Page 1: Introdution and Shooting Modes Page 2: Manual Controls and Settings Page 3: Image Quality and Verdict Video Review User Reviews Comments Specs Photos Compare Deals
Toshiba’s camcorders sit curiously in its portfolio of products. The company may not be Bang and Olufson, but most of what Toshiba makes is considered at least somewhere in the middle of the market, if not better. Its camcorders, though, are decidedly budget-oriented, with low prices and limited features. The Camileo X400 doesn’t buck this trend completely, but at first glance it looks like a step in a more quality-oriented direction.
The X400 has a reassuring mass about it, and it comes in a box that has a premium velveteen air. The bundled accessories are generous, too. There’s a carry pouch with a shoulder strap included, a remote control, and even a cable to connect the camcorder’s mini HDMI port to the regular HDMI on a HDTV. All of this belies the camcorder’s sub-£150 price.
The base specification isn’t bad, either. Toshiba rarely quotes the size of its sensors, so all we know about the X400′s CMOS is that it has 5MP and is back-side illuminated. But the former is more than enough for Full HD, and the latter has positive implications for performance in low light. The top shooting resolution is Full HD at 30 progressive frames per second. But there are other options, including 720p and VGA at 30 frames per second, as well as 720p at 60 frames per second. Still images can be captured at 3, 5 or 16MP, with the latter clearly using a large amount of interpolation.
Footage is captured to SDXC memory card, although there is a X416 variant available in some parts of the world which comes with 16GB of memory on board. A 16GB allocation will be enough for around four hours of footage at the top quality setting. The format used is MP4, rather than AVCHD, but this is still a highly compatible format for editing.
