REVIEW
HEAD
SINCERELY SAMSUNG
INTRO
Samsung's first 8mm palmcorder looks like being a winner, but hang on,
doesn't it look familiar?...
COPY
If imitation really is a sincere form of flattery the Sony corporation
should be experiencing a warm inner glow of satisfaction following the launch
of the Samsung 'Samcam' VP-E405 8mm camcorder. Stand it next to any of the
early Sony TR machines and you may notice one or two similarities, including
the size, shape and contours of the mouldings. The positions of some of the
controls, sockets, tape loading hatch, even the holders for the clock batteries
are in the same position. Strangest of all is the viewfinder; the removeable
extension tube on the E405 is actually interchangable with ones on
similarly-sized Sony machines. The only difference is Sony's grasp of English;
the instructions on the Samsung viewfinder still need some untangling: 'For
using the viewfinder, locked it after slide in the direction of arrow as a
picture'..
Once you recover from the strong sense of dejá-vu, and look past the more
obvious similarities there is a machine with a character all of its own, and
with a reccommended selling price of just under £700 it looks like a very good
deal. Whilst much of the 405 is little different from the Sony TR55, launched
back in 1990, there are elements in the design that place it firmly in 1993.
The first is an inner-focus lens, with manual control in the form of a rocker
switch. Some see that as progress, not us, this type of manual focus is slow and imprecise, and
there's no provision for manual zoom. Other, more welcome facilities include
stereo sound recording, and six-mode programmed auto-exposure. The options,
selected by repeated button push are:
* program AE, as far as we can see the same as normal auto exposure
* sports mode, automatic selection of shutter speed, for reducing blur
when recording fast action
* picnic mode, for a wide depth of field, little different from normal
AE, as far as we can see
* spotlight mode, for shooting a brightly lit subject against a dark
background
* photo mode, aka portrait, for a narrow depth of field so that subject
stands out against a blurred background
* sunny mode, aka backlight, for shooting a strongly backlit subject
Other features we're pleased to see include infra-red remote control, via
a credit-card sized handset, this also gives access to self-timer and
time-lapse features; multi-mode title superimposer; automatic insert edit;
external microphone and earphone monitor sockets, and a SCART to phono lead,
supplied as a standard accessory.
IN USE
By following Sony's lead so closely Samsung have ensured that the E405
should be at least as easy to use as the TR machines upon which it is modelled.
The E405 is small and reasonably light, so there's no handling problems to
speak of .Most of the controls are readily accessible, though the manual focus
rocker is too far back for comfort, and they would have done well not to ape
Sony in putting the edit search buttons the opposite way around to the picture
search controls, most confusing.
The rechargable battery supplied with the E405 is ratehd at 1.2mAh ,
which gives a good 30 minutes recording time, with normal use. Curiously, in
view of the close ties this machine has with Sony, the battery does not fit
Sony machines, though other makes of NP style batteries, including Sony one, do
fit the E405.
PERFORMANCE
Our sample turned out to be a pretty mixed bag. Our resolution tests
showed the E405 could hold its own with other mid-priced machiens with a figure
of 240 lines. Noise levels were average, and there was no trace of the colour
bleed that has afflicted some Sony machines. It wasn't all good news, though,
and our review sample had the disagreeable habit of recording a nastly glitch
between scenes, we're currently checking to see if this is a one-off fault.
More worrying was the mechanical instability of the deck, even a slight nudge
during recording or playback made the picture jerk about.
A couple of the program AE system modes didn't seem to do much at all,
and to this day we're still not sure what the picnic mode is for.
The E405's stereo sound system sets it apart from the crowd, and it's not
too bad, though the microphones are not particularly sensitive, or directional.
The stereo image is quite narrow too, though that's a criticism we've levelled
at just about every other stereo palmcorder. Fortunately, in this case you can
do something about it, by plufggin in an external microphone.
VERDICT
Apart from the noisy scene transisition, deck instability and out own
misgivings about inner-focus lenses, the E405 gave a very good account of
itself and the on-screen results compare well with rival machines, including
the Sony models upon which it is based. The price makes its a very strong
contender in the sub-£700 price bracket, more so these days in view of recent
price increases. The E405 appears to confirm our view that the Koreans are
lagging behind the Japanese by only a year or so, closing the gap all the time.
If you're looking for good value, and don't mind missing out on the very latest
widgets, or cosmetic trends then the
E405 deserves close scrutiny.
WHAT ELSE IS THERE
There's not a grat deal of competition for the E405 in the £700 price
bracket, with only the ideosyncratic Akai PVM4 having anything like the same
audio and exposure facilities. This particular machine has been around for
quite a while now, so it is beginning to look its age. The Canon E300 is a good
performer, though it's significantly larger that the E405, and it has a mono
sound system. Canon also have the UC15, which compares well in terms of size
and weight, and rather more up to date styling but too is a mono machine. The
next cheapest stereo palmcorders are the ageing Sharp VL-MX7 'Twin-Cam', and
the Sony TR105 which is also getting on a bit, both machines cost around £100
more than the E405. There's virtually no competition from the VHS-C camp, the
Panasonic NV-S6 is the closest rival, though it too costs almost £800.
SPECIFICATIONS
Make/model Samsung
VP-E405
Recording format 8mm
Guide price
£700
OPTICS
Lens
f1.8, 6-48mm
Zoom
8x
Filter diameter
37mm
Pick-up device
0.3in CCD
Min. illum. (lux)
3
VIDEO DECK
Long Play (LP) yes
Max. rec. time 240mins
(LP mode)
IR remote control ? yes
Edit terminal? no
MAIN FACILITIES
Auto Focus? yes Manual
focus? yes
Auto exposure? yes Manual
iris? no
Programmed AE? yes Backlight
compensation yes
Auto white balance yes Manual
white balance? yes
Power zoom yes Manual zoom? no
Character generator? no Digital Superimposer? yes
Image stabiliser? no Insert
edit? yes
Battery refresh? no Accessory
shoe? no
Record review yes Fader? yes/black
Digital effects no Digital zoom? no
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
time/date/age recording, self-timer/time-lapse, high-speed shutter (5-speed up to 1/4000th sec), record review,
tally lamp
VIEWFINDER
Viewfinder
0.6in monochrome
Sportsfinder eyepiece? no
Viewfinder info.
deck mode and status, low battery, tape count, shutter speed, fader,
focus mode, tape end, time/date, title, title colour/mode, zoom position
AUDIO
Stereo? yes
Audio dub? no
Wind noise filter? no
Mic socket? yes
Headphone socket? yes
Microphone unidirectional
electret
GENERAL
Sockets
video and stereo audio out (phono) external mic and earphopne (minijack)
Size (mm)
106 x 109 x 175
Weight
0.9kg (inc. tape and battery)
STANDARD ACCESSORIES
Batteries, (nicad and lithium), straps, AC charger/power supply,
AV leads (phono to phone and SCART to phono)
video light? no remote
control? yes
cassette adaptor? N/A RF Converter? no
SCART adaptor? yes
PERFORMANCE
Resolution
240-lines
Colour fidelity good
Picture stability
average
Colour bleed none
White balance good
Exposure
average
Autofocus
fair
Audio performance fair
Insert edit
good
Playback thru adaptor N/A
VC RATINGS
Value for money 8
Ease of use 8
Performance 8
Features 9
---end---
(c) R Maybury 1993 1608
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