Digital-Camcorder Reviews

As many camcorder fans, I was excited by the Canon Press Release about Canon Optura 40 Camcorder, pre ordered it and received it late May. After opening the box, the camera looks great: compact, slick, nice looking lens. However, after a couple of time trial shootings, all these nice impressions were gone for good! A few Major disappointments:
1) Poor video image. The video image has too much "digital" jaggies both in regular daylight and lower light environment shooting. When you play back on the TV, you see the "fluttery" effect all the time. When you pause the image, the jaggies are very obvious and horrible. This is even worse when you shoot in the low light environment.
2) Noisy zoom lever. The zoom lever on the top on the camera body was not a well made (or designed) part. When you zoom in & out using the lever, the noise is very obvious and annoying. This noise was clearly recorded heard from the tape when you playback.
3) The still camera quality is less than a regular 2.0 MP digital camera.
4) The strap that holds your hand of video filming is not in the right position to make your hand comfortable.
5) The 2.5" view LCD screen has too much info displayed and this made the small 2.5" LCD very noisy.

I contacted the Canon USA for my questions. No clear answers were given about the image quality. I compared Optura 40 with Panasonic PV-GS200, the Panasonic has far more better video image quality. Big disappointment for me.

Most of the negative comments I read about the camera are from people that don't know how to use the camera. It takes a little time to go through the menus and read the cryptic (non-detailed) manual. And, not all the features are described in the manual.

- The camera does very well in low light indoor situations if you put it in "Indoor" mode.

- I barely noticed the camera motor noise during quiet scenes. I think the only reason I noticed it is because I was listening for it.

- The camera fits very nicely in my hand, with the strap and zoom switch in just the right positions.

- This is my first digital camcorder and it was very easy to learn how to use the basic features. Some of the advanced features took some trial and error to figure out.

- My only disappointments were that it did not come with a tape or firewire, the manual is poor, and the included 8MB card is ridiculous (buy a 256 or 512).

I did a lot of research before selecting this camera, and I am confident I made the right choice. I would have given it 4.5 stars if I had the option.

The Optura 30/40 has two default settings that need to be changed. The first is that in Easy and Auto modes, shutter speed can be a slow as 1/30 second. This causes video to blur, ghosts with fast movement, and blur (grain?) in low light. Go to Auto Slow Shutter (A.SL.Shutter and turn it OFF). The shutter speed will be no slower than 1/60, creating much sharper video.

The second is that audio is defauted to 12 bit. Change this to 16 bit for better audio.

I am extrememly pleased with my Optura 40. It's great in low light, is user friendly, stabilization works well in both 5:4 and 16:9 modes, and the 14X optical is all I'll ever need. The quality of the video and audio is great. It's comfortable in my hand and feels "solid". I like it being a top loader since I use both a monopod and tripod when I can.

Negatives include: In 5:4 mode, tele isn't wide enough (but is fine in 16:9), the cover for the S-video jack seems cheap, and I wish it had optical stabilization. However, it does have better stabilization than my Nikon Hi8 camcorder that has optical stabilization--so it has excellent electronic image stabilization. Also, the 34mm filter/adapter size is unusual. However, step up rings are available (e.g. 34mm to 37mm)and with the fast selling Opturas 30/40 and Eluras 60/65/70 having 34mm filters, I suspect that they're be plenty of 34mm filters available shortly.

I bought this camera just a day before my trip to Alaska and it worked out great. Since there was not much time to read the thick manual, the controls were intuitive enough to operate. The video quality was great.
Pros:
- Great size. Very compact
- Great video quality with 2 Mega Pixals
- Easy to operate.

Cons:
- Still pictures come better in light. Not good if the light is less
- Red eye reduction does not seem to work well for still pictures
- In the video, the sound recording seem to pick up wind and other noises more than you actually hear.
- Some times still pictures are not in focus.

I would highly recommend this camera to anyone who is in the market for a camcorder. I purchased the optura 300 several months ago and have been utilizing it heavily ever since. The camera takes excellent movies of both indoor and outdoor events. I could not be happier with my choice. I did purchase a longer-lived battery which has worked out well. I keep the standard battery charged as a backup, but the larger battery has never died on me even during days that I shot a significant amount of footage.

