JVC Everio GZMG21 20GB HDD Digital Media Camcorder with 32x Optical Zoom

I moved up from a MiniDV camcorder to this one because of the hard-drive recording. It was a *great* purchasing decision. My personal favorite features:

Plug it into your computer, drag and drop the clips to your computer, rename them from .MOD to .MPG, and then author a DVD. NO CONVERSION NECESSARY! Records AC-3 audio.

Easy manual control

Intuitive navigation of the menu structure (MG21 has a 'stick' control while the MG20 did not)

16:9 recording! Fills up my HDTV.

32x OPTICAL zoom

~5 hours of recording time even in the highest quality setting

Downsides:

Quality out of the box is not so good, BUT with a few adjustments it is much better

How I get good low-light/indoors video (do the following steps indoors with the camera in capture mode):

1) Disable the "Gain Up" feature (major contributor to the grainy low-light video)

2) Turn on "Manual" mode (via AUTO button)

3) Go to the manual control menu (down on the 'stick')

4) Set AE to '+2'

5) Highlight 'MWB' in the WB menu, point the camera at a sheet of paper (position the camera so the sheet of paper fills the view of the camera) and press and hold the middle of the 'stick' until 'MWB' stops blinking (about 5-10 seconds).

6) Set S.sp. to 1/60

7) Press down on the 'stick' to exit the manual control menu

After doing this, my indoors video quality is MUCH better (no more noise/grainy video). The settings will be saved, even if the battery is removed or depleted; they will return even if you switch to AUTO mode then back to MANUAL.

I am really happy with this camcorder.

I chose JVC everio of course because of its ability to write video files on hard drive and then easily copy them to my PC ( don't forget to change .MOD extension to MPG to play it in any player. Also you may need MPEG-2 codec which you can find on internet). No tapes, disks, etc. Just calculate how much you will spend on these items of the past. I think they still exist just because of companies getting money for this on the regular basis. If you have a tape camera you are busted for all your life to feed producer of DV cassettes... But this is all just thoughts.

About the camera you can read a lot of reviews for other models which are almost exactly the same and get a lot of useful information. I just chose the cheapest model which is totally enough for my needs. Summary is that this camera is very convenient, battery life is less than 1 hour, video quality during the day is good, during the night is no quality at all and in low light you should play a little bit with the settings. I've read other reviews and just want to repeat this: try GAIN UP setting or follow this advise of one reviewer:

I came of a way to improve its indoors performance

significantly, use "M" mode with white balance set to

"Cloudy" and shutter speed set to 1/50 (in extreme

conditions 1/30)

The camera store these settings, so you just need to

set these once and switch to "M" whenever shooting indoors.

I think JVC should give more hints to people, not everyone can guess such things.

So 5 stars for the idea minus 1 star for battery, bad manual and average video quality.

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I recently purchased this product and have been very happy with the performance. It is very small and light and the recording quality is really good. I especially like the ability to record segments directly to the hard drive. It is very easy to delete the bad takes and just get the good stuff. The quality in dark places or at night is not very good (except for close-up subjects), but considering the size of the camera I am fine with limiting recording the well lit places.

I would highly recommend this purchase, especially for getting good video of kids or friends.

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I got this camera as a graduation gift, yet i had to pitch in 200 of my own, which was completely fine for me..

I use this very often, and my band does touring and I record everything that goes on, and make videos out of the clips.

The hard disk drive is very helpful, because all I need to do is plug into a power source, and I can record out whole show!!!

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THO TO TURN DEMO MODE OFF BEFORE RECORDING WITH THE CAMERA ON A TRIPOD WHEN IT IS STILL, my camera kept shutting off during out last show, and our show tonight will record smoothly..

I use this for documenting pretty much anything that happens, and I love it, cool features like "old reel-type film", black and white, strobe, sepia, and it shoots in 16X9 which is a cool feature to have, because I produce the videos in that format.

