Quick Review Camcorders : Samsung SCD103

The Samsung SCD103 has a 1/6-inch CCD with 680,000 pixels and records JPEG and MPEG4 files either to Mini-DV tape or a Memory Stick. Unfortunately, the Mini-DV tapes are loaded into the bottom of the camcorder, making changing tapes while shooting on a tripod extremely difficult.

One of the better aspects of this camcorder is its lens, which boasts 18x optical and 900x digital zoom. The Samsung SCD103 has more zoom capability than the Canon ZR80, a similarly priced camcorder, which garners the same 18x optical zoom but only a 360x digital zoom. However, the Canon ZR80 has better picture quality overall than the Samsung SCD103, and low light on both camcorders is atrocious.

With a black-and-white viewfinder that can rotate 45 degrees and a 2.5-inch LCD monitor that flips out perpendicular from the body, the Samsung SCD103 can be a compact playback device or a versatile shooting machine. The Samsung SCD103 is designed for the average point-and-shoot user who doesn’t need a lot of options.

The Samsung SCD103 has an EasyQ mode that automates everything to make shooting as easy as pressing a button. Manual control options are available for zoom, white balance, digital special effects, digital image stabilization, and shutter speed. There is no gain control, which is standard at this price range. For control freaks, the better option is the JVC GR-D33, which has many more manual control options. The JVC model also performs better in low-light tests and is available for about the same price.

The microphone to the Samsung SCD103 is poorly placed on the top of the camera body, sometimes recording overhead noises better than the intended audio. However, there is an external microphone port, as well as a USB port, FireWire port, A/V port, S-video port and D/C-in jack. Again, the lack of an analog input on the SCD103 is disappointing; forget about converting your old Hi8 tapes to digital with the SCD103.

The camcorder can be switched from video to photo mode, which records still photos at 640 x 480 resolution. The Samsung SCD103’s photo mode has several settings: auto, sports, portrait, spotlight, sand/ snow and high-speed. The camcorder has a wide range of shutter speeds, from 1/8 to 1/10,000 of a second. However, the lag time between shots is laboriously slow.

In conclusion, the Samsung SCD103 with its bright LED light makes a better $300 flashlight than a camcorder, and you’ll need one with this camcorder’s terrible low light performance. And you thought the Canon ZR series was noisy; at least it shows good video performance. Frankly, the only reason to buy a camcorder with image quality as poor as the SCD103 would be to convert analog tapes cheaply... but the SCD103 lacks an analog input. I suppose one could utilize the SCD103 as a cheap playback deck. It seems to be missing several things a basic camcorder should have: a remote control, analog-to-digital pass through and a decent microphone.

Samsung SCD103 Compared to the...