Rating: 
Summary: Don't buy it -- Read the reviews!!!
Review: Please read and believe the bad reviews you read here on Amazon. The price on this camera really is too good to be true. I thought maybe some of the people just got a rare lemon. Well, I got one too.Just like other people have already said, within 10 minutes of using the camera, horizontal lines began to run through the picture. It is very noticeable and not at all acceptable. True, the camera has lots of great features for the money, but if the recordings are terrible, what's the point. Once again, please don't waste your time with this camcorder. After waiting a week to receive it, I'm very disappointed to have to send it back two hours after trying it out. Spend more money and get a camcorder with fewer features, but better recording.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Camcorder for the money!
Review: Receieved the Sharp about 5 days ago. Even thou this is my first camcorder, I did my research and figured that this is the best bet for the money. My only complaint is that the low light videos are sometimes graining, but during the days, it takes great videos. This camcorder DOES come with everything needed and with the Vivitar package, its the best deal out there. CNET even rates this camera as a great buy..they actually rated the Sharp 450, but I heard its the same camcorder but with more accessories.
Rating: 
Summary: Sometimes you get MORE that you pay for.
Review: I am a digital video specialist, and I have evaluated countless commercially available DV cameras in the past few months for professional purposes. The Sharp VL-WD255U is by far the most versatile and cost-effective single CCD DV camera that I have had the pleasure to use. There is no other digital video camera at this price point that comes close to its quality. Image quality is magnificent in bright light, but as with any video camera, image quality decreases as ambient light is reduced. I personally like the "cat's eye" feature for moderately low-light shooting (not to be confused with the more effective "super cat's eye" feature of the VL-WD450U). The ability to use this camera as a digital to analog (and A to D) recording deck is worth the price of admission alone. I would purchase this camera even if it were being offered at twice its current price. If you are new to digital video and or are just looking for an entry level DV camera that you will not quickly outgrow, this is camera for you.
Rating:
Summary: review
Review: two things you should look into when buying a digital camcorder: 1. pixels vary from camcorder to camcorder canon zr10 and this sharp offers 460,000, while more expensive entry level models offers 680,000. the stils are 640x480, enough for emails
2. you have to see if both the viewfinder (eyepiece) and the LCD (big rectangular screen) are colored. In the panasonic models, the view finder is black and white. this model it's colored. when transfering stills, you have to use a serial cable. great if you don't have a new computer but slow. It takes around 10 second for one image. this camcorder offers firewire cord. (word of advice, don't buy the (more expensive) cable, a plain firewire would do(...)). over all i enjoyed this. 28x optical zoom is the best of all camcorders. canon zr 10 offers 10x and panasonic is 18x. when you use Optical zoom, the quality of the video stay the same.
when you use digital zoom, the quality reduces, but not by much if you don't go beyond 60x. the combined zoom for this camcorder is 780x, by far, far the most impressive of all camcorders that are (in this price range). lastly, don't forget to add the vivitar promotion code when you buy! enjoy.
other than the 480000 pixel, which isn't much tradeoff compare to 680000, you should be satisfied. 350 dollar buy will make you happy for months if not a couple of years.
Rating: 
Summary: Blown Pixel?
Review: Well, after reading the only reviews on the web (here on AMAZON) about this little camera I finally bought it. I received the tripod, case, cleaner, which I feel is more like a [dollar amount] bundle, but hey its free. Getting into picture quality.. it is pretty good, it does take a little while to auto focus at farther distances, but it is still good. One major problem, I had a bright small red light in the LCD screen. I had no idea what it was, in my madness I told myself it was some sort of aiming mechanism... I really wanted to keep it. But, I called sharp and told me it was a blown pixel.. needed to blow 3 pixel to be covered under warranty. I laughed and I will now return it. [...] If the pixel was not blown.. and I didn't have this major defect I would have kept it. Another thing I have to trow in is that it does have a cat's eye feature that did not work. I was in pitch dark and nothing got me out of darkness. I know the Sonys have the cats eye function like a trigger, you touch it you see in the dark. Well another thing is that the camera felt cheap, thought the price is excellent, the camera feels cheap. Its like feeling a 100 dollar picture camera and touching a 20 dollar kodak. All the buttons that have to be pushed or moved make it feel like a rough ride. For example, the cats eye is a button you slide down, once you have slid it down it makes a loud shutting noice and makes it feel like it will break next time you use it. I felt I had to put these negatives in because everyone focuses on the positives. Hope the review is some helpful in your decission. ALso, Don't forget that you are paying only [dollar amount] for a camera and tripod and case. You can't expect a $1 million bux.
