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Rating: 
Summary: Great cam for the price
Review: After looking at a ton of cameras I stumbeled onto this one. But I couldn't find too many reviews but the ones I did find only praised it, so I went out on a limb and bought this bad boy. And I'm glad I did. For the price this cam cannot be beat. The picture quality is excellent, not broadcast mind you but hey, it wasn't 3 grand. The zoom and auto focus work really well and so does the night vision. You can see in total darkness. The sound also picks up great because the mic points toward the front not the sky like many other cameras. A cool thing about this camera is that there is no red light when you are recording so you can get real candid shots. The battery lasts for a long time, one charge will last me a week when I film skiing everyday. And the charge only takes about 30 min. The tape load is on the bottom so it cannot be accesed while mounted on a tripod, but it's not a big deal. One thing I've noticed is that when filming in the cold you have to let it record for a few extra seconds or else what you were trying to get will be cut short. Other than that I haven noticed any problems. BTW it does not come with a firewire cord, or the lens attachment that appears in so many pictures of it.
Rating: 
Summary: Go with a Japanese brand
Review: Even though Samsung licenses the technology from Japanese vendors, they suffer 1) poor quality control, and 2) terrible ergonomic design decisions, and 3) extremely bad customer support -- don't expect to find anyone if you need support such as warranty fulfillment. A much higher-quality JVC or Sharp doesn't cost much more, and gives you years of trusty service. The image quality on this model is pretty poor, prompting a Korean reviewer to call it worse than many 8mm camcorders. I can't comment on audio, but I'd be really really surprised if a Samsung can have better audio than a Panasonic, which Digital Video magazine gave a very positive review of.So go with the best and get a reliable Japanese brand.
Rating:
Summary: good camera
Review: good camera has alot of nice features and is light weight. and no it doesn't have a touch screen like captncrunch said.
Rating:
Summary: Very Nice for price
Review: If you are looking for a cheap DV cam but want to shoot nice video, this is the one for you, I use it for a TV program, the one CD does nice, just dont move the Camera :). Its great for filming family and friends, its a hard worker.
Rating:
Summary: SamDUNG SCD80- it sucks!
Review: Just days after buying it, it started shredding up tapes, poor video quality, poor customer support, and when it doesn't eat the tape up, it can't even play it back properly without having serious playback problems. I have talked to others about this cam-- same thing. SamDUNG.
Rating: 
Summary: Perfect for the price, if your like me
Review: Lets face it, we dont all have the dollars to throw on just any expensive camcorder...so if you want something affordable, you dont want it to be cheap. In other words, you dont want to sacrafice the price for the quality. This model has done the opposite, and made me happy to spend what little money it cost, and has had terrific results. I dont want to go into the detail like the guy before me did, but I will say that he was right about all that he said. Its really a worthwhile buy, and you cant go wrong with a great company like samsung.
Rating:
Summary: A more in-depth review than the rest
Review: Since no one here wrote a thorough review of the SCD80, and since I've been a long time Amazon customer, I feel it's time to give back. Overall, this is a terrific camera for amateurs/novices especially. It has a LOT of nifty features for something this cheap. I won't reevaluate the basic technical features, such as the zoom aspects, as it was already covered in the Amazon Editorial review. To start off the review, I'd like to mention what I think to be the most important aspect of any camcorder - video quality. I noticed indoor shooting, in low light situations, the quality can indeed be grainy. It's worthy to point out that I've read reviews of other MiniDV cam's in the $300-500 range and people complain about the same thing, so it's simply how much lux your camera has (the more, the better, the better, the more expensive :) ). If you have lighting set up, you can remedy this depending on how much lighting is provided.