I would like to point out of few issues I have had with it:
1) The instruction manual leaves much to the imagination, especially with how to download the recorded motion pictures onto a PC. There are many other gaps in the manual.

2) This camera is not for the technologically challenged. I would guess that this is not limited to this specific camera, but is an issue with the entire class of cameras. To burn DVDs and do any kind of editing, the user must have a video capture card & firewire installed on their PC. In addition, downloading movies onto a PC requires LOTS of hard drive space. I installed a 2nd hard drive for this purpose. In addition I needed to install a DVD RW drive so I could burn DVDs. I also upgraded my RAM. Although all of these are easy installs in newer PC's, it can be a daunting task just for a person to figure out what is actually needed not to mention knowing how to actually install it. Combined with shortcomings in the manual, I could see this being fatal for some users. If you are technologically challenged, I would recommend the cameras that burn directly to DVD.

3) At the extreme end of the zoom, the camera seems to have trouble focusing and is very shaky. This is not that big of an issue as long as the user keeps this in mind while framing the video.

4) I am not really happy with the quality of the still images captured by this camera. These images can be saved onto a flash card or onto the digital tape. With perfect lighting, the images are good, but I have found that when the flash is needed, the images are completely over exposed. The red-eye reduction feature does not work at all to reduce red eye.

Please do not let these negatives taint my review. I love this camera but I wanted to put all the issues that I have found with it out there.

I bought this goodie for less than $700 bucks from onecall.com, an authorized canon dealer so this qualifies me to a get a free 128MB SD card.
PROS: Really compact compared to lot of other cameras i compared with that had the same features, it really fits in my jacket pocket. Out door videos are amazingly great, had to be with 1.3MP of video quality, the other option i was looking at was sony 330 but that was way too pricey for me.
Still shots are exceptional although you cannot compare it with a stand alone digital still.
Menus are not complicated, even my wife can use it without hassels.
I had read reviews about the motor noise from the tape but i found that it had absolutely no noise when you record at the desired sound level in a quite atmosphere.
I know lot of reviews state that the microphone placement is bad as it sits right on top of the view finder but i didn't find this to be a serious problem as it picks up the subjects sound very well. The only problem with the mic placement is the sound variation when you speak vs. the subject speaking.
Zooming capability is amazing, the zoom is really smooth when compared to sony.
Image stability is excellent as long as you stay with in the optical zoom, once you hit the digital zoom(beyond 40X) you need to be really still, the manual provides you with few tips to increase the stability. Also, i rarely go to the digital zoom as 10X optical is more than enough for my use.
lots of predefined shooting modes.
This goodie provides a lot of digital effects.
The previous review said that s/he acciendtly recorded MPEGs instead of DV, but the on screen icons give you a clear indication of the media you are recording on, so no problem their as long as you see the on screen info.
LCD resolution is fantastic and i liked the fact that it is not too big, there by minimizing my battery drain.
The best feature i personally like compared with sony pc101/105/109 is that this one has all its control on the body, sony has a touch screen menu option and you could mess up your screen if you are not really careful.
Cons: The most outstanding problem i found with optura 300 is the low light recording. This provides 3 various low light recording but in the dark the super night shot mode any moving images create a drag effect and the recording resoultion is also grainy. Having said that the indoor + low light mode is adequate when shooting inside a home with no day light. The only problem is when it is pitch dark sony seems to be doing better.
Battery life is terrible, the battery provided with canon lasts 30-40 minutes, so i had to go in for an upgrade on the battery.
but i guess all camcorders have the same problem.
Overall it is a great camcorder for indoor and outdoor use.

2 1/2 stars.. Good feel and Features saves it from a 2 star rating. With minimal low light performance, this camera would have been 5 stars.

I tried both this camera and the Elura 65/70 side by side. While I prefered the feel and overall features of the Optura, the low light is so bad on the Optura, that I ended up selecting the Elura 70. Overall, the Elura has better video performance for less money. And isn't video performance the top reason to buy a camcorder?

