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Product Reviews:
Canon Optura 40 MiniDV Camcorder w/14x Optical Zoom |
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: Great, convenient, likes my Mac
Comments: Wonderful!! I do not know much about video, however I just plugged it in and it worked. I am really pleased with the quality of the video and the nice way it connects to the software that came free on my computer (iMovie).
Yesterday I took video in falling snow. I set the camera to Snow/Sand setting, and it took care of ething. Nice feature.
The manual is minimal. I hope to find something better online. |
Rating: 1 (out of 5)
Summary: disappointing
Comments: After doing a great deal of research I purchased the Optura 40. It was highly endorseed by Consumer Reports and reviewers on this and other sites. I also purchased the Video Light since almost all reviewers mentioned poor low light performance as the main drawback to the camera. 1st of all, the light maked red eye in my child, the main subject of my recordings. Without the external light video of indoor events, my main place of recording, was grainy and dark. Second of all, the automatic zoom was terrible. It was alalmost all always out of focus. Third of all, the noise when the camera is recording is loud. I had to look up tips online for how to adjust the camera so the noise wouldn't show up on the actual tape. I have a Sony analog with low lux and 16x zoom which I held side by side with the Optura and used to record the same things. The Sony was far superior. For the price of this camera you would think you could expect great low light performance and zooming. Canon can not manufacture a camcorder that doesn't make loud mechanical noise? I do not understand how eone could say this is a great camcorder. Needless to say we have returned the item and are going to start looking at Sony digital camcorders. |
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: Canon Optura 40 MiniDV- Best compact camera by far
Comments: Canon Optura 40 MiniDV
My family just purchased the Canon Optura 40 MiniDV Camcorder w/14x Optical Zoom; it is a digital video camera. I fell in love with this camera as soon as my mom charged it up and turned it on. I immediately wanted to take the camera out and start taping the 1st thing that came to mind. I started with video taping my house just like I was on MTV's cribs. I went in all of the bedrooms of the house, then I went to show off the cars, next I went into the back yard and taped the pool and all of the extensions that we've added on to the back yard. There were3excellent features on this camera; they were the readable howevertons, flip-out side panel-viewing window, and the long battery life.
The best part about the camera was the simplicity of the howevertons. The howevertons on the camera are located on the underneath the flip out screen. The howevertons had their symbols on them and also had the function written above. After messing around with the camera for a few hours, I had remembered the order of the howevertons. A slight down side to this camera is that it is for right handed people in general, which allows you to have your fingers on the howevertons at all times.
The next item is the viewing window on the camera. The camera has a flip-out, rotating, side view panel. This panel has crystal clear imaging that is amazing. Looking at a tape that I had taken a few months prior; I was amazed of how the crystal clear images of the tape place me back in the moment. The tape was of a parade in North Dakota. With me living in Arizona, and to feel as if I were back in North Dakota is honestly breathtaking. The reason why the picture on the screen is so realistic is the vivid colors. Even in low light the picture quality is superior.
Battery life is another huge plus with this camera. The battery on the camera can alalmost all last1tape; however, this isn't continued use. If the battery is used continuously it will last about an hour. The battery takes approximately15 minutes to charge up. This is a huge plus, if you are in a hurry and need another battery right away or even if it is a back up battery.
There are several other wonderful qualities to this camera: compact, lightweight, comfortable eye piece, clear voice recorder, extraordinary playback, and exceptionally easy to travel with. This camera has a high rating from almost all of the people that own it. It is definitely worth e penny spent. It is highly endorseed by almost all to go take a look at1soon.
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Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: A really great camcorder
Comments: I received Optura 40 as a gift about a month ago. This is my firs DV camcorder.
The quality of movies is amazing, colors are just perfect, and it performs quite well in a low light condition. The are also night modes that turn night in a day (not too realistic, however would be great for recording a wildlife at night for example). Quality of pictures is also great - I do not have to purchase a separate still camera, 8X10 enlrgements came out fantastic, and combined with 14X optical zoom you can make it a spy tool. The camera is quite easy to use and intuitive. I really enjoy using this camera. The ability to record 16:9 picture is according to some specialists the best solution on the market unless you want to spend big money on 16:9 CCD camera.
The downsides:
MANUAL!!!!!! I was close to returning the camera to the store after getting frustrated with it. Just sucks.... ething is actually in there, however it as readable as a phone book.
Software - Why there is not a single software for DV capture to a PC? I realize that a lot depends on the card controller, however there has to be a more or less universal solution. So far, Windows Movie Maker 2 fails to properly record sound in DV quality, Ulead has a similar problem and the only1working properly is Adobe Premiere 7.... however maybe it is my Firewire card, who knows...If thre is anyhing more frustrating than recording DV onto a computer, I have yet to find it. I feel Canon could include a simple capture utility and editing program.
Still picture quality with low light is too grainy, appears like the camera tried to go to the highest ISO settings, the results are not too encouraging.
Battery life is about 1 hour without the LCD (elongates somewhat when the battery goes through a couple of initial charge cycles).
Because I am left handed I also use my left eye to see through the viewfiner, however occassionally I start and stop recording with my nose. Fortunatelly the left handed are a minority.
I also had an impession that the camere motor become a bit more noisy recently, however it could be due to a quiet scenes.
Overall, I love it!!!!!! I think that the quality far outweighs some minor quirks. |
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: Wonderful Camcorder
Comments: I will give 5 stars for the Optics - just amazing pictures, especially in daylight. I shot a few pictures under a 60 Watt (yellow) light and the picture quality was surprisingly great.
What I liked almost all about this Camcorder:
1. Great image quality, especially in daylight (comparable to the panasonic 3 ccd model which is much more expensive)
2. sleek and compact. Love the look of it
3. Robust. My 3 year old has already dropped it twice and the camcorder has taken it well.
4. great Mic. Audio quality of the recorded movies with thebuilt in mic was amazing
5. The LCD is big, bright and has crisp images
What I did not Like (complaints):
1. The manual sucks. It is just a little more than a complete listing of all the menus that the camcorder supplies. Not much explanation and no great flow.
2. The camcorder "automatically" chooses between optical and digital zoom. There is no way you can manually control that
3. The battery lasts for just 30 minutes (at least in my case). I had to purchase a high capacity battery seperately to make it meaningful.
4. The camcorder supplies a 12 bit and a 16 bit audio mode. however if you choose 16 bit mode, then later on, you cannot mix audio with the movie using the Audio dubbing feature. The audio dubbing just stops if it sees a 16 bit clip, it works only with 12 bit. annoying and nonsense. I think the reason is that the camcorder stores both, the original as well as the dubbed audio and needs the extra bits for this. however nevertheless, annoying.. (In my enthusiasm, I recored2tapes in 16 bit mode and now am stuck, I cannot mix in audio without 1st converting them to 12 bit and there is no easy way of doing that).
however overall, this camcorder is a champ. |
