MUSTEK DV5300SE 6-In-1 Multifunctional Camera (Silver)

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by: B. Lazarus (United States)
on: Tuesday, 6-February-2007

So, I had to replace my 17 year old Panasonic palmcorder. I knew I wasnt going to be continuing with a camera that utilizes a c size cassette. And, seeing as how christmas just came, I didnt want to spend a lot of money, or make a permanent decision on what kind of format to go with. I made my decision after reading many reviews on some of the cheaper models. At $59.50, how could I go wrong. From reading reviews, i knew I was buying a camera that wouldnt be great indoors. But, outdoors, the video it shoots is really quite good. And, even though I wasnt buying it for still shots, I was very impressed with the two shots i took of my daughter. The camera is tiny, and almost feels like a toy. The doors to the memory compartment, and where you hook up the wires are very flimsy, but, so far, so good. It does eat up batteries big time, but, if I decide to use this for a while, Im going to get rechargeable ones. Ive read some reviews on this model where people were complaining that it doesnt have enough memory. I bought a one gig memory stick for under 20 bucks. At under a hundred bucks you cant go wrong with this camera. Just dont have high expectations of using it indoors. Although, I did use it recently in an indoor situation with a lot of natural light coming in, and it came out much better than i expected. Combined with the price I got it for, I give it an excellent rating, but be very gentle with compartment doors. I am amending this review to good on March 11th 2007 because one of the compartment doors is now in two pieces. And all I did was remove it the only way you can. And it just came off in two pieces. It does still go back on. Its the cover for the spots where the different input wires would plug in. I should also mention that the software with this camera does some pretty good things. I was able to edit out a short clip from a video and email it to a neighbor, and you can also make a jpeg from a video still shot. The zoom on this camera is digital, which I have now learned, is pretty useless. Ive now learned the hard way that you need an optical zoom to be able to have any clarity as you zoom in. But, at under 60 bucks, its still a fun toy. I even have mp3 clips loaded in and it does work well as an mp3 player. You can fill a memory card with music, and have a cheap ipod. But, who knows how long this thing will last?? Its a good way to learn the world of digital recording. And I didnt even get to the voice recorder...it works well.