Samsung Launches New SMX-F50 Series of Budget SD Camcorders

Samsung announced three new standard definition camcorders today at CES: the SMX-F50, SMX-F53, and SMX-F54. Each camcorder supports a 52x optical zoom lens (increased up to 65x with Intelli-Zoom), a 1.6-inch CCD sensor, and 720 x 480 SD recording.

The three SD camcorders are relatively low on features, but they do include Samsung's new Smart BGM audio technology that allows you to add music to your video clips—and the system will automatically adjust the volume of the music to make sure it doesn't drown out any other important audio (like voices). There's also a record pause feature that lets you "pause" recording rather than "stop" it. This makes it possible to create one large video clip with cuts, rather than a plethora of short, independent videos.

The camcorders feature USB charging, an f/1.8 Schneider Kreuznach Varioplan lens, and 1.9-megapixel still image capabilities. The camcorders also have Composite video outputs and come with Samsung's Intelli-Studio 2.0 video editing software.

Delivering these three new camcorders at a low cost appears to be an imperative for Samsung. The SMX-F50, which has no internal memory, will sell for $199. The SMX-F53 has 8GB of internal memory and a $249 price tag. 16GB of built-in memory is found on the SMX-F54, and it carries the highest cost at $299. All three models will be available in February 2011 with options for Black, Silver, Red, or Blue coors.