SAMSUNG SMX-C10

Not as big as a digital camera market, the camcorder market has been increased. Unlike a few years ago some manufacturers monopolized, recently various companies have been releasing their new products with distinguished design, functions, and performance. It makes users consider more in a good way. (Personally, I hate monopoly and oligopoly, because hard competition can cause a new technology more quickly at a reasonable price.)

Samsung is one of the manufacturers in the hard competition market. Unlike former years which were not impressive, now they have been releasing great products in quality, portability, functions, and design, and their market share gets higher.

The SMX-C10 which I'm reviewing is good enough to be popular. This reminds me of the word 'Minimalism' and with a simple, cute design the ergonomic design is so impressive. Thanks to the reasonable price different from other full HD camcorder, I think it will be very popular.

I usually don't use the word 'Cute', but looking at the C10, I just said 'This is cute' without even realizing it. Let's take a look at the design, function, and qualtiy with the review.

This product is for test,

so the specification might be different from the product for sale.

This is the full kit, and we can see various accessories are included. Body, power adaptor, battery, hand strap, USB cable, and AV cable are provided. Besides, quick manual and instruction CD are also included, although they are not in the picture. (This also supports a built-in software. After connecting USB, you can use the Intelli Studio program.)

@ When it comes to the SMX-C10 which I'm reviewing, it doesn't support the picture function. However, when it comes to the SMX-C14, it supports not only the picture, but also 16GB internal memory, so it's more convenient to use.

With 38.5 x 56.5 x 114mm of size and 156g of weight, the portability is really great. (I think this is the biggest advantage of the C10. Former products also had good portability, but when holding them, I felt like a little bit big, but the C10 is enough to be held in one hand. This product has the utmost portability, I can say.)

The design is also good enough to catch eyes. It succeeds the ergonomic design of the R10 and has a good grip. On top of that, by adopting high glossy UV coating, it also has high grade feeling. (Especially, the finishing is also satisfactory, so it's not giving any feel of low price range products at all. I d really like to recommend this product to users who want cute and elegant pocket camcorders.)

Like the picture, this product will come with red, blue, and grey colors, and the double molding which Samsung concentrates on is also very impressive. (This is a high-tech molding technology putting 2 plastic sticks together, and the colors become different depending on the angle of viewers. I know someone working for this molding technology, and I heard he was trying his best to get the better quality for months 24 hours a day 7 days a week. This is good looking, but hard to be created.)

This is the front, and we can see the Samsung lens supporting 10x optical zoom (1200x digital zoom). (Unlike other products, the scratch protecting lens is located, so without the lens cap, the lens is safe from pollution or damage. You don t need to worry about a lens cap every time when recording.) On the bottom, 2 microphones are located to allow users to record voice more clearly.

@You can see the direction of the lens is different from other products. The 25 inclined lens of the C10 prevents your wrist bent. Unlike other shooting type products giving fatigue on wrist, the C10 minimizes the fatigue with the ergonomic design.

It s the right side of the product. We can see it has the swivel LCD to set angles freely. (Thanks to the adjustable angle, users can shoot with any angles comfortably.)

The 230K pixels 2.7 inch TFT LCD is installed. (By supporting LCD compensation function, users can check the recording status under the sunlight.) Unlike other high-end products, it doesn t support the touch screen, but with the jog button on the side as in the picture, there s no inconvenience to select a function or play videos. (I m going to explain more, but anyway the UI of the C10 is so simple. Although it doesn t support the touch screen, it s very easy to control the product.) @ You can see the Menu button and recording button are also attached. When it comes to the jog button, it supports normal menu selection and zoom function also.

It s the right inside, and various buttons are located. Including the power button, play, Easy Q, display, and share button are here, and you can see mini 5 pin port and speaker. (Unlike other product needing an exclusive charger, the C10 supports USB charge function. With the great compatibility, it can transfer data and be charged with any PC using the mini 5 pin.

It s the back of the product. Unlike other products using a cap which is not fixed, this mode adopts the sliding cap. (It might be small, but I was satisfied with this very much.) Battery status LED and recording button are located, and battery/memory slot, power slot, and AV port are also located inside. @Unlike the C14 supporting 16GB, the C10 doesn t have internal memory. However, it supports up to 32GB SDHC, so I don t think there will be any inconvenience to watch high quality videos.

@ Charging & Recording & Playing time

It s the left side, and you can see the strap ring. (Like the picture, you can use the hand strap provided, or you can buy another necklace to hang on your neck. It s small and light enough to be hung on your neck.

It s the top of the product, and you can see there s a zoom lever. (When holding it, your index finger is located on it, so you can easily adjust the zoom. Like other high grade products, you can adjust the zooming speed depending on the intensity of your finger, so you can record better videos.)

