I'm on day 4 with the new camera and slowly climbing the learning curve. I feel like I got good value for money. Good and neutral. The camera takes great pictures and videos for the price. The explanations of all the functions are clear and much better than other electronics I have owned. The camera makes you look pretty good. I'm not sure about the pretty face feature that makes you look pale. The microphone is easy to connect and produces a decent sound. Additional features like filters (different color schemes), slow motion is a great camera for beginners. The Bad I bought this camera primarily to use as a better webcam. None of the remote control functions work when the camera is connected to a PC. No zoom - no nothing. I demonstrated zooming in and out during a live broadcast. So this is a real disappointment and surprise. It has nothing to do with the camera: I can't tell you anything about the app. I'm tired of having to install an app for every last bedside lamp. To make matters worse, when connected as a webcam the ONLY possible resolution is 640x480 like in 2007. The microphone is not recognized by the computer/streaming programs. It doesn't matter to me because I'm using my Yeti mic. Tips I thought my remote control was broken. After pulling out the plastic protection of the battery, it was dead. It turned out that the battery was installed incorrectly. If your remote seems dead on arrival, turn the battery over. Second, if you want to use the camera as a webcam and it doesn't offer you a dialog to select the webcam function, turn it off before connecting via USB. You will then see a menu where you can choose from two options, one of which is webcam mode. Conclusion I got what I paid for. The camcorder does an excellent job as a standalone camera. As a webcam it works quite well or even worse. I was thinking of photographing a star, but I can't fault the camera for not being worth $500.