Cool gadget
Written: Jul 13 '01
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Pros: Size, features, progressive scan
Cons: Battery life, indoor picture quality, hard to use
The Bottom Line: Some of it's shotcomings are compensated by it's small, convenient size and the number of features packed into this tiny unit.
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| slimtae's Full Review: Canon Elura 2 Mini DV Camcorder |
I have a very bad habit of spending more than I initially intended when I buy electronic gadgetry...the true sign of a junkie. I went to a chain electronics store to buy a digital camcorder to replace my massive analog Hi8 camcorder. I considered this for many months. I refuse to be seen weilding a fat camcorder. So at the store I was concentrating on the Canon ZR10 which was selling for about 700 dollars. Unfortunately, the Canon Elura 2MC was just two cameras down on the same display rack...for about 1200 dollars. To make a long story short, I managed to talk myself into buying the Elura, it's small size and various features were impossible for me to resist.
Here are the nuts and bolts of the features of the unit. The camera records in normal and progressive mode. Progressive mode records all parts of the image at 30 frames per second, instead of interlacing (scanning odd and even lines separately)...this gives sharper images, especially those with fast motion, such as people engaged in sporting activities. The MC in "Elura MC" stands for multimedia card. This is a postage stamp sized media card you slip into the camera. It holds 8 MB, and can store photo images taken with the camera, which can perform double duty as a low res digital camera (under a megapixel). Maximum zoom with digital is 40X. It has built in digital effects features (black and white, sepia, fade in/out, etc.). You can make various adjustments to adapt to different lighting environments.
Much thought has gone into integrating the digital still capture feature with the movie capture feature. You can easily record an image from a movie as a still picture onto the multimedia card...and vice versa. To connect the camera to a TV, it has a docking station with all the appropriate jacks. The Firewire port connects to an iEEE port on your computer for movie capture...however, I'm having trouble getting my video editing program to recognize the camcorder right now.
The picture quality is good in outdoor lighting, but not so good in indoor lighting. In normal indoor conditions, I've noticed a graininess to the picture. The progressive scan causes the images to be somewhat jerky, but it also looks sharper, and it lacks the peculiar "flat" quality that all home camcorder videos have. The one advantage of the progressive scan is that when you want to capture an image to the multimedia card, figures or scenes in motion look less blurry. Sound quality is also good. You can actually control the sound recording to be set at 12 or 16 bits. The tiny miniDV tapes are normally for 1 hour of recording, but you can set the camera to record 90 minutes on those tapes.
The camera is so crammed full of features into a small space that it's not the most intuitive interface you'll work with. Buttons and switches are all over the place, and many of them have multiple purposes, making it somewhat hard to master. The biggest gripe I have for ergonomic design is the placement of the telephoto/wide switch. Argueably, this is the most frequently used feature during filming. However, the switch is located in a very hard place to access when your hand is snuggly fitted under the harness strap....stupid. The other gripe....battery life. The Li-ion battery is as thin as a chocolate bar and about 2 inches square. This is great for size, but gives only 45 minutes of life. Also, the unit becomes very hot when used fro over 30 minutes. The label says this is normal...but I doubt it's the best condition for electronic circuitry. Other minor problems include an image stabilizer system that's not the greatest and a zoom lever that is not only poorly placed but difficult to control.
Overall, I'd recommend the camera if it's in your price range because of it's size. This is one camera I won't need to strap onto my shoulders when I'm out with the family. Also, it looks really cool.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1200.00
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Epinions.com ID:
slimtae
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Reviews written: 95
Trusted by: 11 members
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