Sharp VLNZ55U MiniDV Viewcam Camcorder with 3" Color LCD Screen

1 Nice product
I bought this camcorder one month ago just for my holiday tour. This is a nice item considering its price. The image is sharp. The voice recorder is really nice. It can record even some remote voices. Easy to use.

The con is there is no cover for the LCD. I suggest you to buy a bag for this camcorder.

2 Spend 50 bucks more and get a far better product
I bought this product because it was cheapes, but then I saw another MiniDV camera from Canon (ZR60) which was only slightly costlier than this camera but had far more features and made this camera look completely inadequate.

Following are the cons of this camera:
1. No viewfinder. If you want to waste your battery, this camera ensures it by having no options besides LCD.

2. No cover for LCD. Can be easily scratched etc.

3. Big big cons for me: Not ergonomic, no good way to hold this camera. No strap on handle

4. No AV-DV conversion. Bad if you want to record your TV or old VHS tapes onto MiniDV

5. This was the problem I faced but ejector mechanism of this camera does not work reliably. Gave me lots of problem.

Do yourself a favor, buy some Canon or Sony camcorder.

3 A Reasonable Value for a Budget DV Camcorder
The DV camcorder market finally hit my price point at ~$$$(After rebate) in this product. . . Does it have all the bells and whistles? No. Does it perform as advertised? Pretty much -- if you take the time to read the manual and consider its' limitations. It does best in favorable lighting, but does have features that compensate for sub-optimal lighting conditions (generally found indoors). No night/low light mode, and the better the lighting, the better the colors. The lack of a viewfinder (unit has LCD panel only) has yet to be a hindrance -- although I haven't tried it outside in full sun/glare yet either. The resolution is good; the case design and user interface is different than all other camcorders I've owned, but easy to adapt to; the IEEE 1394 connection works flawlessly in Win XP (with appropriate video editing software -- not included, firewire cable -- not included) in both directions. It has the standard special video effects (sepia, B&W, etc), a still feature that records a frame onto the DV tape as long as the button is active (no semiconductor removable memory -- remember this is an entry level unit). Spare high capacity batteries can be found online for <$$ delivered. Bottom line, used correctly this is a very good value at around $$$ (after incentive pricing). . .

4 Sharp Mini DV Camcorder
We bought this for it's simplicity, and it is just awesome~!

This is just as good as any larger model, with no heavy accessories, seperate bag to lug around, literally just throw it in a larger purse, or in our case the diaper bag :), and you're on your way. My 13 year old figured out how to use it in about 3 minutes, couldn't be easier, and picture quality is outstanding. I LOVE this camcorder! Thank you, Sharp!