Samsung SC-HMX10 Camcorder Reviewby David KenderPublished on Feb 11, 2008 10:00 PM 
|
|
Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control (3.0)
Samsung has clearly tried to develop a camcorder that meets the accessibility needs of the point and shoot crowd. The Easy Q button on the back is a take on Sony’s ubiquitous Easy button, locking the camcorder into full idiot-proof mode. In this setting, all decision making for image quality is placed in the hands of the camcorder, which proves to be adept, but not exceptional.
The auto exposure is the slower than comparably-priced models from Sony, Canon, and others. Some might actually prefer this, as pro camcorders often transition more slowly than snappy consumer models. However, as this is clearly a consumer product, it’s not meeting expectations. The auto white balance is even slower. Making major transitions, such as fluorescent indoor to cloudy outdoor, takes as long as 20 seconds.
The autofocus proves to be problematic at times. Much of the time, transitioning from one focal distance to the next is smooth, taking 2 to 4 seconds on average. Then, inexplicably, the SC-HMX10 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $0.00) suddenly has a very difficult time, taking as long as 10 seconds to find its focus. This problem is exacerbated when the zoom is pushed to about 5x. A middling autofocus, combined with a poor manual focus system, makes for a poor combination in an HD camcorder, where focal errors are much more evident than standard definition.
There are several Scene modes, though oddly, they are not found in the more accessible Q.Menu. Instead, they’re located in the Main menu at the very top of the list. Scene modes offered are Auto, Sports, Portrait, Spotlight, and Beach/Snow – a rather short list compared with most manufacturers. Samsung missed an opportunity here to make it an even better choice for point-and-shooters. The average equivalent camera has two to three times this number of options.
Overall Manual Control (5.0)
Making manual adjustments on the Samsung SC-HMX10 is better than Samsungs of the past, that’s for sure. The company has clearly pushed to improve the user experience, and now offers one of the most straightforward menu systems. Of course, part of the simplicity stems from the lack of manual controls. On board, you’ll find only the basic controls – exposure, focus, white balance, and shutter speed – along with a smattering of common one-touch corrections like Backlight Compensation and Tele macro. This is by no means a powerhouse camcorder, and certainly not one aspiring filmmakers would wish to own. However, the tools it does offer are well-implemented and neatly presented.
Lacking a joystick or d-pad, the touch screen is used for nearly all interfaces. This, it seems, is yet another concession to Sony’s dominance in the camcorder marketplace. If you can’t beat them, join them. Touch screens are, in fact, easy to use and generally intuitive. They present problems, however, when the shooter needs to extend themselves beyond Auto mode. Making shutter adjustments is not too taxing, but an accurate manual focal adjustment is near impossible on this camcorder, due to a cluttered screen space and fingerprint smudges. If powerful manual control is a personal requirement, move on to a Panasonic, Sony, or Canon, all of which offer some level of superiority in this capacity.
Zoom (5.0)
The zoom toggle is located on the top of the body near the back. As is the case with many ultra-compacts, the zoom is not terribly comfortable. First, a good zoom toggle should fall under the index finger, while this one falls under the middle finger. This does not make for impossible handling, but it’s less than ideal. The toggle itself feels cheap. It’s only possible to get two zoom speeds – medium and fast. There is no way to get a good crawl, which really hurts the HMX10’s chances of being used as a serious tool.
When zooming, a scale appears in the lower part of the screen to give a rough estimate of where in the zoom range you are. There is no numerical value assigned, making it hard to repeat a shot.
Zoom Power Ratio (10.0)
The optical zoom on the Samsung SC-HMX10 extends to 10x. Samsung deserves praise for being one of the few manufacturers to keep on the conservative side for digital zoom, only 20x.
Focus (3.0)
For a high-definition camcorder, the manual focus is incredibly weak. It seems as though Samsung has gone so far out of its way making this a point-and-shoot camcorder that certain key features like focus were lost. There are two methods to access the manual focus: the Q.Menu and the full menu. When activated, two icons appear on either side of the screen, a person on one and a mountain on the other. In order to adjust, you push on the touch screen button and hold it until the picture looks to be in focus. That’s right, you’d better have a great pair of eyes and a lot of faith, because there is no other means of divining the correct focus. There is no focus assist tool like instant zoom or peaking. There is no viewfinder to double-check against the fingerprint-smeared LCD. Testing this feature hands-on proved to be an exceptionally frustrating exercise.
Exposure & Aperture (6.3)
The exposure, like the focus, is accessible by both the Q.Menu and the Main menu. This is a very simplified manual control perfect for beginners. When activated, a large scale appears on screen, with a minus button on one end and a plus button on the other. There are clearly marked increments, ranging from zero to 29.
The Samsung SC-HMX10 does not offer direct control of the aperture. However, it does have shutter speed control, which would allow you to lock the shutter, then use the exposure control to adjust only the aperture. Even in this case, the camcorder won’t provide the f-stop values.
Shutter Speed (6.2)
Shutter control works just like the exposure control, accessed via the Q.Menu and the Main menu. When activated, a scale appears with plus and minus buttons on either side. There are eight settings for the shutter: 1/60, 1/100, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, 1/2000, 1/4000, and 1/8000.
It’s unfortunate that Samsung does not offer a slower manual shutter speed, which would have been a boon for low light shooting.
White Balance (5.5)
For the full selection of white balance options, you must use the full menu, accessed by pushing the icon in the lower right corner. White balance options include: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Tungsten, and Custom WB. The number of settings is on par with most manufacturers, and better than some – though considerably fewer than Canon. When you access white balance through the Q.Menu, your only choices are Auto and Custom.
Making a manual white balance adjustment is not very reassuring. On most camcorders, when this option is selected, there is some sort of “lag time” between hitting the button and when the image appears adjusted. With the SC-HMX10, simply touching the Custom button automatically readjusts the picture. The lag time is probably more a psychological comfort – as we see the processor pause and consider the color – than it is a computing necessity. But from a practical perspective, it gives you some time to aim at your white or gray target area before you tell the camcorder to adjust. It doesn’t help that the manual white balance does not look very accurate.
Gain (0.0)
There is no gain control on the Samsung SC-HMX10.
Other Manual Controls (2.0)
Tele macro - The manual states that the Tele macro feature should be used for shooting “a distant subject that is approaching.” This varies from the usual description of shooting detailed objects up close, such as flowers and insects. Our shooting experiences indicate this setting doesn’t do much. The focal distance in this mode is about 50 to 100 centimeters (19.7 to 39.4 inches).
Backlight Compensation - Located in the Main menu, this feature is meant to correct for heavy backlighting that can cause your subject to appear in silhouette. It boosts the overall exposure to bring out detail in the subject. This tool should not be mistaken for the LCD Brighten function, which is an external button located in the LCD cavity.