Samsung HMX-R10

Audio Features (1.25)

The Samsung HMX-R10 has a few very basic audio features. The camcorder has no external mic jack, so all audio is recorded using its built-in, stereo mic. The mic is located near the bottom of the camcorder, just in front of the tripod mount. This doesn't seem like a logical mic placement for any reason. Your fingers or palm can easily rub up against the mic no matter what way you hold the camcorder, and the mic essentially points down towards the ground—not the most likely place for your subject to be located. Still, the mic is omni-directional, so it does pick up a good range of sound.

The built-in mic is oddly placed.

The built-in mic uses AAC compression to record audio and its levels can be set to low, medium, or high. There's also a wind cut feature that uses a high-pass filter to reduce wind noise picked up by the microphone.

The Mic Level can be set to low, medium, or high.

Below is a list of all the audio features found on the HMX-R10 and its comparison models:

Other Features (4.0)

Slow Motion
The R10 offers users two different slow motion settings, which record low resolution video at 300fps or 600fps. In practice, this is little more than a fun gimmick. The results of the slow motion feature are not full resolution HD video, so you aren't really getting your most out of the camcorder using these settings. On the other hand, the quality is good enough for uploading that game-winning goal in slow motion to YouTube.

Digital Effect
Like so many consumer camcorders, the R10 offers its share of cheap digital effects. There's black and white, sepia, negative, and 'cosmetic.' Most of these effects can usually be achieved with post-production editing, and we recommend you stick with that when possible. Keeping your original footage in high quality colour is just safer.

Fader
Another effect you can achieve in post-production is Faders. If you don't want the hassle of inserting transitions into your footage with editing software, you can choose from in, out, and in-out.

Time Lapse Recording
Many Samsung camcorders, including the R10, offer the unique option of time lapse recording, allowing the user to capture a small amount of video over several days. You can set the camcorder to record a single frame every second, or every 3, 5, 10, 15, or 30 seconds. Time lapse will record these frames over the set interval for 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, or until the media fills up. Furthermore, you can set the recording quality to 1080p high definition video or 480p standard definition video. There isn't much flexibility with this tool, but enough to do some interesting recordings.

Samsung HMX-R10 Comparisons
JVC GZ-X900	Sanyo VPC-HD2000	Canon HF S100