Low light is relative.. I'm talking regular indoor lighting, not near dark stuff. I tested it with 300 watts of artificial light ins a 25x15 room and the colors were dull/drab and noticably darker and less colorful than the elura. What's worse, as you lower the light, movement/pans of the camera leave echos of objects! Below 60 lux, the camera is pretty much useless without an accesory light. I find this unacceptable in a $899 camera. I will say that nantural sunlight does wonders for performance, but this only helps when filming near windows or in a sunroom and does nothing at night.

Don't even consider the night modes, they slow down the frame rate and look worse anything you would film in standard mode. And to those that may ask, yes, auto slow shutter is off(which i recommend for any Canon camcorder).

I think the cultrip is the RGB filter... which produces more accurate colors but decreases luminance levels. This is why single CCD cameras genreally use Complementary filters... and why if you want RGB, yuo should get a 3 CCD Camera. I suppose that Canon thought that the 2mp CCD would make up for this weakness. It doesn't. I would have loved this camera with a Complentary filter. I'll sacrifice a negligable amount of color accuracy in bright light for tolerable indoor performance anything. The truth it's hard to tell the difference in the colors, but it's easy to tell the difference indoors.. and indoors, it's brightness and Color that are so bad! The Elura 65/70 performs MUCH better indoors producing reasonably well at normal lighing conditions.. and even as low as 15 lux.

Still Performance is OK, but the overall quality isn't much better than the 1mp elura.. except that the pictures are 1623x1224 rather than 1280x960... While good for a camcorder, they are still no substitute for a digital camera. Don't buy either for stills! The Elura takes suprisingly good photos without a flash, but an external flash is available.

After trying both cameras, I loved the 30.. and it was difficult to part with it. I ran the same tests over and over, and even tried a different Optura, thinking that mine may have been defective.
The bottom line is: If these cameras were the same price, I would have taken the Elura... with the Elura being cheaper, it's a no brainer.

Good Luck

Optura Likes: Excellent auto focus, focus ring, overall feel of Camera is the best that I've felt. Integrated flash, 2mp CCD, Top Loader, Exposure setting.

Dislikes: INDOOR PERFORMANCE IS VERY POOR. Menu Dial is in awkward position. Price.

NOTE: Canon was SO close with this camera. I'm not saying it's not a good camera.. it's feel and performance are great.. it just performs at the bottom of the bell curve on indoor performance... even when compared to cameras half the price.

I recently purchased the Optura 30 at a local retailer after months of research. I must say that I am happy with all of the camera's features except the night mode, which was suppose to be improved. The Optura 40 has Super Night mode, but I haven't been able to find the camera in retail stores to test it out.

Aside from the poor low light feature, the Optura 30 is a great camera. It takes great digital stills (2.0 megapixel) and pretty good Motion JPEGs.

I recommend this camera!

The Optura 200MC is a good choice for three types of users. First, if you need a small camcorder with decent quality. I take this camcorder trail running and get great footage passing people while leaping over logs, etc. I simply couldn't carry a bigger camcorder some of the places my Optura 200MC goes.

Second, my acting classmates borrow the camcorder to review rehearsals. It's easy for a student to "point and shoot" without training. The viewscreen is big enough, and the built-in speaker loud enough, for two or three students to gather around and watch.

Third, I advise spending half (or less) of your video equipment budget on a camcorder. Budget plenty of money for audio gear, tripod, lights, computer and software for editing, etc. If this leaves only enough money for an Optura 200MC, buy it. You'll make better videos with an Optura 200MC and good accessories than with a GL2 or XL1S and no accessories.

The Optura 200MC has three shortcomings. First, the built-in microphones are awful. You hear mostly motor noise. The Optura 200MC lacks a microphone hotshoe for adding an external mike. I bought Canon's microphone mounting bracket, a Sony directional mike, an extension cable to use the mike for interviews, and two Sony wireless mikes. This totalled $400. I now get great audio, although the external mike and mounting bracket double the size of the camcorder.

Second, the FireWire chip has failed twice, and the exposure manual control has failed once. Each repair takes a month. If you need a dependable camcorder, consider buying a more expensive camcorder.

