrating, but once you get past this, this camcorder works just fine. It produces nice video and does better job then several others (in this price range) in low light situations. It's small, light, and produces good video. For the price, it's hard to beat. Do your research before you buy any digital camcorder. This one does 720P and not 1080i. If this is good enough for you, you won't go wrong.
One warning. The software that comes with it, is not worth installing. You're better off purchasing something like the Nero Ultra Edition instead. I installed the software, tried it, and really hated it. I uninstalled it shortly after.
There are several conversion programs out there (several freeware) that can take the video from this camcorder (and others like it) and change it to something you can work with (mpg). While it's not the most convenient method, it does work. This also can make dealing with the videos less computer intensive (you can get away with less computing power).
Adding an 8 gig card to this camcorder will bring it up to 16 gigs of ram, which should be enough for most peoples needs. Remember, this unit has 8 gigs built in (a very nice feature). One thing you will need, is hard drive space to store your videos. You can eat up space rather quickly if your not careful.
This is a nice camcorder.
