Pros - Nice and small and easy to carry. Software fairly easy to use. Middle of the road performance from an inexpensive camcorder.
br /Cons - The lack of a video light makes the camera performance poor in low light. Still captures are low quality.
br /Major Con - Battery life leaves a lot to be desired and additional batteries are very difficult to locate. This Camcorder has the smallest camcorder battery I've ever seen (SB-LSM80). I can only get between 40 minutes to an hour record time out of it, far short of what the manual claims. Then, it takes an hour and a half to fully re-charge which must be done in the camera since an external charger is not available. It also appears the battery only charges while the camera is off. I searched around and accessories are simply not available for this camera. Amazon.Com incorrectly lists the Samsung SB-L110 Samsung SBL-220 batteries as accessories for this camcorder but the site is incorrect and the batteries are not interchangeable with the SB-LSM80 the unit uses. Neither Amazon.Com nor any of my local Samsung retailers carry extra batteries for this camcorder and a few did stock this very camcorder model. I had to order additional batteries from a Samsung Part distributor as that was the only place I could locate them.

So I got this item and the first thing I did was charged the battery. After the battery was charged, I started to play with it to get used to the functions. So I played with the item for 15-20 minutes and turned it off. The next day, I took the camera to the motocross to watch my daughter race and when I went to start filming, the battery was dead. So I went home to charge the battery and to read the manual to see if I was missing something. Come to find out, it states in the manual that if you leave the battery connected to the camera, the camera will use the battery's energy even with it off. So if you get this camera, remove the battery from the camera when you are not using it and the battery will stay charged. I have tested this and it works but its really not something that the consumer should worry about. Other than that, the camera is easy to use, great in size and weight and fits very well even in my large hand.

Sure, this camcorder is not perfect, but for the price I couldn't ask for much more. I think the availability of any MiniDV camcorder for little more money (after rebate) than today's VHS-C models is reason to celebrate. I have had the SCD353 for a few days and have done some testing. Even without changing the original settings, things look pretty good. In brightly lit scenes, colors are vibrant and fairly accurate. Granted, the focus is sometimes a little off. You might also see a digital artifact or two. But for casual video recording, these issues are not a big deal.
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br /My main complaints are that the LCD could be a little more clear, the black and white viewfinder emits a weird kind of bluish halo around the edges, the camera is a little awkward to hold and some of the controls are inconveniently placed (at least for my hand), and I question the long-term durability of the plastic casing. But on the other hand, the 20X zoom is a major plus, the camera is loaded with features, it takes decent quality video and excellent audio, and, of course, it is CHEAP. Not to mention that unlike many cameras in this price range, the SCD353 has a memory card slot for taking MPEG videos and still photos which can then easily be transferred to a computer via USB 2.0. Don't expect this camera to replace your digital still camera, though.
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br /If you want a top-of-the-line camcorder or are going to be doing a lot of low light recording, this camcorder is not for you. But if you are a beginner or simply don't have much money to spend and still want a passable camcorder, this is exactly what you're looking for.

I teach video production at a San Diego high school, and bought six of these for the class. After seven months of the kids use and abuse, all but one camera are working perfectly. The kids are extremely rough on the cameras in spite of my best efforts, and I'm astonished that they continue to function so well. The one camera with problems has a broken screen, no doubt from abuse, but is still functional using the viewfinder. I'm confused about the complaints on battery life, with my kids leaving the cameras on for an hour without problems. A nice feature that may not matter to most people is the microphone input, which is not standard on most inexpensive cameras, but very useful in getting good audio during an interview situation. The picture is not the best, but very adequet for the projects the students do, which are shown on a 34 inch TV. Overall the camera is an amazing bargain, and built to last.

The SC-D353 Digital Cam looked like an amazing deal. I bought recently at Sears at a Black Friday Special.
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br /The features I immediately liked were:
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br /* Microphone Input (for use with external microphone)
br /* Front S-Video Output
br /* 16:9 Aspect Ratio Effect (more on this later!)
br /* DV input
br /* Light Weight
br /* Inexpensive
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br /At the store I was set on purchasing a Canon Camera but noticed some advanced features on the Samsung. I fiddled with a bit and could not get the 16:9 aspect to work.
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br /I finally discovered the 16:9 ratio was available in the menu set up (under digital effect). When I enabled the function, it zoomed in on the image! WHAT?! That was it. No reference bars - not even remotely close to 16:9. A sick joke if you ask me.
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br /I used this camera extensively in various light situations. Quite frankly, I'm shocked. The zoom consistently readjusts upon the slightest movement. The shutter also readjusts to new light situations (such as entering a darker room or going out into sunlight) and skews the image.
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br /In my frustration I turned the shutter and focus to manual and slugged through a 60 minute Mini-DV tape. When I played back the tape I was displeased with the image quality. Grainy is an understatement!
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br /Alas, I thought maybe it was the playback from the camera. So I digitized the tape onto my computer @ DV Quality (DV411) and made a progressive DVD (8 megabits per second).
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br /I played this master DVD on two televisions. The raunchy image quality followed me.
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br /I admit freely that I am a snob when it comes to cameras. I use the XL-2 and a CineAlta yet somehow I expected the same quality as a VHC Camcorder or Hi-8 mm. Honestly, I would compare the image quality more to BetaMax of the 80's.
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br /Bottom Line: Great features, Light Weight, Inexpensive and Horrible Picture Quality!
br /This camera is Great for kids and Elderly. If you know how to program a VCR - don't get this camera.

