Introduction

Now we set our sights (and our hands) on one camcorder from the upcoming H-series, the Samsung HMX-H105. There's a new sensor and a new lens, but the star of the show is the large internal solid state drive (SSD)—16GB to 64GB, depending on the particular H-series model. If Samsung can just match the performance of last year's model with the promise of high capacity solid state memory, they could earn a lot of new fans when the HMX-H105 launches in March.

Audio

Samsung camcorders simply aren't the best choice for audio versatility. The HMX-H105 has a stereo microphone on the bottom of the camcorder, but no headphone or microphone jacks. Just about the only thing that the H105 does offer is a Wind Cut feature.

Compression & Media

Compression

The Samsung HMX-H105 records video in the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 format, the same as models from the previous years. MPEG-4 has clearly been adopted as the format of choice for HD camcorders, split into two camps. Sony, Canon, Panasonic, and most recently JVC, all use AVCHD, which is a subset of AVC/H.264. AVCHD experienced some serious stumbling blocks in its first few years, as existing hardware and software choked on the heavy data loads. It has, however, gotten much better in the past year. AVC/H.264 is also data-heavy, at least compared to old standard definition camcorders, but the format is easier to read. QuickTime can work perfectly with the files, and has the benefit of being free and dual-platform.

There are three record qualities on the Samsung HMX-H105: superfine, fine, and normal.

You can also select the resolution: 1080/60i/60i N/30P, 720/60P, and 480/60P, web, and mobile.

Media

The HMX-H105 records to a built-in 32GB solid state drive (SSD). Media, is in fact, the most significant feature differentiating the different models in Samsung's H-series. The HMX-H106 records to a 64GB SSD (the largest capacity SSD currently in consumer camcorders), the HMX-H104 records to a 16GB SSD, and the HMX-H100 records exclusively to SD/SDHC memory cards.

Editing

With most of today's high definition video, you'll find sporadic support for the files. Fortunately, the H-series does ship with built-in software—though the software is only compatible with Windows. We haven't been able to see the software firsthand, but will give a more complete report once one of the camcorders makes its way through our labs. We expect that Samsung will provide a decent offering, since the CyberLink DVD Suite on the SC-HMX20 was a fairly satisfactory piece of editing software.

Manual Controls

Auto Mode

The Samsung HMX-H105 does offer an auto mode, but there are no special features that come along with it. You can simply shoot with or without manual image adjustments available.

Low Light Modes The HMX-H105 has a Super C.Nite mode. Off, normal, and super. On last year's models, this mode brightened the image a bit, but also led to extreme oversaturation. There's also the Night option in iScene.

Scene Modes Like most camcorders, the HMX-H105 comes with a variety of scene modes, called iScene: Auto, Night, Sports, Portrait, Spotlight, Beach & Snow, Food, and Candlelight.

Zoom

The zoom toggle on the HMX-H105 is a copy and paste job from last year's SC-HMX20. As with the HMX20, the toggle is too far forward and a bit flimsy. It also didn't allow for variable zoom speeds, constantly forcing your zoom to happen at the same speed. We can't get the interesting thumb-zoom of the new R10, but we hope that Samsung at least implemented variable zoom on all of their camcorders this year.

If you don't like the feel or the position of the top-mounted zoom toggle, you can also use your left hand to operate the secondary zoom, located on the LCD panel.

Zoom Ratio

The HMX-H104 has a 10x optical zoom and a digital zoom that can be turned on and off.

Focus

The three focus methods of the HMX-H105 are the same three methods that were included on the SC-HMX20. As always, you can rely on the automatic focus, which is usually sufficient. You can do a manual focus by using a touch screen scale (see below). Finally, you can use Samsung's TouchPoint system, which lets you just touch the object you want in focus and the camcorder will automatically focus on that object. None of these systems are as good as a manual focus that lets you use a joystick or lens ring to achieve the perfect focus. The touch screen manual focus is especially cumbersome, since it fills the screen with icons that block the image you want in focus.

The focus scale on last year's SC-HMX20.

Exposure

Samsung offers the same simple exposure control as they did on last year's models: a sliding scale that makes brightness adjustment simple for all users. The EV scale ranges from: -2.0, -1.6, -1.3, -1.0, -0.6, -0.3, 0, 0.3, 0.6, 1.0, 1.3, 1.6, and 2.0. The HMX-H105 also has a Backlight Compensation feature.

Aperture

Aperture control is a new addition to this year's Samsungs—manual control enthusiasts that might have missed the feature on the SC-HMX20 will welcome such an arrival. Aperture is controlled in the touch screen menus. Options include: f/3.5, f/4.0, f/4.5, f/5.0, f/5.6, f/6.3, f/7, f/8.0, f/9.0, f/10.0, f/11.2, f/12.6, f/14, and f/16.

Shutter Speed

Shutter speed controls are identical to last year's models. This is one manual option that isn't hurt by cluttering the LCD with control icons. The sliding scale works just fine, offering a decent range of options: 1/60, 1/100, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, 1/2000, 1/4000, 1/10000.

White Balance

White balance can be adjusted in either the quick menu or the regular administrative menu. Options are: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Tungsten, and Custom. This is a fairly wide range of options (and the same range that was found on last year's Samsungs).

Gain

None of Samsung's camcorders, including the H-series, have Gain control. Panasonic is the only manufacturer of consumer camcorders to offer a manual gain control.

