Canon Optura 200MC Is the Camcorder For Me
Written: Jul 19 '03 (Updated Jul 26 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: 1.33 Megapixel CCD
Cons: Lots of buttons
The Bottom Line: We love ours! Extremely light and tiny, great picture and features. Tons of fun to use.
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| mizgnomer's Full Review: Canon Optura 200MC Mini DV Camcorder |
After we finally decided that we could no longer live without a digital camcorder, we were able to narrow down the choices fairly quickly. We wanted good quality picture and pass-through capability (more on that below), among other features. Our final decision was between the Canon Optura 200MC and a couple of the comparable Sony cameras. After test-driving them in the store and playing with the various features, we went with the Canon Optura 200MC.
Video/Photo Features:
Some (but by no means all) of the features include:
* 1.33 Megapixel CCD
* Optical image stabilization (even hand-held at full telephoto) that works in both video and photo modes
* Precision 10x optical zoom lens with 200x digital zoom
* 6 Blade Iris (like those found on its 3-CCD professional models)
* 2 audio modes available: 16 bit (48kHz, 2 channels) for the highest sound quality (better than CD quality), and 12-bit (32 kHz, 2 from 4 channels) which allows you to record on 2 channels (in stereo) and leave 2 channels open for post-production audio (narration, music, etc)
* 4 shooting modes (video to tape, still images to tape, high res. still images to memory card, motion jpeg to memory card)
* Pop-up built-in flash for digital-still picture taking (with 4 modes, including red-eye reduction).
* Progressive Photo Scan practically removed photo blurring
* MultiMediaCard and SD Memory Card compatible
* A variety of digital effects, faders, and special effects are available as well
* Built-in speaker allows you to hear the audio while playing back your recordings on the camcorder
The MiniDV format standard supplies 500 lines of horizontal resolution (compared to roughly 240 lines on your standard analog camera). Because both the video and audio are stored as digital data, the information can be transferred (to a computer or to another DV tape) with no loss of picture or audio quality.
If you are more of a photo or camcorder buff who likes to do all the settings of light levels, exposure, focusing, and whatnot yourself, then the Canon Optura 200MC can accommodate your needs via its "manual" mode. However if you are like me and just want the thing to WORK and work well with a second's notice because your kid is doing something really cute right this very minute, then it can accommodate you as well with its amazingly sensitive sensors and programming in its automatic modes.
For those "special" recording circumstances, the Canon Optura 200MC has 9 different pre-sets (which use various combinations of camcorder settings for optimal performance). The settings are:
* Easy Recording - the camcorder will do all of the focusing, exposure, and other adjustments for you
* Auto - same as Easy Recording, except you can also use any of the camera's manual functions (this is the setting we leave ours on)
* Sports - optimized to record high-speed sports scenes that are brightly lit. Playback will be jerky, but you will get clear images that can be analyzed frame by frame
* Portrait - use outdoors to make subjects stand out from a softened foreground and background.
* Spotlight - optimized to record spotlit scenes, such as on a stage
* Sand & Snow - for recordings in places that tend to be so bright that the subject appears underexposed
* Low Light - for recordings in dimly lit places
* Night - Automatically adjusts shutter speed according to the brightness of the subject, even in dark places. Records in color, even in very low light.
* Super Night - Causes an LED light on the front of the camera to light up, illuminating the subject (only good for close-ups -- it's very small but also very bright)
If you run Windows XP you can use the camcorder (with the supplied software) to videoconference over the internet, or upload files from the computer to the memory card.
Exterior Features:
All of this functionality is housed in a surprisingly light and compact package. It stands roughly 4½ inches tall, 4½ inches front-to-back, and just under 2 inches wide. The camera is vertically oriented -- it still feels more like a digital camera than a camcorder to me because of its small, vertical design. It feels VERY comfortable in my hand whilst filming. There is a nice "rotating grip" handle that helps stabilize the camera and enables you to do everything comfortably with just your right hand.
The Canon Optura 200MC has both a color viewfinder AND a 2.5 inch color flip-out LCD screen (with 200,000 pixels). Of course, using the LCD screen sucks the juice out of the batteries faster than using the viewfinder.
The Canon Optura 200MC comes with an 8 MB MultiMediaCard, which can store up to 17 high quality or 32 standard quality still images. You can purchase larger cards if you plan on using it as a still-camera often. It also comes with a 1-hour battery, however we purchased an additional 5-hour battery.
