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?