I used my earning from Saturday’s trip to Wendover to purchase a new toy for the upcoming current ski season. An HD Camcorder and two 8gb SDHC cards for $320. And I still have another $100 left over.
CNET Review: http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-camcorders/samsung-sc-hmx10/4505-6500_7-32306196.html?tag=mncol;lst
Better Review: http://paulstamatiou.com/2008/03/17/review-samsung-sc-hmx10c-hd-camcorder
Sample Video: http://vimeo.com/788555
Close-Up Video: http://vimeo.com/788548
Zoom Test: http://vimeo.com/779375
The review are not all favorable, but for the money and my current needs, it seems to be a good fit. Most HD Camcorders record in AVCHD, a format requiring a Quad-Core processor. The Samsung records video as an MPEG4 file. While I lose some video quality, I can avoid purchasing a new laptop strictly for video editing purposes. We’ll see if this holds true, but it sounded good enough to take a chance on the camcorder. Plus, the SDHC memory storage should allow me to carry 8, 16, or 24gb with me on any ski day/trip.
So, these were my options:
- Stick with my current set-up: a helmet cam, Charli’s digital camera, and Bill’s low-def camcorder = $0
- Current set-up + a water/shock proof Olympus Stylus = $300
- Current set-up + Canon HD Camcorder + new MacBook = $500 + $1,000 = $1,500
- Current set-up + Samsung HD Camcorder = $320
Hopefully the Samsung works out. If not, I bought it with house money.