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Posts Tagged ‘Quality Recordings’

Samsung HZ15W 12MP Digital Camera with 10x Schneider Wide Angle Dual Image Stabilized Zoom and 3 0 inch LCD Grey

The Samsung HZ15W includes a world first 10x optical zoom and 24mm ultra wide angle Schneider lens and cements Samsung’s position as an innovator in the new and important High-zoom category – compact cameras equipped with the sort of advanced zoom lens technology traditionally seen only in SLR cameras. This new technology gives people even greater control and helps them take better, professional standard photos; enhancing the entire photography experience, from shooting to sharing images with friends and family. The 12-megapixel HZ15W also includes HD movie capture so people can “Pause and Re-record” high definition videos and super sharp movie-quality recordings in one movie clip – a Samsung patented function. The cameras also include “Smart Auto” (Scene Recognition) technology: 11 optimized picture pre-settings such as Portrait, Night portrait, Macro and Macro Color, to help people take the perfect shot regardless of the conditions.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Good Camera
Item arrived ahead of promised date in good condition. Charged battery and plugged in the sdhc memory card. Started taking picures and short videos. Happy with the quality of both. The HD video clips are pretty good. Love the wide angle lens. Did not use any advanced features. But the basic stuff is pretty good and that is what I do mostly. Yes, there is minor problem with the zoom induced noise with video, but not a big deal for me.

5 Stars Purchased Oct 2009
I spent a lot of time researching cameras and reading reviews. This is a good camera. The only downside is the location of the capture button. It causes you to reach a little and you tend to put you hand in the way of the flash. The picture quality and settings are great. The battery takes about 3hrs to charge, but lasted us the entire day.

3 Stars Takes nice pics but…..
I bought this camera simply because of past experiences with Samsung and the price point. The camera is beautiful but the rechargeable battery option is a pain in the butt. If you like to follow your kids around throughout the day or use it for 50 pics throughout the day…you will need to recharge the battery before the day is done. The PHD (push here dummy) button is not in the typical place, so it makes taking pics a little awkward because you are reaching past the button you would typically use and when you do hit the right button, it doesn’t take pics consistently causing you to lose shots, it has to be some sort of timing/focusing thing. The menus are intense and probably do a lot for you but I don’t have time to read it all. Standard pic files are over 3Mb. I returned my camera within a week and I am still using the A560 that I have had for a year or so.

5 Stars Amazing Camera!
This is an amazing, top of the line camera!

PRO’s:

DESIGN

The design is sleek and sophisticated, and although the camera is a bit bulky, it can still fit in my pocket. LCD screen does not scratch, which is great!

BEAUTY SHOT MODE:

I haven’t seen this kind of retouching on a digital camera before. The camera processes the image you just took and smooths the faces it detects, removing blemishes/wrinkles, etc. A great mode to make your skin look clearer, but make sure you’re taking photos in natural lighting (i.e. don’t rely only on the camera’s flash) when using this mode.

LENS

Wonderful wide angle lens, 10x zoom. Lens does not collect much dust, and the lens itself seems scratch resistant, but the rings around the lens can scratch easily.

VIDEO AND SOUND QUALITY

I was most impressed by the crisp HD video and sound quality when recording in VIDEO mode. The video quality rivals that of entry-level camcorders.

CONS

MANUAL MODE

Like other digital cameras, you can’t do too much in the “Manual” mode on this camera. Aperture can’t be changed much, but shutter speed goes to 1/1500.

USB CABLE / BATTERY CHARGER

A huge disadvantage for me is that you must actually connect the camera (via USB cable) to an outlet to charge the battery — there is no separate, plug in charger for the battery alone. Also, the USB port on the camera is a very strange shape, which can lead to some confusion as to how to plug in the cable.

Overall, probably the best camera you can get for the price!

4 Stars Everything you could ask for…
I must admit I was rather skeptical about this camera at first despite the positive reviews on Amazon. After careful exam of the spec sheet, I decided to give it a try and took it to a recent family trip to Europe. So far, the Samsung has been able to handle everything I throw at it.

I’m a dSLR shooter and consider myself savvy and accomplished. The primary reason I picked this camera was due to its valuable optical range and HD video capability, and this camera really shines in both areas. From about 10′ away on my 52″ Samsung LCD screen, it is pretty hard to detect any difference between broadcasted HD programming and the video clips I shot.

Here is my brief impression on Samsung HZ15W:

Pros:

Extremely useful zoom range at 24-240mm

HD video (720p) with zooming capability

True plug-n’-play via mini HDMI connection to HDTV

Dual Image Stabilizer works as advertised in low lighting

Three aspect ratios: 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9

PAUSE feature in video mode provides one continuous clip up to 30-min

Good 3″ LCD screen (460k)

Intuitive manual system

Cons:

Relatively slow handling

Below average battery life

Bulky and heavy

Long flash recycle time

Average image quality

Default setting produces under-saturated colors

In my opinion, if someone only wants to carry one camera on any trip or event, this is the one to get. It is not an outstanding camera by any means but it does anything relative well with no major shortcomings. However, there’re reviews posted online questioning the durability of this camera which I think any potential buyer should to be aware of.

