I’ve been playing with a BENQ M11 camcorder, but before I start to dissect its pros and cons, let me get something off my chest. And this doesn’t just apply to BENQ.

It’s all very well to have a Quick Start paper manual that tells you how to charge the camcorder and where to put the SD card. In fact I would suggest in the days where we all have mobile phones, tablets and the like, this is pointless as that stuff is no longer rocket science – we all KNOW what a charger looks like and what an SD card does.

But it IS imperative that a decent operations manual be available.

But say the manufacturers, there is; we have placed it on the CD with the (usually) crappy software we have supplied. Fabulous. So here I am on Cable Beach in Broome at sunset and I need to find out how to turn on backlight compensation. Don’t quite happen to have a laptop with me. Get the idea?

A paper manual costs cents to produce, can be carried WHEN YOU NEED IT in the camera bag/backpack/whatever. And yes I know I can print out the PDF, but when I am paying decent money for a camcorder, why should I have to just so you can save the cost?

OK. Moving right along.

The BENQ11, unlike its sibling the S11 reviewed a few months back, is a full bodied HD camcorder that will sit in the palm of your hand. As mentioned, it is SD card based, and there are minimal physical controls as it is primarily touch screen driven. The engine room is powered by a 10MP CMOS sensor and there is 5x optical zoo, and larger than average 3.0" 16:9 display.

There are some nice features embedded too such as time lapse shooting, accelerated or slo-mo playback and a 3 second pre-record facility and even touch screen focussing. One very neat party trick is the ability to record two video streams at once – one for hi-def playback on a large screen TV and the second as a lower resolution stream for embedding in websites, emails, posting on YouTube etc. This means you don’t ever have to play around editing and rendering two different versions.

Available ports are USB, mini HDMI and A/V out; there are no in ports at all for external mic or headphones. And joy o’ joys, an HDMI cable is supplied. We might be winning the war in this area at least folks.

Instead of allowing the user to set their own ISO settings (which is another way of saying most purchasers of this camcorder which is only $249, don’t know what ISO means), the M11 offers touch-activated auto settings – simply tap on the screen where the light levels look right and the correct exposure level will automatically be set. Scene mode selections allow vision to be captured in up to ten shooting modes: Auto, Night, Sports, Landscape, Portrait, Sunset, Sand/Snow, Flower, Firework and Aquarium.

But here is the kicker; nowhere in the manual or on the website for Benq is there any mention of image stabilisation. Thinking I may have missed something, I also checked a bundle of online reviews and not one mention of it there either? No optical or the lesser electronic version seem to be in this camera which is an amazing oversight. Yes the camcorder is inexpensive, but this is probably the first time I can remember that I have come across this. Especially in what amounts to a beginner’s camcorder. That to me is a big black mark against its score.

In use, I really didn’t like the ergonomics. Even with my hand fully inside the strap, the natural thing was for the camera to pitch to the left, meaning you had to cock your wrist upright, which after any period of time starts to hurt. Over a longer period of time, say a minute or more (the length of wedding vows say, or one of the kiddies piano recitals), your wrist then starts to wobble a bit. And of course there is no stabiliser …..

There are some things really good about the M11, but the few rough edges spoil it. Perhaps the next iteration of the model will have worn those off.

By David Hague

David is the owner and publisher of AusCam Online. He has a background in media dating back to 1979 when he first got involved with photojournalism in motorsport, and went from there into technology via a 5 year stint with Tandy Computers. Following that, he ran a software distribution company on the Gold Coast and was one of the first to recognise the potential of Microsoft Windows.

Moving back to WA, David wrote scripts for Computer Television for video training for the just released Windows and Office 95 among others, and was then lured to Sydney to create web sites for the newly commercial Internet in 1995, building hundreds of sites under contract to OzEmail including Coates Hire, Hertz Queensland, John Williamson, the NSW Board of Studies and many, many more.

He went back into full time journalism as the Managing Editor for Channel 7's 'Gadget Guy', Peter Blasina's publications VideoCamera and Pixelmag, before starting Australasian Camcorder magazine when these publications were shelved. He lives at Sydney's Avalon Beaches nearly on the ocean front with dog Budweiser and in his spare time is a nut for motor sport, road safety, fishing, science fiction - especially Dr Who - and technology.

David can be contacted via david@auscamonline.com