I'm very glad we bought it!

Author's Rating:

Pros: flip feature for shots of yourself and kids love it, it's easy to use, a good price for what you get

Cons: outside noise, digital image stabilization is kind of worthless

Author's Review
I did quite a bit of research before I decided which camcorder to purchase. My husband and I bought it right before we were married so that we could tape our wedding and our honeymoon. It's been a great purchase. We've used it for all kinds of events - inside and outside - and have been pleased with its performance.

I actually purchased the viewcam off of netmarket.com. By purchasing it there I received a free extended warranty and enough netmarket money back to buy a bag for it. My husband did jam the thing up in his haste to play with it in the beginning but the warranty covered it.

I was disappointed that it only came with a 45 minute battery. My husband and I purchased 2 more 4-5 hour batteries (for about $50 each!) but that was well worth the investment. It is very user friendly. Kids LOVE watching themselves on the big screen. There is a noticeable difference between the 3" and 4" screen and I am very happy we have the 4".

The flip feature is great. You are able to set it up and use the remote control to zoom in and out from far away. KIDS are huge fans of the feature as well. You can get some great goofy shots as the kids look at themselves in the screen. There have been many times when I have just stopped recording and held it there for them while they make funny faces for 15 minutes - a HUGE hit!

Taping onto VHS tapes is easy, easy, easy. The titles on it do look cheesy and there aren't many to choose from so we never use them. There is a cool feature on it that makes you look like you're in a rock video. Also, you can take a "snap shot" which looks great - of course you can still hear the audio over the picture. The mic does pick up a lot of wind if you don't watch it outside but it is pretty sensitive for parties inside and stuff. The only thing I wish it would do was a black and white thing - but you can't have it all! The movie screen view is cool though. I recommend the camera - everyone always wants to play with it. I definitely like the viewcam better than putting my eye up to a small viewer.

The zoom is awfully good for the price but the view does get shaky when you get close to something. The digital image stabilization feature is kind of what sold me at first but it's really not that great of a feature. Your holding the camera and I think the operator is more important than this feature.