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Reviewed:

Article by: Steve Blackwell

Product was submitted by: Samsung Canada

Introduction:
In the past year or so we've seen Samsung make a jump into making all their camcorders flash based
and eliminating the older and less convenient miniDV/miniDVD formats. In that time I've reviewed a
few of the models in their lineup and even decided to get myself one to replace an old and failing
camcorder of mine. In only a few short models I've seen them really build up this camcorder arsenal
into a fairly strong product line - something that will go along great with all the new Samsung photo
cameras we'll see emerging this year. Their latest flash camcorder, the R10, looks like something
straight out of the future. With a compact body size, silver colour and angled front lens, it jumps out as
not following the trend of the other Samsung flash camcorders currently on the market. Let's check it
out further and see what it's all about!

In The Box:
(1) R10 Camera
(1) Battery
(1) Wrist strap
(1) Carry pouch
(1) AC charge adapter w/AC cable

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(1) USB cable
(1) Component cable
(2) Ferrite cable wraps
(1) Manual/warranty package

Specs:

Signal Type
Signal Type NTSC
Storage Media
Storage Media SD / SDHC slot
Image Sensor
Sensor Type CMOS
Sensor Size 1/2.33''
No. of pixels 5,3 M / 9 M (video / still)
Lens
F Value F3.5 ~ 3.7
Optical Zoom 5x
digital zoom 100x
Filter Diameter glass 0.55 mm
Type Full HD lens

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 Device Type touch LCD
Main Screen Size 2.7'' (wide)
No. of pixels 230K
Device Type No
Viewfinder Size No
No. of pixels No
Light
Light No
Flash
Flash Yes
Shoe
Shoe No

Recording Format H.264 / MP

video HD: 1920 x 1080 @ 60i (SF / N), 1920 x 1080
Video Spec. Recording
@ 30p (SF), 1280 x 720 @ 60p (SF)
Resolution
video SD: 720 x 480P @ 60p (SF), VGA @ 30p (SF)
Manual Shutter 1/60 ~ 1/10000
Auto Yes
Shutter Speed
Slow Shutter
auto, 1/30, 1/15
Mode (LSS)
Image Stabilizer EIS
Auto Focus Yes
Focus
Manual Focus Yes
Power Night
No
Capture
Video Still Capture Yes
Back Light
Yes
compensation
Low Light
15 lux (slow shutter)
Sensitivity
Auto Yes
White Balance auto, daylight, cloudy, fluorescent, tungsten,
Manual
custom

Audio Recording Feature

Audio Format AAC (stereo)
Sampling Rates 48 kHz
No. of Channel 2 channel
PC Decorder Yes
PC CODEC
PC Encorder Yes
Others Worldwide AV Output No
Speaker Yes
Volume Adjust Yes

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Built-in Microphone Yes
Wind Filter(WindCut Plus) Yes
Real Stereo Yes
Voice No
Music No
Audio Effect
Wide No
Echo No
Audio Dub No
Operation
Play/Still Yes
Stop Yes
FF/FPS Yes
REW/RPS Yes
Line Recording No
Slow Motion Yes
Frame Advance Yes
Shuttle Search Yes
Auto Rewind No
Zero Memory No
Slide Show Yes
Select Yes
Protect
All Yes
Select Yes
PB Option
All Yes
Select Yes
Delete
All Yes

Format JPEG
12 M: 4000 x 3000 / interpolation
9 M: 4:3, 3456 x 2592
6 M: 16:9, 3328 x 1872
Resolution 5 M: 4:3, 2592 x 1944
Still Image
3 M: 4:3, 2048 x 1536
2 M: 16:9, 1920 x 1080
VGA: 640 x 480
Quality super fine
Recordable Media SD / SDHC card

USB Yes, USB 2.0

PC
IEEE 1394 No
Composite Yes
S-Video No
Video
Component Yes
HDMI Yes (ver 1.3 c / Anynet+)
Audio Ear Phone Jack No
Memory Card Card Slot Yes (SDHC)
Memory Application
Movie Clip Recording Yes

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 Compatible Card SD / SDHC
Memory Application
Built-in Memory No

Format No
Motion Picture Streaming
Resolution No
PC Camera No
External Storage Yes
DPOF Yes
Direct Print System
PictBridge Yes

