The new Samsung HMX-H105 is among the first camcorders to feature a Solid State Drive which makes it lighter and less power hungry than most of its competitors.
Overview:
Samsung HMX-H105 features a 1/4.5-inch CMOS sensor and 10x optical zoom HD lens. The straightforward menu structure makes it perfect for beginners and quite decent manual controls will satisfy more professional shooters. But the most interesting feature of Samsung HMX-H105 is the Solid State drive it uses to store your videos, or still photos. Samsung HMX-H105 has a built-in 32GB drive.
Samsung HMX-H105 pros:
+ Built-in 32 GB SSD drive
+ Small size
+ Rubbery handgrip
Samsung HMX-H105 cons:
- No mic input
- Poor audio features (no headphone or microphone jacks)
- No Gain control
- No battery upgrade option
The design:
Samsung HMX-H105 measures 59mm x 60.9mm x 128.6mm and weighs 380 grams. The camcorder is made of high quality materials and it shows, yet the back of Samsung HMX-H105 is made of chrome surface which is a fingerprint magnet. If you don’t polish it often it makes the camcorder look cheap, but apart from that the design is almost excellent. The handgrip has a rubbery finish so you can handle the Samsung HMX-H105 even with sweaty hands. At the front of the Samsung HMX-H105 you will see practically only the lens with auto lens cover and below it the flash for still photos. The left side of Samsung HMX-H105 is smooth and when you open it you will see the 2.7” touchscreen. The LCD cavity has 5 responsive buttons: image stabilization, the power button, EasyQ, display and flash. The right side houses a hand strap and the rubbery hand grip. The top Samsung HMX-H105 features the primary zoom toggle (there is a secondary one in the LCD cavity).
Performance:
Samsung HMX-H105 records videos in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 format. You get three quality settings: superfine, fine and normal. As the Samsung HMX-H105 records everything to its built-in 32GB Solid State Drive you won’t have to buy a memory card, or worry that you will run out of space quickly. The Samsung HMX-H105 has several scene modes like: Auto, Night, Food, Candlelight and a few more. You can also apply some effects like sepia, black & white, slow motion. The camcorder has three focus methods: the autofocus, manual focus and the TouchPoint where you need to touch the LCD at the spot you want the Samsung HMX-H105 to focus on. Samsung HMX-H105 has simple settings for aperture and exposure controlling, yet the camcorder has no Gain control.
Still features:
Samsung HMX-H105, as practically any other camcorder, comes with some still features. Although you can apply all the settings from the video mode here the Samsung HMX-H105 will most probably not substitute a digital camera. You can choose only from two different image sizes and the self-timer and continuous mode do not help too much.
Menus / ease of use:
Samsung HMX-H105 has a very straightforward menu structure so beginners should have no difficulties adjusting all the necessary settings. More professional users, or those shooters who had already worked with Samsung camcorders also should not complaint, although professionals might be disappointed with the amount of manual controls. The most frequently used options can be accessed from the quick menu to make things faster and if you cannot get used to the zoom toggle at the top of Samsung HMX-H105 you can always use the one in the LCD cavity,
All in all, Samsung did a good job with Samsung HMX-H105 camcorder learning from the mistakes of the last year.
Selected Samsung HMX-H105 features and specifications:
Sensor Size (in.) 1/4.5
Sensor Count 1
Gross Pixel Count Video 2200000.00
Gross Pixel Count Still 2200000.00
Effective Pixel Count Video 2200000.00
Effective Pixel Count Still 2200000.00
Progressive Scan (output)
Still Pixel Shifting 0
Still Resolution Dimensions Maximum 2880 x 1620
Lens
Optical Zoom 10.00
Digital Zoom 0.00
Filter Diameter (mm) 37.00
Focal Distance Minimum (mm) 3.30
Focal Distance Maximum (mm) 33.00
F-stop Minimum 1.80
F-stop Maximum 2.30
Image Stabilization Optical (OIS)
Manual/Automatic Contols
Manual Focus Type Touch Screen
Manual Exposure
Manual Exposure Steps 13
Manual Aperture
Manual Aperture Max (f/) 3.50
Manual Aperture Min (f/) 16.00
Manual Shutter Speed
Manual Shutter Speed Steps 8
Minimum Shutter Speed 1/60
Maximum Shutter Speed 1/10000
White Balance Modes Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Tungsten, and Custom
Audio Dubbing
Auto/Easy Mode
Other Manual Controls 3D Noise Reduction, Guidelines, Tele Macro, Sharpness
Special Night Mode(s) Super C.Nite
Composite (RCA) In
Composite (RCA) Out
Body Type Horizontal
Body Color(s) Black
Accessory Shoe
Accessory Shoe Hot
LCD Size (in.) 2.70
LCD Resolution (Pixels) 230000
Touch Screen
Hybrid (Non-Solarizing) LCD
Video Light
Flash
Still Media Internal SSD, SD/SDHC card
Still Media Included Internal SSD
Other
Sister Model Up HMX-H106
Sister Model Down HMX-H104
Included Battery IA-BP85NF
Recording Quality Options Super Fine, Fine, Normal
Other recently reviewed camcorders:
Canon DC330, Panasonic SDR-H60, Sony HDR-CX12, Canon Vixia HF11, Samsung SC-HMX20, Panasonic HDC-HS100, Sony DCR-DVD910, Canon HF10, Canon HF100.