Wintermon's Full Review: Sharp Viewcam VL-AH151U Hi-8 Analog Camcorder
Well, I went looking for a replacement camera to view my old HI-8 tapes I made beginning back in 1989, on a Cannon A1. The Cannon did not last long and had given me many problems along the way, but what a nice camera for 1989. I missed viewing the wife, kids and better times, so I decided to look for a lower cost camcorder.
I have seen many people use the Sharp style camcorder over the years and thought that it may be a good choice. I purchased the VL-AH151U and started viewing those old tapes. The 3" screen was very nice and easy to handle, but viewing angle and contrast were poor when more than one person wished to view. My Cannon A1 never had this feature and required me to connect either the composite (yellow RCA plug) video plug or the S-video cable to my television. The S-Video cable was developed to allow the SVHS standard to be viewed with more clarity. It's cousin followed as the HI-8 standard (High Bandwidth). If I remember correctly, the standard 8mm was between 250-320 horizontal lines of resolution and the HI-8 did around 400 lines. About a %20-%35 clearer picture using HI-8 (but you need the S-Video cable).
The composite video (yellow RCA) does not allow me to view the higher resolution of the HI-8, so I used the S-Video connection on my Cannon to get the best performance. The S-Video plug was not available on the Sharp to my surprise. I assumed that it was necessary for the HI-8 mode (which it is! Never assume anything...). In my opinion, this produces a standard 8mm playback. I proceeded to use the custom RCA plug which Sharp provided and noticed the picture was'nt as clear as the Cannon that I remembered. This was very disappointing. I wanted to convert these old tapes to DVD or such, but with the lower quality output I probably won't. I'd like to see if the HI-8 recordings are really produced and can be viewed at the higher resolution. I guess I'll wait until I can afford a higher end camcorder or player for this.
As I started using this camera, I tried other features. The sound was acceptable for a personal recorder, but did not have the sound of the Cannon (HIFI stereo). after 14 years, the cost/performance has not come down much. I'm getting more disappointed. I then proceeded to try the zoom. This experience was reminiscent of the days when I wanted that Tasco telescope with 1000x, but when I got it, only about the first 50x was usable. This is the same with the Sharp! They advertise 400x, but only about the first 16x is usable. Why do company's do this? Totally mislead the consumer. Is this what they are teaching in college when you take marketing? Well, there are the intangibles.
I own a projection HDTV(widescreen) and everything looks great on it (except analog cable, and now this camcorder), so I was hoping the touted 16:9 would allow me to view a wider field with the same or higher resolution(wide angle lens or maybe 480P, but not with the lack of S-Video!). Well after reading and fumbling around with the 16:9 mode, I realized it was hype. The 16:9 mode just took the same picture, but places a black bar on the top and on the bottom of the picture (how cheezy!) cropping the picture. It actually removes part of the picture. It is 16:9 though. I guess I may have been expecting too much. Sharp got the current BUZZWORD in on their documentation though.
One annoying thing happens. When using the menus and operating on battery power, the camcorder shuts down by itself. The Battery indicator (nice feature) shows an almost full charge, yet it shuts off by itself randomly while operating the buttons. Hope this isn't a recurring problem.
For the price, this is an acceptable camera. The menus are clear and very easy to use. Viewing what you record on the 3" LCD is very nice and it makes for a nice portable VCR for one person. The battery is easy to load and more secure than my Cannon A1. It is light, though it still is a little bulky. The tape loading and unloading is a bit slow since it is fully automated. I preferred my manual load/unload on the Cannon (you won't get much delay when changing tapes and lose a shot). Engineering should have sacrificed the tape load motor and added the S-Video output instead.
I realize that Sharp is trying to sell a product at a higher price using sales and marketing tricks to get a higher list price. You get what you pay for. Don't expect high end features. Though overall, it's not a bad low end camcorder. Sure wish it had the S-Video or an optional upgrade.
BRAND NEW Sharp Viewcam VL-AH151U Camcorder Payment accepted in U.S. Dollars (USD) by : PayPal , Visa, Master Card, American Express, Discover. Checks...More at eBay
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