Samsung SCD353 MiniDV Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom | 
 enlarge | Brand: Samsung
Category: Photography
List Price: $349.99
Buy New: $199.97
You Save: $150.02 (43%)
New (2) Used (1) from $132.12
Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 3732
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: Yes
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Optical Zoom: 20
Display Size: 2.5
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 8 x 6 x 6
MPN: SC-D353
Model: SC-D353
UPC: 036725301191
EAN: 0036725301191
ASIN: B0007QN88S
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Upgraded USB streaming (VGA 30 frames per second) | | • | 20x optical zoom | | • | Memory stick slot | | • | Enhanced image quality (DSP6) | | • | PictBridge |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The SC-D353 is packed with features and value. The camcorder sports a streamlined body for easy carrying, and plenty of value-enhancing features. A 680K CCD and 20x Optical / 900x Digital zoom provide excellent picture clarity and high recording flexibility. A viewfinder and 2.5" LCD screen let users plan their shots, edit scenes, and playback video. The camera also features Enhanced Image Quality with DSP6 Digital Signal Processing technology, and upgraded USB streaming capabilities (VGA, 30fps).
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 LCD DISPLAY QUIT WORKING - BAD QUALITY May 21, 2008
A. Bergstrom (California)
Bought this camcorder at Best Buy a year ago. I made the purchase based on a long standing faith in Samsung products. The image quality was terrible. There is no light, so it is very hard to keep a focus unless you are outside in bright daylight. Sound quality was okay. But after one year of very light use, the LCD display quit working. I'll never buy another Samsung camera. I called Samsung they charge $160.00 to fix it. Brand new one is $200.00. It happened with a lot of people. BAD BAD BAD.
Basic video plus external mic input May 8, 2008
Wesley Elsberry (Williamston, MI USA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I bought the SC-D353 in 2006 with budget in mind, since recent graduates like my wife and I have lots of debt and not much in the way of spending money. This camcorder was essentially the least expensive video option I found at the time that did have an external mic input.
For the price, the camera does the things I am looking for. I'm looking for acceptable, not great, video definition, and it does deliver reasonable video quality when there is adequate lighting. It falls short when dealing with low light, or when a single subject is lit but the rest of the frame is dark. The lens system and autofocus are not well-integrated; once one zooms more than about 2/3rds of the way to the long end of telephoto, the autofocus hunts for several seconds before regaining focus. I suspect that the lens design is not a zoom lens, but rather a hyperfocal lens. A zoom lens retains the same focus through the range, but a hyperfocal lens changes focus distance as focal length changes. At least, that would explain why the autofocus hunts if a fast zoom occurs.
About the audio... the built-in microphone is reasonably sensitive, but, and it is a large but, the camcorder self-noise while using the tape drive is excessive and simply renders the built-in mic unusable. I don't have Memory Stick memory cards, so I don't know whether that problem goes away when recording to the card. It is a good thing that this camcorder has an external mic input, because it badly needs it. I've used small dynamic stereo mics up through a Sennheiser shotgun mic with this camcorder, and as long as one either puts enough distance between the camcorder and mic, or has a mic with a good rejection of local noise, it does OK for audio, though its automatic level control tends to run a bit hot.
The other reviews are correct that the provided battery delivers just about an hour of operation if one only uses the viewfinder, a chunk less if one uses the LCD screen. This limits the utility of the camcorder, since, as the other reviews also point out, the camcorder itself is the only provided charging solution, and the camcorder must be switched off in order to charge the battery. One can operate the camcorder via the provided adapter, though, so some use indoors near an electrical outlet would not be impossible, but who wants a power cable dragging along with them while taping video?
The menu system provides a number of features, most of which I'm too occupied to use in the field. It also does not store settings, so every time you remove power, leave time to set up your favorites again. The one feature that needs a button, the Digital Image Stabilization, only provides that button with several other automation choices. The "EasyQ" button does turn on DIS, but it also turns on autofocus and a couple of other "amateur" features. If you want DIS and, for instance, manual focus, you have to go through the menu to do it. I've never made use of the "digital effects" settings. If I need effects, I can apply them later in Vegas.
Here's what I've done with my unit to make it more useful for me. First, I invested in a third-party Li-ion 2250mAh battery and external charger, which cost me about $20 plus shipping. I can use both batteries, but I've found little need for the original, since the new battery lasts for well over two hours, even mostly running with the LCD screen active. It does, unfortunately, interfere mechanically with getting one's eye up close to the viewfinder, but I can use it with the viewfinder pulled back as one does to access the diopter adjustment and the LCD screen is generally more useful for monitoring anyway. Second, I bought a 30mm to 52mm step-up adapter. This, also unfortunately, could not be installed with the camcorder in mint condition. There is a raised ridge of decorative plastic on the front that comes up to just under the lens, preventing the flange of the adapter from resting perpendicular to the lens. My solution: use a Dremel-style motor tool to take off the 2mm or so of plastic so that I can actually screw in the adapter. I took care not to go deep, and there is still a point where it looks like I've opened a small hole to the interior. I'm not so much worried about what may get in afterward, but rather whether I was generating any plastic bits that fell in. Forget about a warranty if you do this, too. What the 52mm adapter gets me is the ability to use the high-quality accessory lenses that we bought for our Canon S2 IS camera, specifically the 0.66x Raynox wide-angle lens. (I used to have a Century 0.8x, but that weighed a couple of times what the camcorder and the new heavier battery do.) With the wide-angle accessory lens, I can get a much better view at the wide end with no vignetting, and the zoom works fine without excessive AF hunting when zooming even out to the extreme telephoto end. Third, I bought a HTDZ HT-320A microphone, a "uni-directional electret condenser" mic. I'm used to cheap audio equipment sucking badly, but the HT-320A made for a pleasant surprise. Its self-noise is actually not too bad on the unit I got; though not in the Sennheiser shotgun mic class, it also costs about a tenth of what the low-end Sennheiser costs. It is certainly an adequate microphone to pair with the SC-D353 camcorder. Between these accessories, I'm much happier with the camcorder than with it as it came out of the box. I plan to deploy this, minus the wide-angle accessory lens, on a bracket over my Nikon DSLR this summer at dog agility trials, where people often want video of their dog's performance as well as still photos.
Bottom-line: If you are on a budget and only need recognizable video, not great quality video, this unit can do the job. It's certainly a contender for putting together YouTube video compositions. One should also plan to use an external microphone. I'd recommend the purchase of a higher-capacity battery and external charger. If you want to expand your view with good quality accessory lenses, you may need to perform surgery on the camcorder case.
Good for 6 months March 29, 2008
Z. Chen (Aurora, IL USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
My SCD353 worked OK in first 6 months or so ( less than 10 hrs recoding). Then the picture quality become more and more blurry. I purchased a cleaning tape trying to fix it but no use.
 good camcorder April 9, 2007
Marcos G. Paz Mendoza
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
this camcorder is a good product, have a good zoom, for the pictures the quality is low, but is a good device.
Very good product but battery dies fast! March 12, 2007
Renato Wiltgen (SP Brazil)
Easy to use, setup and convert videos to PC. The problem is regarding battery life... Average rate is good.
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