Canon Elura MiniDV: Tiny, Sexy, Cool
Written: Jan 04 '01 (Updated Apr 27 '01)
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Pros: Digital Video, Easy To Operate. Options and more options, Bells & Whistles Galore!
Cons: Bells & Whistles Galore!
The Bottom Line: An excellent camera for those ready to step into higher end equipment & higher end video. Steep price, but worth it. Among the best at what it does.
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| caines's Full Review: Canon Elura MiniDV Camcorder w/ LCD |
You don't have to be a guy to find certain electronic toys sexy. Okay--you over there--get your mind out of the gutter!! I recently purchased a new toy that even my wife seems to like. (Again?…grow up!)
After much personal turmoil, soul searching, debate and research (I think it was over a grueling three-day weekend), I decided to purchase a suave looking, Canon Elura mini DV camcorder.
Before this purchase I was already the proud owner of three camcorders. It's not that I don't know when to stop. Actually I'm just very good at keeping my equipment in good working order. So when one is replaced by the current state-of-the-art, it's really hard to get rid of the old one. One of my old camcorders is more like an archeological specimen. But as a director and still photographer, buying imaging tools is sort of an obsession.
Okay. Alright. So maaaybe I don't know when to stop… Are you still shooting home videos with a VHS camera or 8mm? Really!? How 8-Track! It's time you moved into the 21st century.
Camera #1 is a Minolta VHS camera. It's huge. Numerous bells and whistles (you know, the extra features and goodies the manufacturer throws on which most people don't need…) Whip this thing out and people may think you work on a news crew. Or you stepped out of a time machine… This was my first camcorder. It truly is a dinosaur.
Camera #2 is an 8mm Sony. Compact. Black. Sexy. Better quality video, a nice camera, but not as nice as a Hi-8. Even though it's small it's a bit much to lug around on vacation or when you want to hang out casually.
Camera #3 is a my professional camera which I use for work. That's a Canon XL-1. Mini DVCam A 3 CCD camera. It is about as close to broadcast quality as you can get before you step up to the big Sonys and Ikegamis. We use those in the studio and you see mobile news crews shoot with them. Canon's XL-1 is used for broadcast all the time. (MTV Networks uses them regularly for location work.) If you are willing to spend the $4,000 on the XL-1 I hope you are planning to shoot more than your kids' birthday.
So despite my expertise in the area, I am going to give you the geek-free review. Granted, most people who are going to buy this camera are looking for a somewhat high-end camera, but you still want to understand its value in English. So I'll throw in some geek-points that should matter when comparing cameras, but don't get stressed.
Size Matters
The Elura is a little video studio in your hand. You can shoot, create effects, dub audio onto shot tape, dub tape-to-tape be it digital or analog (regular VHS, 8 mm or Hi-8). One of the primary reasons I was looking at a camera in this style was for its size. I wanted a personal camera that was relatively inconspicuous and wasn't going to be burdensome every time I took it somewhere. It fits nicely into a large fanny pack for transport and comes with a shoulder strap if you desire. Sony makes a comparable model but as always, you pay a premium for the Sony name. I happen to like my other Canon video camera so I figured, why not?
The Elura is small without getting tiny. It will certainly reap lots of comments. A Mini DV tape is only 2 ½"x1 ¾". So the camera doesn't have to be very big. It weighs a bit less than a pound and a half. Despite its diminutive size, the controls are pretty easy to operate. I have big hands and have no problem making the primary adjustments with a minimum of fumbling. That said my hand did get a little tired after prolonged use. There is a small adjustable hand strap on the right side to help support the camera.
…Are You In There??
The viewfinder, however, is close to ridiculous. It is miniscule. You can use it in one of two modes. One that lets you hold the camera away from your face/eye and peer into it. This can be good for eyeglass wearers. It also lets you see what's going on around you--like that large truck that's bearing down on you while you try to get a better shot of your friend doing something semi-illegal in that public fountain.
Pull the eyepiece toward you a half inch (click!) and this second setting lets you stick your eye right up against the finder the way most people use a finder. Either way is not ideal with the tiny window. Unless you've got little beady rat eyes…
The more preferable way to shoot is to use the LCD screen. This is a 2.5" (6.4 cm) color monitor. It swings away from the body at a 90° angle. It also pivots on its axis up and down and around to 180°--facing your subject. I find it really freaks people out when they see what you can see! Well except my four-year-old daughter. She just hams it up even more. This is not just a cool looking feature but allows you to adjust the screen so you get the best image to view. (If you have a notebook computer you know that LCDs are particular about how you look at them to see them clearly.) The rotating screen is very helpful when you want to shoot at odd angles. You can hold the camera overhead and see what you are getting. You can hold the camera way out in front of you and shoot much freer than you ever have. It will be very inspiring for people who are used to shooting what's directly in front of their face.
Jiggle TV
Because the camera is small it is more prone to jittery, jiggly images, particularly in the telephoto range. The Elura attempts to solve this with the Optical Image Stabilizer. Suffice it to say that it does minimize the jiggle effect-not by huge measures, but enough. You can shoot out of a moving car and have reasonably steady images the next time you're chasing twisters down the interstate. You can turn off this feature, but I don't see why. Unless you want to get arty.
Battery life is not bad. If you use the standard battery and turn the camera off when you're not actually shooting, you can squeeze almost an hour of shoot time out of it. The LCD finder eats up power, so using the tiny viewfinder will allow you to shoot more.
The optional battery, which is twice as large and sort of ruins the profile of the camera will give you about twice as much time. The batteries are lithium ion so they don't have a "memory" like nicads. You can use these for tem minutes and recharge them without worrying about messing up the battery capacity. Charge times vary. But I generally allow about 2 hours for a full charge for a depleted battery. The charger will charge two batteries of any size in series. In other words, it charges one, and when it's finished charges the other guy. The batteries are light so they don't add more that a few ounces to your Elura.
