Camcorder Reviews

As many camcorder fans, I was excited by the Canon Press Release about Canon Optura 40 Camcorder, pre ordered it and received it late May. After opening the box, the camera looks great: compact, slick, nice looking lens. However, after a couple of time trial shootings, all these nice impressions were gone for good! A few Major disappointments:
1) Poor video image. The video image has too much "digital" jaggies both in regular daylight and lower light environment shooting. When you play back on the TV, you see the "fluttery" effect all the time. When you pause the image, the jaggies are very obvious and horrible. This is even worse when you shoot in the low light environment.
2) Noisy zoom lever. The zoom lever on the top on the camera body was not a well made (or designed) part. When you zoom in & out using the lever, the noise is very obvious and annoying. This noise was clearly recorded heard from the tape when you playback.
3) The still camera quality is less than a regular 2.0 MP digital camera.
4) The strap that holds your hand of video filming is not in the right position to make your hand comfortable.
5) The 2.5" view LCD screen has too much info displayed and this made the small 2.5" LCD very noisy.

I contacted the Canon USA for my questions. No clear answers were given about the image quality. I compared Optura 40 with Panasonic PV-GS200, the Panasonic has far more better video image quality. Big disappointment for me.

Most of the negative comments I read about the camera are from people that don't know how to use the camera. It takes a little time to go through the menus and read the cryptic (non-detailed) manual. And, not all the features are described in the manual.

- The camera does very well in low light indoor situations if you put it in "Indoor" mode.

- I barely noticed the camera motor noise during quiet scenes. I think the only reason I noticed it is because I was listening for it.

- The camera fits very nicely in my hand, with the strap and zoom switch in just the right positions.

- This is my first digital camcorder and it was very easy to learn how to use the basic features. Some of the advanced features took some trial and error to figure out.

- My only disappointments were that it did not come with a tape or firewire, the manual is poor, and the included 8MB card is ridiculous (buy a 256 or 512).

I did a lot of research before selecting this camera, and I am confident I made the right choice. I would have given it 4.5 stars if I had the option.

The Optura 30/40 has two default settings that need to be changed. The first is that in Easy and Auto modes, shutter speed can be a slow as 1/30 second. This causes video to blur, ghosts with fast movement, and blur (grain?) in low light. Go to Auto Slow Shutter (A.SL.Shutter and turn it OFF). The shutter speed will be no slower than 1/60, creating much sharper video.

The second is that audio is defauted to 12 bit. Change this to 16 bit for better audio.

I am extrememly pleased with my Optura 40. It's great in low light, is user friendly, stabilization works well in both 5:4 and 16:9 modes, and the 14X optical is all I'll ever need. The quality of the video and audio is great. It's comfortable in my hand and feels "solid". I like it being a top loader since I use both a monopod and tripod when I can.

Negatives include: In 5:4 mode, tele isn't wide enough (but is fine in 16:9), the cover for the S-video jack seems cheap, and I wish it had optical stabilization. However, it does have better stabilization than my Nikon Hi8 camcorder that has optical stabilization--so it has excellent electronic image stabilization. Also, the 34mm filter/adapter size is unusual. However, step up rings are available (e.g. 34mm to 37mm)and with the fast selling Opturas 30/40 and Eluras 60/65/70 having 34mm filters, I suspect that they're be plenty of 34mm filters available shortly.

This item is a great idea, however it does not install on windows
xp professional, even though the intel faq says it does. The intel customer support says that there are major problmes with the mouse, keyboard and gamepad (they only list the minor problems on there compatibility faq)), they dont bother to tell you that they do not work at all on many peoples xp professional

However if you have 98,me,xp home, or 2000 professional(wow 2000 pro and not xp pro) then buy this product, it is an awesome gamepad and can function as a mouse that doesnt even need a surface to use.