Third, the video quality is pretty good for a 1-chip camcorder. It has only two preset color balances, sunlight or incandescent light. On cloudy days, or with florescent lights, etc. the color balance is off unless you do a manual white balance. The color saturation is OK, not great. The lens sharpness is pretty good, and it handles low light better than you'd expect. The automatic exposure uses a spot meter in the center of the frame. If you have a bright patch of snow or clouds in the center, everything else is too dark. Like the color balance, you'll sometimes have to manually adjust the exposure.
--
Thomas David Kehoe, author of "Hearts and Minds: How Our Brains Are Hardwired for Relationships"

I purchased this camera a week ago around [$$$]. There were other electronic stores advertising this camera for around [$$$]. The next closest deal I found for a camera of this size, with 1.3 megapixel still picture and mini dv technology was around [$$$]. This camera is a steal!

I've had it for a week and what caught my attention initially was the quality of the construction. This camera is solid. The controls are well laid out and anything you need is at your fingertips. I have tested the still picture and mpeg to memory card features. Downloading the images and mpegs to the computer was as easy as easy could be. Although I haven't printed any stills yet, I was surpised by the superior picture quality as it showed up on the monitor. The mpegs are a little weak, but if you need superior video on your computer, buy a firewall cable. It's not included, but at this price you should have plenty of money left over for accessories.

Of the two negative reviews of this product, one refers to it's high price tag, no longer a factor at over [%] off. The other isn't even reviewing this camera.

The only negative I can find is I wish they included a dv camera to computer focus regarding the video in the same way they include instructions and features for the memory card. I.E. I wish they included the firewire. I know, WAAAAAAAAAA. This camera is two cameras in one, and two compact cameras at that. If you want to take pictures and videos of travel or everyday life but don't want to be bogged down by two cameras or bulkier cameras, this is the one for you.

The price you see now on Amazon and other Amazon providers is way out of whack for what this camera is available for from other sources. I considered the Optura 300 and the Elura 50, but I already had a major investment in BP-500 series batteries and chargers. I also use an Optura Pi and a Rebel Digital. Be aware that the 300 and the 50 use other model batteries that are much less available and less robust than the 500 series batteries. I am a big believer in optical stabilization but that is becoming less important nowadays due to excellent electronic circuits.

Getting to the camera, I also do not miss the accessory shoe as I bought this camera for two reasons. The battery compatibility as I mentioned and its small sized ergonomics. As other reviewers have mentioned, the rotating hand strap makes the camera comfy and very handy. My wife can throw it in a purse or I can keep it in the same bag as my digital rebel. And that's the point. Along with the Optura 300 and Elura series, this is a go virtually anywhere miniDV cam. The person that is comparing (and comparing poorly) the GL2 to this cam misses the entire point. 2 different cams for different purposes. I doubt that if you are considering a GL you are even looking at a compact cam. The GL and XL series cams are much much better than any of these.

If you want a compact camera with optical image stabilization, with typical Canon engineering, optics and quality, this would be an excellent choice. But shop around for a deal because the Optura 300 is also very good (some would say better) and the Elura 50 is a budget minded compromise if that's what you need.

I have worked with professional level Beta units, and prosumer DV cameras such as the Canon XL1. Although the Optura lacks some of their useful features, like zebra striping, it has fantastic image quality that rivals 3-CCD units, in a very compact package.

Having the flash is a must to make the still mode useful, if you ever want to use it. Exposure was good and image quality fairly good, considering it is only a 1.3 Mpx image.

I have larger hands but I found the camera very comfortable to hold. I have had problems with other Canon gear because I find they design for very small hands compared to Nikon.

I have not seen any of the rewinding problems reported in the other review of this product, after about 20 hours of use.

My only complaint is that low light performance can be weak. I would be concerned about trying to shoot good video in candlelight conditions (i.e. Thanksgiving Dinner) but those would be tough conditions for any camera. Nor would I ever consider using something like Sony NightShot -- I'm not interested in family video that looks like war footage.

A great camera, at a better price point than the comparable Sony PC-110.

