Toshiba Camileo S20 Full-HD Pocket Camcorder

The whole premise behind pocket video recorders is small size and portability assures accessibility and more spontaneous use when compared to a full size video camera. For the size and ease of use, however, you make some sacrifices. I did a fair amount of research into this product class to find a pocket video camera that was loaded with features and had the fewest trade offs when stacked up against a full size video recorder. I pulled the trigger on this product and absolutely love it. Here’s the highlights:

1) Size. This thing is small. It’s only a few millimeters bigger than the Flip and Kodak offerings. It’s sized just right to hand hold comfortably, but not too big that it takes up too much valuable purse or bag real estate. It also comes with a very nice cordura carrying case! It’s only about 4 oz. and some reviews have criticized the Camileo for a “plasticy” feel. Not so, this unit feels solid yet light. True the body is made of plastic, but the weight trade off is worth it, and who cares as long as it’s solid. Plus a lighter plastic unit is much more likely to survive the inevitable drop than a heavier metal one (lighter and more pliable).

2) Video Quality. I don’t own another pocket video camera so I can’t intelligently comment on the video quality compared to other units. That being said, the video looks fantastic on the big flat screen. I actually use the 720p mode mostly to have the option to zoom and image stabilize (both not available at 1020p), and I cannot tell a difference between the two modes when displayed on 52″ flat screen. The video is honestly as good as my three year old full size HD video camera in normal light. In dim light there is a little graininess to the video, but there’s an integrated light to help with this and I really don’t take many recordings in dark conditions anyway.

3) Ergonomics (including the screen). The fold out screen is awesome and I have no trouble viewing it in direct sunlight. It’s great to preview videos and twists around for the ubiquitous self portraits too. The Flip and Kodak models are just little boxes that you hold up facing “out” to record. The Toshiba Camileo S20 feels like a real video camera (albeit a really small one) in your hand. It just feels natural to me to record video in this manner.

4) Features – The built in LED light is a nice touch but it’s really only useful in very dark conditions for close up subjects. I think it’s main utility is to augment the light in low-light situations like around dusk or in a dim room. Useful under some situations and a good feature to have when you need it. The time lapse and slow motion are really fun. You won’t find yourself using them very frequently but capturing a great sunset or cloud movement is pretty cool. Why not have the option? The YouTube upload button is a big “who cares?” for me, but users that are interested in this sort of thing may like it. The digital zoom is smooth and doesn’t pixelate stuff too much. I’m also surprised at how much I DON’T use the zoom on this camera. The default capture angle is pretty good. Kid’s sporting events are the only time I’ve found that I’ve used it a lot, and for this application the digital zoom works fine. If I know I’ll need the intensive use of optical zoom ahead of time, I bring my regular HD camcorder anyway. The built in 5MP camera isn’t great. That being said, I’ve yet to see a camcorder with a decent still camera integrated into it. It will do for snapshots, but you won’t be using the pics for your holiday cards. I’m not sure why this is, probably something to do with the image processing and metering on still cameras. Anyway, I didn’t expect too much here as my regular size HD camcorder takes stills that are pretty bad too. Bottom line with still pics is that we always have a small point and shoot camera with us in our bag or purse anyway, so this isn’t an issue for us. Other features are great, like custom white balance (think skiing or other situations with unique light) and ISO settings. Also the battery is removable and one could conceivably get extra batteries to use when chargers aren’t available.

5) Price – at $150 this is a steal, especially when compared to the Flip SlideHD Camcorder which is presently $280! The Sony MHS-CM5 bloggie HD Video Camera has optical zoom but is much larger and more expensive. (It also does not image stabilize in HD mode). The Sanyo VPC-CS1 High Definition Camcorder, which also has optical zoom, is big enough at over an inch thick, that I don’t really qualify it as a true pocket video camera model. It’s also over one hundred dollars more expensive.

6) Extras. Wall charger included, mini-HDMI cord included, mini tripod included, RCA AV cord included, ArcSoft software included (it’s actually pretty decent too), nice case included. What’s not to like here!

7) Recording Media and Format. One great feature is the SD card format which means that on vacation you can take multiple cards with you rather that a laptop for archiving. The Flip doesn’t have removable/changeable media, which for me was an absolute deal breaker. The recorded file format is AVI which I like for video editing applications. Oh also, the lack of an integrated USB connector is actually a big plus for me. I’d rather use a cord to connect to the computer, and the USB mini port doubles as a charger. Our cell phones use this format, so I already have car chargers for this camera! Who want’s to struggle with plugging the recorder body directly into the computer – my computer is on the floor in a cabinet. The Arcsoft software is pretty darn intuitive for burning DVDs and uploading to the web. Any minimally computer literate individual will not have an issue and the user manual for the camera and software is really quite good – it was obviously written by a fluent English speaker and not software translated from Japaneses.

Criticisms:

A lot has been written in on-line reviews about the confusing menu system. The menu system structure is fairly intuitive and resembles that of most full sized video cameras, but the navigation buttons within the menu tree are not. OK, so I had to remember that when in the menu mode one of the buttons advances, a different one goes up one level, and the record button selects choices. It’s really not that hard or big a deal. As much as we find ourselves using this video recorder, we have no issues with remembering navigation buttons and navigation.

I wish . . .

1. there were optical zoom (but I’m willing to live with digital zoom and a much smaller unit – a trade off that’s worth it in my opinion. I’ve found that I don’t use zoom all that much anyway.)

2. there were zoom and image stabilization available in 1080p mode. (Most pocket video cameras don’t have this either. . . no big deal to me really as I’ve found 780p mode looks great and saves on recording space on the SD card. The recorders that have the features at 1080p are much larger units and really not honestly classifiable as “pocket” video recorders)

3. this took better still shots, but as I mentioned, no video recorder does this well. If you want to take still photos, use a camera that’s made for the job.

In all, I’m very satisfied with this purchase. This unit is small and light and packed with features, some you’ll use and others that you may experiment with once in a while, but are nice to have when and if the need arises. Compared to other models referenced and linked in this review, this model has almost every feature but optical zoom, and the ones having this are much larger and not really “pocket” models (and they are a lot more expensive). I expect to get about 2 years out of this product and by then the next generation of pocket video cameras will integrate even more features (wireless transfer, optical zoom, smart phone integration etc. . ). Until then this product is perfect for my needs.
Rating: 5 / 5

I just got my Toshiba Camileo HD camera in the mail today, and I absolutely love it!

Kudos to Toshiba for making an amazing HD pocket camera!

Highly recommended!
Rating: 5 / 5