Concord4

The new Concord DV2020 Digital Video Camera (Concord, $229.99) is a marvel of compactness and technology. This 2 megapixel camera is multi-functional: it takes DV (digital video) movies with sound, digital still pictures, can act as a PC Cam, record voice and playback MP3 music files. All this in a pocket-sized (3.7 x 2.5 x 1.4 inches) seven ounce brushed metal unit complete with a handy carrying pouch.

The 1.5 inch, high resolution (117K pixels) LCD color display swivels out and turns 270 degrees for maximum flexibility in picture taking, even allowing you to watch while taking videos of yourself. Like many LCD displays, it is difficult to see in bright sunlight, so a viewfinder would have been nice. The camera has 16MB of internal memory, which will store up to nine minutes of video or 96 still digital pictures at the lowest resolution settings. At the best quality settings, it’ll record 60 seconds of video or 17 digital still pictures. SD (secure digital) memory cards can be used for additional video and picture storage. When inserted, the SD card will automatically be used for storage. Using a 128MB card, up to 84 minutes of video, 844 digital still pictures or 8.5 hours of voice can be recorded at the lowest resolution settings or 11 minutes of video or 150 digital still pictures at the best settings.

The camera’s lens is an 8.6mm (43.8mm 35mm equivalent) f2.8 fixed aperture with shutter speeds automatically selected from 1/8 to 1/4000 sec and ISO automatically selected from 85 - 160. Digital zoom can be used: 4X for still pictures or 2X for videos, but picture quality suffers in the zoomed mode since you are not using the entire sensor for image capture.

You can view the videos or still pictures on the camera LCD display or connect the camera with the included cables to your TV for viewing. The camera uses the MPEG-4 compression format for digital video, but you must install the included drivers to be able to view the video on your computer. Video is recorded at 17fps (frames per second) for smooth action. When connected to your computer via the included USB cable, the camera is seen as a removable storage device so you can copy, delete, rename and the like video and still picture files. A slide show feature lets you cycle through the pictures either on the camera’s LCD screen or a connected TV.

There are only five controls used to operate the camera: Power Button turns the camera on or off, Shutter Button starts or stops video or audio recording, playback, MP3 playback or takes a still picture, Menu Button turns on the menu selections (more about that later), Selector Dial operates the menu options and Mode Dial, selects six operations: Motion, Still, Voice, Playback, MP3 and Setup. Power for the camera comes from a rechargeable lithium ion battery or the included AC adapter. Battery charging is done in the camera from the AC adapter or from your computer using the USB cable connection. This last feature is a great convenience.

The various Menu selections allow you to choose the pixel resolution and quality (compression) settings for either video recording or still picture capture to best match your intended use for the video or still pictures. A 10-second self-timer allows you to get into either the video or still picture. From the menu you can set the White Balance to auto, sunny, cloudy, tungsten or fluorescent lighting and choose a special effect such as black and white or sepia. The flash can be set to auto, off or red eye reduction. There’s no option for fill flash. Another menu option is the Scene Mode, which lets you select presets to optimize pictures for various situations such as back light, low light, snow and beach or spotlight.

The unit is also a voice recorder. Set the Mode Dial to voice, push the shutter button to start recording and push again to stop. That easy. The recordings are .wav files that can be played back on the unit or on your computer. The unit is also a portable MP3 player. Just load up an SD chip with your favorite tunes, plug in the included earphones and listen away.

Included with the camera are ArcSoft Video Impression, a video editor, and ArcSoft Photo Impression, a photo editor. Both programs are easy to use to get you started editing and sharing your videos and still photos.

The Concord DV2020 Digital Video Camera is amazingly compact for the many features it offers. As we toted the camera about, eyebrows were raised when we noted all the capabilities and the price. The 2 megapixel digital still pictures were good and produced satisfactory snapshot-sized prints. The video was smooth and looked good displayed on the unit. It suffered some pixelation viewed on a large TV screen but otherwise was acceptable. All in all, a good value and a fun camera to use.