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Elgato EyeTV 250 Plus Digital Analog TV Receiver and Video Converter

EyeTV 250 Plus is a hybrid TV Tuner for the Mac with a powerful hardware encoder for higher quality recordings and smaller sized video files. EyeTV 250 Plus receives both free over-the-air HDTV as well as analog TV, and offers a complete solution for moving your video collection from VHS tape to DVD-Video. EyeTV 250 Plus is future-proof for the upcoming digital TV switch-over in 2009, and is ideal for those who want the flexibility of a digital and analog TV tuner together with a hardware encoder in one device. EyeTV 250 Plus delivers free over-the-air digital TV to your Mac in stunning 720p or 1080i HDTV (MPEG-2) and other digital television standards, as well as conventional analog TV via standard cable or antenna. EyeTV 250 Plus also comes with a break-out cable for composite video and S-Video, enabling you to connect a set-top box directly to your Mac. EyeTV 250 Plus’ powerful hardware encoder also records high quality video from analog sources, compressing audio and video signals to small size MPEG-2 files and freeing up your processor for other activities. MPEG-2 is a premium-quality video compression standard which is the basis for DVD and digital television. Use EyeTV 250 Plus to capture video and convert VHS tapes into high-quality digital files. EyeTV 250 Plus’ easy-to-use VHS Assistant will walk you through each step, from connecting your VCR or camcorder right through to burning a DVD or sending the recording to iTunes. Export clips and entire episodes to your video-capable iPod, Apple TV, and iPhone Store your collection on an external drive, or burn it to disc using Roxio Toast 8 Basic (included) Convert old videotapes to digital files using the VHS Assistant

User Ratings and Reviews

1 Star Signal Strength is horrible
I have a Hauppauge 950Q and just got this one for the hardware encryption. The 950Q worked a heck of a lot better at live video playing than this thing. The 950Q I have 50% quality and 75% strength. This one has 100% quality but 10% strength. What gives?

Don’t buy this device. There are stronger signal strengths than this one has. Granted I have poorer quality but I rather have both at a marginal or better than one being the worst.

5 Stars Making the iMac a DVR, and TV
Outstanding product that has turned our new 24″ iMac into a cool TV and DVR. Have only scratched the surface so far, but program recording and basic edits are easy.

2 Stars Good product, AWEFUL customer support
This product was working well for me and I WAS very happy. The software that is included performs well, makes it easy to record shows, and has an easy-to-use editing component with which to cut out commercials.

Having said this, the customer support is terrible. First, there is NO telephone support. The only way to contact anyone, even for tech support, is by email. In my experience it often took up to 2 days to get a reply. Second, when my unit went dead and was no longer able to connect to my computer at all, I received very delayed and generic responses. I had to send 4 or 5 emails requesting a replacement before I was finally offered one. At first, they tried to tell me that my warranty was up. I don’t know where they got that information, but it was incorrect. Now, they are offering to send me a replacement, but they are making me pay for the shipping costs!! What a bunch of BUNK! I have a feeling that it will be several weeks before I get my replacement.

It is a real shame that their customer service is so poor. I would love to give this product a great review, but this element of my experience has really tainted my perception of Elgato as a company. Next time I am in need of a TV tuner for my Mac I will be looking elsewhere.

5 Stars Great product, beware service provider limitations
The EyeTV works exactly as advertised. The setup was easy and I could receive cable from my Comcast line with no problems. The only issue (and what led to me returning it) is that Comcast encrypts most of its digital channels so I could only view a handful of analog stations (mediocre picture quality at best) and very few digital ones. The digital stations that did come through looked good but my service restrictions made this product not worth it for me.

5 Stars Great product
This is a great product for the Mac. I had a major concern with the installing of all the cables, but most of them come included in the package. The placement of the included cables was self explanatory and fairly easy. What they did not tell you is that you need TV cables to connect input (TV) wire to the converter and also a TV wire to go from the cable box router, if needed then also a splitter for these cables. They also included Toast Version 9 to help with the transfer of the downloaded video to DVD, the problem with that is the instruction manual that you downloaded says that

you should get Toast 10 Titanium, an upgrade. When you download the enclosed software,you get an online screen controller and you are able to choose between the type of channels you want (TV, Digital or HD) > You aslo get a subscription to TV Guise on line for 1 year. I have it hooked up to a cable outlet and the video is quite clear Also the downloaded manual to me is more suitable for a teckie that someone with average computer ability. The instructions seem to be scattered in different areas. Instead they should be in sections IE: 1. Viewing Videos 2.Editing videos 3.Downloading videos. ect. Otherwise the other major problem is that there is no, I repeat no Tech Support via phone. Their phone number is a classified secret and not available, you do get some semblence of tech support via a web based forum. I am happy with this product and will put it to good use if I can get thru the instruction manual

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