It's an "okay" camera overall, but not what I expected and not useful for the purpose I bought it.
The camera itself seems to be of decent quality. It doesn't feel "cheap" like many electronics today. I feel like it would stand up to regular use.
The LCD screen is not very sharp, but this really isn't an issue and I think it is just fine the way it is. The reason I wanted the rotating LCD is I wanted to use it for amateur webcasting, to be able to see myself and the composition of the shot while still looking at the camera. The LCD works perfectly for that and really does not need any more resolution.
The tripod mount on the bottom of the camera conveniently screws right onto the standard mounting screw on my LED ring light, so that's a "plus." However, because the mounting socket is so far forward on the camera, the LCD screen won't open when I have it mounted this way. If you are mounting it on a tripod, you'll be just fine, but if you intend to use it with a ring light, you won't be able to do it.
Because this camera is promoted as a "YouTube Vlogging camera," this is an important limitation since so many webcasters are using ring lights to simplify foreground lighting for their videos.
As a camera (apart from a webcam), the picture quality is mediocre -- not as good as my 20-year-old HD camcorder (unfortunately, my old, camcorder doesn't support webcasting). The image is flat and disappointingly soft even at the best settings (1920x1080 resolution with maximum sharpness).
It's a little better than the video from the built-in webcam on my laptop cover, but not as good as video from my phone camera.
The biggest selling point, for me, was that this camera could also be used as a webcam, so I would be able to use it for live casting. I currently have my phone set up for live casting, with a separate microphone running to my laptop for audio. It works, but obviously I can't use my phone for anything while recording this way.
With this camera, the biggest disappointment was with its webcam feature. When set up as a Webcam, this camera only produces video at 1280x720 instead of 1920x1080. There is no setting to change that, so you're stuck with low-res video if you're hooked to a computer. For me, this one limitation makes it useless as a webcam or for live casting.
The included microphone is nice. I expected very mediocre results after my other experiences with the camera, but the external mic actually produces decent audio for what I need. If the camera had turned out to be suitable for my webcasting, I would have just gone with the included mic for my audio.
The included remote is handy. It's easy to start and stop recording with it. Strangely, though, the power button on the remote will shut the camera off but will not turn the camera on. I don't think that makes the remote less useful -- it's just odd. Overall, the remote works fine and functions just as one would expect.
Report