Samsung SC-D365 Camcorder Review

Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control (3.0)
The Samsung SC-D365 has a limited automatic control suite – it’s certainly nothing to match a Sony, and it lacks even some of the functions that you’d find on camcorders from almost any other manufacturer.

It does offer the bare minimum automatic controls: white balance, exposure, focus, and shutter speed. The D365 tries to make operation easy for beginners by putting an “Easy Q” button on the upper left side of the body. This leaves you with nothing to do but point and shoot. Easy Q mode disables the menu as an “idiot proof” measure.

The Easy Q mode button, located above the LCD cavity

Control quality is notably poor. Exposure shifts are quick and ugly. As mentioned in the Video Performance sections, the number of colors the D365 can produce seems severely limited, and creates exaggerated shadows and weird transitions in flat surfaces. Focus control was also bad, with a tendency to breathe (bounce in and out of focus in a steady pattern).

The camcorder does offer some Program AE modes, one-touch settings optimized for certain shooting conditions where full auto mode might not suffice. The Program AE modes include: Auto, Sports, Portrait, Spotlight, Sand/Snow, and High Speed (best for sporting events).

Overall Manual Control (6.0)
The manual controls on the SC-D365 are very easy to access and navigate through, which is one of the best things we can say about this camcorder. There are two menus: 1) a full menu, accessed by the Menu button, and 2) a Quick Menu, accessed by (you guessed it) the Quick Menu button. Users can maneuver through the menu with the zoom toggle and shutter button: a rarely used but intuitive design. Unfortunately, one-handed operation is not possible, as the large record on/off button blocks menu buttons from the thumb.

The main menu has nearly all the camcorder controls, including the date, time, and language controls and most of the manual controls concerning image quality. It is broken up into four sub-menus, as seen in the images here.

The Quick Menu contains only those options pertaining to image quality, and includes options you do not find in the main menu. They include: image stabilization, Program AE, 16:9 on/off, white balance, shutter speed, exposure, and backlight compensation on/off. This is a great control, with excellent control and clear interface. Most manufacturers rely on confusing icons in order to save space. Samsung spells everything out in plain English, and we love it.

Manual focus is linked to a separate button, which doubles as the Stop button for VCR control. This is a poor control compared to the others: you use the Rewind and Fast Forward buttons, rather than the zoom toggle, to make adjustments. However, the Samsung does present you with a scale that lets you know where in the focus range you are. This is far more than most consumer camcorders give you.

Zoom (7.0)
The SC-D365 has a decent zoom toggle that’s better than average for a lower-end camcorder. It’s well-placed – my index finger naturally rested right over it. It’s also slightly raised from the camcorder body, and has three ridges that afford a secure finger grip – a good thing, since the toggle spring offers quite a bit of resistance. In the office, we are split on whether the toggle’s spring afforded better zoom control than the less resistant spring found on Sony camcorders: in the end, it’s a matter of personal preference. In any case, the toggle performed well, providing two to three reliable zoom speeds depending on pressure.

Zoom Power/Ratio (33.0)
The SC-D365 boasts a very powerful 33x optical zoom, which slightly bests the 32x optical zoom on JVC’s GZ-MG37 and GR-D350 camcorders: in this regard, the Samsung is king of the hill. However, the D365’s poor image quality detracts from this advantage. If the most important criterion for you is a powerful optical zoom – as could be the case for bird watchers and voyeurs – JVC’s camcorders are a better choice because they produce a sharper video image. The SC-D365 also offers a digital zoom option, which can be capped at 100x, 200x, 400x, or 1200x. This is an unusually large number of choices, but above about 64x, or twice the maximum optical zoom, image quality will deteriorate very rapidly due to electronic interpolation of the image information.

The zoom toggle works quite well and seems to have been designed following Sony’s cues. It is nicely angled and allows for multiple zoom speeds. In addition, this is a comfortable camcorder to hold, and the zoom toggle is well-placed under the index finger.

Focus (6.5)
The Samsung SC-D365 does provide a manual focus capability which, unlike many consumer camcorders, is an external button. This is much better than Sony’s touch screen focus in terms of ease-of-use but it's a far cry from a focus ring. Pressing the MA/AF button on the camcorder’s left side brings up a scale in the right side of the LCD screen that visually indicates your focus level. The +/- buttons for adjusting focus are easy to use, and located forward of the MF/AF button. All three of the buttons double as VCR controls: the MF/AF is the Stop button, while the +/- buttons control Reverse and Fast-Forward.

Despite the fact that the focus scale is nothing more than a visual representation of your focal point, it’s not available on Sony, Canon or Panasonic consumer camcorders and is can be quite useful. If you want to do a rack focus, where you gradually move the frame’s focal point from one point to another, such a scale provides a useful visual aid, allowing you to practice the rack and then memorize your stop point on the scale. With a 33x optical zoom, the SC-D365 has unusual rack focus potential, so Samsung deserves kudos for this thoughtful addition.

With external controls and a focus scale, the SC-D365 certainly bests most of its competition when it comes to manual focus. For now, this is one of this camcorder’s strong points, and we hope Samsung implements improvements in other areas to make its next iteration a more desirable device.

Exposure (Aperture) (4.0)
Making manual exposure adjustments on the SC-D365 is easier than in many consumer camcorders, which bury this important feature deep within a baroque menu structure. While external exposure buttons are optimal in terms of accessibility, consumer camcorders lack the surface area of prosumer camcorders. The D365 allows users to reach exposure settings by pressing the Quick Menu button, scrolling to exposure settings and pressing OK. This brings up a scale at the bottom of the LCD screen, and the zoom toggle again shifts between settings. This EV (Exposure Value) scale ranges from 00 to 29 in whole number increments, offering 30 steps that are analogous to moving from a nearly closed shutter to a wide open shutter. While there is no means for gauging f-stop equivalencies for this EV scale, it does provide a relatively efficient and effective means of adjusting exposure.

Shutter Speed (3.0)
The SC-D365 includes a wide range of shutter speed adjustments, which are easy to access from the Quick Menu. Once in the quick menu, the zoom toggle moves through shutter speed settings which include 1/60, 1/100, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, 1/2000, 1/4000, 1/10000. The shutter speed range is very good, and access to this adjustment via the quick menu makes it more user-friendly than it is on many camcorders that hide manual adjustments deep in the menu. The SC-D365 does not offer any slow shutter speed settings.

White Balance (7.0)
White balance manual adjustment appears in both the Quick Menu and the Full Menu. There are settings for Auto, Indoor (no differentiation between fluorescent, tungsten or incandescent light), Outdoor (no difference between sun and overcast), and Custom WB. Setting a custom white balance is not is simple as it is on some camcorders, because you must press the OK button twice – once to select Custom, and a second time to set it. We tried simply holding the OK button on the Custom selection, because it was not immediately clear that setting a custom white balance was a two-press process. It’s not terribly confidence-inspiring: the SC-D365 lacks a flashing WB indicator, which makes it tough to determine whether or not you have used the setting properly. Instead, you have to look closely at the LCD and watch for a subtle color change,  which is your only indication that a custom white balance has been set. It works, but some visual assistance would help.

Gain (0.0)
There is no manual gain control on the Samsung SC-D365. Panasonics are the only consumer models to offer that option.

Other Manual Control (0.0)
The Samsung SC-D365 offers no other manual control.