This game pad is not only beautiful to look at and hold but is very functional as well. The mouse function is perfect for playing 3D video games such as American Mcgee's Alice and Clive Barkers Undying. It can be programmed to be both a mouse and a keyboard at the same time! The response rate is fantastic and the wireless freedom is outstanding! This pad is very durable and should last for years as long as you don't abuse it to badly.

This item is super-cool and works perfectly for me. This is one of the few devices where I just inserted the CD, pushed a button, and it worked. The software that configures the gamepad to push various key combinations on your keyboard worked perfectly and was easy to understand and operate. The gamepads feel good, respond quickly, and are studded with lots of buttons. Only when playing MAME Joust did I have a problem, the gamepad trigger was not fast enough to flap the wings. I just changed to button A and everything worked fine. I went out and bought a four player race car game and am trying to buy two more controllers now!

I bought this camera in 2002, about 2 months after my son was born. Within the 2 years we have had the camera it has been in the shop 3 times, the 3rd time just last week. The problem is when we fold out the LCD to take some video there is no picture, if you flip the LCD monitor over to the front the picture will work fine, but flip it back to normal and there is no picture. It takes great video when it's working and now that I have XP it works great uploading video to the computer. Unfortunately it has been in the shop about half the time we have owned it. I'm waiting for it to come back and stop working again so I can trade it in under Best Buy's warranty.

I've had this camcorder for a two years now. Gotta say that it works very well. It has good focus even when you're at max zoom, but when you're zoomed in that much, you need to put the camcorder on a tripod, otherwise the recording will be very shaky.

The one feature that I don't like about the camcorder is the Night Alive technology for shooting during nightime. You get a golden/yellow picture and things get really blurry as the target moves. It's really annoying and I NEVER use it. So if you're looking for a camcorder that will give you great night time recording, don't get this one. Get something with an infrared emitter, it will let you shoot good video even with NO light present.

JVC products have always been a favorite of mine and have always proven to have outstanding products. the JVC GRDVL720U is no exception. This Camera is inexpensive, and has all the bells and whistles you could ask for from a lower-end camcorder. You can transfer Digital Video to your PC by Firewire, and easily transfer Digital Stills through USB. Great quality and design. The unit fits in your hand with all buttons readily available.

I bought this camera after seeing the reviews on amazon.com, in particular that it was durable. I enjoyed doing videos with it. But very soon after the warranty expired, the video stopped working. It still worked as a VCR, but not as a camera. When I sent it for repair at one of the Sharp partners, the bill to repair would have been higher than the cost of the camera!!! So be aware that this is not in fact a durable camera, and Sharp USA did nothing to help the confidence of this ex-customer.

I bought my camera 2 month ago and i am deligthted.
As the product is discontinued by sharp is a little difficult to find accessories.

Lens cap broke, but other than that, I love this camera, It handles well while accompanying me all around the globe

...The unit is easy to use and the instructions are simply presented and very clear cut. My wife uses it without complaint and is always happy with her results.

On the other hand, the unit does have some nice'though limited-- advanced features such as preset exposures, special effects, and Sony's unique NightShot feature. My daughter especially likes the special effects package. I particularly appreciate the Night Shot feature. I video a lot of youth sporting events that can involve a lot of transitional lighting issues, especially on those evenings around the time change seasons, an this unit handles all those issues very well. It does a commendable job in moonlight as well.

The unit is well designed and rugged. It is not a choice for die-hard vidoephiles'the range of advanced features is too limited, but they should be adequate for normal family outing type use.

Battery life using the LCD is rather short. The viewfinder picture is black & white. Using it rather than the LCD expands battery life significantly but the quality of he picture in the viewfinder is not good.

The audio quality is average. Functionality of interface with other devices (TV, PC, etc.) is good.

On the whole, a great unit to start out with or for more adventurous outings where camera safety might be an issue. (I took this one white water rafting'not my state-of-the-art unit.). It has enough features to give a feel for an advanced unit without overwhelming the user, provides better than average output and cost wise is a relative bargain.