Power LED Yes

Tally Lamp Yes
Recharging Indicator Yes
Indicator
Function key LED Yes
AF Assist Lamp No
Disc Access Lamp No
Tripod Screw Yes
Lens Cover No
Charging in working No
Color Variation black / silver
S/W and PC OS
OS Compatible OS Windows Vista / XP
Bundle PC S/W 1 built-in S / W (Intelli-Studio)
Bundle PC S/W 2 No
Bundle PC S/W 3 No

Ac Adaptor/Charger Yes
Power AC Cord Yes
Battery Pack Yes
Hand Grip Yes
Strap Shoulder Strap No
Neck Strap No
Case Carrying Case Yes (soft pouch)
A/V Cable Yes (multi 10 pin)
Cable
USB Cable Yes (multi 10 pin)
Remote Control No
Bundle Recordable Media No
Others
Instruction Book No
Pocket Guide Yes (quick guide)
Power
Power Supply Type output (5.0 V, 2.0 A)
LCD off, VF on 3W
Power Consumption
LCD on, VF off 3W
Cell Material li-ion
Model No. IA-BH125C
Battery
Shape Type hidden type
Running Time (For This Model) approx. 80 min

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 Dimension & Weight
Dimension 38.3 x 56.8 x 128.2 mm
Weight 229 g
Other Feature
Worldwide AV Output No
PB Zoom Yes

Features:

Taking a slightly different colour path than the past Samsung flash camcorders I've reviewed, the R10
has an entirely silver body - different from their usual gloss black. If you look close enough at the side
where the screen folds out, they've given it a brushed aluminum pattern on top of the plastic. All the
writing is etched into the plastic with only the Samsung and HD logos being glued on. If you look long
ways down the camera you can see that it's actually quite thin. I'd have to say it's thinner than almost
any other 1080 handheld flash cam I've previously used.

A closer look at the body reveals that it's very simple looking when it comes to the buttons. There's
only three physical buttons on the outside of the body; photo, mode and record. Beside the record
button is the first of two zoom toggles. Open the screen, and inside you'll find a power button,
display/iCheck button and EasyQ button. On the frame of the screen is the QMenu button (discussed
more later), a second zoom toggle and a second record button. With the R10's main features being
operated and programmed via the touch screen there is quite simply no need for a large number of
physical buttons.

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A small cover on the back edge of the R10 can be opened to reveal the DC charging plug, an AV jack
and a built-in HDMI port. It's nice to see the built in HDMI back again, Samsung had done this on
their HMX10A but removed the feature from the HMX20C, and now it's back again on the R10.

When you first look at the R10 you are likely to think "something looks really weird at the front of the
camera". Well, in a way this is very true. The lens is mounted on a 25 degree upward angle. Want to
know why? Hold your hand in the position where you would normally hold a video camera to film
something - it isn't perfectly level is it? Since most people hold their video camera's about a foot or so
away from their breast bone, the hand itself has roughly a 25 degree downward tilt. To compensate for
this, Samsung gave the R10 lens a 25 degree upward tilt. It seems weird at first, but when you actually
give it a go, it feels very natural. The lens is actually behind a glass cover on the front of the camera,

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which further adds to the slightly unusual look up front. Although this glass is scratch proof and
designed to protect the lens itself, I still don't agree with Samsung's idea to not include a lens cap.
Although it may not help much with scratch reduction, I still would like a lens cap to keep this glass
clean and free of fingerprints.

Unlike some of the past Samsung flash camcorders I've reviewed here, the R10 does not have any
internal memory. You must provide memory yourself via SD and SDHC supported cards.
Downloading to your computer is made easy by the R10 appearing the same as a USB flash drive
would when connected to your computer.

The QMenu is essentially a user programmable set of four hotkeys that show up on the touch screen
when the button is pressed. This gives you access to any of the camera's critical features and settings
with no more than two button presses. For example, my current QMenu has a resolution button,
exposure control button, back light button and focus control button. I'd like to note a few changes in
this QMenu from older Samsung camera models: it's been cut down to four items instead of the old six
and it is now user editable (you never used to be able to change the options in the menu). I must say
that I absolutely love the ability to now modify what I have control of in the QMenu but the reduction
from six items down to four means that if I'm a power user, I may still have to do a lot of menu
navigation for more of my commonly used features. Of course a complete menu can be brought up at
any time by using the menu button on the lower corner of the screen.

