Samsung SC-DC164 Camcorder Review

The Front (7.5)
The Samsung SC-DC164 is Samsung’s entry level DVD camcorder for 2006, and based strictly on its appearance, it seems to be courting the entrenched Sony market. The size and overall shape of the Samsung will remind people of Sony’s DVD camcorders, but in terms of design details and user interface, there are notable differences.

The front of the SC-DC164 is topped by the Samsung lens capable of an impressive 33x optical zoom, the most powerful optical zoom on the consumer market. The lens hood is a continuation of the lens barrel and contributes to a very simple front-end configuration. Below the lens is the remote control sensor concealed by a smooth plastic cover with a metallic appearance, and near the camcorder’s base is the onboard stereo microphone.

To the left of the front-end features is the DVD compartment, distinguished from the brushed aluminum color of the body both by its graphite color and the fact that it looks like a distinct unit, melded onto the main body. This division between the DVD compartment and the main body will strike some users as inelegant, and is the biggest aesthetic difference between Samsung and Sony DVD camcorders.

The Right Side (6.0)
The right side of the SC-DC164 is primarily occupied by the DVD drive mechanism door, which opens towards the front of the camcorder. This allows the door to easily swing open, free of the hand strap, which can get in the way of some DVD drive doors. However, the door extends all the way to the camcorder’s base so that if the SC-DC164 was tightly affixed to some tripod heads, it could be difficult to open. The front-loading design is from the shooter’s perspective a little less accessible than Sony’s top-loading design, but it is slightly easier to load. A choice between front vs. top-loading DVD drive doors comes down to user preference.

Behind the hinge, and sharing the brushed aluminum color of the main body is the mode dial which is easy to use, and closely follows Sony’s mode dial style. On this model, the mode dial is inset into the right side of the camcorder body rather than the back (as on Sony’s DVD 105)

Running all the way along the base of the right side of the SC-DC164 is a nicely padded hand strap. Unfortunately, the strap is hindered in that the left side does not closely fit the shape of a palm and the camcorder seems to be heavily weighted on the left side. In fact, Samsung has added a bulge to the bottom left edge of the camcorder which appears to be an attempt at ergonomics. But, it only worsens the sensation that the SC-DC164 is listing to the left. This is not a comfortable camcorder to handhold – not surprising, perhaps, given that this is part of Samsung’s introductory DVD line. We’ll be looking for improvements next year.

The Back (7.0)
The back of the SC-DC164 is capped on the left by an extendable viewfinder and on the right by the microphone port cover. The viewfinder itself is very similar to what you’d find on many other consumer camcorders – uncomfortable, poorly designed for long-term shooting, but OK in a pinch. The eyepiece is made of hard plastic, and seeing the video image clearly entails placing your eye at a precise distance and angle to the viewfinder nearly forcing you to press your eyelid against it. If the eyepiece were made of soft rubber, the experience would be tolerable, but pressing your eye against a tiny, hard plastic object when you are in motion is uncomfortable, if not dangerous. But in terms of abominable usability, this eyepiece is like most on the consumer market. The viewfinder has a diopter adjustment on its right side, accessible, when its extended.

The microphone port is a welcome addition to this camcorder, as few entry level consumer camcorders share this very useful feature. The placement of this port is questionable, because a mic jack would get in the way of shooting with the viewfinder, but we’d much rather see a poorly placed mic jack on a low end unit than none at all. (Hello Sony and Panasonic…) The jack is protected by a port cover that seems adequately durable and swings well out of the way.

The Mode dial is below the Mic port on the right edge of the camcorder, and unlike Sony’s mode dial, is set into the camcorder’s side, but operated from the back. Two small blue LED lights to the left of the dial indicate camera or play mode. The Record button is below the LED’s and located very close to the Mode dial. In another case of poor placement, the Rec and Mode controls are located so close together that one risks activating one or the other inadvertently - another design issue we hope Samsung corrects in this camcorder’s next iteration.

The Battery occupies the rest of the SC-DC164’s back side below the viewfinder and to the left of the controls. The battery release is on the camcorder’s underside – yet another less than optimal placement because it precludes swapping batteries while the SC-DC164 is tripod mounted.

The Left Side (4.0)
While the rest of the camcorder’s body is unusually unadorned, the left side is chock full of controls, most of which are located inside the LCD cavity. While we prefer controls to be more accessible when the user is shooting – i.e. fully accessed from the rear, as in Panasonic’s joystick-based interface, the controls are well-marked. Unlike the Hitachi DZ-GX3100 which also places critical controls in the LCD cavity, Samsung has at least provided real buttons rather than a barely usable touch membrane.

A few controls lie on the main camcorder body above the LCD cavity and just forward of the viewfinder: The Quick Menu button, which brings up the image control submenu; the OK button used during menu navigation; and the Easy Q button, which places the SC-DC164 in full Auto or Easy mode. The top row of buttons inside the LCD cavity, from left to right are a Disc/Card format selector switch; a Display On/Off button; and the Menu button, used to access the full menu. In the next row there is a button for Manual Focus/Auto Focus/Multi Display, which selects focus settings in camera mode and a display of multiple thumbnails in playback mode, and +/- volume control buttons. The bottom row contains the Color Nite button on the left, and VCR/function buttons to the right. The camcorder’s Multi Card Slot is below the VCR/function buttons, and opens from below.

To the right of the LCD cavity is a large vertical port cover housing, from top to bottom, a charge indicator light, USB jack, Multi cable jack and the DC in jack. This port cover, unlike the mic jack cover, is very poorly designed. Opening it requires that the LCD be open, and its plastic hinge barely opens  wide enough to permit access to the ports – a few more millimeters of clearance in a case like this would make a world of difference.

The LCD screen features both 4:3 and 16:9 modes with poor color, seems pixilated, and no onscreen or on LCD controls. It seems to be a very poor screen. 90 degrees from body, 270 degree rotation, flips into the cavity.

The Top (6.0)
The top of the SC-DC164 is very simple, split into a lens barrel half and a DVD loading bay half. The only interface controls on top are the zoom control and the photo shutter button, both located on the DVD loading side. This side also has a lip, meant to provide a good grip for the shooting hand. Unfortunately, the right side is a bit too tall, and small hands might not be able to reach the lip. The left side of the top is the lens barrel which is long and narrow with no notable features.