Test Bench:
Samsung SCD5000 Mini DV Camcorder with Digital Camera

D. Eric Franks
November 2003

» Next Image Previous Image «

First impressions of this digital camera and camcorder combo are that it is rather boxy. There are two lenses and two CCD arrays that pivot on the body. The conversion process is fast and easy, but there are a few buttons that swap positions when you rotate the lens, most notably the auto/manual focus button.

The SCD5000 digital camera and camcorder (like the tiny SCD590 we reviewed in March) has a bizarre tripod mount. The adapter, which screws into the bottom of the camera, is a necessary kludge to allow the lens/CCD barrel to rotate while mounted on a tripod. Functionally we can see why this is necessary. As a bonus, it looks like the adapter plate will allow the bottom-loading tape mechanism to function while the camera is on a tripod. Samsung would get big points for solving that pernicious problem that plagues many consumer camcorders. We could easily get our finger in to slide the Tape Eject switch. The motors whirred, the gears turned and *pop* out came the tape mechanism. Alas, it is all just a tease: you can't actually get the tape out of the mechanism. Samsung is within about a half an inch of an effective solution.

Samsung includes two batteries in the box, a compact one and a larger one with a longer duration. We liked the absolutely tiny remote control, which is a little smaller than a Mini DV tape with the same weight (about half an ounce).

While function definitely dictates the form of this camera, the SCD5000 digital camera and camcorder is comfortable to use, with one hand or two. The relatively small LCD is quite bright and swivels into a wide range of useful positions, but the non-extendible viewfinder is a little too close to the camera body. For this reason, we found ourselves using the LCD all of the time, even though that caused us some anxiety about battery life. This anxiety turned out to be unfounded, as the LCD had little or no measurable impact on battery life in our tests.

Camcorders with digital still capabilities are nothing new. The first ones recorded images to videotape and the images were no better than a frame grab from the video. Later models incorporated memory cards and saved pictures that had a little higher resolution. Even so, the 2 megapixel stills were not quite as good as what you'd get from a good dedicated still camera. So many of us had two cameras with us on vacation: a small $1,000 Mini DV camcorder and a $400 point-and-shoot digital still camera. At $1,400 (cheaper on the street), the Samsung SCD5000 digital camera and camcorder hits the right price point. Size-wise, it is about the same as Samsung's smallest Mini DV camcorder and, say, a Canon PowerShot, if you glued them together. The question then is, does the SCD5000 sacrifice any quality, still or video?

There is no question that the 4.13 megapixel images, at 2272x1704, far exceeded the quality of the stills on any other camcorder we've seen. We took the SCD5000 digital camera and camcorder out with a Pentax Optio S (3.2M pixels, $400) in a head-to-head shootout. We first noticed that the shooting delay was a bit longer on the SCD5000 Memory Stick (the Pentax uses a CF card). The Pentax also had many more features and small conveniences as a specialized still camera, such as a very cool overlay mode to help you effortlessly line up panoramas. On the other hand, the SCD5000 lets you grab stills from a frame of video, which is something the Pentax obviously cannot do.

The still autofocus was slower to respond and less accurate than the video autofocus and could not focus inside of about a foot, even in Macro mode (you can almost touch the video lens to the subject when in video mode). Image-wise, the SCD5000 was a little less contrasty, tended to blow out a bit in bright sunlight and did not saturate colors as well as the Pentax. Still, and this bears repeating, the image quality exceeded that of any other video camera on the market.

• Digg This!
• del.icio.us
• Technorati
• StumbleUpon
• Reddit