When the unit arrived I have to say that the packaging was cheesy at best – it had that knock-off electronics look that brands like ‘Coby’ have made so common. Poor packaging design aside, the camera and it’s related accessories immediately felt high-quality upon removing them from the box. The camera itself was small, way smaller that I had anticipated, but felt solid and well made. Everything felt tight when opening the display, releasing the battery door and pressing the buttons. I had the lowest of expectations, but had I not removed it from the packaging myself, you could have told me this was a Sony, Panasonic or other major manufacturer’s camera based simply on the quality feel in hand.

Of course the real test is how it works, so popping in the battery and the 16GB SD card I ordered along with the camera, I gave it a go. Upon the initial power up of the camera, the touch screen display came to life and I ran through the typical first run settings; time, date, language, etc. The display took some getting used to, but overall was responsive and worked as expected once you had a feel for it. Popping off the lens cap I took a dizzying, seated tour of my office shooting on the 1080p 30fps mode. Next I set it down on the edge of the desk and let it record a short segment of my (now annoyed) assistant just outside my door. Then I decided to shoot a sample of stuff outside the office, so I set the camera on a makeshift tripod pointing out the window at the regional airport across the road – this test ran for a good 20-minutes and caught news helicopters and private jets coming and going as well as lots of traffic in front of the office.

Plugging the camera into my Mac, it instantly showed up like any other USB device and actually popped open iPhoto as with any other device recognized as a camera. The best part of this camera vs. other models I’ve borrowed in the past is that instead of some silly proprietary video format, the DXG-A80V HD shoots individual H.264 .mov files each time you hit record, so no capturing, importing or converting required – just drag and drop into your video app right off the SD card.

So how was the video? Truth be told, the quality of the video was pretty amazing. The two tests that were shot stationary could have easily passed as professionally shot clips, despite the lo-fi setup used to get them. Reviewing the test clips on a 61″ 1080 HD screen, the colors were true to life and the details were crisp and clear – way beyond expectations. There is no doubt in my mind that with some proper lighting and a basic tri-pod, this unit will handle all of our in-house needs from shooting testimonials for the recruiting department to getting facility footage for our corporate profile video.

Long story short, you would be hard pressed to find a better value than the DXG-A80V HD if you’re looking to generate 1080p 30fps footage. Sure, there are tons of other cameras out there with more bells and whistles and more recognizable nameplates, but my guess is that the DXG will meet the needs of the majority of users.
Rating: 5 / 5