Rating: 
Summary: Don't believe anyone any review that doesn't like this item!
Review: I never owned a camcorder before so I was a little leeery about buying this one or any one for that matter. With non-digital camcorders going for [a little] more I figured why not. With a $100 rebate, no tax and free shipping it was a steal. That was before the free case and tripod were thrown in. I planned to go to Hawaii for Christmas so I wanted a camcorder to take along. It worked beautifully. From the bright sun lit shores of Kihei to the dim light at the luau to the rainy Hana coast, it worked superbly. Each night we viewed the pictures we had taken each day. The built in digital still camera also worked great. It's capacity is tremendous. I would recommend this camera to anyone.
Don't use TDK tapes. They clog the heads
Rating:
Summary: Doug, get the... Camcorder!
Review: If a "Camcorder Buying Idea" starts to grow on your mind, and of course you are not going to make money out of it, in which case you must go for a professional one, go and get this one.Kick the Sony's posterior with a camcorder that does the same thing at half (maybe 2/3) of the big-brother's price. Grab a big bag of popcorn and lots of patience if you are going to make a slide-show of your favorite low quality digital pictures, but rest assured that the movie will draw all the attention you want since the image and sound will be impecable.
The Digital Image Stabilization does its job, unless you are diagnosed with Parkinson. Since you probably will use mostly the AUTO exposure, speed and focus, don't worry about the bad reviews on the menu controls. They are quite OK. If you are a geek who can't program a VCR to record your wife's favorite soap then you'll definitely have trouble handling the controls in the camcorder...
Rating: 
Summary: Designed for creativity, but.........
Review: The good: 26X optical Lens. Shutter speed up 10,000, playback zoom, analog/digital converter for trfng analog source to PC. After using two of these cameras I would like to make the following comments.
The bad: 1st camera, video heads clogged after one use, purchased cleaner, recorded another small segment before heads clogged. Tape wasn't defective. Returned camera. Amazon return policy: Outstanding...had replacement before I had time to even pack up the camera. 2nd camcorder I did a small rec and pb test. After shooting something of importance, no playback. Tape tested fine.
Conclusion: Im sure Sharp didn't make a line of product where none worked. Perhaps rough holiday ship handling was to blame. If the camera worked it would have earned 5*'s
Rating: 
Summary: Nice "Grab Camera"
Review: As a professional still photographer, I like to keep as many bases covered as possible. There have been times when carrying a small video unit would have been an advantage in the field. My experience with other formats proved negative in terms of quality and I have not wanted to carry a 3 CCD unit because of their size and weight. I have found the recording quality to be adequate, the controls simple and straight-forward and the size and weight of the Sharp acceptable. The quality of the stills barely rises to the level of a webcam, however...no surprise when I found that I could record over 500 "high-res" stills on a single 64MB smart-media card. I can only take 3 with my Fuji Finepix 6900 which delivers acceptable 11X14 prints from compressed tiff files...apples to oranges. I cannot speak for durability after a week's use, and I have not received the the "bonus pack" yet, which I expect to be of little value. A good tripod or case retails at much higher prices, so be careful in the wind and around water and kids. As an accessory to my regular equipment, I believe the Sharp will be of some use and value. As a toy to create pieces for friends and family on the web, it should be fun.
Rating:
Summary: better than I expected for the price
Review: I received this as a gift, but the quality is much better than expected for the price that Amazon shows with the rebate. The picture is clear, but it is a little grainy in low light settings, even with the Cats Eye feature. The color reproduction is very good, if the lighting is good. I haven't run into any of the technical problems that others have described (tape eject problems, playback problems, lcd problems, etc.). The drawbacks to this camcorder are that it only comes with the bare essentials for getting you up and running and the menus are a little difficult to use while you are filming. Make sure you read the manual and understand the basics of how to work the camera before you start fooling around with it. I still think that the overall price vs. product value is great.
Rating: 
Summary: Did I get a bad one?
Review: At first I was quite happy with this camcorder. It is easy to use and is comfortable to hold. I like all of the features that it has. The zoom is great up to about 200x, and then even with a tripod the view begans to really get blurry. The still pictures are okay in quality and using a smart card is very easy. Sound quality is very good. This camcorder is loaded with features. The downside: I used this to record family events that have happened over the last few days and thought that everything went fine. Imagine my surprise when I viewed my tapes (I used several different tapes) and saw how bad they were. The picture keeps breaking up into a million squares and the date at the bottom of the screen keeps switching between Dec and Feb. It seemed that the picture was fine as long as I used a tripod, off of the tripod it was unviewable at times. Even when it was viewable the quality of the picture was not any better or not much better than my 5 year old VHS-C. Im not sure if I got a bad one or not. I've seen reviews from others that have similar bad experiences to mine and many others who are perfectly thrilled. For the money this is packed with features but the quality of the picture is horrid. UPDATE 1/14/02
Received a new one, it had blown pixels on the LCD. I'm not sure if the problems I encountered with my previous version are present in my new one. I have not have much time to 'test' it. One positive note is that AMAZON customer service has been an A+
Rating: 
Summary: What stars.
Review: First let me say it'll be hell to convince you otherwise if your bent on buying this. I mean you came here looking for opinions then chastize others with unhelpful votes if there not saying what you want to hear. You come here now to critisize and read what I have to say about this produck. Well let me tell you something, the camera is okay is u like pixies or heaps of technical advance computer advance things. but wait-- if your not a technical genious or computer genious dont buy it. otherwise you could be sorry for spending your money. Amazon has great varieties for your information. why don't you just try those.
Rating:
Summary: It's great when it works
Review: I bought this camcorder because the price after rebate and the features were ideal. Within days of receiving the first one, it stopped recording and playing back tapes. The clean your heads light came on. Returned it and bought a second. Exactly the same deal with the second one. Great features, lousy performance. I wouldn't recommend this camcorder to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: I am glad that I got this camera
Review: I got this the week before X-mas. Starting playing with it immediately. I filmed my niecy's birthday party. I was able to quickly plug it into my computer using the firewire (i.Link, 1394) plug. Windows XP detected it immediately and before I knew it, I was editing in Windows Movie Maker, Ulead, and MGI. I also tested on my Mac Titanium in iMovie and that worked great too. The features on the cam are great, although like someone else said, if you don't read the instructions first, you will be a bit confused at the menu functions. And as far as there being no optional light, that does suck, but so far, it has been pretty good even in not so bright situations. The still pics I am still working on. So far, all the pics that I have taken have sucked. I am wondering if it is a setting or something, but they are grainy and washed out. It does not compare to my digital cam at all. But, I did not really buy it for still, so I am not worried about that right now. It is also wonderful that you can easily record from other sources. I missed part of my niecy's party, but my brother-in-law taped it with his non-digital cam. I was able to easily record the missing scenes from his camera onto mine, and then edit it. Overall, I am very, very happy with this camera.
Rating:
Summary: Shop Around First!
Review: After my son opened the camera, read the instructions, and began taping the camera died. Blank screens ranging in colors of blue, green, red, black with static, etc. It's being shipped back to Amazon today, and I'll be shopping around for a new one, from a different manufacturer.
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