Plumdogger A.K.A. Spielberg

I received my Sharp Viewcam as a graduation present a couple of years back. Since the day I tore it out of the box it has been used for every type of recording imaginable. Some of the recording is just basic sightseeing, but others required a little more of the camera. The Sharp has handled all jobs with flying colors.

As a tennis teaching professional I use my camera to record my students in lesson and match situations. The Viewcam has performed great in these situations. Because of the LCD screen I can play back the tape for my students without having to waste valuable lesson time by going into the pro shop and hooking it up to a TV/VCR. We can review the tape on court and spend more time making corrections rather than plugging and unplugging wires. I recommend this camera to all tennis pros.

The camera's second use is videotaping my daughter. With my Viewcam I can quickly catch all of those precious moments as they happen. The camera is always ready to go to catch the first steps (still waiting). And the best part is I don't have to watch her through some little viewfinder. So, I recommend this camera to all parents also.

The Sharp Viewcam is very easy to use, you don't have to spend an entire afternoon reading the manual to learn how to record something. You can easily figure out most of the features by just "playing around" with the camera without a tape for a couple of hours. To see what some of the cooler features are and how to use them, you may need to refer to the manual, but probably not.

There are a lot of what I call "user features" on the Viewcam. The biggie is picture stability. If you have trouble holding the camera still, the camera will keep the picture still for you. The camera may shake but the movie will be steady. Another one is the scene selection menu. For different types of recording there are different selections. For sports, the camera records using more pictures to catch everything. I use this for my tennis student recording. You can adjust for low light, or high glare, all by changing the scene selection. And the last feature I will mention is the pre-programmed title feature. So you can add titles to your movies like NEW BABY! or SUPERSTAR! These are the most fun to use.

Some recommendations I have for you after you purchase the camera are... First, buy a longer life battery than the one that comes with the camera. The pre-packaged one just doesn't last long enough for me. I suggest getting a double battery, and using the single battery for your emergency backup. And my second recommendation is to buy lots of extra blank tapes, because you will need them if you have as much fun with your Viewcam as I have with mine!