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Sharp VLNZ105U MiniDV Compact Digital Viewcam w/3" Color LCD, MMC/SD Memory Card Slot & USB Interface

Sharp VLNZ105U MiniDV Compact Digital Viewcam w/3" Color LCD, MMC/SD Memory Card Slot & USB Interface

List Price: $749.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Adequate features for a GREAT price
Review: Obviously if you want tons of bells & whistles you should check out more expensive camcorders from Sony and Canon and JVC. The Sharp is a very capable and adequate camcorder for 99.9% of us amateur videographers. The 3" LCD is beautiful. Some people complain about the shape, but I find using two hands to hold the camcorder (any camcorder) makes much steadier shots, so I actually have come to prefer the shape of Sharp's camcorders. In any event, it's really easy to use and the battery life is good, too. So if you are looking for an everyday camcorder, be sure to consider this great value.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Camcorder!! I especially like a few key features!
Review: Positives:
1. You can recharge this camcorder by plugging it directly into an electric outlet- no dealing with rechargable batteries :)
2. Can take still photographs & uses SD instead of putting the stills on the tape.
3. While in playback mode (watching video footage you took), you can pause it and take stills from the tape onto the SD card.
4. The camcorder lasts a long time & I do not have to recharge it often :)

Negatives:
1. The quality of the still photos is not great but it is good for emailing.

Overall I love this camcorder because of the 'Positives' I mentioned above- it has everything I need. I know that the stills are not great quality but for the price of this camcorder I can manage ;) This is a great deal!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Bang Fer Your Buck
Review: Staring at an LCD instead of through a viewport is actually quite liberating. Say you are sitting in an auditorium behind some fathead. Just move the camera around or over the fathead's head.

1394/iLink/Firewire Works great with Windows XP and Windows Movie Maker. No special software required. Just plug and play. Connecting the USB to the camcorder to download the pictures required the supplied camera USB driver. The anti-jiggle feature is quite lame compared to a Sony. Better order a tripod.

A few things to note: Maximum still picture camera resolution is 640x480. Quite frankly, the pictures are very blurry. Don't bother with a bigger SD card because you won't be taking too many pictures with this. Also, it did not come with a 1394 cable,miniDV cassette or carrying case. I ordered the cable for <$9 and got a sixpack of Maxell miniDVs at [local store] for $22.

Overall I really like this camcorder. You certainly can't beat the price. If you are looking to buy a starter camcorder this deal can't be beat. Other than that you may consider the Sony Digital8 cam for $100 more.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Affordable DV
Review: Straightforward camera that gets the job done. Great value. USEABILITY: Slight downside on ergonomics. The layout with the screen on the back is useable, but a bit akward. You have to use the same finger (R thumb) for both zooming and rec/stop. More importantly, you generally have to use two hands, unlike the typical one-handed strap designs on most cams. So don't expect to use it while bike riding unless you like to ride no hands. STILLS: The still capability is cool but don't expect to use it for more than email-grade snapshots. DV cams are designed for motion, and the resolution on most is generally only around 0.3 megapixels. BATTERY: As with many cams, the supplied battery is small, so I purchased an OEM double-capacity ... The VL-NZ150 and 155 come with an extra battery (double-capacity). I am happy with the VL-NZ105 and am satisfied that it was a good value.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: AWESOME BARGAIN
Review: THE BOTTOM LINE HERE IS THAT THIS CAMCORDER DELIVERS. INCLUDED IS A THE SD CARD FOR DIGITAL IMAGES, NO FIRE WIRE PROBLEMS FOR ME AND THE UNITS SIZE IS PERFECT. AT $, THIS UNIT IS AN EXCELLENT BARGAIN. I HAVE SEARCHED ALL OF THE BIG RETAIL STORES INCLUDING THE CLUBS AND ALL OF THEM ARE AT LEAST $100.00 MORE FOR A COMPARABLE UNIT.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Combination Video Recorder Digital Camera
Review: The last video recorder that I purchased required you to carry it over your shoulder, so the compact size of this camera was verty attractive. It is easy to use and the batteries last quite a long time. Its very easy to switch from video record mode to digital still mode, and it is a snap to upload the photos to your computer, or play your videos on a TV or transfer to a VHS tap via a VCR. My only complaint about this camera would be that when zooming the video, it is difficult to hold the camera still enough to have a stable picture -- which may be a deficiency of the user rather than the camera.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Great Ergonomics, get a extended warranty!
Review: The unit is a good starter unit, especially for $$$ Once you get it, treat it delicately. This isn't your mom's bakelite phone from 1960.

As SOON as you see any visual display issues on either record or playback, stop and send the unit to Sharp for repair.

Get an aftermarket extended warranty, preferable Mack, (not offered here, sadly).

Unit has motor whine when in use with the build in microphone, play back on a TV either directly or via a Firewire-PC-CDR burn to DVD will play the whine. You have to use an aftermarket directional mic.

It's much easier and friendlier to use that a normal palm camcorder, your hands are naturally positioned, and the screen makes recording easier for anyone.

The digital picture mode doesn't take great photo's so it's not a replacement for a digital "camera"

If you asked me if I would buy another sharp camcorder, no. There are so many other companies making digital corders that have so much more durability and functionality. I would miss the flex screen ability.

Lastly, Sharp Customer service is pathetic. They don't know their own products. They don't even know that their firewire system supports full video/audio PC/Mac capture.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Sharp VLNZ105U camcorder
Review: This camcorder has a wealth of features and is easy to use. The ability to take still photos and store them on the smartcard is a nice feature. The video image is good to very good.

After four hours of recording we started to have problems with playing back recordings and determined from the icon that the tape heads needed to be cleaned. The head cleaning was easy once we bought a tape ..., but hopefully this won't happen every four hours.

Taking everything into consideration, I'd probably make the purchase again at the same price ...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: So small, so smart!
Review: This is a really useful little camcorder. For my hands, it's almost too small, but has a lot of very handy features, like the fade in/fade out and single frame capture via SD card. The video capture is consistent with all entry level cameras: it likes a lot of light! The digital camera function is OK, but don't expect the same performance as a 3 Mpixel camera that costs as much as this camcorder. If you really want low-light high performance or a bunch of professional features, you will have to cough up a LOT more money. If you want a handy little gizmo to record casual lifetime moments, this is the one!
I want to make a specific comment about Firewire performance: my WinXP machine recognized this device and loaded the drivers in 30 seconds. I was downloading and editing video in less than 5 minutes. Earlier notes from other correspondents regarding Sharp's non-performance in this arena are misinformed.
I recommend adding a Firewire (IEEE-1394 or iLink)card to your computer (and a lot of drive space), you'll be wondering how you ever did without this!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: BestBuy of the year!
Review: This is my first purchased digital camcorder, and I love it. After rebate this DV is just worth every penny. The pictures quality are excellent for me. Well, i just like to take daily lives pictures, and it works for me. What about video qulity? I would say this thing does a great job.
I think the best thing to this Dv is easy to use, connect to pc, excellent for the price.
And downside is that when carry it with one hand, it's kind of heavy and not too stable. Anyway, For [item price], I will never regret buying it.


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