Recording memories is such a nice thought. And doing that in high definition is even more enticing, which is why Samsung?s newest high definition (HD) offering, the Samsung HMX-H200 HD camcorder grabs attention. Not just for the HD capabilities, but also for the price. Read on.

To start with, the box contains the camcorder, charger, USB cable and a component video out cable. The camcorder itself is very compact. It comes with a 20x Schneider Kreuznach lens that is covered by a manual lens cover. At the other end of the device, there is the zoom rocker, mode dial (to move from video to playback) and the photo button. At the back is the battery, record button and charger input. The 2.7-inch wide touchscreen LCD can be twisted through 270 degrees and also has a second zoom rocker and record button next to it. There?s also an AV out, HDMI out and a mini USB slot, smartly covered by a plastic flap.

The device takes longer to start up than expected and similarly takes some time to move from view mode to record. In terms of control, the device can be controlled with either the rocker at the top and the record button next to it or the zoom in and out and record buttons next to the screen. Most of the settings and controls are set on the touchscreen panel. The menu button to the left takes you to settings like scene modes (iScene), resolution, exposure and focus buttons.

iScene has various options like the Auto, Sports, Portrait, Spotlight, Beach/Snow, Food, Candlelight and Indoor. The resolution tab has the options to set the video recording at 1080/50i, then is the 720/50p and SD recording at 576/50p. The user can set the still image resolution to a maximum of 4.7 MP (2880×1620) and a minimum of 2 MP (1920×1080). Focus can be adjusted between Auto, Manual and an interesting TouchPoint focus. TouchPoint focus enables you to take interesting shots playing around with the depth of field and it works quite well. You just need to touch the area of the screen that you want in focus.

The device records videos in H.264 HD format, however, it does not have any inbuilt memory and takes in SDHC cards. The amount of video you can store can be increased by recording at lesser resolution (780p) instead of the highest (1080i). The still images at 4.7 MP are not bad either. The camera has Smart OIS (Optical Image Stabiliser) that ensures smooth movements?a welcome addition at this price. Finally, you also get Time Lapse recording; it takes still images after every 1,3 or 5 seconds for the duration and then stitches them together to present a time lapse video.

There have been some cut corners. There is no LED video light or xenon flash, so you?re dependant on ambient light at all times. The lens cover has to be manually opened each time, and if you forget to shut it, you risk damage to the lens or build up of dust. Finally, it?s not full HD 1080p, but 1080i.

Overall, at the price of Rs 20k, the HMX-H200 is the only camcorder that provides HD recording with a touchscreen. The next closest priced HD camcorders are Sony HDR-CX100E/B and Sony HDR-CX150E/B priced at Rs 30k. You can get compact HD camcorders like the Creative Vado 3rd Gen or Kodak?s Zi8 for half the price, but you can?t really consider them as competition, since they only do video and they have no optical zoom.

? CyberMedia www.LD2.in

Mail:talkLD@cybermedia.co.in