Sharp VL-Z7U Viewcam
REVIEW DATE: 10.01.03
The Sharp VL-Z7U Viewcam is an ergonomic wonder, with a unique construction that makes shooting comfortable in any position and an LCD panel that's always crystal-clear, even in sunlight. But its clever design doesn't compensate for the image quality issues that Sharp needs to address; the unit performed below average on all of our quality tests.
The Viewcam comprises two modules, each the size of a deck of cards, which are attached and swivel in the middle. The section on the right houses the grip, a DV tape, and the shooting controls, while the left section contains the battery, LCD, and viewfinder. When shooting, you can hold your right hand at the most comfortable angle and swivel the left-hand module to capture the video. That may sound odd, but you'll be sold on the camera 30 seconds after touching it—unless you're left-handed.
Other design strengths are a joystick that controls menu and playback options, as well as one of only a few top-loading tape mechanisms in our roundup. For audio buffs, the Viewcam offers a stereo microphone port for recording while you shoot and an optional zoom microphone. It also has a flash for still-image capture and a 1.3-megapixel, 0.25-inch CCD that grabs true 1,280-by-960 images.
A significant design flaw, however, is the small battery, with limited life. Since the battery is made to fit under the LCD, it can't deliver the 4- or 5-hour life that others do. Though the zoom controls are very sensitive, we like the on-screen display of digital and optical zoom ratios, which kept us from immediately disabling the 500X digital zoom during testing.
On our quality tests, virtually none of the shots were sharp. Under studio conditions, images looked as though a very light blur filter had been applied, which reduced artifacts but softened details. Most colors were a bit faint, and there was slight bleeding around highly saturated colors. On low-light tests, the Viewcam's image was among the faintest we saw, and night mode proved useless without some ambient light. Audio volume was reasonably robust but marred by background noise and a slight hollow reverb. We recommend waiting for the next generation.