I bought this for christmas and I must say I am quite impressed! light enough for easy handling, good image quality, a lot of features for the low, low price. LCD panel does drain the battery quite quickly but with the eyepiece (black and white...aaarrgghh) you can get almost 8 solid hours of filming in...more than enough...recommended for first or second camcorder owners...

I'm not an ellectronics person and I never used a camcorder before, so when I was given one as a gift from my wife I started to get worrried. But the instructions were easy to follow and the camera works beautifully. I used it all Christmas day and the quality of the pictures are wonderful. I think as a result of having such good fortune with my camcorder, I am looking forward to my next sony purchase

I WANTED TO HAVE IT ALL. A CAMCORDER THAT TOOK EXCELLENT VIDEO AND GOOD STILLS. THIS PRODUCT DISSAPOINTS IN THE LATTER. HOWEVER, MANY PEOPLE SAY THAT THE STILL PICTURE QUALITY THAT THIS CAMCORDER TAKES ARE ALREADY BETTER THAN ANY CAMCORDER OUT THERE. WHILE THIS MAY BE TRUE, I MUST WARN THE PEOPLE OUT THERE THINKING THAT THIS CAN REPLACE YOU 2 OR 3 MEGAPIXEL CAMCORDER....IT WONT.
THE STILL PICTURES, ALTHOUGH 3 MEGAPIXEL CAPACITY HAVE JUST WAY TO MUCH NOISE INTEREFERENCE (THATS MY BEST GUESS) FOR THE PICTURES TO BE SHARP. THE PICTURES COME OUT SOMEWHAT FUZZY RATHER THAN SMOOTH. WHEN VIEWED AT 2016 x 1512 YOU CAN CLEARLY NOTICE AN UNEVENESS IN THE COLORS. THE PICTURES ARE JUST PLAIN BELOW AVERAGE COMPARED TO WHAT YOU CAN GET FROM EVEN A 2 MEGAPIXEL CAMERA.
WITH THAT SAID, THE STRONG POINTS OF THIS CAMERA IS IN ITS VIDEO. THE VIDEO IS REALLY CLEAR AND SHARP. ALTHOUGH THIS IS MY FIRST CAMCORDER AND I DONT HAVE ANYTHING ELSE TO COMPARE TO, BUT I AM PRETTY SURE THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST VIDEO QUALITY CAMCORDERS OUT THERE.
HAVING BEEN LET DOWN BY THE POOR STILLS, BRINGS ME TO GRIPE ABOUT THIS CAMCORDER BEING SLIGHTLY LARGER THAN PREVIOUS SONY HANDYCAMS LIKE THE PC105 AND ALSO LARGER THAN SOME OF SONY'S NEWER MODELS. ALTHOUGH THESE SMALLER HANDYCAMS DONT HAVE 3 MEGA PIXELS LIKE THE PC330, BUT I HAVE COME TO THE CONCULSION THAT MAYBE 3 MEGAPIXELS AREN'T NECCESARY, WHAT THE POINT IF THE THE STILLS ARE GOING TO BE SUBPAR ANYWAYS. I PROBABLY WOULDVE HAVE CHOSEN NOT TO BUY THIS HIGHLY EXPENSIVE CAMCORDER, AND INSTEAD GONE WITH A CANON OPTURA 300, WHICH IS MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE, BUT WITH THE MONEY LEFT OVER, I COULD BUY ME A NICE 3 MEGAPIXEL CAMERA THAT TAKES DIGITAL PICTURES THE WAY THERE SUPPOSED TO LOOK.

A palm-sized camera that almost shoots as well as the low-end 3-CCD cameras, made by a reputable name (Sony), and a price under $1400? Yes, Sony has done it.

