Veho VCC-003 Muvi Micro DV Camcorder

I am really impressed with the capability of this "tiny" camera. Its not just compact but also really easy to use with very intuitive switches and buttons a real "plug and play" set up (even on Vista) with a simple drag and drop facility.

The video quality is very good with very little motion blur (see below) and the run time is acceptable (although in the cold winter mornings, you can cut the time by TWO THIRDS!).

Good points

* Cheap (for an action Camera). Being under £100 makes this a vital tool to ensure a little extra safety on my commute each day, there are plenty of Plus £100 cameras around that have nowhere near the quality and capability of this camera
* Light, Its built of sturdy metal and feel solid, but as it is so small it is very light and sits on a cycle helmet/head band without you even noticing the weight.
* Very, very, very small (have I mentioned the size!!)
* Simple to use (even for a fat fingered oaf like me)
* Simple to set up (just plug it in the USB, and it appears as a drive on the PC)
* Robust and sturdy design, made of solid and chunky metal not plastic
* Vox setting (voice control, a simple slide switch to turn's the camera into an auto record unit)
Bad Points

* Initially very jerky...this was solved by the addition of a higher class memory card than the standard (that the camera ships with). I didn't realise that storage cards record at different rates and the rate at which this camera produces images is effectively quicker than the standard card can burn. A new class 6 SDHC card works wonders and produces really good, smooth results

* 30 minute record segments. The camera stops recording after 30 minutes. However, if you switch on the vox setting the camera automatically starts recording again without any need to push buttons or "restart" (I use the camera to record a 60 to 90 minute commute and it never misses a beat).
* Weather proofing......well, it isn't....... so it wont stand up to rain and water (no water sports I'm afraid) even the "Extreme sports " pack's rubber cover/gator is pretty useless as the camera will not sit in any of the provided mounts with the gator fitted...very poor design of this component in my opinion. However the sports pack does excel in the provision of a multitude of very secure and very simple mounts for all other applications (motorcycle, cycle, car, head cam, climbing, skating etc etc)

Summary.

The camera's use is massively enhanced by the additional "Extreme sports pack". To be honest, it's a little useless without it. The sports pack is a little costly, However the camera itself is pretty cheap so the two combined still cost less than most action cameras.

The SD card that the camera ships with is not (in my opinion) up to the job and creates jumpy and jerky (almost wobbly) footage. I really recommend the acquisition of a good High class card to replace the standard (costs about £10 to do so)

In addition, software shipped with the cam includes WEB cam software, I've yet to play with this but allegedly its plug & play .....and if the use-ability of the camera is anything to go by, then the webcam set up should be very straight forward.

From the reviews of other similar products I didn't have my hopes raised too high for this one. I was wrong. It's solidly built and well presented and the video quality in daylight is comparable to my Sony handycam. (if you prop it up and leave it to record.) artificial light sees quality drop dramatically, but what do you expect for the price. On the con side. buy the 8GB optional card as the one enclosed only gives 40 mins recording max and the instructions are a little on the sparse side. On the whole a great buy.

Used this for the first time the other day, just clipped it to the top of my safety vest. Really impressed with teh quality (this video is rendered down to FLV the original file size was 899mb AVI and really pin sharp with good colour. I have just started biking and reviewing footage like the attached helps me to see if I am riding as well as I could be - road position etc, also lets me highlight other drivers doing silly things so I can improve my observationn skills.

Andy