About our reviews

What we aim to achieve – and why

SimplyDV: Proudly Independent

It isn’t easy running a busy website, especially one which is operated pretty much as a labour of love and which isn’t funded by large corporations. Being independent does have its advantages – but with it comes responsibilities, as the site’s founder Colin Barrett explains.

Unlike many so-called reviews from sites which exist only to separate you from your hard-earned cash, our reviews are completely independent of all external commercial influences and are therefore totally objective in terms of what they set out to achieve.

This is an important principle that has underpinned our philosophy here at SimplyDV since its formation in 2002 and continues to this day.

Of course, for the complete and utter newbie, the decision about which particular model to buy is a difficult challenge; even the job of sifting through all the reviews is hard enough. But can you really trust all the so-called reviews that you read? How can you be sure that a glowing product review hasn’t been submitted by someone associated with the vendor in some way?

It happens – really it does. Honest.

SimplyDV’s reviews are 100% independent for the simple reason that (a) we don’t sell consumer electronics products directly off the site (meaning that we don’t have boxes of stock to shift so we’re not biased) and (b) we’re nice, honest, principled people. Put simply, we’re not into deceiving you.

Essential review criteria

So, with all the above in mind, we believe it’s vitally important to apply the following criteria when considering a product for review:

• Who is the product aimed at?
• What is the prospective customer likely to expect from the product?
• How easy will it be for the customer to get the kind of results they were expecting from the product when purchasing it?
• Does it do what the maker claims of it in its advertising and promotion?
• Is the product likely to deliver good value for money from the user?

In the same way that you’re not likely to acquire a top-of-the-range Aston Martin Rapide for the price of a Ford Ka, you can’t expect to get a fully-featured, all-bells-and-whistles enthusiasts’ camcorder for peanuts, so please bear that in mind when reading our reviews. Again – we consider a product according to its target market and its price point. If we say a £150/$150 model is “ideal”, that’s because we’re thinking of the needs of the person who wants something simple and who has that amount of money to spend. That’s fair enough, isn’t it?

Testing in the real world

We’ve all seen the websites which point camcorders at complicated-looking test charts then expect you (as a confused beginner) to determine its quality on the basis of a compressed JPEG image. We’ve never done that. Anyhow, it’s largely irrelevant.

Considering the end user - is it fit for purpose?

Of course, there’s no such thing as a typical camcorder user; people from all walks of life have cause to use camcorders. They’re used not just in the home but also at work, by social groups and are also used extensively in education.

What’s appropriate for one use might be totally inappropriate for another. We always try to take this into account.

However, many users will be home users and therefore we do think it important that we quickly set about recording the kind of material the end user is most likely to be shooting in the manner they’re most likely to shoot it.

That means that if it’s a small pocket-cam recording to an SD card, we’ll shoot stuff indoors and outdoors, daytime and night-time, with family members and friends just like the prospective user might do.

Then we’ll play it back on a regular TV using the connecting cables that come with the product. Just like you would.

If the camcorder is a high definition model, we’ll look at the recordings on both a HD (high definition) TV display and also a SDTV (standard definition TV) display too. From this we’ll decide whether the pictures and sounds are generally OK or not. From such activity we’ll decide whether the camcorder would offer good value for money if we were to have paid for it ourselves.

Reading the manual: is everything to spec?

If, on the other hand, we’re looking at a manufacturer’s leader product (ie: top of the range or even flagship model), we’ll apply a different set of criteria to our testing process.

For a start, we’ll put it on a tripod and shoot sequences in a more professional style. We’ll switch off all the automatic controls and see how it facilitates good manual operation.

We’ll go through the menu system with a fine tooth-comb and ask ourselves whether they help or hinder operation in the real world. And – of course – we’ll inspect the playback output on HD and SD TV displays. In short, we’ll try and view the product through the eyes of the typical customer for that product.

Thinking about Editing, Archiving, Sharing

Recording video with a camcorder is only part of the story; as a user, you’ll want to play back your clips and show them to family members, friends, colleagues and so on.

You might want to import them into your Windows, Apple Mac or even Linux-based computer in order to compile a DVD or upload to social media-sharing sites like YouTube.

How easily can clips be imported into a computer for editing or archiving?

Perhaps you simply want to use the supplied software to archive sequences for viewing on the computer itself.

For that reason, we always look at how compatible the product is with Windows and Mac computers, and we heck out the ease with which you can use the supplied software.

In other words – is it any good and can you achieve what you expect to achieve with it?

Where possible (and where time allows) we’ll always connect to at least one Windows and one Apple Mac to check the ease by which you can import, edit and share recorded clips.

We don’t assume that you’re a Windows user, either. Although we use Windows PCs some of the time, we use Macs most of the time – as do lots of other people we know! How many other web-based reviews test camcorder clips on both systems, let alone one? Not many – largely because they shoot very little real-world material and don’t set aside the time or resources necessary to come to such conclusions.

More than just camcorders

Until recently, SimplyDV has been pre-occupied with publishing reviews of camcorders, with reviews of other associated hardware and software being in short supply. That’s all changing – and we’re now attempting to progressively add a lot more information about related software like Blu-ray disc recorders, computer editing hardware and software and even portable media player devices like the iPhone, iPod Touch etc. After all, you might want to view your movie projects whilst you’re on the move – so we’ll help you to get the material from your camcorder to such a device.

No-nonsense, jargon-free

And another thing – from the beginning we’ve always claimed to be “the no-nonsense guide to choosing and using a consumer camcorder” in a manner that’s as jargon-free as we can make it and which doesn’t assume anything other than a basic knowledge on the part of the reader. That hasn’t changed either!

Any thoughts, comments and suggestions?

And if that’s not enough – we’re always open to constructive criticism and suggestions. Very often, it’s the end users who come up with the best ideas, so please let us have them via our Contact page. Thanks.

Colin

Founder/Editor: SimplyDV