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If you ever played around with a Rubik's Cube, Sharp's boxy camcorder will bring back memories. This small, squat unit has two parts--the main camera body and the tape loader--that are joined together but can rotate independently. While gripping the tape loader case, you can twist the camera body in any position, from straight down to straight up, while you turn the LCD to see what the camera's pointing at. You can hold and use the camcorder in all kinds of positions--such as shooting over people's heads or peering underneath a fence--without straining your wrist or removing your hand from the strap. It's ideal for places where you need to keep a firm grip on the camcorder, like in a crowd or on a Ferris wheel. If you like going to rugby matches or running with Pamplona's bulls, the Z800U is your hands-down choice.
This DV cam is less clever when it comes to shooting in low light. Both the Z800U's slow shutter speed and white LED-assisted video mode produced video that looked grainy and colorless compared with the other models we reviewed. Plus, you have to wend through a clunky menu system to turn the low-light modes on and off. The VL-Z800U includes a hot shoe for connecting Sharp's optional zoom microphone (which zooms similar to the way the lens does to focus on the subject), but there's no microphone jack for connecting another microphone.
The Z800U produced attractive video in normal light, but it was not as sharp as Panasonic's PV-DV953. Because it's a top-loader, you can swap tapes while the camcorder is on a tripod. The battery life is excellent at 2 hours and 7 minutes, and you could stretch this further by using the viewfinder, which can be used with the menu, camera, and VCR functions. The only exception is that you have to use the LCD panel to hear audio during playback.
Sharp significantly reduced the number of external controls, moving many functions to a directional key, which makes for good VCR control and simplifies menu navigation. But it went a little overboard, burying a few functions in menus (such as the useful record recap function and the auto/manual focus switch) that might have been better placed onto their own buttons for quick access.
Upshot: The VL-Z800U's innovative design makes it a flexible, easy-to-use camcorder, but some of the controls are buried in the on-screen menu.
Bryan Hastings
