Canon Wows Me again with their attractive and functional Toys..
Written: Nov 11 '02
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Pros: Size, Inexpensive Batteries, Excellent Optics,Sexy Form factor, Sturdy Construction
Cons: Mic Picks Up Motor Noise, Camera Doesn't weigh enough to hold it still.
The Bottom Line: Great camera for the price.. very solid construction.
I say worth It!
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| gizmo_steve's Full Review: Canon Elura 40MC Mini DV Camcorder |
Here's My Take....
First off, Let it be known that every Palm Camera Picks up Motor noise on tape.. The JVC, The Sony, The Canon, The Sharp, etc... It's unavoidable due to the proximity of the two. It's not noticeable unless the background in the video is particularly quiet. The two options are to use an external mic..(I bought a sony stereo condenser Mic for $49.00 The external Mic makes a world of difference.) or do an audio filter in Final cut, or any other high end non linear editing program. anyhow, that's the tradeoff for such a small camera. I personally feel it's worth it.
Secondly, The battery Life is pretty short with the included battery, it gets about 30 minutes (depending on temperature. Lithium Ion Batteries are particularly sensitive to the cold. Lower temps reduces their performance by up to 50%) Keep the battery in your pants pocket if it's cold out, that will keep it fresh for when you need it...
Let it be known however that Best Buy sells a generic lithium Ion battery for this camera for $30.00.. I just bought 2 more batteries, and that gets me by for most of a day... If I'm recording in one place for a long time, I'll just plug in..
The video quality is superior in good lighting, and outdoors.. I've read that people think it doesn't video as well in low light... this is true if you leave it on automatic mode... If you learn the camera's functions well, you'll learn how to set the shutter speed for low light, and take alot better movies at night.
The onboard effects are cool, but they are destructive... once again, I prefer to do any editing on my Powerbook, and not on the camera.
The digital still Pictures are better than average when Taken on the memory card.. with a little photoshopping, you can make a decent picture out of them. I really only use that feature when I don't have my digital camera out and ready...
the sound is good, the video is clear, and an added bonus is that you can use this camera as an analog to digital converter. Meaning that you can take all of your old video tapes, and hi-8 movies, and play them through the canon via the analog input, and right back out the other side of the camera down the firewire to be captured as digital video on your hard drive, or on your mini dv tape. That's nice for making DVDs of all of your old home videos...
My final opinion is that It doesn't live up to my canon XL1-s but it's a worthy pocket cam. I'm very happy with it. Prior to settling on this model I bought the sony Micro-dv, which just plain sucks, and the smallest Sony Mini-DV one..(I can't recall the model Right Now) The zoom on the sony is jerky, and the ergonomics of it are a bit weird for me. However, the sony and canon took comparable video shots..
For the price, I'd say you can't go wrong...
Happy Shooting!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 615.00
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Epinions.com ID:
gizmo_steve
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Member: Stephen Lynch
Location: Atlanta Ga. USA
Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
30 Year Old Entertainment Company Owner / Electronics Junkie
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