Click on the DuoCam for a 360° QuickTime VR tour

The Samsung SC-D6040 DuoCam is a true hybrid video camcorder and digital still camera packaged in one body. It has two completely separate imagers, electronics and zoom lenses. Most of the other 'hybrid' cameras use a common imager and lens and don't really do all that well at capturing high resolution still images. The DuoCam has a 680K pixel CCD imager for the camcorder side along with a 10x optical zoom lens and stores MPEG4 encoded video on standard MiniDV cassette tapes. And it has a 4-megapixel CCD imager for the digicam side combined with a larger diameter 3x optical zoom lens. High resolution still images and MPEG4 video is saved directly to digital media - Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Secure Digital or MMC type flash cards can be used.

The SC-D6040 is the NTSC model, there is also a PAL version available for other parts of the world. The camcorder side of the DuoCam is fully featured with control over shutter speeds, focus, white balance and exposure. There are also nine digital special effects available, a 16:9 letterbox mode, still photo capture mode and a 0 Lux "Power Nite Pix" mode if you're a fan of green-tinted video. There's a fast IEEE 1394 (FireWire) port for IN/OUT transfer of digital video and sound and the camera has an external microphone jack.

You can frame your video or still images with either the color electronic viewfinder or the large, 2.5-inch color LCD monitor which flips out 90° and rotates about 270°. Still images can be captured in 4MP, 3MP, 2MP, 0.8MP or VGA resolutions in three different JPEG quality levels or uncompressed TIFF format. The user can select from Program, Scene (10 modes), Shutter-speed priority, Aperture priority, Manual, MySet (3 custom modes) or Movie (QVGA 30fps MPEG4) mode. There are adjustments for white balance, sharpness, exposure compensation, ISO sensitivity and color effects. The data I/O for the digicam side is handled via a high-speed USB 2.0 port that is PictBridge compatible for direct printing.

The DuoCam is powered by a proprietary Li-ion rechargeable battery that provides for approximately 90 minutes of recording time per charge. A larger battery can be used that extends the recording time to about three hours.

SC-D6040 Features:

• Hybrid MiniDV camcorder and Digital Still Camera all-in-one
• 4-megapixel CCD captures up to 2272x1704 pixel still images
• 680K pixel CCD for camcorder video capture to 3 Lux
• 0 Lux Power Nite Pix option for camcorder
• 3x Optical Zoom for digicam / 10x Optical Zoom for camcorder
• Large, 2.5-inch color LCD monitor with 123,000 pixels
• Color eyelevel electronic viewfinder
• Compact (2.5 x 3.5 x 5.5 in.) size and lightweight (1.1 lb.)
• JPEG and TIFF still image digicam modes
• MPEG4 video capture / 320x240 @ 30fps/15fps on digicam side
• Auto, Scene, Shutter-speed priority, Aperture priority, Manual, EasyQ, Custom Set modes
• Multi and spot exposure metering modes
• Single, Continuous and AE Bracketing drive modes
• Image adjustments for color effects and sharpness
• ISO Sensitivity: Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400 equivalents
• Auto pop-up type flash for still images
• MS/MS Pro/SD/MMC multi-card memory slot for digicam
• 60-minute MiniDV tape cassette storage for camcorder
• Powered by rechargeable Li-ion battery, optional larger battery
• I/O ports: USB 2.0 for digicam / IEEE 1394 for camcorder
• PictBridge direct USB print compatible
• Fully featured wireless remote controller