Viewcam Facts and what to know when buying a cam. Review on Sharp VL-E610U

The basics of a video camera purchase.

Sharp Viewcam EL-600U is the actually model number, but all viewcams have the same basic design, besides the model I have is a few years old so this is fact is trivial when buying. This is however is a good place to start.

Viewcams are the cameras to look into if you want to make home movies, document the progression of your life or the people around you, vacations, etc. Serious video buffs would use something more high brow, but for everyone else, this is it. Price about $400 and under.

With the purchase of the camera there’s an AC adapter, short-term usage rechargeable battery, neck strap, Audio/Visual transfer wire, and of course the instruction manual.

Consider buying a medium priced tripod that can allow you to move side to side, 180 degrees, and up and down, 90 degrees, easily. There are knobs and screws to adjust for all tripod to do this, but low end tripod ($9.99-$15.99) don’t offer great mobility and are meant for still cameras, when and where moving the entire tripod is the more efficient method. High end tripod ($25 plus) offer bells and whistles the average consumer doesn’t need such as wheels for sliding the tripod, incredibly large sized above 5-6 feet for larger more professional documenting purpose cameras, basically features you don’t need in a camera. Relatively around $20 and remember to check how easy it is to swing the camera N/S/E/W.

Also, if you’re going to need it, record in places without an outlet for the adapter, go ahead and buy the extra battery which will last about 2 hours or more- check packaging. The included battery lasts a half hour or 45 minutes if you don’t use the zoom function.

Alright, everything is ready, now what kind of picture will be yielded so to say. Crisp and crystal clear. This is not an exaggeration by any means; the picture looks very clear and soaks up detail. The cameras are hooked up to TV screens for a reason in the store, but it’s evident on the LCD screen anyway. Test the floor model at the store and compare it with other cameras. The view is digital quality, but the model I have is a regular model that uses 8mm.

You’re right, 8mm doesn’t play in your VCR. A single wire connects the camera to a TV, VCR, or anything that has an A/V input plugs (the plug starts from a single male plug and on the other end it splits to two male ends for the A/V). There’s usually input and output pairs of female ends, smaller TVs only have input. Output offers you the option to record programs from your TV to your camera. Takes a whole 3 seconds to do, so if a VHS-C tape-using camera is more expensive, skip it and don’t look back. (VHS-C tapes are placed in an adapter shaped like a VHS tape and play in your VCR). Hooking your camera up takes as long as putting a tape into the VCR, so don’t think that your saving any time or energy. Just remember, when plugging the A/V wire into your VCR/TV (or DVD player-not sure if they have the female ends) and into your camera everything has to be turned off including the camera. If you want to make sure anyway, explanations in instruction manuals usually are a paragraph long with plenty of graphics.

Features to get: steady shot (for those sans tripod), title enabled (write goofy captions), fade, car adapter (for those literally moving documentaries), and patience to edit those boring shots and making a neat tight video. Stuff to avoid: if it's VHS-C, viewfinder, blah! Nobody uses a viewfinder if they have a hybrid with that and the LCD screen so if those are more expensive, skip it.

Have fun!