Camcorder Reviews

I am yet another careful shopper who spent a ridiculous number of hours researching the digital camera thing on every inch of the web (the most helpful sites being Amazon.com, camcorderinfo.com, and cnet reviews). I went to Best Buy twice, CompUSA, and Fry's Electronics like, three times to talk to the sales people about what type of camera is best (mini DV, DVD, hard drive) and how this specific camera compared to others and blah blah blah. (By the way, NONE of those people gave me good solid advice and most were just kids who didn't seem to really know what they were talking about, so beware). In the end I decided on the Canon Elura 100 because of it's price range and the proclaimed performance value. Yes, yes, yes, I had heard about the motor noise problem, but, darn it, I wanted this camera, so I was going to give it a shot. But, yes, yes, yes, I HAD the motor noise problem (it wasn't AS bad as some of the samples of video I had seen from the camera in a forum on camcorderinfo.com if you happen to look, but it WAS still constantly noticable, even outside). The camera I am replacing is a 1998 Sony Hi8 (which was more quiet)and this was supposed to be a big upgrade for me. So I went ahead and gave it another shot and ordered a replacement from Amazon. The next Elura had the same sound (which makes me wonder if it gets any better than that) so I returned it. I didn't want to give it a third shot, so I started OVER in my ridiculous search. I guess the irritation of the whole thing made me care less about cost and more about quality, so I decided to buy a Sony DCR-HC96. A man called "thehickoks" posted a good sample video of its footage at camcorderinfo.com you can check out. Overall, I think it is absolutely worth it to pay more (I paid $592 from another online retailer and that went really well) because it is SO much better in low light and the picture quality is much sharper and more colorful. The Elura's picture quality just wasn't much different than my old Sony Hi8. This is where I was most disappointed because I had read lots of reviews saying it was great. If you KNOW you don't have much of an eye for or aren't very picky about crispness, color, or brightness, you very well might not be bothered. BUT, from one mom to another, I bet you would care if you could see the difference. Low light (i.e. regular indoors lighting) is bad. And, as a mom, I film my kids inside a lot. I totally know that the price difference is an issue, but for irreplacable family memories and the use and life you will get out of these things, get a better one--it is worth it.

Here's a few more things: (1) With the Elura, it was tiny and cute, but the hand strap was too low in my hand or something, so if I let go of my grip on the camera, it would flop to the left away from my hand instead of staying in the same place. A handstrap should keep the camera in the right position in your hand. (2) The "motor noise" is like a faint nasally "eeeeee" sound. I know SOME sound is normal because of how close the mic has to be to moving components on these mini camcorders, but, normal or not for the Elura, it is not acceptable. It made my footage seem crappy and very homemade. There are other cameras available with less of a problem. (3) The shape is very boxy and small, but isn't NEARLY as comfortable to me as the Sony HC96. The Sony doesn't feel like you are trying to hold on to something like the Canon Elura does. It's not a terror to hold and use, but it doesn't feel totally natural. The buttons placement on the Sony is perfect. Your fingers are right on them. (4) The viewfinder doesn't move on the Canon. Not much of an issue I suppose, because it has an internal battery so you won't have a battery on the back end to push your face upto to see through the viewfinder. In comparison, Sony's pulls out and accomodates the bigger battery you can put on it (NP-FP70) and brings the viewfinder to where it would be if it was pushed in and you were using the smaller battery (NP-FP50). (5) I felt insecure about the internal battery because you can't put a bigger capacity batter in it. You could of course get one or several replacements though. I just don't like that. I like the control I feel from having longer life batteries. (6) I was glad the thing had a built in lens cap, BUT you have to remember to open and close it manually (unlike the Sony, which does it automatically when you turn it on/off).

Good luck. This is hard stuff. A lot of the reviews, technical or not, still won't help you to exactly know how YOU will use the camera and what YOU will like or dislike. And it's hard to tell at the stores if you like the look and feel of certain ones when there is a gigantic security thing attached to it. I would recommend all parents get something with good low light quality. I considered all the big shots in the 2006 line up (including some over $1000) and chose the HC96. Some ones like the HD and hard drive are so new that you might as well wait until they get better and cheaper. By the way, that footage clip thing on camcorderinfo.com compares the Sony DCR-HC96 to Panasonics GS300 (look for post by thehickoks in the forum). The Sony compared to this one has better low light and color (although I've seen in another review that it is barely less crisp at distant shots) and has a much better design for my taste. I am happy to help if anyone has questions for me.

About every 5 years, I buy a Canon product. Each time, I am pleased by outstanding optics and convenient control layout.

