Canon Reviews

I received my Elph as a gift in 1999. Shortly afterward I took it on vacation. It was so easy to use; I could switch film while riding a bike! I got just about to the end of the third roll of film when the "dreaded H" reared its ugly head. Following the manual's advice, I took out the battery, replaced it, and... it rewound/exposed the whole roll. Since it was under warranty, we took it to the camera shop to have it repaired. The owner told us he got this problem with Elphs a lot, and if we had this problem again, we'd be better off purchasing a new, different camera than paying to have it fixed.

While it worked, I took the best photos of my life... crisp, clear, gorgeous!
I used that camera without a problem until early this year when the "H" returned. For a while I was able to reset it. Then it started eating brand-new rolls of film.

Part of me really wants to buy another one because it took such great pictures and was so fun to use. But the practical side of me thinks it's an awful lot of money to spend on a disposable camera.

I received this camera as a gift and it is just fantastic! I have experienced the dreaded 'H' problem twice, but only during the first couple of times I changed a roll of film. I did not lose any pictures, and it has not happenend since.

I took this camera on vacation, and the pictures came out fantastic - I have also used this camera to take pictures at the beach and they come out just like postcards.

It is so small and light that I now bring it everywhere and have taken more pictures in the last year than in my entire life. The only thing that I would change is to have a bit more powerful zoom lens. I have since given this model to two friends and they enjoy it as much as I have.

It's three and a half inches wide and one inch deep.It has no shutter speed at all. The flash will break easy. Ours broke when it wouldn`t come out and we pulled to hard and it broke and all that it does is stays open no matter what. At some stores it it comes with a camera strap. It takes really good photos too. The zoom lens go as far as 24-48mm. When you press the silver button two lights go on right by the view finder witch are colored orange and green. A good thing is that you get to choose if you want to put the titel or the date on the photo. Its a good camera buy it!

Just passed one year warrant period, the eye piece viewfinder didn't work anymore. It seems that the sensor for the foldable screen went bad. Sent back to California Canon service center, and was charged for [money]. The customer service agent was very arrogant about Canon quality, and showed no sign of concern for my problem.

Recently half of screen became distorted during replay. Don't want to waste another [money], so tried lots of cleaning and changed the tape from TDK to Sony. The problem seems to be under control.

If it goes bad again, I will trash this junk, and buy a Sony.

My main draw to the Canon Optura Pi was the optical (rather than digital) image stabilization. Canon is the only camcorder manufacturer that offers this feature in this price range. The image quality is excellent, although the camera calibration can take some getting used to. Experiment with white balance settings, etc. until you find something that works well. The LCD screen is a little too bright, but otherwise looks good. This camera integrates flawlessly with my Macintosh G4 and iMac DV computers. My only complaint about this camera is that occasionally the picture can become blocky and behave erratically. However, I have discovered that this is a problem with ALL DV camercorders and is due to flaky DV cassettes. So, choose your tapes wisely! In every instance of picture glitches, the problem has corrected itself within a matter of minutes. As I said, this is probably the best camcorder you can get in without spending $2500 or more

The Optura Pi is one fantastic video camera! I had never purchased a Canon product before, but I am very impressed with the Optura Pi. You buy a camcorder primarily to shoot moving video. This is one machine that doesn't disappoint. Best features: optical image stabilization(a high end feature usually found only on the most expensive models); superb canon lense(second to none in the industry); large 3.5' LCD with high end resolution(200k pixels); excellent detail and color reproduction( RGB filter); manual overrides for controls ( useful for more experienced videographers); solid construction (many Sony and Panasonic models in the same price range have a cheap, plastic feel); amazing low light performance(although the jarring motion inherent in the low light setting may turn some people off). Cons: no manual focus ring(just a non mechanical option ring); overly touchy zoom control(be careful!); poor ergonomics for the zoom control( you have to reach back with your pointer finger to activate the zoom); low pixel count(360k for the CCD-all the better models are going mega pixel, but then, you pay for it too); blank tape is expensive( but this applies to all digital format camcorders). If you want to take digital stills, buy a dedicated still camera.You'll get way better quality for way less money. Progressive scan is not a significant feature for most people-record in "movie" mode( the Pi's successor 100MC is without Prog Scan). In summary, the Pi delivers excellent detail and color reproduction in all kinds of lighting situations. It feels like a high end camera and performs like one too.Unless you are willing to pay for the performance of a 3CCD camera, this is the one to get. Act fast; the PI has been discontinued. If you're lucky enough to find it at a vendor who made a special factory purchase, you'll get a fantastic deal!