Exterior - With the vertical orientation of the body and the smaller thickness, this camera will fit well in your palm. The main controls are positioned comfortably where your fingers will most naturally fall. The design allows for basic operation without jostling the camera. As I primarily work in filming live band performances in local clubs, this unit allows me to shoot a high-quality product and not disturb those around me, as most are never aware that I am recording. The only drawback is that the infra-red controls are a switch on the case, as opposed to an internal menu. On more than one occasion I have accidentally turned on the night mode.

Lens - The lens is very sharp and distortion-free. Its size of 37mm is a standard size, and I have been able to purchase several lenses and filters without requiring any adapters or step-up/down rings.

Lighting - As per Sony's reputation for low-light shooting, this camera does not disappoint. Besides requiring only 7 lux for standard shooting, it offers a NightShot (infra red) and a Color Slow Shutter, which preserves bright colors in super-low lighting.

Auto-Features - The auto-exposure and auto-focus are very responsive, except in cases of two rapid changes in light, like a camera flash, for instance. This is where I find the only weakness in this unit. The manual focus ring, while great in concept, does not actually operate on a wide range, so it is only for fine tuning, not necessarily artistic alterations. However, the touch-panel screen does have a Spot-Focus feature, which when used correctly can simulate camera movement.

LCD Screen - The image produced on the LCD screen is quite sharp and a very accurate representation of what is being recorded. It also has a switch for the backlight to save battery power when it is not required while viewing the LCD undera a bright sun. A characteristic that sets this camera apart from most is that the LCD Screen is also a touch-panel for access to the options menus. At first I was hesiatant about this feature, but I have found it to be a favorite part of mine. In low lighting situations, I no longer have to remember where specific buttons are, as the menus are well-illuminated. The panel requires very little pressure, so I can operate it without shaking the camera. And, to top it off, it allows custom menus, so that I set up my most-used options on the first screen. Generally I can change the settings to what I want with only two quick taps on the screen.

Accessory Shoe - The Intelligent Accessory show can connect to and electronically control, and supply power to flashes and micrphones.

Power - The supplied battery will run for 2 to 2 1/2 hours at maximum consumption, the long life will generally provide 7-8 hours.

Progressive Recording - This feature is designed for those who wish to extract still images from video. It records at half the frame rate, but produces a clearer image, without the herring-bone effect of motion in the normal digital frames.

I have had this camera for four months now, and have found only a couple of minor imperfections which do not amount to much when compared to the rest of the DCR-PC330. I highly recommend this unit to anyone and everyone who can afford it. You will not be disappointed.

This was my first-ever camcorder purchase, so I wanted to make sure the camera was a solid performer.

The other two candidates were the Panasonic DV953 and the Sony TRV950.

To help me choose, I took a crash-course in MiniDV cams (by reading the reviews) and found that most of them kept harping on things that I didn't care about. Things like bottom-loading the tapes vs top-loading; Single CCD vs 3 CCD; the number of shutter speeds. Jeez, 99.9% of people aren't going to pass up a good camera because they need to remove it from the tripod to change a tape, but these folks make it sound like a show-stopper.

I bought the PC330 over the other two for simple reasons:

1) My wife wants very few buttons to have to worry abouy. With this camera, you point and shoot; most of the functions are hidden in the touch screen menus that you rarely have to use.

2) The stills are actually better than my 3.2 megapixel Fuji A303.

3) It felt comfortable to use - much smaller than the other two cameras.

I believe the cons to this camera that will affect most users are:

1) The akward placement of the still button. You really have to bend your index finger into a strange position to use it. The zoom control is placed as the natural landing spot for your index finger.

2) The microphone is located behind the hot-shoe. This is only a problem if you plug something into the shoe - the mic is essentially blocked from your subject.

3) The flash doesn't pop out far enough to clear most add-on lenses. If you attach a wide-angle or zoom lens, you will see a significant shadow of it in still pictures that use the flash. This is certainly not a critical flaw, but annoying.

