Toshiba Camileo X100 HD

Toshiba Camileo X100

I'm not going to give a full list of all the attributes it comes with as this can be found elsewhere on the web.

The camera comes well packaged and inside the box on top is a quality square mat which is useful to put the camera on whilst charging etc to prevent the underside being scratched also this camera comes with everything you need unlike other makes all except a sdhc card of course.

A very solid small camera built like a brick but light to carry, made of course in China ( in fact one just the same can be brought from a well known Chinese exporter except that the Tosiba is cheaper in the UK and backed by them ). SOUND on mine is great better even than some I have paid five times as much for. Auto focus a wee bit slow.

The controls are excellent, either the touch screen which is very sensitive or the twist/push multi dial on the back, note that this dial has no marks to line up as result is seen on screen, they both do much the same thing and it is refreshing to find a camera that is totally different to use and you don't have to drag the instruction book round with you. I have owned five camcorders in the past from tape to hard disk and found the Sony to be a bit temperamental in damp weather, a Canon which was good and the last one was a top JVC Everio with hard disk which was ok except low light stills and just after the year it died on holiday in Sri Lanka last year, that's been repaired and sold. They all had a drawback in so much that whilst bobbing about in a boat or back of a land rover or trying to film fireworks in the dark say, the fiddly controls/buttons/menus are a job to see or grasp, not so with this one as the bright screen can do it all.

Video in normal light is superb, good indoors and was even ok straight at the setting sun, this all on auto, it would be easier to say that what you see with the eye is what you get.

The best bit for a hybrid camera is the great still photo's, outdoors, indoors and in the dark with flash, you can even take a still whilst using video with the press of a button then it carries on with the video.

The anti shake is not to bad, not up there with the likes of Canon, it won't work on the top setting which is interlaced but does on the progressive setting also the only drawback to this camera is you have to set this every time you fire the camera up which doesn't take long with the touch screen but never the less is a pain, depends how steady your hands are in the end. The lens cover is not integral and so can bang on the body of the camera in the wind and no external mic socket. I did look first at some high end cameras with much the same specs but some of the reviews on some were appalling and this camera was 20% of the cost so if it lasts the year I shan't feel too hard done by, hopefully it will last much longer. Battery life is a bit disappointing but they are had non genuine with external charger for £10 from Amazon.

If this is Tosiba's first stab at the camcorder market I can see them being up there with the rest in a few years, they are on a winner with this one I'm sure. I paid £205 for this with a Toshiba case as well. The camera I first saw was five times this price and didn't have good reviews it seems. It won't suit those who like a lot of gadgets perhaps but I've got to an age where I forget how to use them next day.