Pros: Small, weatherproof, fast
Decent quality video
Overall great photos
Great battery life
Workable storage capacity
Cons: Severely weak flash
Small size can be awkward to use
The Bottom Line: Overall the product works: good battery life, good capacity, and decent video/photo quality. Not a replacement for a dedicated, high quality camcorder.
I had been reading about the CA-6 and when it went on sale at Fry's I bought one, figuring I could return it. I have been pleasantly surprised at how well it works overall. The video quality is the same or a little lower than my old 8mm analog video. Interestingly, the quality looks much better on a standard tube analog TV than on my LCD flat screen - probably as good as my old camcorder videos.
The overriding benefit of this unit is the quick operation and small size. The camera is there when anything happens, especially while traveling. It easily fits in a pocket or daypack and powers up right away - just flip the screen out, take a shot, flip the screen back and put it away. Furthermore, no worries about rain or wet hands from skiing, etc. makes it even more portable. I found I took shorter but more meaningful shots and didn't get stuck experiencing my vacation through the viewfinder. I would describe the low light performance as quite decent, although I was shooting mostly outdoors, so take that with a grain of salt. Sound quality is excellent, however there is noticeable wind noise even with the filter turned on - to be expected from such a small design. The unit is so small that it may be awkward to use for some people. I found it a little awkward but I have gotten used to it. I found the hand strap that comes with it is useless, replaced it with a standard wrist strap in case I drop it.
The camera photos were very good. I own several digital cameras and this handy one may just replace all but the DSLR as far as image quality and portability are concerned. (To be fair, some of my favorite pictures still came out of my old Canon G5.) Generally the photos look OK out of the camera and quite stellar after a minimal touch-up in Picasa. Flash is very weak, and if you look at the flash itself you can see that the bulb is actually quite tiny.
I was very surprised at the "real-world" capacity. I went on a 10 day vacation and brought two 2GB cards, along with a portable hard drive to extend the capacity. I ended up not even filling one of the cards with about 45 minutes of video and about 150 photos. Like I mentioned earlier, most of the shots tended to be shorter, but they were taken while things were happening instead of longer, staged shots after digging out a bulky camcorder. The battery life was excellent, easily lasting through a whole day's adventures. I did buy an extra battery, just in case (never needed to use it).
Note: this unit does not come with a docking station, but it does connect to a TV with proprietary video cable that connects to the sub-mini USB port. There's no AC adapter for the unit, but it does come with a very convenient, separate battery charger.
I found the included software to work, but it was somewhat limited (i.e. lame). I am evaluating Adobe Premiere Elements and it seems to be working just great with the MPEG-4 files from the CA-6, as long as you have Quicktime 7. Windows Movie Maker sort of worked, but you have to install a codec and rename your file extensions (hassle). Another benefit of using SD cards is that the transfer to the computer is pretty fast over USB 2 or via card reader.
I recommend this camera to anyone looking for an easy fast camcorder to catch quick shots but not get stuck behind the viewfinder for too long. Probably not well suited for taping a wedding ceremony, where quality is paramount, but it would be killer at the reception for catching off-the-cuff moments.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 300 Recommended for: Trendsetters - Hip and Stylish Gadgets
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.