Pros: Awesome color, reasonable price, lots of features
Cons: Could use a wider angle lens (internal), better battery life
The Bottom Line: The Elura 70 is an excellent camera, feature rich and vivid color reproduction. Watch out, everyone will ask you to film his or her parties.
dkaakd's Full Review: Canon Elura 70 Mini DV Camcorder
Before I get into the main review let me briefly explain how and why I ended-up with these two video cameras.
My wife and I decided that we wanted to move our existing family videos onto DVD. Since all of our old videos were on mini VHS format, I needed to port the output from our Sony camcorder to the PC. I have a IEEE 1394 (FireWire) card installed on my PC for my IPOD and I wanted to use this instead of a video capture card to grab the video from the tapes.
The easiest way to do this (and get a new toy) was to buy a DV camcorder with a FireWire port. Connect the two video cameras together and send the output to the computer. This worked flawlessly! The set-up is simple, Windows 2000 with a FireWire card installed, the FireWire cable from the Canon Elura, a cable connected to the RCA outputs of the Sony HI 8 camera ported to the Elura A/V input (this cable is included with the Elura). The Canon allows the signal from the Sony to pass-through straight to the PC. Using Adobe Premier I was easily able to capture the video and edit it within about 3-4 hours of learning how to use the Adobe software.
The Elura
Originally I purchased the Elura 60 from my local Fry’s Electronic’s for about $600.00 after tax. I used it over the weekend and really enjoyed the way it performed. We spent the weekend water skiing and I can’t even begin to describe how vivid the color reproduction is on this camera, but more about the performance later. However, I wanted to shoot all my video in 16:9 mode because we have a HD TV and I wanted to take full advantage of the digital signal from the Canon.
Much to my surprise the Elura has a 16:9 setting but does not record in true 16:9 mode. The image is digitally altered which cutoff some of the image (like the tops of some peoples heads). I also noticed that this camera eats batteries like they are candy. With the LCD display in use the battery lasts about 45 – 60 minutes which is enough for one tape. However, these batteries are not very large or overly expensive so get a couple of them. The Elura 70 comes with an extended life battery that lasts about 80 minutes. That said I could find few other faults with this camera.
Now, because of the wide screen issue I started researching this camera on the web and low and behold found that the Elura 65 and 70 have true 16:9 capture capability. I also noticed that I could purchase a 70 for what I paid for a 60 so the Elura 60 went back to the store and I ordered a 70. Let me tell you what a difference! The primary difference between these two cameras is the zoom and the 16:9 mode. The 70 also comes with an extended life battery (worth about $35.00 online) and a wide angle tele-converter (external) adapter (worth about $25.00 online). So you have to decide which model is right based on your usage.
The true test
We went water skiing last weekend and the back of a ski boat is a great place to test several features that the Elura series boast. The first thing I tested on both the 60 and 70 was the image stabilizer. This is critical on small camera because it is so hard to keep them steady. Also, cameras like these that have powerful zooms are very difficult to keep steady. The back of a speedboat doing 25mph is a good test. Both camera performed exceptionally well. I saw no difference between the two in image quality or stability. Once these camera are placed into digital zoom mode they both tend to be significantly more shaky and considering that the 70 has an 18x zoom with 360x digital zoom, which is significantly more power than the 60’s 14x zoom and 280x digital zoom capability. Still the both look very good at full digital zoom. In full daylight both cameras produced vivid reds, deep blues, solid greens, and bright yellows. I also have a polarizer filter, which made the sky really deep Kodachrome blue, and the clouds popped out like an oil painting.
Another really impressive feature is the ability of these cameras to filter out wind noise. While zipping across the lake at 35mph I could clearly hear (on tape) the conversations in the boat, but when I was there I could only hear the wind. This has always been an issue on my old HI8 Sony, and canon seems to have found the answer.
Both of these cameras have the ability to take digital photos (up to 1280x960 in superfine mode) while video taping and manual shutters that span from 1/60th to 1/2000th for the camera. I have to admit my 4 mega pixel Nikon is far better suited for this task, but hey it works ok and is a nice added feature.
Once cool feature that both camera offer, but I can’t seem to make work is the “Card-mix” feature. The idea is that there are cartoon like images on the memory card (included with the camera) and they can be mixed into the video so the water skier might look like they were skiing on clouds or could be framed by a cartoon frame. This sounds like a really cool feature at it is described in the manual, but after two hours of trying to make it work I gave up in frustration.
The 70 came with a wide-angle lens attachment, which is pretty handy. Our old Sony had this feature built-in and we use it often. We use it often and I know one may be purchased for the 60 model for probably about $50.00 at any camera store.
Another impressive features of these cameras are their ability to do close-up macro work. I found myself playing with the camera on our porch yesterday and filmed a butterfly sitting on a flower. I was able to get so close to the flower that part of the pedals were touching the camera. The image was vivid and sharp down to the last detail, however the depth of field was limited.
One consistent comment I read in my research was that low-light recording was poor and the colors tended to wash together. I am sure that some will want to video their sleeping children in a dark room. I suspect that if you did this, the color reproduction would in fact be very poor. However, I video taped my daughter in our kitchen only lit by 9 candles (on a birthday cake), and the image from the 70 was clear, and colors remained vivid. The 70 model offers “super night shot” whereas the 60 only offers “night shot” I honestly can’t tell the difference.
Both cameras offer a wide variety of digital effects. Video may be shot in black and white, sepia, or about 15 other cool little effects. Both cameras also offer the ability to start and stop recording with special effects, cute, but not for me.
All in all I have to say that both these cameras are stellar performers. On our 55 inch HD TV the images are absolutely breathtaking. The cameras both seem well built and the LCD screens are bright and easy to see. When you’re on the plane trip home, plug in some headphones and you can relive your vacation in digital stereo sound. As I mentioned earlier, I originally purchased the Elura 60 for just over $600.00 at Fry’s Electronic, I returned it and found the USA version of the Elura 70 for the same price including shipping. I am very pleased with the 70 and highly recommend this DV camera, but if you want to save a couple of hundred less get the 60, it is still a great way to go!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 615.00 Recommended for: Trendsetters - Hip and Stylish Gadgets
MiniDV camcorder and still camera with 1.33-megapixel CCD 18x optical zoom lens (digital zoom to 360x) and image stabilizer 2.5-inch LCD with 180-degr...More at Amazon Marketplace
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