Color & Image Control

The H105 offers only a single color mode for shooting—no soft skin mode, neutral vs. vivid, etc.

 

Other Manual Controls

The HMX-H105 isn't an amazing camcorder for manual controls, but it should offer enough to keep most advanced users happy. In addition to the options mentioned above, there are a few other features included:

Still Features

The HMX-H105 will probably fair fine in the still photo department, but its not the true hybrid that Samsung's HMX-R10 is designed to be. Performance is, of course, the ultimate deciding factor, but the HMX-H105 just doesn't offer the array of manual features and resolution options that you'll find on the R10. The two sizes are even less impressive than what was offered on last year's HMX20. The H105 has separate video and still modes—as controlled by a button on the back of the camcorder.

All of the manual image adjustments available to videographers are there for still photography as well. There is a paltry supporting lineup of the 10-second self timer and continuous shot—far fewer options than will be available on Samsung's HMX-R10.

Handling & Use

Ease of Use

Once again, Samsung relies on a responsive touch screen and intuitive menu structure to strengthen the product's ease of use. Beginning shooters will have no problem finding the options they want and experimenting with manual controls on the H-series camcorders. If you don't want to bother with manual controls, you can just as easily fly by in EasyQ mode and let the automatic adjustments take over. We praised last year's Samsungs for their simple and elegant user interface... it looks like the 2009 models will carry on the tradition.

Handling

If you've handled either of Samsung's MX20 models from last year (the high definition SC-HMX20 or the standard definition SC-MX20), the HMX-105 will be a familiar friend. The camcorder fits comfortably in your hand, the buttons are clearly labels and well laid out, and you have the added fun of Samsung's excellent swivel grip.

The swivel grip means that there's a large variety of options, including the pistol grip and the flashlight grip. These let you get great new angles with ease and comfort. Plus, there's the additional zoom toggle and record button mounted on the LCD panel for easy two-handed recording (which means better stability).

Portability

Measuring just 59mm x 60.9mm x 128.6mm and weighing just 380g, the HMX-H105 is small and light. It doesn't feel quite as robust as the R10, but most surfaces seem fairly resistant to dust, scratches, and breaking. The surface of the LCD is bound to attract greasy fingerprints thanks to the touch screen, but that's true of all touch screens. With 32GB of internal memory, you probably won't even need to carry extra media or worry about too many data transfers. You can always throw a spare SD/SDHC card in there for backup.

Battery

Battery life on solid state camcorders tends to be significantly longer than on hard drive, tape, or DVD camcorders. Last year's Samsungs had excellent battery performance and we expect the HMX-H105 will show similar longevity. The battery is enclosed in a cavity on the bottom of the camcorder, which means that you won't be able to upgrade to a larger size.

LCD & Viewfinder

The HMX-H105 has a standard 2.7-inch LCD, which flips out 90 degrees from the body of the camcorder and rotates up to 270 degrees. Resolution is 230,000 pixels, which is about average for a camcorder in this price range and good enough to support the touch screen interface. It's not great for making manual focus adjustments—especially when much of the screen is blocked by the adjustment icons. You can make a couple of tweaks to the LCD from inside the menus, including lowering or increasing brightness of the screen.

 

Menus

As with last year's models, the HMX-H105 has a clear and intuitive menu structure. Everything is organized into two tabs of a single menu. There is also a Quick Menu, which repeats six common functions: storage, iSCENE, resolution, white balance, exposure, and focus.

 

Playback & Connectivity

Playback

The playback interface is a traditional system of thumbnail views, selected via the touch screen interface. There are also touch screen controls for play/pause, forward, rewind, etc. There is a separate playback screen for still photos.

Connectivity

There aren't a lot of connections on the HMX-H105, but it has the ports that most users will want to use. Composite and Component video are both handled with a single proprietary connection, nestled in the same compartment as USB, HDMI, and DC power.

Other Features

Time Lapse Record Samsung offers the unique ability to do time lapse recording. You are, of course, limited by storage media, but if you connect the camcorder to a power outlet, you could capture some interesting footage over the course of a few hours.

O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilization) Optical image stabilization tends to be better than its digital counterpart. We haven't seen much from Samsung in the way of O.I.S., so we'll have to wait and see how well it is implemented.

Digital Effects Black and white, sepia, negative, and art. These will really spruce up your final video.

Fades Just like the good old days, you can apply Faders to your video clips. Choose between black or white fade-ins and fade-outs.

 

Conclusion

What makes Samsung's new H-series interesting is the 16GB-64GB SSD; the thought of 64GB of internal solid state memory on the H106 is exciting for geeks of the camcorder world. But just about everything else in the H105's design we'll have to approach with a wait-and-see outlook. We were impressed by last year's high definition model from Samsung (the SC-HMX20), but the H105 has a completely different sensor and lens. There's a possibility that this will have a negative impact on performance.

As for the rest, there are things to praise and reasons to be skeptical. Samsung has cut its still features significantly, choosing instead to bill the HMX-R10 as the premiere video-still hybrid. This will be a disappointment to those that like to fall back on their camcorder for still photos. On the other hand, Samsung has finally introduced optical image stabilization to its camcorder line, which should make them a few new fans. It's still not a camcorder for manual control enthusiasts or power users (no mic input?), but it looks like the HMX-H105 is carrying on the Samsung tradition of sleek, easy to use products. Hopefully the video performance can live up to the impressive showing of last year's models.

 

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