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The R10 is capable of recording both high definition and standard definition movies ranging from
VGA (640x480) up to 1080i/p. Audio is recorded in stereo AAC format at 48kHz. Below is a summary
of all supported recording modes and the qualities they are available at. Note: SF is super-fine and N is
normal when it comes to quality, and I am interleaved and p is progressive when it comes to
resolutions.
HD: 1920 x 1080 @ 60i (SF / N), 1920 x 1080 @ 30p (SF), 1280 x 720 @ 60p (SF)
SD: 720 x 480P @ 60p (SF), VGA @ 30p (SF)

Still image capture quality ranges from VGA up to 12 megapixels (interpolated); the camera's native
quality is 9.0 megapixels. All photos can only be taken in the super-fine quality setting. There is a flash
on the front of the camera that can be set to off, auto, red-eye reduction or fill modes (quite a bit of
variety for a camera designed primarily for video!) An outline of all photo quality settings and
resolutions is shown below:
12 M: 4000 x 3000 / interpolation
9 M: 4:3, 3456 x 2592
6 M: 16:9, 3328 x 1872
5 M: 4:3, 2592 x 1944
3 M: 4:3, 2048 x 1536
2 M: 16:9, 1920 x 1080
VGA: 640 x 480

Both video and picture modes have face detection. This means the camera will automatically sense the
faces in the picture and work extra hard to make sure they all stay in focus.

Installation:
IntelliStudio is another one of those new features that we're seeing emerge on the R10's design.
Embedded on the flash memory inside the R10 is video/photo playback and editing software called
IntelliStudio. Much like U3 on USB drives, this program will execute and run directly from the camera
on any Windows XP or newer system (sorry Mac users!).

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Testing:

Since the R10 lacks the traditional hand strap to slide your hand into, I did find it somewhat awkward
to hold onto at first. The feeling of a hand strap being there also gives me the security that if something
were to happen causing me to open my hand while filming that my camera would not simply fall to
the ground.

The quality of the video I recorded was superb and I have no complaints from that area of
functionality. Keep in mind if you're shooting in high definition that you will need a fairly new
computer to be able to play them back due to the super high resolutions (when compared to most
computer resolutions). Of course the ability to switch the R10 into standard definition will allow you
to use it much the same as any older video cameras - just with the convenience of flash memory
instead of tapes!

When you're in video mode, the photo button will simply grab a snapshot of the current frame. These
are not high quality snapshots though, to attain full image quality you must be in photo mode. When
you flip into photo mode, you now get a whole new set of options in the menu and QMenu. I switched
the camera over to the highest quality, 12MP, and took a variety of shots with the flash on and the
flash off. I placed a few of these shots below for you to check out! Although the pictures appear to
have fairly good colour, and in a high resolution, they still do not match up to those from a true digital
photo camera. They get grainy very fast and you can almost notice this in the shots before zooming
them. This all comes down to how the lens is designed - since it's a video lens designed for 1080 video,
a high-quality digital still photo lens is simply not in the same ballpark.

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 Two down-sized sample pictures from the camera taken at the highest quality setting.

Conclusion:
For a price cheaper than most competitors, the Samsung R10 has shown to be a solid 1080 high
definition flash camcorder for under $500USD. Alongside the usual camcorder features found on most
camcorders in this range, the R10 jumped out to me with its unique 25 degree lens angle and built-in
PC editing/playback software. Although I wasn't left too fond of not having a secure hand strap or a
lens cover, this will likely be something that won't bother everyone.

Pros:
Great quality 1080 videos

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25 degree lens angle is an innovative idea to reduce wrist strain!
Some minor firmware and software improvements over past Samsung flash camcorders stand out
IntelliStudio built-in software
Photo quality is good and photo mode gives you a variety of options (keep in mind it won't compare
to a digital photo-only camera though)

Cons:
No proper lens cover!
No hand strap. This also made using the buttons on the back of the camera extremely hard without
crossing my other hand over to operate them.

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