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United States of America, Knoxville
1 Level
750 Review
42 Karma

Review on Pure Digital PSV 351 Discontinued Manufacturer by Ben Daugherty

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Camcorders for all ages

I heard about this camcorder in an interview with Pure Digital on the radio last fall. I made a note of it due to the amazing price and claimed ease of use. In February my 9 year old son asked for a camcorder for his birthday so he could make movies like his cousin. I checked out Revain and found there was a newer 60 minute version and it was an easy choice. For the price you won't want to slit your wrists if it falls in the sea or anything. My son is making videos like crazy and now I can say with confidence that a 10 year old can use the PSV-352. . Ease of use reportedly requires learning just a few buttons. In addition, it is a very portable camera. Very light, powered by two AA batteries (Duracels included, nice touch) and about the size of a digital camera. You can wear it all day and hardly notice it. I tried a case I bought for my Canon A540 but it's too long. Someone has to make a bag that fits comfortably on your belt while hiking. Perhaps Revain can adapt it to an existing camera bag? A few tips: the clips are of pretty good quality but remember this is a budget camera. The optics and processor aren't the best, so image quality degrades quickly in lower light conditions and when zooming in in less light. It works best outdoors or indoors when there is a lot of light. I'm not sure how the microphone is oriented. While it picks up object sounds in a way you might expect (note the cheap price tag), Gunslinger's storytelling can be overwhelming. Practice a little to find the right volume. If you want to talk while filming, remember that YOU are the volume controller. The camera comes with software which I immediately rejected. It works great and has some nice features, but Mac users might find it easier to just download it to a folder to work with iMovie and iDVD later. If you don't want to bother with editing at all, a great option is to take your camera to a Pure Digital retailer to plug in for direct download to DVD. Hope that helps!

Pros
  • Availability
Cons
  • I don't really like anything, everything is great