I love this camera and would definately tell everybody to buy this camera for any use.

the only negative thing is nightime recording isn't that great, so have an external light source... or don't record at night ;)

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This is a great product. I love the design, size, hard drive (no tapes!), 32X optical zoom, added convenience of an SD card, as well as excellent video quality. The format that it records videos on can be easily changed by changing the extension of the file. Downloads to PC without issues and easy to setup and watch recorded videos on TV. Now the Auto settings are not the best for indoor/low light conditions so try using it under Manual recording mode setting the AE to +3, the WB to Halogen, and the Shutter Speed (S.Sp) to 1/60 or in extreme conditions to 1/30. These settings worked really well for me and I am really happy with it. Also disbale the "Gain Up" feature which is makes video quality bad. I recommend to get a 5-hour spare battery is only like $25-35 online and worth every penny. I have not used the software that came with it though.

Olympus D450 1.2MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

I started out thinking I was still a year away from affording a new digital camera with the features I wanted. I decided to hold out for a zoom lens and at least 1024 x 768 resolution, or wait. After a lot of research, I knew I wanted an Olympus, because of their excellent optics and their camera-first, digital-device-second approach, and because my Olympus 35mm point-and-shoot had served me well.

I thought my best deal would be on a used or discontinued model; however, because the original price of the 500L, 600L, and 400Z had been so high (in the $800-1200 range), the asking prices for these had not come down as much as I'd hoped, and what I had to be willing to pay had crept up as I shopped. When I saw what the 450Z was going for, I whipped out my credit card. Now that I've played around with it for a few weeks, I can't imagine there's a better digital camera for the money right now. I've compared with a couple of friends that have Nikon CoolPix cameras, and I suppose there's something that's better about them, but I can't honestly tell you what that would be, and the Nikon is twice the money!

The 450Z is an improved version of the well-received 400Z, but at a radically lower street price. Some of this is due to the packaging - the 450Z leaves out the FlashPath floppy adapter (typically $70-90 alone) that was standard in the 400Z -but clearly the manufacturing costs are coming down rapidly.

This camera performs incredibly well on the bottom-line measurement: It takes stunningly detailed and accurate pictures under a wide variety of conditions.

We've gotten used to accepting less than perfection for pictures taken in other than bright sunlight at normal distances. The 450Z adds several categories of picture-taking where you can now get predictable results: Flash, macro (including with flash), indoor lighting, low light, etc. There are just enough features to make the camera useful over the range of conditions, but not so many as to intimidate the snap-shooter. Because of the intelligence of the autofocus, exposure control, and white balance, it is still a great point-and-shoot camera.

Many features are related to getting the picture right at the right resolution, such as spot metering, exposure override, mode (resolution), different flash modes, macro, etc. Other features are related to viewing and managing the pictures you've taken. You can plug the camera into a VCR or TV monitor (RCA video jack) and give a quick slideshow of what's in memory. You can get around the small size of the LCD display (and this is one of the better ones) by zooming in on one segment (out of a 3 x 3 grid) of an image, to make sure the detail is there.

One other feature that other reviewers have found important: The 450Z will store images uncompressed, if you choose (the file size is huge); most other cameras up to this point perform at least some compression, even on high-quality settings.

The only thing I couldn't do well -and this may just take some practice -is action shots. All digital cameras have some lag between the time you decide to pull the trigger and the time the image is committed to memory, and this takes some getting used to, but the 450Z is quicker in this respect than its earlier counterparts. One significant feature is the "burst mode", which allows you to keep capturing images (about 1-2 a second) as long as the shutter button is pressed, and until the buffer fills up (seems to be about 6-10 images).

Most of us get into digital because of the cost and overhead of dealing with film and processing, only to have to scan prints or pay extra to the processor for digital images from film. Depending on resolution, you can get up to 122 images onto the standard 8MB memory card before unloading, and that's very liberating -no more agonizing over whether to take another shot! However, once you play around with it a while, the mind starts to boggle at the possibilities, and film cameras seem like Stone-Age technology (especially since we are approaching the resolution of film with the million-plus pixels you can store in an image now).