Rating:
Summary: Compare this to any ... Hi-8 and you know its a good buy
Review: Ok - It is real hard to find info on this product, Sharp is kind of sketchy, I even tried international models (Austraila - has a color brocure on-line but very little more detail) So that is why I write this: What do you get -
A mini-DV camcorder that has a smart media slot (It does not come with a smart media card) It doesn't write to the "chip" mini-dv tapes. It has a remote, It has a BT-L221 Battery pack -
there are optional BT-L441s (about twice as big - two times life) out - and duracel makes a factory fit battery too - so there are some options for back up battery. It doesn't come with S-video cables or firewire cables but does have a plug for each. It does record S-video or RCA audio/video in, it does have a shoe to hold a Sharp - zoom mic (not included) It does have some software to upload photos to the computer (but it is very slow) and you have to view through the camera to decide what you want to capture - but you can snap a still from the camera directly to the computer w/out ever recording to tape - but 9600 baud is really slow - think in terms of modem speed - we are talking 4 seconds to see a simple 60K still photo. It is the first night out of the box - I am pleased - everything is new, works and I think the menu is not that complicated -
NO there is not a button for any of the functions on the outside - but for most Camcorder use - thats great - you won't bump any buttons you don't want to. I haven't tried s-video out yet - but was pleased with the quality of the pictures recorded in fairly low light. - I can highly recomend the camcorder - - I wish Amazon would offer somthing besides the cheesy bag and tripod - when you figure out they have to ship it seperately this has to have cost them a few dollars - yes they are free - the bag is a bit small - the camcorder fits but you could not really put the ac adaptor in also. The tripod - wouldn't be bad for a really small camera - but I would not like to see a large camcorder fall to the ground. ....
Rating:
Summary: Nice features for a nice price -- a good starter DV camera
Review: I did a lot of research in looking for a camcorder. I knew I wanted DV because of superior picture quality especially when editing on a PC. It comes with all the basics, battery, charger, AC adapter, lens cap w/leash, remote control, RCA cables, and serial cable. Missing are a Firewire IEEE-1394 cable--this may be included with your firewire board though, S-video cable and SmartMedia card. Digital Still photo quality is decent for web work but I wouldn't print larger than a 4 x 6 picture. You can write digital stills to the tape. However, using a SmartMedia card records them faster. I found the camera easy to use. Video quality is excellent thanks in part to a Canon lens. The optical zoom is fantastic 26x is more than enough for most people's needs. Digital zoom doesn't do much for you. Overall, it's a good value especially if you take advantage of the rebate and free accessory kit.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT CAMCORDER FOR ITS PRICE
Review: I bought this camcorder a month ago and brought it on my trips to East Coast. The camcorder size is slightly bigger than other mini DV Cam but it's still acceptable. The quality of the picture is good and the image still is acceptable quality for web postings. The optical zoom is GREAT!!! If you are looking for just digital camcorder and don't want to spend a lot of money on it, THIS IS THE ONE FOR YOU!
Rating:
Summary: Great Camera!!!
Review: This is a great camera for the price!!! The only problem I had is I got a firewire card and cable and connected it to my Pc but I could not capture video. I called sharp and the said they do not support video transfers and they do not have a driver.
Rating:
Summary: Great first camcorder
Review: My wife and I have been looking for a camcorder for awhile and when I came across this deal on a website I thought it was too good of a deal to pass up with the rebate and the free kit and shipping. I ordered and received the camera two days later and it's been great. I've found the picture quality excellent and the 26x zoom has been very handy so far when I go bird -watching. I'm giving the camera four stars because the one thing I find annoying about it is the menu system. In order to manaully focus the camera you need to do it through the menu system which is difficult while recording. I'm not sure how other cameras handle this point but it is difficult on the Sharp. That being said I suspect the times you're really going to use manual focus is when you have the camera set on a tripod which makes it less of an issue and I wouldn't expect much else on a camera in this price range. The addition of the iLink port to hook this camera up to the computer makes editing a breeze. One warning: avoid the LP mode. I have had serious problems with the video in this mode but it was all mentioned in the manual. Overall my experience with this camera has been outstanding. A definite recommendation!
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