Shooting with the H100 is simple and predictable

Linl: http://www.geek.com/articles/gadgets/review-samsung-hmx-h100-camcorder-2009093/
Review: Samsung HMX-H100 camcorder
By Sal Cangeloso Sep. 3, 2009
A few months ago we took a look at Samsung’s aging SC-HMX20C camcorder. The model was about a year old at that point but it still had a lot of life left in it. product cycles being what they are, it has subsequently been replaced with new models, including the HMX-H100. Samsung offers a range of full HD (1080p) camcorders with pricing based primarily on the amount and type of on-board storage. In addition to the H100, which only uses SD/SDHC card-based storage, are the H106 (64GB SSD), H105 (32GB SSD), and H104 (16GB SSD). Prices range from the H100’s $579 to $899.
What you need to know about the HMX-H100:
Street price: $479 (MSRP: $579)
Optical zoom: 10x
Lens: 37mm wide-angle lens Schneider’s Varioplan-HD
F value: F1.8~2.5
Storage: SDHC slot
Display: 2.7-inch LCD with touchscreen
Sensor: 1/4.5-inch CMOS
Flash: Yes
Shoe: No
HDMI: Yes
Microphone input: No
Time Lapse Recording: Yes
Video resolution: 1920×1080i / 1280×720P / 720×480P
Format: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264
OIS (Optical Image Stabilizer): Yes
Still image recording: JPEG, 2880×1620 / 1920×1080
Run time: ~1.5 hours
Dimensions: 2.48 x 2.4 x 5.06-inches
Weight: 0.78lbs
On paper the HMX-H100 is off to a good start for a mid-range consumer camcorder. It does full HD, has HDMI output, has 10x optical zoom, and it isn’t too large or heavy. The sub-$500 price tag helps out a lot and there are some bonus features, like the ability to do time-lapse recording. The camera lacks most enthusiast features though, so there is no microphone input or shoe. Overall, it’s a good package for the user that is looking to do 1080p video recording without a lot of fuss, which is to say most consumers.
On the hardware side, the H100 is a lot like the HMX20C though some of the parts that were metal were swapped for chromed plastic. The build quality is good enough, but the H100 is clearly a consumer camera. There is a handstrap and a rotating grip for underhanded shooting so holding the camcorder is never an issue. Button placements are hard to miss, though they are Samsung’s standard layout, so some optimization over time would be nice to see. The camcorder’s pop-out display does its job without any problems, though displaying 1080p video on something so small will never go too well. The camcorder itself could be smaller–it’s not huge, but given the fact that the line has no hard drive models it seems like it could have been trimmed (at least some competition has been able to shave down the size).
The on-screen controls are simple and very intuitive, thanks to an easy menu system. The downside here is that the menu controls are slow to navigate and you really need to mash the resistive touchscreen at times for it to recognize the touch. Overall this is made up for by its intelligence and ease of use. There are a few buttons on the camera’s side as well, namely power, display mode, Easy Q, image stabilization, and flash. These are convenient, but it would be great to see a power button that was accessible from the exterior of the camera. There are even some manual controls, but finding them deep in the menu system can take some time.
The camera’s storage operates entirely from an SDHC slot on its bottom side. This may be the cheapest model in the lineup and storage may be the only factor separating the H100 from the more expensive H104, H105 and nearly twice as expensive H106, but card-based storage is really a great way to go. SD/SDHC cards are cheap, replaceable, swappable, nearly universal, and fit neatly in most notebook computers. You might have to buy a few of them to get 64GB of storage with you, but it’s a better value than going for 64GB on-board. For their part Samsung should have chosen a better strategy and had some differentiating factors between the models, like a microphone input or higher-end lens.
Shooting with the H100 is simple and predictable. The camcorder is easy to use and you know what you are going to to get from it. That said, the auto-focus is quite slow, which can be annoying under some circumstances. Image quality is good, but not great. The Samsung ends up being fine at HD video recording, but neither its color, nor sharpness match the best in the field, plus at less than optimum light levels video gets noticeably noisy. These problems persist for still images where the camera mode fails to impress.
Samsung’s HMX-H100, and by extension the HMX-H106, HMX-H105, and HMX-H104, are good HD camcorders, but not great ones. They do what is asked of them without giving the user any trouble, but they fail to stand out in what is a highly competitive field. After a nice showing from last year’s HMX20C, Samsung has seemingly chosen to stand still for a year, focusing more on SSD storage (an area where the company is a market leader) than on the camcorder itself. The H100 seems like the best of the lineup given the price, but anyone looking to invest more will be better served by something from a competitor, most notably Canon.

Shooting with the H100 is simple and predictable

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