Connections:
This camcorder is full of 'em. It has your standard in/outs (AV in/out, audio-in, and S-Video). It also has a LANC port (Local Application Control Bus), which can be used to connect the camera to editing equipment (or certain VCRs). It also has a DV port which lets you edit, copy, and transfer data digitally with no degradation of the image or sound. It even has a USB port for your additional computing needs (such as video-conferencing).
If you have one of the newer Canon photo printers or a newer Canon Bubble Jet printer, you can download the photos directly to the printer (entirely bypassing the need to connect the camcorder to the computer).
The Canon Optura 200MC comes with a full-function wireless remote (handy for when you are using it to view your recordings, or when you are transferring the video). It also comes with 2 quite thick instruction manuals.
Our Experiences:
We have been extremely pleased with our Canon Optura 200MC camcorder so far! It feels like it is a quality piece of equipment, unlike most of the other camcorders we tried. It feels professional, and not likely to break (although I will not be drop-kicking it any time soon).
Unlike the Sony camcorders we perused, the Canon does NOT have a touch-screen LCD. Although a touch-screen sounds like a good idea, my hubby and I have worked with them enough to know that they are often fragile and can be annoying to use, plus we prefer our LCDs finger-print free. That being said, no touch-screen means there are lots of buttons on the camcorder. I suppose it is hard to get all of those buttons onto such a tiny package without something getting in the way, however now that I've gotten used to the thing I think the layout is logical and easy-to-use (pause/record at your thumb, zoom at your index finger, etc). The connectors are covered with a hard-plastic cover, which looks nice and keeps them clean and hidden from view when not in-use. The menu system is also well designed and easy to navigate.
Although there are lots of buttons, they tend to be in logical places and are easy to operate. It took me a little while to get used to the feel of it, since I was so accustomed to our older, analog camcorder.
To test out the "Night" setting, I filmed my boy asleep in his room with only his nightlight for illumination. I was indeed surprised at how much better I could see through the camcorder than I could see with my own eyes. That being said, the camcorder did have a bit of trouble focusing (the manual recommends that you focus manually when recording in the dark) and the image-capture was a bit more jerky (very slow shutter speed). It isn't the night-vision offered by the comparable Sony cameras, but I was very pleasantly surprised at what the camcorder could do in such low light.
Ever since we got our DVD Burner, we have been converting a lot of our videos to DVD. One of the reasons we went with the Canon Optura 200MC was because it had the ability to pass-through images from other sources (such as our old camcorder or a VCR) directly into our computer, bypassing the need for a video-capture card. We simply press play on our old camcorder, let it run through our new Canon camcorder and write directly onto our computer's hard-drive where we can edit it and add effects/menus before burning it permanently to a DVD. It has really been great!
We already had a digital camera, but we have been putting the camera features of our camcorder through some tests. There are only 2 resolutions to choose from -- 1280x960 or 640x480. The stills are quite good, but not quite as nice as ones you would get from a progressive scan digital camera.
There are probably a million optional add-ons you can purchase separately. My husband got an entire package full, with some extra lenses (2x high resolution telephoto lens and 0.5 res wide-angle lens) and extra filters (for removing glare and keeping out dust), among other things.
Some minor complaints:
We do have a single burnt-out pixel on our LCD screen, however it does not appear on the recorded image at all. The manual says that having a burnt-out pixel or two is common and nothing to worry about. It really isn't horribly noticeable, but did cause a bit of worry initially.
The zoom feature is great, however the control feels backward! Pulling back on the button causes the camera to zoom in (toward the subject), and pushing forward causes it to zoom out (away from the subject). I'm still not used to it.
A separate battery charger does not come with the camera, so you must charge the batteries on the camera itself. Battery chargers can be purchased separately.
Another terribly minor complaint is that, since the tape loads from the bottom, if you run out of tape while the camera is attached to a tripod, you must remove it from the tripod to change the tape. Not a biggie, but it was annoying during our child's big 2nd birthday party. The battery release button is down there too, so we would have had the same problem if our battery had gone dead.
The last terribly minor complaint is that the lens cap is sometimes hard to remove -- you must squeeze it properly, but sometimes my longish fingernails get in the way. On our old camcorder the lens-cover retracted automatically whenever you turned the camera on, and I got spoiled by that.
Final Thoughts:
The Canon Optura 200MC is just the right camera for us. It is extremely light and amazingly tiny, with great picture quality and tons of extra features. I didn't even come close to listing all of the functions and features this camera has to offer. We really love it!
Official Canon Optura 200MC Site:
http://www.canondv.com/optura200mc/
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 600
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mizgnomer
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Location: Tennessee
Reviews written: 306
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About Me:
Don't meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you're crunchy and taste good with ketchup
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