Samsung Offers Only One New MiniDV

January 7, 2007 – Underlining the recent trend for manufacturers to cut back on their MiniDV camcorder lineup, Samsung announced just one MiniDV model at the CES show in Vegas today: the SC-D372. This basic model is aimed squarely at the entry-level market, with a very consumer-friendly price of $269 (MSRP). This makes it one of the cheapest MiniDV camcorders available, but this low price comes at the cost of a lack of innovation: the only innovation is a new lens. But Samsung still thinks that MiniDV has a place in the market: “There is a large enough segment looking for camcorders that are easy to use, yet feature high enough picture quality to accurately relive their memories,” claims Reid Sullivan, VP of Digital Audio / Video Group, Samsung Electronic America.

 

The only innovation on the SC-D372 is a new lens: it includes a 34x optical zoom built by Schneider lenses. This new lens will be featured on several of Samsung’s new camcorders, including the SC-DX10 hybrid DVD/flash memory camcorder. Sullivan claims that the new lens “combines the precision of German optics with Samsung’s leadership in digital technology”.

 

Otherwise, the camcorder is a pretty standard package: it captures both video and still images with a single 680k CCD image sensor, a 2.7-inch wide aspect LCD screen and captures still images at a low resolution of 800 by 600, storing them on a card. Iamges can be transferred to a PC through a USB 2.0 port, and a standard Firewire port is also included.

 

The SC-D372 will retail for $269.99 and is scheduled for a March 2007 release.