The camera may also be powered by an AC adapter, which comes with it. It's a little restrictive outside unless you have a really long extension cord.
Dude!! Look at this!
There are a zillion bells and whistles on this thing. Half of the stuff I think they put on the camera to impress buyers or so buyers can impress friends. Kinda like a codpiece. (Look it up if you don't know what that is. It's worth it.) Most of the effects look like a bad Public Access cable TV show. Mosaic dissolves; wipes (where the recording starts or stops with a black window sliding across the image to expose it or cover it up); multiple images of the same thing on one screen-4, 9, or 16 images; solarized images…. Ugh. You will use this stuff once and never use it again. It looks really cheesy. But, hey, who am I to be the arbiter of your cheese? Three effects, which may be useful for people who must edit in camera (as they shoot), are the fade (to and from black), a black and white setting, and a sepia setting. You can make a God-awful music video if you desire. It probably won't be much worse than the repetitive garbage out there. (Do I sound bitter and jaded? Sorry.)
We're Gonna Zoom Zoom Zoom-ah Zoom….
The zoom on this little camera kicks proverbial butt. The lens is sharp. The optical zoom is up to 12x. The digital zoom is 12x to 48x. In moderately low light situations the digital zoom gets a bit grainy. That actually can be arty if you like it. I shot a huge party and caught images of friends on the dance floor which where literally a football field away. It was grainy and soft, but you knew who they were. An indicator in the viewfinder tells you when you are using the optical part of the zoom vs. the digital.
The control for the zoom (wide angle to telephoto) is right at your thumb. Actually so are several other functions like power on/off, start/stop record, exposure override, and manual focus.
Tommy, can you see me…?
We never seem to have ideal shooting conditions when it comes to everyday video. Shoot on the beach the sand messes up your exposure because its three times brighter than your subject. Shoot a birthday and try to get good picture of kids blowing out candles in a darkened room and you get beautifully exposed candles. But, hey! Where's my kid? Oh…that dark smudgy thing in the background… What about shooting video of spotlit events?
Ahh!! Elura has the answer, oh frustrated one. There are custom settings that aim to help you out. They do a pretty good job overall:
Portrait: Best used when in a telephoto position. It makes the background go soft by using a (geek alert on!!) wider aperture (geek alert off)!! and letting your subject be sharply focused. Your friends will think you know what you're doing.
Spotlight: Use it for recording spotlit scenes like theatrical or concert performances.
Sand & Snow: Remember how your last ski and beach videos really stunk because the ground was perfectly exposed but your fair-skinned friend looked like she was related to model Iman? This will minimize this. The drawback it that you may notice some shudder in your images.
Low Light: I love this! Now, Sony actually has an infrared setting, which is cool, if you need to do nighttime reconnaissance. This camera's feature is more useful. You can shoot in low light situations that aren't adequately handled by overriding the auto exposure. I shot in a small room with a 5-watt bulb. I could see more on the tape than I could with my naked eye. The interesting flaw/feature is that moving object/people leave a trailing after-image. This is a very sexy effect in the right situation.
The picture quality is pretty impressive even for a single CCD camera. In plain speak, one chip produces the three colors--red, blue, and green--to create the image you record. A three CCD camera (generally more expensive) uses one chip for each color. Better image quality, better low light imaging, better contrast. (Notice how on video highlights are often too bright in relation to the rest of the picture? A three CCD helps to minimize this.) The Elura handles this very nicely.
Feeling like shooting your version of Lawrence of Arabia? The Elura will let you shoot in 16:9 aspect ratio, the widescreen format. Although you must play it back on a widescreen monitor to see the effect.
Tommy, can you hear me?
Despite the fact that the Elura has its built-in microphone in the most ridiculous place--on top of the camera pointing at the heavens--it records very good sound. It would be better if it faced forward, but maybe the folks at Canon thought someone may want to interview a higher power… Based on the size of the camera, there really isn't any other place to put the thing. You can use an external mic but then you have to get this docking thing which turns your sleek inconspicuous camera into a small sculpture.
While I haven't used this feature, the Elura also takes still digital pictures. Canon admits they are not the quality of a dedicated still digital camera, but they would be fine for printing small, putting on a web site, or other low-end reproduction.
You can use the Elura for playback via the LCD screen, the viewfinder or by patching it into a monitor or VCR. There is even a little speaker on the side of the camera, which you can use as a monitor to hear what you recorded. You can dub tapes to and from the unit via a simple A/V (audio/video) In/Out cable that will plug into most any VCR or television with phono jacks. There is S-video connection. Or you can also use a digital connection IEEE1394 (also referred to, not accurately as Firewire) to transfer between two DV units or to dump digital footage into your computer. You can control all of this via a wireless remote control. You can even shoot with the remote control.
There are a few other goodies in the package but you can see it is pretty damn impressive. Now the price tag is steep. These typically go for around $1200 if you get a good buy. I would suggest you visit eBay and see what you can find. Hunt around for a while to see what the going rate is. I purchased my privately from a seller on eBay and saved a mess of money. I love this little camera. It is easy to operate, takes no time to learn the assorted features (because you only will need 1/3 of them) and it goes almost anywhere. And I have to admit, people are quite taken by its phat state-of-the-art look.
C'mon. You're just moments away from being the next Lina Wertmüller or David Mamet. Step up to the plate my friend!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 855
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Epinions.com ID:
caines
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Member: Bruce Caines
Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 40
Trusted by: 41 members
About Me:
Emmy nominated director, photographer, dad, vegetarian, music junkie, long distance cyclist. Not necessarily in order.
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