Samsung HMX-W300 Waterproof Camcorder Review
- Sections:
- Video Sharpness
- Stabilization
Video Sharpness
Strong video sharpness was one of the main reasons we were won over by the Samsung HMX-W200 last year. The new W300 doesn't offer any improvement, but its sharpness results are still impressive for a camcorder of its class. Just like last year, the W300 measured horizontal and vertical sharpness values of 750 lw/ph. These results were obtained in our bright light test with the camcorder in motion (slowly panning back and forth). Perfectly still, the W300 showed vertical sharpness levels approaching 875 lw/ph, which, again, is a very impressive performance for a budget pocket-cam. More on how we test video sharpness.
Stabilization
If you look through the W300's menu system, you'll find the camcorder's image stabilization setting under the heading "Anti-Shake (DIS)". Unfortunately, the setting barely did anything to help stabilize the video in our test. We did see some improvement in our high shake test, but our low shake test showed no difference with the anti-shake system on vs. off. Overall, we can't say this feature is all that great, so don't make your purchase just because you read the W300 has a digital image stabilization setting. It's not a feature worth praising. More on how we test stabilization.
