Handycams part of our Lives

Handycams part of our Lives

Doharto J. Simatupang, Contributor, Jakarta

"Dad, take a good shot of me!" That was part of a dialog
between a child and his father at a birds' park in Ubud, Bali.
When the writer visited Bali last June, he noticed most tourists
-- domestic and foreign -- were carrying a handycam or digital
camera.

Handycam have become a trend among the middle-class because it
is increasingly affordable. A Sony CCD-TRV238E handycam costs
only Rp 2,650,000, which is more or less at the price level of a
flat Sony Wega KV-AR21M61 TV, which sells for Rp 2,500,000.

A handycam can be used to record an event, for example your
holiday, and also to take photographs, if it is provided with a
still picture feature. Handycams are now used by both
professionals and amateurs. Those working in a civil-engineering
projects, for example, can use them to make visual progress
reports of their projects. Of course, they will use a handycam.
If you work in the freight forwarding sector and would like to
take pictures of the real condition of the warehouse or vessels,
you will also need a handycam. A handycam is also used by those
making personal video clips, and can also be used to spy on your
competitors! In short, handycams are now part of our lives.

There are several things to observe when you want to buy a
handycam. First, pay attention to its optical capacity. The
bigger the optical enlargement capacity, the freer the handycam
will be in capturing objects. Today, handycams optical
enlargement capacity is from 10x to 16x. There are also several
others types on the market with bigger optical capacity.

These include, among others, the Panasonic NV-GS35EN with 30x
optical capacity, Sony DCR-TRV240E, JVC GR-D250, JVC GR-D295 and
JVS GR-SXM301AG, all with 25x optical capacity, Panasonic NV-
GS11EN, Panasonic NV-GS15EN and Panasonic NV-GS25EN, all with 24x
enlargement optical capacity. Meanwhile, the Canon MVX650i and
MVX-750i are provided with 22 x optical capacity. In the writer's
experience, a 10x or 12x enlargement optical capacity is not
sufficient, but a 16x is reasonable. If the optical capacity
exceeds 20x, the objects observed seem to be right in front of
you.

In terms of the sharpness of still pictures, the capacity of a
handycam is surpassed only by a digital camera specially designed
for this purpose. However, today there are handycams with a
capacity of 5.25 Megapixels. They are the Samsung VP-D605i,
Panasonic NV-GS400EN with 4.0 Megapixels, Sony DCR-PC350E with
3.31 Megapixels, Panasonic NV-GS250EN with 3.1 Megapixels, Sony
DCR-HC90E, Sony DCR-DVD803E and Sony DCR-PC330E, all three with
3.0 Megapixels.

Meanwhile, in the 2.32 Megapixels category, there is the
Panasonic NV-GS200EN, NV-GS150EN and NV-GS140EN. Tests show that
even a handycam with a capacity of 1 Megapixel is still good for
taking pictures. Now, what about your handycam?

To ensure that their products will sell in the market,
manufacturers provide their line-up their products with
sophisticated features. Obviously, these features will jack up
the price. A feature that is relatively scarce today is a
Progressive Scan, which you can find in the JVC GR-DP1E.
Meanwhile Sony's DCR-TRV50E is provided with Bluetooth but the
price is still relatively expensive, namely Rp 11,700,000 (BM).
Meanwhile, a Samsung VP-D6050i has a card reader capable of
reading all types of memory cards! As for the Sony DCR-HC1000E,
which is a sophisticated handycam with superior features
including 3CCD Carl Zeiss Lens, Night Shoot Plus and a 5.1
channel sound system, it costs "a mere" Rp 15,700,000. If you
would like to opt for a lower price, you can have the "specdown"
of this DCR-HC1000E, namely the DCR-HC90E, which is provided with
Night Shoot Plus, Carl Zeiss lens, a 5.1 channel sound system and
a Tele Macro.

Handycams that are increasing popular among handycam users and
that have begun to be trendy are those with DVD-RAM or DVD-R/-
RW/+RW recording media. There are 13 types of DVD handycams in
the market today. They are the Hitachi DZ-MV380E and DZ-MV350E,
Panasonic VDR-M70, VDR-M50 and VDR-M30, Sony DCR-DVD101E, DCR-
DVD201E, DCR-DVD7e, DCR-DVD653E, DCR-DVD703E and DCR-DVD803E.

In terms of picture quality and practicality, DVD-RAM or DVD-
R/-RW/+RW recording media are superior. However, if your budget
is only enough to buy a handycam with MiniDV recording media,
even this type will suffice, especially given the fact that a
MiniDV cassette, at Rp 25,000 a piece, is cheaper than a DVD-RAM
or a DVD-R/-RW/+RW disc.

Test product: Sony DCR-DVD703E handycam

The Sony DCR-DVD703E handycam is worth putting to the test. This
handycam is provided with a number of superior features. Standard
features for this type are a Wide Hybrid 2.7" touchscreen LCD
monitor, 1 Megapixel CCD, Dolby Digital and DVD-R/-RW/+RW
recording media. Besides, it also uses a lens produced by Carl
Zeiss Vario-Tessar. Unfortunately, the optical capacity of this
DCR-DVD703E type is only 12x. The price is quite competitive.
"Kotaraya Foto Video" sells it for Rp 7,250,000. This price
includes a bag and two blank DVD discs. Interested to purchase
one?

This handycam is really handy in our grip. It is not too small
and not too tiring if you use it for a long period. The results
from the postcard-sized (digital) pictures taken with this DVD
handycam are quite good. Understandably, this is thanks to its 1
Megapixel camera capacity. Unfortunately, when pictures were
taken of objects in a room with low light, the results were
rather poor. The reason is that the DCR-DVD703E is not provided
with a built-in flash or auto light.

Peeping through the LCD window gives you a different
atmosphere compared with looking through a conventional LCD with
4:3 ratio aspect. In this particular Sony model, the LCD monitor
is a wide screen, with a ratio aspect of 16:9. In addition, you
will find the use of this model really handy because of the
touchscreen mode for the operation of the menu, such as playback
control, AE program, effects mode and search and title entries.

Your recording can be directly played back using a DVD player.
Easy right?