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VIDEO CAMERA
| SAMSUNG MINIKET SC-X105L |
| P35,000 | |
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Great for taking dirty vids...
This particular Miniket is marketed as the “Sports” or “Extreme” version of Samsung's range of six-in-one devices. While sharing the same features and ergonomics of its more conservative siblings, the X105L has a more robust, rubberized skin. And oh, what's this? A weatherproof bulletcam, with a mounting system for your helmet – or anything else you fancy attaching it to. Extreme games, here we come!
Before getting down and dirty with the device, a little “getting to know you” was in order. The control layout is pretty straightforward, complementing the relatively spartan user interface and menu options – which all contribute to a not-too-steep learning curve. The bulletcam attaches via the AV input socket. As mentioned above, this bulletcam is the only weatherproof component, so care must be taken to keep the main camera high and dry (even though it is billed as moisture-proof). The unit comes with a selection of straps, enabling it to be put in various locations. With a little creative thinking, we had it securely mounted on the top of our mountain bike helmet.
Woah, boy. We found out that before you hit the trail, you have to deactivate the camera's auto-shut off feature, set your desired recording quality and resolution, enable external AV input, power up the bullet cam, and set the hold switch on the main camera. Whew! A more involved process than we would have liked. That done, we pushed off in pursuit of our riding buddies.
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680k-pixel CCD. 10x optical zoom. 2" TFT Swiveling LCD. 512MB. Onboard Memory with MS-Pro expansion. Replaceable Li-Polymer Battery. Movie, still, web camera. MP3 playback. AVI video format. 30 frames persecond at 720 x 480 pixel resolution. Weatherproof external camera module with wired remote and 320k pixel CMOS sensor.
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512MB of RAM is too small for any all-in-one device. We prefer the 1GB version.
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Half an hour, a slight drizzle, and a whole lot of bumps later, we stopped to check our footage – only to find that we'd already run out of memory! Replaying the footage, we were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the video. While the onboard image stabilization did an admirable job at keeping things steady, it was hard-pressed to deal with the more jarring segments of the ride. We felt the little thing held its own considering the severity of the course.
After installling Samsung's Image Mixer software and drivers for playback on Windows Media Player, we realized that the bulletcam is best used with lower recording resolution, primarily because of its smaller sensor. Footage from the main lens had much better quality. The rest of the Miniket's formidable six-in-one package was decent. File transfer – be it videos, photos or sound files – was a simple drag and drop affair, made easier with USB 2.0 support. While photo quality wasn't anything to write home about, we think it's a nice bonus. Ditto with MP3 playback. However, we really think this device's core competency is taking videos, and given the choice, we'd rather spend more for the 1GB version – just to make sure you don't miss a single second.- Agu Paiso
 Post your opinion or own review!
T3 Magazine Philippines - December 2005 Issue
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