10 Camcorder Roundup : Toshiba Camileo
By
Digital Versus,
published on April 16, 2009
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11. Toshiba Camileo
With the Camileo, Toshiba offers a very compact hand held camcorder in the U.K. which records to a SD Card similar to Sanyo’s Xacti. We expect this product to arrive the U.S. market by Summer 2009.
Design
Design
Our first impression of the Camileo wasn’t too reassuring. Its plastic didn’t seem to be of high quality, and overall the camera seemed a little too fragile. The design is rather plain, but there is a large LCD screen, a plus for this type of product. The interface is relatively simple and menus are basic. The Camileo is a non-professional camcorder and is attractive for its ease-of-use and versatility (MP3 player, 5 megapixel still photos, video, and voice recorder)
Image quality
The Camileo’s definition in 640 x 480 is basic and recording is in MPEG-4 format. While definition is not a problem (the ideal size for posting on the Internet), video quality is more frustrating. Colors are bland, the sensor lacks sensitivity and the entirely digital zoom is ill-adapted to video. In photo mode, the Camileo is rather mediocre.
| Toshiba Camileo | |
|---|---|
| Pluses | Minuses |
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Besides the Camileos ''pistol'' design and multimedia functions (MP3, voice recorder, etc.), we werent too excited by this product. For the same price, a compact such as the Fuji F20 is largely superior in photo/video.
It's a troubling trend that nearly all consumer/prosumer camcorders are ditching the EVF in favor of the LCD, which is useless outdoors. I really liked the Canons, given their feature set and quality, but the lack of EVF was killer (the only model with EVF was the HG21, and that was impossible to find), and so I got a Sony SR12 instead. Great features are useless if you can't see what you're filming, unless you're doing all your work indoors.
I am only part way through the article, but I have to say that comparing the Vado (about $100) with even the Canon DC210 (about $400) just doesn't wash. If you had at least mentioned the price disparity, it might have been acceptable, but the Vado isn't aimed at the same market. Plus, the VADO HD is available, yet the article says, "but we're still waiting for the HD version of the Vado."
For me, this weakens the journalism and therefore weakens the reviews in general. It makes me wonder, did you really do due diligence in the review. Maybe your article lead time is too long, but that's where an editor can add notes, like, The Vado HD was released just after this review was completed.
Just my two cents worth.
I'll stick with my Canon HG10, EVF , 40GB HD, hotshoe, Mic input, perfect HD image....None of these compare.
At first I thought this was an old article that had slipt through RSS a second time, but no it was recent.
The reason is because I would not know for any reason to still review the Panasonic HDC-SD1. It's multiple generations old and you might be hard pressed to even find it. The four generations younger HDC-SD9 would be a lot better candidate even if it is not the latest generation, but it is still a reference with regards to value for money.
I haven't red it entirely, buy giving a '+' for a microphone (7.Panasonic HDC-SD1) is (imho) a joke. You can give a minus for no-audio recording, but giving a plus for a microphone is just too much!
2) You give a minus to Sony HDR-UX3 for lacking Image Stabilisation, and how about Sony HDR-SR11E - does it have IS or doesn't? JVC GZ-HD40 for example got a minus for medicore IS ...
I'd rewrite this article ... to some exent ..
I like digital camcorder very much , this unit looks very nice , how much it is?
Panasonic HDC-SD1 is too old. There were SD5, SD9, and now SD100. The last one is a way better than SD9. So, what is the need to review HDC-SD1?