The same button during playback marks movies for immediate upload to YouTube if you use their software. Parents will appreciate this, though I assume it reduces battery time. Just hit the little “world” button now, when you hit record, it will include the previous three seconds in the video. If you’re waiting for something to happen or just too slow on the draw to catch the start of a race, some first steps, or some hilarious pratfall, you’ll appreciate this. Don’t look too close and the occasional snapshot will be fine if you can’t reach your other camera, but the noise, compression artifacts, and oversharpening are insane.Īnother handy feature is pre-recording. Much as how point-and-shoots take rubbish video for the most part, camcorders tend to take rubbish pictures. That reminds me: you can of course take pictures with this thing, but I don’t recommend it except as a last resort. Time lapse works fine, but the screen remains on the whole time (battery warning) and it’s disappointing that it shoots video frames and not stills. Macro lets you get close but not ridiculous close - about three or four inches away from the subject. Slow motion really kills the exposure, but outside in good light you should be okay. They all do more or less what you expect. Time lapse, with frame intervals of 1, 3, and 5 seconds Slow motion, which appears to fire at about 120FPS (1/4 normal speed) Motion detect, which will start recording when it sees motion Macro, in which the focus is locked at its closest setting You’ve got your usual resolution and scene mode select (the H30 does 1080p/30, 720p/30, WVGA/60, and VGA/60) and of course format and all that. The LCD, of course, is a touchscreen and most of the functions are available through the menu. But it’s very economical control-wise, and nobody is likely to be confused by its operation. Once you flip out the LCD, there’s a power button and a “world” button which I’ll get to later. The controls are minimal: zoom rocker, two mode switch buttons (motion/still), a record button and a dial that doubles as a directional pad. Its strength and durability are about what you’d expect it’s plastic but well-built and has very little in the way of breakable stuff on it. As you can see, it’s dwarfed by a can of beer - and it’s lighter as well.
For now, though, they’re still here, and the H30 seems to combine the virtues of low price, compact body, and decent functionality. That’s good, but the original flavor will soon cease to impress even the most naive buyer.
They haven’t changed much over the last decade or so, other than to continually decrease in size and increase in resolution. The advent of HD recording in regular point-and-shoots and in pocket cams like the Flip has put pressure on the traditional style of camcorder, and there hasn’t been much of a response.