The 450Z is a milestone in the improvement of digital cameras, a quantum leap in value vs. features and quality, even compared to other Olympus cameras. You won't believe how easy it is to get breath-taking digital photos. Get one!

I am one who always jumps into new tech stuff during the first or second wave. I have been holding off on a digital camera purchase for more of a value reason than anything else. When I saw this camera loaded with features combined with my experience with Olympus, I knew I was time to buy. I was still slightly fearful that the process from taking shot to downloading it to my harddrive would be cumbersome; however, this was not true.

The software that comes with this camera is powerful yet straight foward and easy to use. The images are great and a lot of fun to have instantly. IT WORKS JUST LIKE A GOOD AUTO FOCUS 35MM.

Cons: Uses batteries quick if you use the LCD and during the download to PC process. It takes a long time to download a 8mb smartmedia card (30-40 pics @ medium quality). It does not come with a case. The LCD is just below the optical eye opening so your fat nose smudges the LCD screen everytime you take a picture.

FINAL WORD: BUY IT --IT'S GREAT along with: 1. Case 2. Rechargable Batteries 3. Get a 3.5" Floppy Smartmedia Reader and skip the download process all together.

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I bought this camera because my wife was tired of scanning pictures for online auctions. When I saw how good the pictures were, and how well they printed on an HP PhotoSmart printer (even the 640x480 as an 8x10 was beautiful!) I realized I had a great match! Get NiMH batteries, for sure, but you can use it without the screen and save power. Also, Olympus sells (and you can get it here at Amazon) a PCMCIA adapter for the SmartMedia cards, which pretends to be a spare hard drive. Cool! Get the 16 or 32 MB Card if you take lots of pics, but at lowest res I get 240+ pics on a 16MB chip.

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I joined the digital parade after an agonizing 6 months of comparison and indecision. I liked the Sony Mavica features, especially the floppy disk method of storing images. I've used my work's Mavica 91 and loved its simplicity and great ability to take indoor pictures without a flash. I also loved the rechargeable 'smart' battery which Sony sells with its product; it actually tells you how much time you have remaining before a battery change is required. It could also do short MPEG motion pictures with sound. The big negative: it's huge and weighed a ton. It's resolution wasn't sufficient either.

I finally ended up with the Olympus 450z because of its high resolution, its available floppy adapter, its many features for the price, and its compact size -its virtually identical to my old 35MM model. It takes great pictures, but isn't as capable in low light conditions as the Mavica 91.

The Panaroma picture capability was a feature which I never thought of using -until I saw the software demo which was included with the camera. It's like magic -it puts together a panarama of pictures into a single composite image. Truly amazing.

In summary, the 450 is a great camera, albeit only slightly better than the 400 and doesn't include the floppy adapter as the 400 did. Great yes, but the price really hasn't dropped as I had hoped. Finally, if you're thinking ahead, you'll order 8 or 12 NiMH batteries and a recharger, a 16 or 32 meg SMART Card, and the Floppy adapter. You've suddenly got yourself a $700-$800 camera outfit. Shop around there are cheaper places to buy your camera.

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As so many others have noted, this is a GREAT camera for the money. It's loaded with features seen only on more expensive digital cameras (changeable ISO values, great low light capability, a true optical zoom lens with the ability to add 2X digital zoom on top...I could go on and on about the *pros*.....there are so many!

Here are the *cons* I've picked up so far:

1. Camera does eats its four AA alkaline batteries quickly, especially if you use the LCD a lot. THE FIX: I purchased rechargeable 1400 mv NiMH Nexcells and a Maha C204F charger for under $40 online and neatly solved this problem.

2. Not the most intuitive menu and button system. THE FIX: reading the manual before trying to use does help. A *quick guide* sheet comes with the camera...keep it handy to figure out those features you don't use often. Now I know how to use the features that are important to me and don't have to refer to the manual any longer.

2. Manual is confusing with three languages/page. THE FIX: English is primarily on the left-hand pages so look there first. Dog-ear the content index page so it's easier to find what you are looking for later, and keep the one-page "quick guide" that comes with the camera handy.