4) This is probably only a problem for newbies to Sony camcorders, but the zoom control at your index finger is just about the same size as the mode/power switch at your thumb. I don't know how many times I've intended on zooming by moving my thumb -- which causes the camera to switch modes. I chalk this one up to user unfamiliarity; all of my friends with Sony's had the same problem at first.

I bought some nice accessories and found one very valuable. The HVL-IRH2 IR/Video light. This plugs into the hot shoe and provides a 3 Watt video light AND a great IR light for shooting in total darkness in a small all-in-one unit. It uses the battery power from the camera, which drains it FAST, but it also means it doesn't need its own heavy battery. We use this to record our kids sleeping; the IR produces no visible light in the room. Keep in mind, the video will look like a nighttime Baghdad bombing (green), but it's not very grainy at all.

I have been using this camcorder little over than 1 year. This has great features especially optical and digital zoom. Never used EIS, MagicVu features but I am sure I will someday. Easy accessibility to the DV cassette (to remove and replace). Ergonomic features like zoom, record buttons. Blank search is really helpful. Memory card that comes with the cam is useless and also the pictures are not that good. Have to buy i.Link interface cable to transfer videos to Pc as its taking too long with USB cable. Battety life is less but you have to buy a spare one. Overall this camcorder is a good one and worth to buy than a Sony which has less features for the same price.

I got a good deal on this minidv. I got it from CompUSA for $199 it was a demo and their last model. I compared it to sony trv 19,22, jvc, canon zr series and optura 10. I like the way that the panasonic feels. It feels like consideration of was put into this camcorder as to how it would fit in the hand. The videos look absolutly great, colors are vibrant. The ZOOM MIC works really well and helps the sound too. It has MAGICVU whiich it their version of nightvision. It works wonderful. You can see at night. It is equal if not better than sony's nightvison. Only one problem. The MAGICVU button is on the side of the lense. I thought it was in a akward place.
There are a few accessories that are avaliable for it like, 2x telephoto lense $45, batteries from 75min 9.5 hours. I picked up a 75 min battery for $32 at walmart. The 9.5 hour battery is $95 at walmart and other online stores, additional lighting is avaliable and expensive from $69-$229. Since mine didn't have a charger, I picked that up at best buy for $49.99. The camcorder is awsome. I recommend it to everyone

Batteries,accessories and disks still hard to find. Product works well. Disk and card option neat for quick computer interface. Simple controls, PHd not rquired. Pricey but seems to have the bells to be worth it. Small DVD's a plus. Fast recording speed. No negatives.

When I first bought this cam it constantly ate the tape it came with. I brought it back to the store and they replaced the cam. Now 6 months later I have the same problem and the store tells me that my 3 month waranty is over. I explained them that the cam has the same problem as the first, but the answer remained,"your 3 months are over!!".

This camcorder is a bridge to the next generation (digital). I was looking for a digital (MiniDV) format camcorder, but at the moment, there are a couple of disadvantages to them. One is the relatively high cost, the other is rather poor low or moderate light performance. Since much of my shooting occurs indoors, this was simply unacceptable. I'll wait a year or two for things to get better with the Digital camcorders, but in the meantime, this SCL770 is a great bridge between the two formats. You get the relatively low price, and good low light performance of a Hi8 camera, plus you can use its USB connection to download a decent image (moving or still). You can even use it as a webcam! This should suit many of us just fine who are waiting for the digital camcorders to really mature, in capabilities and in price.

The only real negative I have come across at this time is the relatively short life span of the included battery. If you plan on using the LCD alot and shooting alot of footage between charges, I would suggest buying and upgraded battery.

This was a great deal what a cute little camera. You can upload movies onto your computer, view your movies via the television and also record movies onto a blank VHS tape! Why spend the big bucks on a digital?

I give this item 1 star because it says it meets all IEEE-1394 specifications but the plug didn't fit into my JVC Camcorder. It might be that JVC wants me to buy their own firewire cable but I think this cable still should have worked.