It s the bottom of the product, and you can see there s a mount hole for tripod connection. (2 holes are provided for exclusive tripod of camcorder.)

Most of the time, I felt a camcorder filling my hand. However, when it comes to the C10, I could feel a little space, because it s so small.

The ergonomic design is so outstanding (Like the picture, different from other shooting type products making wrist bent, with this camcorder, you can record without wrist bent. Those who record for a long time will not feel any fatigue on your wrist, I think.) Due to the small size, the grip was so satisfactory. (When it comes to the R10, I felt a little burden when holding it, but the C10 is very good to hold.)

These are accessories included such as AV cable, hand strap, power adaptor, USB cable, and battery.

We ve look at the design and feature. At this time, through the UI, let s take a look at the various functions of the C10.

It s the ready screen, and you can see a lot of information displayed. (On both sides, basic function icons are displayed, and on the upper part, the recording time and battery status are displayed.) Besides, you can choose if you want to display the recording status or not, and using the EASY.Q optimizing most functions, even beginners can easily record a video. On top of that, by supporting the shortcut button, you can quickly run exposure, iSence, and play which are frequently used. (Pushing the jog button, like the picture right below, shortcut buttons are displayed on the LCD.)

Video Menu

This supports the iSence mode which automatically adjusts exposure depending on the situation. (Not only normal scene mode, but also white balance mode is also supported. With various selections, I think you will be able to record satisfactory videos any time.)

This supports 5 kinds of resolutions. When it comes to TV resolution, highest, high, and standard with 720x480@60i are supported, and for web resolution, 640x480@30p is supported. Users can set the resolution by quality. (The better the quality is, the more the size is. You can set it up to your life style or memory capacity.)

When it comes to the SMX-C14, it supports a picture function, so picture resolution menu is also supported. 800x600 and 1600x1200(Interpolation type) are supported and it s good enough to take normal snap shots. If you need a picture function, you should buy the C14. @ What is interpolation? It s a technique to magnify small pictures, in Korean it s BoGanBup . This is utilizing the color around the dead pixels and filling in, and it shows much better output than normal digital zoom type.

@Comparison table of C10 and C14

There are users using 16:9 ratio HDTV, but I also think there are a lot of users using 4:3 ratio analog TV also. The C10 supports 16:9 ratio and according to TV type, users can select the ration they want and watch videos with the TV. (In a word, the video fully fills the TV with this setting.) It also support a backlight compensation function, so dark objects by the backlight can be recorded brightly, and manual exposure compensation function is also supported as you can see in the picture.

Not only auto focus, but also manual focus setting function is provided (This can be set through the jog button.), and face recognition function is also supported. @ For the auto focus, it automatically sets the focus based on the recording region, but for the manual focus, the focus is set only on the part of the selected region

This also supports the HDIS function to minimize hand blue effect caused by hand shake, and fader function making videos smoothly start and end is supported. (This features optical 10x zoom, so I m going to use the IS function a lot. I really like this.)

It s the special effect function. With the various menus, you can use this camcorder with more pleasure.

@ Special effects adopted

This supports the wind noise elimination to allow users to record more clear voice in beach or high level building with a lot of wind, and digital zoom setting is also possible. (Up to 1200x zoom is possible. Although it reduces the quality, but it s useful I think.) Besides, it supports various guidelines, so users can take a video with more accurate angles.

The interval recording which records still images with certain interval and plays (30 fps) is also impressive. It s useful to record flower blooming and movement of sky. (Setting the interval recording, like the picture on the top, you can set the interval and recording time. For the interval 1/3/5/10/15/30 sec can be set, and the recording time is 24/72/infinite.)

Play Menu

Recorded videos can be played with the play button on the side. (The picture above is to play a video. 6 thumbnail pictures are displayed, and through those thumbnails, videos can be played more easily and conveniently.) @ Through the jog button, volume and setting regarding play can easily be made.

It s the play menu. Play setting is possible, and file delete function is also provided. (Deleting whole files is also possible.)

File protection function to prevent a mistake is provided. You can combine or divide video files. (After playing a video, you can stop and cut the video, or selecting 2 videos and combine them.)

You can share the video file and upload it on the YouTube (The share button is on the side.), and file information can be checked.

Configuration

Let s take a look at the configuration menu. You can see the information of storing position (External memory), and memory format function is provided. Besides, file number setting is also provided.

Time zone and date setting is possible, and you can select the display type of date.

Not only the type of date, but also the type of time also can be set, and you can set if displaying the time and date or not. You can adjust the brightness of the LCD.

Not only the brightness, but also color setting is supported, and for better visibility, LCD compensation function is also provided. Auto turning off function of the LCD can save the battery.

