DXG DXG-595V - Camcorder - 1080p - 5.0 MP - 5x optical zoom - flash 32 MB - flash card

stopped working second time i used it. BTW no manual focus, so focus constantly shifts between what it thinks you are shooting. When it did work 1080p is not true 1080p but an upconversion, the 720p was halfway decent. and that was the only good thing i can say.

Poor room light performance, picure very noisy. Had file errors on Kingston class 6 8GB HCSD when recording in 1080 mode after 40 to 50 seconds of recording. No file errors in other modes. Picture warps or bends sideways when panning camera back and forth in 1080 mode. Short battery life. Not really 1080, picture is actually 1440 in HD mode.

This is amazing camcorder technology for the money for someone that wants to try a lot of things on a budget. Great: It's got full 1080p high definition video, double frame rate at 720p and 480p and a powerful macro mode for very close-up work. The macro allows an ant or two to fill the screen (fully zoomed). Wow, I never saw those mouth parts before. 60 frames per second allows smoother action or slo-mo studies on a PC. And the 1080p is the video equivalent of "high fidelity". So-So: Still Camera: Although capable of great 5MP still pictures in sunlight, it's much less forgiving indoors and under a range of conditions that still camera companies excel at. There's a way around that too, you can shoot 1080p video and select the best frames. This gives you 2 megapixel stills, which is often better at catching the perfect pose than any still camera can deliver, though it's way more time-consuming than taking snapshots and requires a PC: The free Quicktime movie player (included) lets you copy single frames to the clipboard, which you paste into Paint or the included photo software, then save as a JPEG. Be sure to play quicktime full size in order to copy the full-resolution JPEG's. Software: The included movie software lets you edit the movies on a PC and burn a DVD at standard definition, or Blu-Ray or HD if you have such a drive. The DVD burning software yields poor video quality unless you go online for the update. Haven't played with it much. This is the only low-cost camcorder I've seen with video editing software. Back to camcorder: Movies are excellent when viewed on a PC or directly to a TV with the component outputs (1080 or standard AV outputs). The contrast is a little light to me, I tend to dial it up on the TV. The resulting video is stunning! There are a few imperfections I note: The autofocus moves the picture very slightly from side to side, especially when zoomed and my unit has a slight softening or blurring along the right side of the picture which nobody I know noticed until I pointed it out. It shoots high definition video that looks sharp and free of video compression artifacts. The 5x zoom is nice to have and the digital zoom adds more if you let it, at reduced quality, which is typical of digital zooms. Sometimes the zoom is sluggish, as if the camera is busy. Image stabilization works below 1080p, probably because more processor time is available at the lower resolutions. I've experimented with other cameras: Compared to still cameras that offer HD video, the 595V has more modes of video and more control in those modes (such as exposure changes, color balance). Still cameras tend to have poor compression and this eats up memory faster. Most can't focus as close and they lack 60fps. The still cameras tend to have better low light sensitivity indoors. The DXG has "night shot", which slows the frame rate to about 15fps and looks pretty good in low light. The DXG is a nicer size to hold, but bulkier to carry than still cameras. Compared to other low-cost HD camcorders, this is the first I've seen with full 1080p video (others are often called "1080p" as opposed to "full 1080p", they have 1080p vertical but reduced horizontal resolution, a plus for the 595V). This one uses 2x more flash memory than say 720p, fortunately flash prices have dropped. Some 720p camcorders make a slight "jump" every second in dark parts of the picture as the compression drifts, then restores. This effect was not noticed with the 595V, it looks steady. The low cost camera/camcorders lack a manual focus, which is true of this one too. Most people find autofocus acceptable, but sometimes it annoys me. If you buy an HD camera without optical zoom, it also has no autofocus. If you like to a range of video capabilities, this is the one for you. But if your emphasis is on indoor stills, you may prefer at a good still camera which also offers HD video.

The quality was OK, but there were concessions to price. I believe there are better values, at similar prices, from the newer cell phones: the Palm Pre has a more than adequate camera, 3.2 Megapixels, hours of video AND a GPS with talk feature. The camcorder is not as versatile and has limited features.

It looked a great value for an HD camcorder... but the end result was terribly disappointing. I knew it wouldn't give professional quality, but I did expect it to be better than the video mode of my still camera! At first, playback with QuickTime was very jerky and unwatchable, but updating to the latest version helped a lot and made playback smooth. (I didn't try using their arcsoft software - if it doesn't work with a standard player than it simply isn't worth it to me.) The picture quality was OK in full daylight, but the image from indoors (with all lights on) was terrible. I took the same shot of my kids with this camera and the video mode on my Panasonic Lumix still camera (standard definition), and the Lumix was MUCH better. The image from the DXG was VERY grainy - this is what convinced me to return it. The other highly annoying thing I noticed is that it takes a very long time for the autofocus to settle in (and there is no manual mode). After adjusting the zoom any amount, it took 4-5 seconds of the camera focusing in and out before it finally settled down. There is also no HDMI output for playing on HDTV. To play on TV requires yellow/red/white AV cords (mine had a terrible static whenever the red cord was in - I had to unplug that and use mono sound) as well as the component cords. Too many to carry around, in my opinion. Otherwise the all plastic designed felt a little cheap, but looked pretty good. The screen seemed adequately bright and was a good size. The camera fit well in my hand. The 5X optical zoom is probably enough for most applications and certainly beats the lousy 2x digital only zoom found on comparably priced products. If you're looking for a cheap digital camera that you'll only use outside on bright days, this might be good for you. If you want to take a lot indoor video, I'd stay away from this one. I think that most Standard Definition camcorders will take better video than this "HD" camera.