DVC-00725F HD Digital Camcorder Review

Stats and Ratings
2914 views with 0 ratings from similar users
(rate this product yourself below)

When shopping for a new compact HD camcorder I ran into the Woot deal of the day offering the DVC-00725 Camcorder for just over $120! I thought as cheap as it was I couldn't go wrong. So I nabbed one and took delivery on it this afternoon. This will be just a short review of the product.

Being an avid astrophotographer and shutterbug I always scrutinize my equipment to the max. So when I opened the box and started using the new Polaroid I went to work, find flaws and things I liked. My job was to convince myself not to send the camera back because I couldn't imagine a $100 range HD camcorder being too much. My expectations weren't very high.

Okay, some factory mumbo first (specs) with some truth from me on the side:

Captures 720p high definition video and stores it on an SD card

Capable of 5.0 megapixel digital still photos

Takes 1280×720 @ 30fps video clips with audio

2.7” bright color widescreen LCD for previewing video and images before you shoot

5x optical zoom

4x digital zoom

NTSC/PAL/HDMI video output

Image capture in JPEG format (3744 x 2808, 2592 x 1944, 1600 x 1200)

64MB built-in storage

Motion sensor records only when detects movement in viewing area

Anti-shake image stabilization

SD card slot for expanded memory

10-second electronic self timer

Auto exposure, white balance, focus

Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/Vista compatible

Whats in the box?

The Good

It's small and feels good in your hand, buttons are reachable

Screen is nice and bright and delivers good info

720P HD video - come on, you gotta love that

The zoom is nice, and even digital zoom delivers when need it but I don't recommend using it all the time since the quality breaks up

HDMI output

Built in flash

The port output slide cover is kind of nice

The menus are intuitive enough to work without the manual and don't include options you don't care about changing

The included software is good

My wife can operate it with 3 seconds worth of training

Photo frames, side by side, and image effects are a nice touch

AVI video format save

Intelligent lighting it great and easy to turn on and off from the back even in the middle of shooting video

Turning HD video on and off from the back is nice too, when off it goes to your default selected video format and when on it's HD automatically.

Self timer actually has a button without having to enter the menus

Removable battery is a must have option, and it's a standard 3.7 volt you can get replacements or extras for at a battery store

Decent indoor lighting performance

Open screen to turn on, close it to turn off

The Bad

No lens cover

Have to open the screen to charge or get to output ports

Plastic threaded tripod hole, it'll strip easily if used to much and not careful

The spring-loaded bottom bottom tray for holding the battery doesn't lock well and could come open in your pocket. Luckily the battery has a lock on it too though.

Rubber grip on the side under the handle is nice, gives you something to hold onto since the camera is so small

No remote control

If you film video with image stabilization on, the frame rate drops to 20 - yeah, 20 frames per second is bad.

Takes about 6-7 full seconds from camera on to the time it's ready to image. My Canon DSLR only takes 2 seconds.

Multi-snap is ultra slow, almost not worth the effort at 1 frame per second

Still photo flash is too bright sometimes, not in all photos but some tend to look bleached

No video LED or built in light, but the camera does have good low light performance

No carry case included

The autofocus is fast but needs to lock in sooner or have more metering options

I don't like having to dig through the menus each time I want to change camera effects, image resolutions, macro mode, exposure settings, or white balance settings

If you are an SLR photographer and want SLR quality - run away.

Examples of still pictures using Intelligent lighting on, off, and off with flash
All have been resized for screen fit but are uncompressed by me

Intelligent lighting on

Intelligent lighting off

Intelligent Lighting off but using flash

The Intelligent lighting feature helps, but more than anything I wish the focus was more on - as you can see.

The best picture is the bottom one, using flash. The cups were in a dark cabinent though so a flash would help get the focusing range.

Sample Video of candle flame with other items

Click here to watch http://scopetrader.com/Polaroid-Video.AVI

Overall

Would I buy it again? Yes - most definitely. And the price is outrageous!

This little guy is certainly worth the money I paid. It's small, takes pretty nice HD quality videos in AVI format (H262)

It takes decent stills but not the greatest due to some auto focusing issues. Maybe an updated firmware can fix this problem.

I have an Aiptek Go-HD camera as well, and I've compared the output quality of the Polaroid to it and the Polaroid actually wins in the video department but loses in the still image department.

I like the options offered and its a light camera you can pack almost anywhere. The zoom quality is nice and 5X optical is good enough for most places I want to peek into!

I will need to get a camera case for it, an extra battery, and likely keep a couple SD cards on hand because it's fun to use and with a nice battery life you can shoot HD for hours!

Other Sample photos I took