2 menu designs are provided, and transparency can also be set. Function sound can also be set.

@ Premium black UI design

Setting the auto power off, if no touch is made for 5 minutes, the power is automatically off. Like I explained, the built-in S/W setting is possible, and TV screen indication (Various icons on the LCD) can also be set.

As a Samsung product, various languages are supported (29 languages), and setting initialization and version check are possible.

The major function of the C10 can be seen as a slide show by the function introduction menu. (Doing nothing for 5 minutes, this introduction starts.)

We ve checked the various functions of the SMX-C10. Now, let s check the video quality and see the additional functions.

A/V TEST

TV and the C10 are connected. Through the AV cable included, you can easily enjoy the videos. (Only the composite is supported. However, the Full HD is not supported like the H106, so I don t think the component or HDMI is necessary. With the included cable, you can enjoy the videos of the C10.)

Although it s a compact product, the zooming function is as great as others. The picture above is maximum wide angle and maximum tele angle shot, and there were no quality degradation. Using the 10x optical zoom, detailed recording was possible without moving much. (It s rare to support the optical 10x zoom in the same range products. Only with the zooming, the C10 is good enough.) @However, unlike other high graded products supporting the OIS, the HDIS wasn t good enough. When it comes to the OIS, it was so satisfactory, but I could feel the shake with the HDIS when 10x zooming.

@ There was a little diffused reflection under the sunlight, but it was not that bad to check the videos. And the grip was so satisfactory as a palm size product.

@ Pushing here, you can download the original file.

Supporting maximum 720x480@60i, we can t expect the detail of the Full HD. However, there was no staircase effect or contour line, and the color expression was so great. Vividness was also very good with the accurate focus for indoor shot. (There was no dark side noise at all.) @ The C10 and C14 are not for professional, but a compact mode with Any time, anywhere . Although it doesn t support the HD, for snap, the quality is so great. I really like the video quality of the C10.

Intelli-Studio

Like the H106 I reviewed, this supports the built-in S/W. Using the USB cable, once connecting it to a PC, the intelli-Studio drive is made and program is automatically executed. Like the picture above, it consists of library menu to manage videos, video edit, and sharing menus. @ Unlike other programs which have to be installed, you can directly use the program, so once you have a PC, you can edit and upload the videos any time.

To edit videos easily, separate edit function is supported. Like the picture, putting the videos on the PC or something, you can apply various effects or adjust the frame or resolution more. (Different from Premier or Vegas, beginners can easily handle the software.)

Lastly, let s see the UCC upload function. Clicking the share icon, like the picture above, video upload screen is displayed. You checking the video to upload, select the web site(YouTube and Flickr), and push the upload button. Then the log in window pops up. After log in, the file is uploaded.

Using the share button on the side, you can select the video to upload. Once pushing the share button after connecting to a PC with a USB cable, you can load the selected videos at once like the picture.

You can see the video are uploaded on the YouTube. (I think you know Korea is not allowed to upload videos. If you set the country World like me, there s no problem to upload.)

Story board print

The SMX-C10 supports the unique function called storyboard print. Selecting the Storyboard print on the play setting menu, and selecting the file, 1600x1200 resolution picture file is made in DCIM folder. Dividing video files into 16 parts and displaying the thumbnails, you can quickly and intuitively find out the video.

[SAMSUNG SMX-C10 Design & Video]

Recently, the Minimalism is one of the most important words. A few years ago, they only focused on performance and functions, but now they give a priority to size, weight or design a lot. (No matter how great it has, it s not popular if the portability or design is not that good. Personally, I like this trend very much.)

The SMX-C10 fits the word minimalism well. It s a pocket type small size product enough to fit anywhere, and it minimizes the button part to give easy feeling for people as if it breaks the prejudice Camcorders are complicated . Applying High glossy UV coating and mirror material with great finishing are so satisfactory. (When it comes to design, I could see the difference from other Samsung products. I wasn t satisfied with the design of former products, but I like the C10 very much.)

Supporting optical 10x zoom which couldn t be seen from pocket camcorders is so charming, and the video quality is good. Besides, the built-in software Intelli-Studio to manage, edit, and upload videos is the advantage of the C10 s own.

It s easy enough to be used by beginners and upload on the UCC and supports the USB charge. It s a so satisfactory product for me. However, that it doesn t support the OIS even though it support the optical 10x zoom is the one thing I m not satisfied with. (It might be natural that a pocket camcorder doesn t support the OIS. However, I couldn t be satisfied with the HDIS, because I have a tremor of the hand.)

When it comes to a specification, it s so great that it will be very popular if the price is reasonable. I d like to recommend this product for beginners, women users who prefer this polishing design(It s not easy to find this fashionable camcorder), and find a portable camcorder.