4. If you are going to take panoramic photos, ONLY THE ***OLYMPUS*** SmartMedia CARDS WILL SUPPORT THIS FEATURE! If you purchase less-expensive brands like SanDisk, you won't be able to take panoramas. THE FIX: Purchase Olympus SmartMedia cards on auction sites or at bidding sites online...I bought my Olympus 32 mb card for $45 under the Olympus website price.

5. Slow photo download rate. First of all, I didn't find the serial port download overly slow, especially compared to other digital cameras. However, since camera has to be on during the download, I recommend purchasing an AC Adapter (doesn't have to be Olympus brand) to save on batteries. But if you're a speed freak, then THE FIX: Purchase either the USB or FlashPath Floppy Disk Adapter....either will speed up download time considerably.

Bottom line for me....best camera for the money, hands down! Buy one for yourself and see!

Canon PowerShot SD970IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and 3.0-inch LCD (Silver)

The resolution and size of the screen on this camera is absolutely incredible. Pictures and video look really sharp. Screen is anti-reflective too. HD video is outstanding. Taped a table tennis match, the video and sound were both extremely clear and the movement was incredibly smooth, due to the 30 fps. I am not so impressed with camera's auto mode, while indoors, yet. Colors were off, maybe due to the white balance and low light. I find myself using the "P" mode mostly and making small adjustments to the white balance and adjusting the "my colors" section. Overall its a beautiful looking camera and feels good in the hands. I like the two tone color scheme. You have to watch your fingers, on your left, hand so they don't block the flash, it's very easy to do.

Update: Digital Zoom.

Most people advise you to disable digital zoom because of the resolution degradation when using it, however on this camera the digital zoom is fantastic, with very little resolution degradation seen and digital zoom can be used while in Video mode.

Update Foliage Program mode,8/2009:

I have been using the foliage mode for outdoor scenic shots lately. In this mode the greens, blues, are brilliantly enhanced making scenic pics pop out with bright color, some may like or dislike for the colors do not represent the true colors viewed. I like this mode, especially if the light your shooting in is not right, this mode will brighten the colors and make your photo less boring. I recommend previewing each shot before you move on to make sure the colors are not too saturated. I found that as the light changes this may happen.

Update: March 2010

Get the Canon S90, much, much better camera than the SD970,. The S90 also has low light sensors that make any indoor picture almost perfect. With the S90 you get professional results!

This review is to help those who are deciding between Canon SD970 and Canon SD960.

.................SD970......SD960......Comment

Optical zoom...5x..........4x..........Plus

LCD size.........3"..........2.8"........plus

LCD dot ......461k........230k.........Big plus

Zoom Blur......yes ........no..........no

The 5x optical zoom makes the picture 50% larger. So, I think it is a worthy improvement. However, it is offset by the wider angle lens of SD960.

The LCD size and resolution are a very worthy improvement. Although it is 3" vs 2.8", the actual screen sizes are quite different because SD970 has 4:3 aspect ratio and SD960 has 2:1 aspect ration. For normal 4:3 pictures, SD960 can only use 2/3 of screen to show the picture while SD970 uses all screen. With twice many pixels, you can view the pictures quite well. It is almost better than most of small stand-alone picture frames in the market. I actually can use SD970 as a very comfortable reading glasses for the fine print on the medicine bottle. I played one SD960 in a store and I can not see whether the picture was in focus very well.

The zoom blur did not produce great pictures, although it was fun to do.

I think the price difference (~$65) is a little bit large for the performance difference. But, I do enjoy the differences.

Other comments:

(1) mini-HDMI cable: I was not aware how great the HDMI feature is until I bought one cable from a local store. It is a great experience that many people can view the slide show and HD video on your HDTV. Although I complained about how expensive the cable was. But, the experience justifies the purchase of the cable. I bought a cheaper 3rd party HDMI cable and it works well.

(2)Sound quality of HD video:

I guess Canon engineers just did not have room to put the microphone at the front surface of the camera, they put it on the top which can be easily covered by your fingers. But, the more annoying issue is that, because the top surface is tilting backward, your voice becomes much louder than the people in front of you. In addition, you need to make sure your hands do not rub the camera when shooting. Otherwise, noise will be generated.