Works great and is a deal at [price]. The only gripe I have is that it stinks! I could smell the plastic insulation before I even opened the box from Amazon. An unpleasant acrid combination of rubber and some kind of chemical. Repeated washing in hot soapy water (not the end connectors!) and hanging it out in the sunlight for a week has markedly reduced the smell but it's still noticeable. Hopefully time will make this cable's smell as sweet as it's price.

I found similar firewire cables to sell for anywhere [for a range of prices]. This one is the most reasonably priced I've come across. ...the cable works great! It does kind of smell, however. Kind of a processed plastic sort of smell...

The camera is not as good as specified. Still image quality is good when taken fron very short distance but not good for the outside natural scenes taken from far away. The video quality is not so good. In low light you can't get the real colour. Specially in night shot. During video recording its pick up nois from the outside, which is very bad when you play the video. I dont think the video image quality is better that the SONY Hi-8 camera (which has much less price and not Carl Zeiss lence.). The PIXELA software frovided with the camera is too bad. If you convert to MPEG-1 using USB cable vedio quality will be useless. I think they should mention in the manual about the quality of the video using USB cable and the provided software. If it is useless I cant understant why it is provided with the camera. The software is not also user friendly. There should be some sample video using that software, so the customers can understant bout the vedio quality before buying the camera. Most of the video options are not available in memorystick if somebody wants to record in memorystick as MPEG-1. Also the video size is very small.

After a long research of compact camcorders, I bought a PC105 last September to replace a bulkier Digital 8, also Sony, that in turn replaced a Sony Hi8, and I am quite happy with it. I got it for about $750 on IBuyDigital. The camera is really compact, though you need to get used to the PC format (vertical), as opposed to the TRV one. The image quality is superb, and with good illumination you get up to 500 lines horizontal resolution (I measured it, the D8 only went up to 380 and the Hi8 to 420). The image quality is much better than my old D8. The 1Mpix still images are reasonable but don't replace a dedicated still digicam, though for special cases when you need the 10x zoom, it is a good thing to have. The MPEG1 video clips that you can store on the Memory Stick look similar to what you get from video clips out of still digicams. I guess those are mostly gadgets, I mainly use it for DV video and I capture it to my PC for later transfer to DVD.

The zoom lever is not particularly easy to use, but once you get used to it is not that bad. The focus ring is easy to use, though the autofocus is so good that I hardly use the manual focus (as compared to my old Hi8). Also, the image stabilization is way superior to the old D8 one, and does not seem to introduce extra noise as was the typical case. This is especially important on a small and light weight camcorder since it is harder to keep it still than with a heavier one.

But, the main advantage of this camera, besides its compact size, is the hybrid LCD touchpanel. Forget about those bright days when you had to stick to the viewfinder because you could hardly see the LCD screen under the sunlight. With this one, you can see it perfectly, whether under the direct sun or on a dark place... You can even save some battery power by switching off the backlight when using it outdoors. The 2.5" is a bit small, but I don't believe you can put a bigger one without making the camcorder bigger too. The LCD is high resolution and looks very sharp. The color viewfinder is not tiltable and resolution is not as good as the LCD, but helps extending battery life, which BTW is accurately measured and displayed.

I would have placed at least a scroll/select wheel for the menu system, though the touch panel is really easy to use. But the scroll wheel is faster to use for selecting things on a typical Sony menu. However, the most used functions have direct access from the LCD touch panel buttons, and the spot focus and spot metering, where you select the area of interest by touching it on the LCD, is a cool addition that you don't have in many cameras.

Overall, I am happy with it, I can put it on the same bag together with my 5Mpix digicam and I just hope it works fine for many, many years.

Ignoring the fact that this is overkill, the DCRPC105's Video-in capabilities works very well and allows conversion of analog to digital video. You can connect an analog source via the included RCA connectors, which also support S-Video.

Transferring video to a computer is straightforward, but a FireWire cable is not supplied, only a USB cable for the USB streaming feature.