Samsung HMX-U20 Ultra-Compact Full-HD Camcorder (Red)

Got the Samsung HMX-U20 to document spaces in my line of work. I thought the item itself was compact and just what I needed. I was right in that it was compact and it works great to documents spaces and more, but the con I had with this item was that when a space was dark, it did not adjust to compensate. I know typical camcorders have that LUX ability and, not sure if it is just this compact item or all hand held flip items like this, but when a space is not bright, you might as well turn this thing off. That would have to be my only con on this item.

Since then, I have used it for several more documentations and it has been fine. the HD is great and visually it is crisp. Images (photos) also come out nicely.

I'm really torn on this one. On the one hand, this camera shoots really nice video outside. At noon. With clear skies. The time lapse feature is also really cool (if a bit gimmicky) and I wish more brands would implement this feature into theirs, and the optical zoom is a great feature.

On the other hand, when you try to use it inside, or outside in less than absolutely perfect conditions, the video produced is completely unacceptable. There is so much noise that anything you shoot is just unwatchable. It's a shame because like I said, when you have PLENTY of light the video is so clear and sharp it's nearly stunning. Now, there IS a twilight mode on the camera you can turn on, but it doesn't seem to have any noticeable effect.

Luckily, I don't have any of the audio noise that other reviewers have complained about, but I should've listened to them anyway. This one, whether brought down by audio noise or by video noise, needs a lot more work before it's ready for primetime.

Certainly plenty of potential with this one, but I didn't pay $130 to beta test Samsung's camera. It's going back today.

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I read the Amazon reviews of this camera before buying & so knew the problems people have had. I bought the SDHC memory card for the camera & have experienced NO PROBLEMS AT ALL WITH THE CAMERA. I took the camera on a trip to Italy & used a non-HD setting for my videos with great results. The still pictures aren't as good as those from my Canon EOS, but that's to be expected.

I didn't use the time-lapse function so can't comment on that function of the camera.

I uploaded both stills & videos to my Mac & had no trouble editing them using iPhoto & iMovie.

This is a great mini-HD camera for the money!!

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I've had my unit for several weeks and its a lot of fun. It's not my primary camera nor is it my primary camcorder but I wanted something to play with that gives HD and could take pictures and this fits the bill. I live in Hawaii and love to film different locations. The HD does justice to the beauty of the islands. The pictures are fine and the unit is very lightweight, easy to carry. I use a Gorilla tripod with it and do most of my filming using the tripod. Handheld is not good, the picture is too shaky. I don't use it indoors much so low light is not a big requirement for me. The other feature I really like is the time lapse photography. Never having had a camera that did this (too expensive), this feature is an added bonus and lots of fun. I use 1 sec intervals most of the time. I use a Class 4 16GB SDHC and that gives me over 2 hours of video recording time (154 mins at 720/60p).

Pros: Lightweight, beautiful HD videos, Time Lapse, uncomplicated controls, several resolutions (720/30p, 720/60p, 1080/30p), expandable memory, 3x zoom for still photography (digital zoom for video)

Cons: No flash, no image stabilization

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It only works with windows not mac that makes it useless for me. Why didn't you say that in your advertisement.

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