While the tiny size of this camera is a major plus, it leaves a lot to be desired in performance. The biggest problem I found is focus. Unless I have a defective one, it simply will not focus on zoomed-in objects, either in auto or manual modes.
br /In low light (and frequently in daylight situations) the auto focus swings wildly back and forth as it can't make up its mind what to focus on. Getting to and operating the manual focus is awkward. The battery life is also a major minus. If you are doing any extended shooting you need to be plugged in to AC - your battery will not last beyond half an hour or so (maybe even shorter!) Low light shooting produces very poor results. Again, the major plus is its compactness; you can carry full video capability at the size of still camera.

I was excited to get this product with all of it's neat little tricks and gadgets, I was extra excited with the zoom, I played with it for hours, wow this is a neat camera, of course I didn't have a tape to put in it yet, so first thing in the morning I head out to get a tape, I put it in and start filming, I filmed throughout the house and then outside changing different features and settings to see how they would appear on the video. I plugged it into the TV for playback and to my dismay the picture quality was this horrible grainy thing on my screen, it was worse than the camcorder I already have, and it is over 12 yrs old. Looks great on the outside, but underperforms.

This camera is nicely priced. And I haven't any problems with it at all. Everything came nicely packaged, I didn't have any resolution problems playing video on my TV as I was worried to previous reviews. I'm very satisfied and love the camcorder!! All the features are nice too!

This is a nice camcorder at this price for kids; the recorded pictures plays well on LCD but on TV it is very bad it is all granular all places and color is spread all across. The camera doesn't focus instantly when zoomed in or out; picture blurs at that moment and remains for few more seconds. Initially I was very excited on getting a Mini DV camcorder at this price but later I regretted and want to get this replaced with little pricy but stable Sony or Cannon Camcorders.

This is a good camera, but not top of the line by any means. The color quality isn't all that wonderful and if you use the auto focus it takes a second to focus correctly. But if you're not planning on filming a hollywood movie, then this camera is decent and fairly inexpensive.

My SCD353 worked OK in first 6 months or so ( less than 10 hrs recoding). Then the picture quality become more and more blurry. I purchased a cleaning tape trying to fix it but no use.

Easy to use, setup and convert videos to PC. The problem is regarding battery life... Average rate is good.

I love this camcorder!!! I have used it for about more that a year and I have been amazed by it ever since I bought it. If you buy a FireWire cable it makes the experience even better because you can import the video to the computer. I love the Mic In jack. It was just a couple days ago that the screen died on me. I was just about to film something and when I turned it on the screen was all white. I am very sad about it, but it is still usable. Other than that this camcorder is awesome!!!

I have this camera for about a year, i dont use it very much but its a great camera for outdors enviroments in daylight, once is getting dark, you will record a black screen, but thats ok for the price, besides, you can get a flashlight right?, and those cameras that has a light included dont have a very long range, the only thing really useful in dark conditions is the night vision or nightshot and that will cost a lot of money, but this is a great camera for recording that trip with your family or a day at the beach but not to record a disco party, and the battery does not last very long like for about and hour maybe less.

I think this is a pretty solid camera if you purchase the cord to attach by firewire. I was using the provided usb cord and I noticed a lot of what other reviewers stated about a grainy picture. However, I just purchased a firewire and the difference is astounding. I purchased the cable from Best buy for around 35 dollars, but you can get them cheaper, I saw one online for about 8 dollars. A very wise investment. It is a very crisp clear picture, when in focus.
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br /The focus is a downfall, could be an excellent camera but it does have have trouble focusing. However, most cameras around this price have similar problems.
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br /Battery life does stink, but i have an extra one in my case, and you can charge it when you record. I used it to video tape my wedding and our honeymoon to Rome. I am very satisfied.