I bought my Optura 100MC earlier this year. I looked at the Sony models but went with this one instead mostly because of optical image stabilization (rather than electronic) as the more elegant technical solution (and presumably better quality too). Except for some extra built-in effects in the Sony, the top consumer models are pretty much the same between the two companies. The Canon unit was worth the investment and I've already produced a number of feature length homevideos. The range of accessories is great (I have a wide angle lens, a directional microphone and a videolight that plugs into the accessory shoe and is powered by the camera battery). If you're new to digital video, as I was, don't underestimate the long slippery slope of follow-up purchases that you will inevitably get sucked into (I got a new PC at 2.4GHz speed, 1GB RAM and 80+120GB storage, with DVD burning capability and Adobe Premiere editing software to do it "right"). I've run the camera for 6 months now (with approx. 20 hrs. of raw footage, translating into maybe 5 times as much in terms of "tape operation" time) without running into any real problems, and specifically: no tape eating. (To be transparent, I also try to avoid recording over existing material). Only glitch was that the screws of the hand strap inside the tape door came loose and had to be fastened (I used a Swiss knife) and secured (glue). I love this camera.

After 6 months of researching digital camcorders, I finally settled on the Optura 100MC. I am glad that I did. It got some heavy use over the past month and I am extreamly pleased with its performance.

Highlights:
> Great video
> Easy to use (once you read the instruction booklet)
> Fits nicely in your hand
> Numerous manual options to control lighting, etc...
> Takes real good digital stills
> Fun to use
> Have not encountered any tape eating problems

Drawbacks:
> Instruction booklet is long so allow about 3 - 4 hours to read it in order to get the most out of your camcorder
> High price but you can find it cheaper by doing a little searching on the internet
> Cover on front of camera to protect DC adapter plug and S-Video port is attached by a cheap plastic connecter
> Audio pickup is not that good

I am extreamly happy with the Optura 100MC and it took me a long time and a lot of hours of research to locate the most bang for the buck. Definetly consider the Optura 100MC if you are purchasing a digital camcorder.

except the motor noise heard on the tape, its really annoying

I have purchased this product after checking no. of other makes and models like jvc,sony etc etc.Features I like the most are
1) 16x powerful optical zoom Sony has only 10x even in top models
2) 1/4 inch ccd, excellent indoor video quality.
3) Rock solid image stabilisation, no shaky videos.
4) Excellent point and shoot.
5) 1.33 megapixel still photos.
Features I do'nt like are
1) Little bigger and heavy, but good for stable video.
2) Motor noise is heard in recordings.
2) Video conferencing available only on windows xp.

I've bought Energizer replacement rechargeable batteries for both my S30 and my digital video camera and have found them to actually hold a longer charge and a longer battery life than the originals that came with the cameras. The going rate for the Canon NB-2L seems to be from $50 - $70. You can get the Energizer equivalent for $27 at one of my favorite sites. It's definitely not a generic and considering what Canon is charging for theirs, I consider it a no-brainer. I've never had any problems with the non-OEM batteries I've used, but I've never used generic batteries either.

By the way, I love my S30 and consider it one of the best buys I've ever made in my life. I've had it over 2 years now and the picture quality it produces still amazes me.

I bought a Canon S45 and knew that I would need an additional battery when I'm out taking pics. I got one off an auction for [a lot less]. It was 7.4V and 600mAh. Since the OEM battery that comes with the S45 is 7.4v and 570mAh, I thought this batter might give me more shots per charge than the OEM. I was very disappointed to find that I got only about 25%-30% of what the OEM battery gave me. The lession was very clear, even though the OEM battery cost more and had less mAh, it lasted far longer than the [inexpensive] generic one. If I had to do again, I would definitely spend money and buy the the Canon OEM battery.

I have a Canon S30, and I am still using my original canon NB-2L battery. I also bought 3 additional generic batteries as spares. Of these 3 generics, one would not fully charge after 3 weeks, second one just died completely (seller would not offer refund or replacement. Now I am left with the 3rd generic and my original. Both are working fine still (the generic is 650Mah and actually allow me to use my camera for a longer time than the originals.

My review is just to share my experience with generic batteries versus original. Personally I would recommend buying the orginal since two of my generics died...and I always take good care of my belongings, so it's about quality control problems...

However, if you have to resort to generic (currently running at around 15-20 per battery) I wish you all are lucky to get a good one! (try to find seller that offer 1 yr warranty)

I figured I'd save money and purchase this battery instead of one of Canon's for my S45 camera. My battery never charged. Just blinks red and green. Manufacturere wasn't any help when I finally reached them. Not worth it at all.