Pluses:
High quality optics, including 20x zoom
Large, easy to see LCD (with normal and bright display modes)
Reasonable battery life (approximately two hours)
Easy to use features (record, playback, photo)
Easy to use recording modes (fully automatic or sports, night, sunset, snow, beach, ...)
Easy to use setup menus
Thick but clear user manual in English, French and Spanish
(want to know how to use the camcorder as a analog to digial converter between your VHS cassette player and your computer?)

Extras:
external mic input
ability to dub a sound track onto a recorded sequence using the external mic or the AV input
AV input and output
analog to digital recording or analog to digital passthrough
wide recording 9:16 mode or standard 4:3 mode

Minuses:
When recording a silent scene, the built-in mic picks up the cassette motor and lens zoom motor. On playback, the sound is a low volume whrrrrr. When recording a normal scene, the motor noises are not audible.

I RECIEVED THE CANON ELURA 100 ABOUT 3 DAYS AGO, AND STARTED TO PLAY WITH IT. MAKING A TEST VIDEO AND BURNING IT TO DVD USING ADOBE PREMIERE ELEMENTS 2.0 SOFTWARE,AND BOY WAS I IMPRESSED!!
THIS LITLLE PALM SIZED PERFORMER LVES UP TO ALL THE HYPE I"VE READ ABOUT ON CNET ETC....IF YOUR LOOKING TO BUY THIS CAMCORDER DONT HESITATE, ITS WONDERFUL IT HAS A EASY MODE FOR PEOPLE THAT DONT WANT TO USE ALL THE BUILT IN DIGITAL EFFECTS AND WIPES THAT THE CAMCORDER OFFERS SO IT REALLY IS A PROCONSUMER TYPE CAMCORDER WITH OPTIONS FOR BEGINERS. IT REALLY IS WONDERFUL

Since Sony moved their assembly and manufacturing companies out of Japan to China and other low income countries they changed the spelling of there name Sony to Junk Which reflect more of their product quality and durability. There customer support has followed suit by offering you people who can not speak the English language. I purchased this DVD camera from the local Wal-Mart and ran 10 Sony Dvd's through it in two days. The sound was garbled and the picture quality was poor. The Movie was jerky and would go into a pause for one second every 3 or 4 minutes. I called customer support and talked to individual who had extremely poor English pronunciation. After three or four minutes of asking the customer support and trying to understand his words or at least speak slower. He said call back later and hung up on me. I took the camera back to Wal-Mart claiming the camera must be defective. A few days later I saw the same camera on Amazon at a great saving with free shipping and a free Bluetooth wireless microphone as a rebate. I purchased the camera and the first DVD worked although a lot of the movie was very dark and it was difficult to tell if I was filming in daylight or night the sound was garbled and had wind noise. The Bluetooth arrived a few weeks later and maybe it works if the sun and the moon are in the correct position. But this Bluetooth was worst that the installed mic. I took a trip across the country and burned 20 DVD. Every one of them was junk. This DVD Camera is worst that the one I returned to Wal-Mart. Every 15 seconds the picture stops like your pressing pause then continues only to stop again in 15 seconds. Even when the camera was set on a desk where there was no movement it still when into a pause every 15 seconds. As you move the camera slowly the picture turns from bright normal colors to black, then it takes a few seconds for the camera lens to catch up and adjust the color back from black to normal. Maybe I just got two lemons in a roll or maybe Sony had really dropped the ball on quality since there having their product are now made by people who make less than a dollar for a 12 hour day work.

After reviewing DVD Camcorders, between owner reviews and professional reviews I have decided that the DVD505 camcorder is the best unit out there. Apparently PC Magazine agrees, as they have given the DVD505 its coveted Editor's choice award.

They said "The DVD505 is a pricey camcorder that could have better digital-still-image features. Nonetheless, its exceptional touch screen LCD, fine video quality, and ease-of-use features make it a shoo-in as our Editors' Choice for a DVD camcorder."

Pros from PC Magazine: Great video quality. Very good sound. Excellent 3.5-inch-wide touch panel. Articulating LCD. Pivoting viewfinder.

The miniDVD format for camcorders is becoming increasingly popular with each passing year for one main reason: convenience. Consumers can record video, then play it back on the same 8cm DVD disc, right on their DVD player.

The 3.5-inch LCD touch screen (which also articulates) is larger than most camcorders. The quality of the LCD is excellent (high resolution).

PC magazine also liked its low light performance.
"The Sony DVD505 excelled in Nightshot mode. Other camcorders provide this feature, but end up with streaky, almost surreal footage. That's cool if you want to create an avant-garde dream sequence, but not for capturing details. The DVD505 does an exquisite job of filming in low light or at night. The digital or electronic image stabilization also worked pretty well, even in low light."