Bought this camcorder at Best Buy a year ago. I made the purchase based on a long standing faith in Samsung products. The image quality was terrible. There is no light, so it is very hard to keep a focus unless you are outside in bright daylight. Sound quality was okay. But after one year of very light use, the LCD display quit working. I'll never buy another Samsung camera. I called Samsung they charge $160.00 to fix it. Brand new one is $200.00. It happened with a lot of people. BAD BAD BAD.
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I bought the SC-D353 in 2006 with budget in mind, since recent graduates like my wife and I have lots of debt and not much in the way of spending money. This camcorder was essentially the least expensive video option I found at the time that did have an external mic input.
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br /For the price, the camera does the things I am looking for. I'm looking for acceptable, not great, video definition, and it does deliver reasonable video quality when there is adequate lighting. It falls short when dealing with low light, or when a single subject is lit but the rest of the frame is dark. The lens system and autofocus are not well-integrated; once one zooms more than about 2/3rds of the way to the long end of telephoto, the autofocus hunts for several seconds before regaining focus. I suspect that the lens design is not a zoom lens, but rather a hyperfocal lens. A zoom lens retains the same focus through the range, but a hyperfocal lens changes focus distance as focal length changes. At least, that would explain why the autofocus hunts if a fast zoom occurs.
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br /About the audio... the built-in microphone is reasonably sensitive, but, and it is a large but, the camcorder self-noise while using the tape drive is excessive and simply renders the built-in mic unusable. I don't have Memory Stick memory cards, so I don't know whether that problem goes away when recording to the card. It is a good thing that this camcorder has an external mic input, because it badly needs it. I've used small dynamic stereo mics up through a Sennheiser shotgun mic with this camcorder, and as long as one either puts enough distance between the camcorder and mic, or has a mic with a good rejection of local noise, it does OK for audio, though its automatic level control tends to run a bit hot.
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br /The other reviews are correct that the provided battery delivers just about an hour of operation if one only uses the viewfinder, a chunk less if one uses the LCD screen. This limits the utility of the camcorder, since, as the other reviews also point out, the camcorder itself is the only provided charging solution, and the camcorder must be switched off in order to charge the battery. One can operate the camcorder via the provided adapter, though, so some use indoors near an electrical outlet would not be impossible, but who wants a power cable dragging along with them while taping video?
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br /The menu system provides a number of features, most of which I'm too occupied to use in the field. It also does not store settings, so every time you remove power, leave time to set up your favorites again. The one feature that needs a button, the Digital Image Stabilization, only provides that button with several other automation choices. The "EasyQ" button does turn on DIS, but it also turns on autofocus and a couple of other "amateur" features. If you want DIS and, for instance, manual focus, you have to go through the menu to do it. I've never made use of the "digital effects" settings. If I need effects, I can apply them later in Vegas.
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br /Here's what I've done with my unit to make it more useful for me. First, I invested in a third-party Li-ion 2250mAh battery and external charger, which cost me about $20 plus shipping. I can use both batteries, but I've found little need for the original, since the new battery lasts for well over two hours, even mostly running with the LCD screen active. It does, unfortunately, interfere mechanically with getting one's eye up close to the viewfinder, but I can use it with the viewfinder pulled back as one does to access the diopter adjustment and the LCD screen is generally more useful for monitoring anyway. Second, I bought a 30mm to 52mm step-up adapter. This, also unfortunately, could not be installed with the camcorder in mint condition. There is a raised ridge of decorative plastic on the front that comes up to just under the lens, preventing the flange of the adapter from resting perpendicular to the lens. My solution: use a Dremel-style motor tool to take off the 2mm or so of plastic so that I can actually screw in the adapter. I took care not to go deep, and there is still a point where it looks like I've opened a small hole to the interior. I'm not so much worried about what may get in afterward, but rather whether I was generating any plastic bits that fell in. Forget about a warranty if you do this, too. What the 52mm adapter gets me is the ability to use the high-quality accessory lenses that we bought for our Canon S2 IS camera, specifically the 0.66x Raynox wide-angle lens. (I used to have a Century 0.8x, but that weighed a couple of times what the camcorder and the new heavier battery do.) With the wide-angle accessory lens, I can get a much better view at the wide end with no vignetting, and the zoom works fine without excessive AF hunting when zooming even out to the extreme telephoto end. Third, I bought a HTDZ HT-320A microphone, a "uni-directional electret condenser" mic. I'm used to cheap audio equipment sucking badly, but the HT-320A made for a pleasant surprise. Its self-noise is actually not too bad on the unit I got; though not in the Sennheiser shotgun mic class, it also costs about a tenth of what the low-end Sennheiser costs. It is certainly an adequate microphone to pair with the SC-D353 camcorder. Between these accessories, I'm much happier with the camcorder than with it as it came out of the box. I plan to deploy this, minus the wide-angle accessory lens, on a bracket over my Nikon DSLR this summer at dog agility trials, where people often want video of their dog's performance as well as still photos.
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br /Bottom-line: If you are on a budget and only need recognizable video, not great quality video, this unit can do the job. It's certainly a contender for putting together YouTube video compositions. One should also plan to use an external microphone. I'd recommend the purchase of a higher-capacity battery and external charger. If you want to expand your view with good quality accessory lenses, you may need to perform surgery on the camcorder case.
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this camcorder is a good product, have a good zoom, for the pictures the quality is low, but is a good device.

This is so easy to use. I love it!!!!!!!!
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