Lens
The optical zoom magnifies up to 10 times, while the digital zoom, which works by electronically enhancing the optical image, reaches up to 400 times. The zoom toggle is pressure sensitive, so you can control the speed of your zooms. The electronic image stabilization keeps the picture steady throughout the natural shakes and jitters during usage.

Switch to Nite Pix mode, which works by emitting infrared light, for shooting in total darkness. Choose from nine digital special effects, such as art, mosaic, sepia, black and white, and cinema, to add style to your videos.

Digital Stills
Digital photos are stored on the included 8 MB Memory Stick in JPEG format. The SCD590 has a USB connection for easy PC import. You can use the included software, MGI PhotoSuite III, to edit your digital stills.

Inputs and Outputs
The standard DV IEEE1394 port (also called FireWire) is present for a no-loss connection to a PC or other DV machines, as well as a USB port. S-video and RCA A/V connections are used for direct viewing on a television or VHS dubbing. You can also plug in an external microphone via the mic jack for better sound.

MiniDV Format
MiniDV digital technology delivers clear, sharp video with up to 500 lines of horizontal resolution--far superior to the 240 lines of resolution offered by 8mm camcorders. You'll get minimal color noise interference for a more stable picture. You'll also get excellent sound quality in either 12-bit or 16-bit audio recording modes.

• 16-bit audio includes one set of stereo audio tracks to produce CD-quality sound.
• 12-bit audio uses two sets of audio tracks, so you can easily add background music or commentary to your videos while maintaining the existing soundtrack.

This is all delivered on a cassette that's 1/12 the size of a standard VHS tape. A MiniDV tape offers digital recording time of two full hours--20 times the capacity of a CD.

I do have to say that I'm very creeped out by the "Ray Chan" negative review here, in which he copied negative reviews from the CNET boards, and then pasted them (all put together) as his own negative review here on the Amazon site. On CNET, he's known as the "Sony freak", because he goes to all the Samsung products and gives them bad reviews in really bad English, while pushing Sony products. He's managed to bypass the bad English here on Amazon by taking other people's reviews as his own. You can see the negative reviews he copied at: http://reviews.cnet.com/Samsung_SC_D590/4852-6500_7-9879939.html?tag=box
Creepy ...


Great Camcorder!   August 3, 2003
Dean McKay (Louisville KY USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

I first purchased a Sony IP5 and was very disappointed. I hesitated to purchase the SCD590 due to some negative reviews... but I also felt that the reviews may have been staged. Anyway... I bought the camcorder... and we love it. QUALITY is GREAT... and that means picture, features, ease of use, and mechanical. We've had our SCD590 for about 3 months.


i could not find any bad things on this cam   April 27, 2003
8 out of 13 found this review helpful

i got this cam about a week ago. so far so i am happy with this cam. actually, i did not expected this size, b/c i though much bigger, and even smaller than my hand. what is diferent b/t sonyand samsung. it looks same to me thru looking t,v.. and i do not know about the com, b/c it is going to be different story to how you capture thru com, (italk about pic quality)
ps i think there is different b/t sony or other japaness cam and samsung that is price, samsung is much much cheaper and i think same quality.


Neat features, bad quality control..It's a Crazy Cam!!   April 14, 2003
Roy Chan (Long Beach, CA USA)
5 out of 28 found this review helpful

Pros: Thoughtful control layout; intuitive user interface; nifty Make-up mode; still image capture to Memory Stick; sharp LCD; optional VL-S1FL unit functions as both a video light and a flash.

Cons: Questionable quality control; bottom-loading cassette; no built-in flash for shooting stills.

Summary: I was sold on this camera for its size. I have tested the quality of the images against my larger Sony TRV-310. While the unit produced acceptable results I was disappointed in the color fidelity. Contrast to my Sony, the Samsung displayed muted colors lacking the depth and sharpness I have taken for granted. I must admit that the features are very good, but the image quality is not very good. Dim light shooting is not the best for this camcorder, unless you want to use night pix (greenish infrared light) The quality control is BAAAD, there were many things wrong with my camcorder when I got it, I had to send it back to the store for a refund. Price is great, but I'm now concerned about the Samsung company, continously failing over and over.