PC Mag Video Quality: "tests revealed video footage that nears the quality of miniDV camcorders. My "talking head" footage had just the right amount of color saturation and contrast. I was definitely impressed with the skin tones. I also found the audio was quite good; it stood out from the other camcorders I tested. There were no color casts or artifacts in the video. And in low light, the camcorder performed quite well, enabling me to see details in shadow areas."

I bought this camcorder 15 days ago. The quality of recording is very good. The camcorder has a touch screen this is a cool way of setting various features while recording.

Canon made for the EOS 20D. Expensive camera, so why risk using cheap batteries? The battery has a long life use.

This is a great product, and you can get it, along with any other products on Amazon up to $500 Free! Participate in a special promotion and get a free $500 Amazon Gift Card at this web site: nocost4u.info/amazon

My original Canon battery that came with the camera has a distressing habit of dying after ~250 pictures (I have a 1 GB memory card that can take many more), so I had to figure out a way of charging it whereever I went. I had thought that a non-Canon battery, almost by definition, would be worse than the original. But, no - this one is great. It lasts longer - I havent formally tested it to see how long it lasts, but it lasted for >320 pictures on one occasion, so is clearly better. Carrying this is better than carrying a charger with you on long trips.

This is a great product, and you can get it, along with any other products on Amazon up to $500 Free! Participate in a special promotion and get a free $500 Amazon Gift Card at this web site: nocost4u.info/amazon

Very compact and quick charge. Excellent product

works great with my hdr-hc3. at a full charge it says 190 minutes compared to 120 minutes with the standard battery. also note that this battery is exactly the same size as the battery it comes with but it just lasts longer. if i didnt already get this one, i would get the even longer lasting battery

Main problem: it is WAY too small. It has room for the camera, and pretty much nothing else. None of the stock accessories like charging cords and such fit in it, much less any add-ons you may have bought or blank DVDs. This means you'll need a second case for all your accessories. I suppose it would be ok for a day bag if all you wanted to carry was the camera, but it just doesn't cut it as a main storage bag.

Second problem: the battery is a joke. It is about half the thickness of the stock battery that comes with the DCR-DVD 505 (which itself, is two steps down from the highest capacity battery Sony offers as of 5/06). I don't even want to speculate on how quickly it would run out.

In short, this kit is useless for the current generation of cameras. Buy a separate bag (I'm about to order the Sony LCSVA5) and if you need a spare battery, get a quality one.

This is a great product, and you can get it, along with any other products on Amazon up to $500 Free! Participate in a special promotion and get a free $500 Amazon Gift Card at this web site: nocost4u.info/amazon

I was looking for a camera bag that I could take out on weekend trips, and to store the camcorder at home when it's not in use.

This bag fit my Sony DCR-DVD405 perfectly. The front pocket can hold 4 DVDs and the side pockets are great for extra batteries. The extra battery that is included will last for about 60min, making it a great backup/emergency battery.

I highly recommend this product.

This is a great product, and you can get it, along with any other products on Amazon up to $500 Free! Participate in a special promotion and get a free $500 Amazon Gift Card at this web site: nocost4u.info/amazon

If you see this product in your country, check if it is the same model (even if they say BC-TRP). The Argentina version comes with an AC cable instead of foldable plug. If you want to save place in your bag, better get the USA version and an adapter for the plug otherwise you have to carry the cable.

The same happens with model BC-TR1.

As a new owner of a Sony Handycam 26 this was a must have accessory! NO cords, just plug directly into the wall and have it readily accessible the next time you need a powered up battery. The unit is no bigger than one of those plug in air freshners, it stands flush to the wall and has a ready light easily visible. The swivel prong plugs are super feature if you are using the bottom outlet for something else and need to swivel the unit sideways instead of up and down. The prong plugs also fold flush with the unit when not is use! This helps to make the unit even more compact and also no sticking out prongs to scratch the covers of your mini DV's or camera itself! The charger stores super easy because there's no cord to wind or bulk up in your travel bag! YEAH! Super design, super compact, and easy to use.

RECOMMENDED!

I have gotten better results with Sterlingtek batteries for a fraction of the price...like less the $15 shipped.

If you use AI focus along with an IS lens a lot make sure you buy about 4 of these if you plan to shoot for more than a few hours in a day without recharging. I can get about 1,000 pictures out of two when used with the Rebel XT and battery grip when I am not using AI focus. But with AI activated I have been left without any juice on several occasions. That is why I ordered two more of these, to make sure I can get 3-4 hours of AI focus shooting without having to recharge.

