It's appropriate to think of the Duo-cam as a camcorder that takes passable still pictures. In other words, it's a great way to have a 4-megapixel digital camera built in when you're off to shoot video, but if all you want to do is take pictures, you may want something more slender. The surprising thing is, the new Duo-cam is only slightly chunkier than a standard camcorder, if at all, and is listed at a remarkably competitive price, given the fact that no other camcorder on the market (that I know of) has a full-featured 4-megapixel camera built in.

There's no skimping on the camcorder features, either. With a combination of infrared Power Nite Pix and adjustable Slow Shutter settings, this camcorder has amazing low-light shooting capability. Even in broad daylight, setting the Slow Shutter at 1/30 of a second gives everything a cool cinematic look. The stereo microphone is exceptional, in 16-bit mode clearly discerning sounds in the foreground and background for added depth. (If you shoot using the lower quality 12-bit stereo mode, you can add a voiceover track later.) There are so many automatic and manual exposure and shooting tricks, it's hard to touch on them all. Here are a few exciting ones: high shutter-speed for capturing fast-moving objects one frame at a time; spotlight mode for toning down scenes bathed in light; cinema for that widescreen look; and, of course, digital image stabilization, for those extreme zoom moments. Speaking of zoom, the camcorder has a 10X optical lens, which is sufficient for most situations but, for the price, by no means ideal.

The camera is not as exceptional. Don't get me wrong, it exceeded my expectations, capturing vivid colors and rich detail on par with most standalone competitors. With manual controls that you can use to save your own presets and a multi-card slot that can take Memory Stick, SD and MMC, it actually beats many still cameras. But it fell short in a few areas that make a difference. In automatic shooting mode, the built-in flash washes out everything within an 8-foot radius. The 2.5-in. LCD monitor is made up of 123,000 pixels—enough to adequately show you how good your video is, but by no means enough to properly represent high-resolution still images.

Despite its faults, I like this product. It meets the needs of people who are devoted to video, but feel the need now and again for a frame-worthy still shot. One day, Samsung (or perhaps Sony) will build a camcorder that can take stills without pausing, but whatever performance compromises still remain, it's noteworthy that Samsung is taking away the price penalty for owning a hybrid.