Outdoor quality, on the other hand, I must say I am very impressed, especially in comparison to the indoor shooting. I didn't have backlighting problems (when the sun or backlight is so intense and over glaring that your subject becomes dark). In fact, the quality was held intact, AND there is a backlight button if you ever encounter that. Though, as my teacher explained to me, it's best to use WarmCards and exposure settings :)...up to you which works best. The second most important aspect to me, Audio quality, in my opinion, is AWESOME. The Panasonic PVDV52 MiniDV camcorder, in comparison, one reviewer on amazon says: "The built-in microphone has very poor sound quality - voices sound very tinny. I wish it had a way of connecting an external microphone." Hahaha. You won't have this problem w/ the SCD80. As long as your subject is aimed at the front of the camera, you'll pick up voices perfectly. Whatever I shot and recorded, I picked up all the sounds I wanted and needed. In fact, depending on your location, it's so powerful it can pick up the sound of an airliner in the sky. You can use the "WindCut" feature on the camera to suit your needs. Also what's great here is that THERE IS a built-in mic jack w/ the SCD80!!! Not only is the sound quality great as is, but there's the said "WindCut" feature, as well as a mic jack. Though, unfortunately, and this is only through one test, it didn't pick up sound well enough to be considered "good" quality. I guess it simply depends on the mic you use, and the placement of it. Other things..The LCD screen is adequate, and is the only viewfinder of the two I use. The other viewfinder being the "peekhole," which is in black & white, smaller resolution, and harder to film through. The camera is light, not heavy and clunky. As with most, if not all MiniDV digital camcorders, it has an iLink, or IEEE 394, connection (cable or PCI card not included). Don't have the cable or the PCI card slot, so I have yet to test a transfer to my PC myself. To break it down..
PROS:
* Audio & Video quality
* size and weight
* connectivity (S-vid, A/V, external mic jacks)
* Additional features (remote control, Audio dubbing, night shooting, Lithium Ion rechargeable battery, AC Adapter in-box). CONS:
* Low light/indoor shooting = grainy
* External mic jack isn't that terrific (like I said, it could be better depending on a better mic and/or placement of the mic)
* Very minor, only for college students working on projects or for amateur film makers. As with all consumer/prosumer MiniDV cam's, once the power supply is interrupted, or tape is removed, your timer for the next recorded shot will be set back to zero. Once again, if you're shooting a project for school for instance, it will be a bit harder to edit on the computer.
* This is the same w/ the past CON. Again, when power supply and/or tape is interfered w/, and you want to shoot on the same tape after a previous scene/shot, it is VERY HARD TO BACKTRACK AND EDIT! You'll have to find a good spot to backtrack to, and most likely you will have recorded over a few PRECIOUS, PRECIOUS milliseconds of the previous shot. I believe this applies to all or most consumer/prosumer MiniDV camcorders. To sum it up, some companies may throw in features just so you'll buy their product over a competitor's that doesn't have that feature. However, in this case all of the said features work incredibly. In a similar example, the Panasonic PVDV52 again, and one particular Sony model, a Digital 8 camcorder I believe, has a rechargeable battery with it. But it dies very quickly and those that purchased it were FORCED to buy a new battery, at a VERY high cost. So, w/ the Samsung SCD80, you don't have to worry about that, for example. I recommend this camera to amateur film makers and students alike (both like myself, heh), as well as for the average person who records precious moments in life (like birthdays, special events, etc.). Even w/ the few minor hiccups (see the CONS section), the audio and video quality outweigh those hiccups alone...not to mention the cool extras you get with it! Remember to use lighting, and enjoy filming!
I hope this was more helpful than the other "reviews" here.
Rating:
Summary: Cap'm Crunch
Review: This is the best product I have ever not bought I love it it has touchscreen and everything yum
Rating:
Summary: Stay away from this camcorder
Review: We bought this last June in spite of the few bad reviews thinking it was a bargain. We used it once to record my son's birth. After that the screens all went white and it wouldn't do anything, even give me a menu anymore. The manufacturer was no help at all over the phone; they act like they know nothing about their own products. I sent it off to a place in Seattle and just got the news today that the board on it is completely fried due to a short of some type and it's not worth the money to fix it. At least I have the one video that I made with it. For $450 it's a pretty expensive video. Stay away from Samsung... their customer service is the pits.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad at all.......
Review: Well I just recently purchased this item...so far it has been the best camcorder I have bought and for the price and it's features...you just can't ask for anything else! Excellent resolution, compact, lightweight, excellent features, the digital effects are well suited for the camera, and best of all it's digital...aaahhhhhhh.....the digital age has begun and here to stay! ;)
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