The SC-HMX20C has a 1/1.8″ CMOS sensor capable of recording 6.4M pixels and still images can be captured up to an interpolated 8M pixels (3264×2448). I was actually quite surprised how well the quality of the pictures turned out when shooting images of my TV. Everything comes out quite clear and there is only the slightest hint of barrel distortion on the lens. There is no macro-mode for the camera and as a matter of fact, you don’t have nearly as many options available to you as a standard point and shoot but the SC-HMX20 does the basic trick just like how a P&S can capture some videos.

The following three pictures were taken with various zoom levels. The first has the widest angle, the second is half zoomed in and the third is fully zoomed in. The built-in flash was disabled for all three pictures but the remaining settings were left to auto.

The built-in flash has a range of 7 to 10 feet which is acceptable but a hot-shoe for an external light source would have been really nice.

Capturing videos will be the primary purpose of this camera. I’ve recorded the same scene from The Mummy at different resolutions. All the settings were left at the default state with the exception of WindCut. I had enabled this option to cut out some of the be background noise. Unforunately, YouTube does not permit 1080i/p playback so they have compressed the resolution down to 720. The highest resolution, 1920×1080/30p, file can be downloaded directly from our servers if you would like to see what the uncompressed video looks like. The file is 27MB.

HD 1920×1080/30p

HD 1920×1080/60i – HD Super Fine

SD 720×480/60p – SD Normal

The Slow Motion option is a new mode that allows you to record regular movie images as a slow motion. Samsung claims it is ideal for analyzing golf swings or viewing birds in flight. A recording will automatically stop after 10 seconds and plays back at 50 seconds.

SD 448×336/60p – Slow Motion

I took a screen show of all the images at approximately the same time. The 30p was a significant improvement over the 60i. There is less noise around the heads of people. What surprised me was the 720×480. My screenshot was 1:1 and it proved to be 853×480, making the capture very wide screen. The slow motion capture is definitely handy for improving my golf swing but the resolution is ridiculously small, almost to the point of being unwatchable when exploded on my 1920×1080 monitor.

From Left to Right: 1920×1080 @ 30P | 1920×1080 @ 60I | 720×480 @ 60P | 448×336 Slow Motion

You can capture photos while recording a video or in the standby mode by simply pressing the photo button on the body of the camcorder. Alternatively, you can use the provided remote control. I must admit, this is a pretty cool feature but only really useful if you have the camcorder mounted to a tripod. Otherwise you’re going to be holding it and will have easy access to the buttons. The remote control lets you navigate through all the options as if you were holding on to the camcorder. The only thing you cannot do is switch between modes. I think this is a pretty big fault and it means you need to walk back to the camcorder to change from video recording to photo shooting to editing and previewing. I also can’t seem to modify the flash settings in photo mode when using the remote control. However, I’m pleased by the overall ease of use and quick response by the remote.

Despite the Cyberlink software suite lacking any video editing, the video edit menu allows you to divide a single video up into different segments, delete unwanted videos and combine videos together. You won’t be able to adjust colors, audio or crop as you’d be able to in a true editing suite. To divide a video you need to touch the menu and navigate to Edit & Divide. Select the video and navigate to the desired point of splitting along the progress bar. Once you’re at the desired point, touch the divide button and the video will be split into two files. To delete a portion of the video, need to select the start and end points along the progress bar of what you would like deleted and confirm your choice. To combined segments of video together, you select the order of which you’d like the files to be joined, confirm your selection and the software will do the rest. I’m pretty impressed with how easy the editing is on the camcorder.

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