I have a Canon ZR700 camera, it comes with one of this batteries. Since it was just giving me a little more than an Hour of recording, i felt i needed an extra battery. When i saw the options, because the high price on this product, i felt tempted to buy a OEM battery that's cost was 16.00 USD with shipping and it has good reviews from other customers. But them i found the Canon BP-2L14 here at Amazon, which gives twice the power for only 56.00 USD, just 13.00 USD to double the power and a original product (and double the size too, the only bad thing about it, but it is really not that much).

My wife and myself did a research for almost 3 months before deciding to buy Sony DCR DVD 405.
We went through comparing Mini DV Camcorders with Mini DVD ones and then in Mini DVDs brands and finally in brands the model. My requirement was an easy to shoot quality videos and download on to computer without much hassle and sony 405 proved to be better than my expectations and need.
I would strongly recommend this for guys who do not want to spend too much time in getting their special moments downloaded on to computer and then convert into DVDs. Sure gives quality picture and downloading and editing is easy and fun.

This handycam is very easy to use and takes great video's and still pictures.
I would have loved a little more zoom, but this works just fine. It is a bit pricy though !

This camcorder works exactly as specified by sony. We had no problem getting it started within a few minutes of opening the box. Touch screen controls work very well.

We also love the camera on it. It still has a 2 second delay after pushing the button to snap the picture that our last digital camera had but it is very easy to operate and switch back and forth from camera to camcorder.

The discs are a little bit short on time at around 23- 28 minutes maximum depending on how many times you stop and restart recording. But they are so easy to fill up and take straight to the dvd player or computer that it makes up for this shortcoming.

We love this camcorder and highly recommend the purchase. Amazon shipped it out quickly and we had a great experience buying this item.

This is a great product, and you can get it, along with any other products on Amazon up to $500 Free! Participate in a special promotion and get a free $500 Amazon Gift Card at this web site: nocost4u.info/amazon

just enough - a little tight as I put in 0.45X lens, DVD discs, etc.
the internal bag (net) would better to be loose so A/V cable can be put in easier.

After I purchased a new Sony DSC-H5 digital zoom camera I realized I needed a special size bag to accomodate it's size. First purchased a Sony LCS-VAC bag thinking it would be perfect. While the camera body without the lens hood/adapter ring/cap combo fit nicely, there was no room to hold the lens accessories. Searched the net for options and finally decided on the Sony LCS-VA30 Camcorder Carrying Case. Well, I really lucked out. This is one really cool bag.

Sony has done an outstanding job in designing and manufacturing this bag. The quality of materials and construction are exemplary. It's chuck full of conveniently placed accessory compartments. The main interior has 2 heavily padded sections configured about 1/4 and 3/4. The H5 fit perfectly in the 3/4 section while the smaller 1/4 section was perfect for the lens hood/adapter ring/cap combo. The cover for these compartments features a large zippered mesh pocket.

Inside the front zippered compartment there are 3 additional elastic pockets for batteries/memory sticks/etc. Each side of the bag has a zippered side pocket sizeable enough for additional lenses or other accessories. The back has an unzippered compartment for manuals, etc. The bottom of the bag has 2 sewn on molded protection strips.

The bottom line is this is one outstanding camera case that I would highly recommend to anyone. Sony does do it better than anyone else!!

I got these for my new digital camera, cell phone and wahtever else i could find that had a screen. They're great, with two notable exceptions: first, the application system is a pain in the @$$. With the nimblest of fingers, it will probably take you at least 2 tries to apply everything. Second, unless you are able so push the edges under the edge of the screen, they tend to peel off items that go in-and-out of pockets frequently -- my camera protector is rendered useless within a week of application. After a point, it's almost more cost-effective to buy another camera.

You might find this as one of the most useful inventions. I am not kidding. You want to protect your investment, and this thing, despite being so cheap, is the key for the screen protection.

This product is cheap insurance for the glass that covers the LCD display on a digital camera. I am using it for my Canon Rebel XT. I feel that the material/film is thick enough to add a certain amount of protection to the glass, yet thin enough as not to reduce visibility of the display. One use that I find helpful is that I tend to get finger prints on the glass, but with this material, I don't have to worry about wiping them off with nothing more than a shirt corner instead of having to dig out a lens cleaner. I had no problem measuring and cutting it to fit including rounding the corners to match the display. After applying it, I tried to work the bubbles out. The large bubbles were easy but the small bubbles were not so easy. However, the next day the small bubbles were somehow gone. I definitely recommend this product for your camera.