If you zoom when shooting video, the camera performs only digital zoom. And, it will record a quite noticeable noise when the zoom action stops.

Overall, I still rate this camera 5 stars because it is well designed and built. The user interface is better than my 4-year-old Canon S3 IS and is

far better than other brands.

Finally, it was very amusing to see how hard my brother-in-law had to try to prove his >$5000 Canon 5D dSLR is still a far better camera than this little thing. Yes, my SD970 lost in most of picture quality categories. But, it did not lose without a decent fight. At the end, my sister-in-law is thinking of buying a SD970. So, it lost a battle but won a heart!!

SD970 is a camera for two person, one want to just point and shoot for precious moments and one wants to use the program mode to make great pictures.

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First off, be aware this camera comes with no memory card, so unless you want to be like the kid that got a battery-powered toy for Christmas, and no batteries, plan ahead! Also, the A/V cable included is for standard RCA video inputs, which is fine, since almost everyone has something to plug that into, but for the HD output, you'll need the optional Mini-HDMI Cable. I've tried both cables, and if you have an HD TV, you'll want the HDMI cable.

The manual is pretty brief; it omits some information such as how to set the "owner name" in the camera (hint: use the "Camera Window" software and click on the magic icon in the upper right corner), and how to upload custom startup images and sounds for the camera operations. The manual was obviously not proofread by a native English speaker, and many parts tell you what a setting is, but not how to get to that feature. There appears to be about 3 different types of menus, depending on the mode.

Now for the neat stuff! There are 3 modes, video, camera, and auto; the main differences between camera and auto are that auto mode trys to figure out everything; and does a pretty good job. Portrait? Landscape? No problem. The camera mode lets you fiddle with everything, and has several preset modes for common situations, and for fine-tuning things like white balance, and ISO speed. These various "Program" features have an auto-preview of the effect when browsing through the menu choices, which is a nice touch.

You cannot set aperture priority nor shutter priority, but you can give it some hints to approximate this; there is a "kids & pets" mode that obviously is high shutter speed priority.

I've taken about 100 images in the last couple days, and have been very pleased with the results. The digital zoom image quality is fantastic. I needed to use a tripod on a cloudy day when the effective zoom was 20x, but the resulting image showed no jaggies at all. The macro focus worked so well, that when I tried to move the camera a little closer in, the lens hit the sidewalk!

Viewing photos and videos on the camera is pretty easy. It will automatically group photos into categories based on the auto mode (portrait, etc.) or you can put photos into categories manually, to filter what you want to see. The "shake" method to advance from one photo to the next didn't work too well for me; I had to give it a pretty good shake, and I couldn't seem to have it go backward. The auto-rotate feature for viewing photos taken in portrait orientations works great.

The video function works easy and you can upload the videos to your PC (in .mov format), and the software can convert it to .avi format also.

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I bought the SD970IS camera after weeks of doing research online and physically going to electronic stores to view the cameras in person. The three cameras that I was choosing between were the Canon SD780IS, SD960Is and finally decided to buy the SD970IS and here's why:

When I started looking I first read reviews on cnet.com and amazon.com. Cnet.com gave all the models a good to very good rating, however they didn't like the price to feature ratio with the SD970IS but everything else was great. The retail price for the SD970IS is $379.99 and I guess based on that price I would have probably not bought it, but as always I researched the pricing online and amazon.com once again had the best price at the time which was . At the time everyone else including buy.com, bestbuy.com and even ebay was selling it for close to full retail.

I previously owned a Nikon S50c and it worked fine it just seemed like a camera that you had to "baby" and didn't fit comfortably in your hands. The SD970IS is not as compact or slim as my old Nikon or the SD960IS or the tiny SD780IS but it can still be placed in a pocket. The most important thing is however that it feels great in your hand and doesn't seem fragile like the Nikon or the SD780IS.

I've been using the camera now for a couple of weeks and so far here's my list of pros & cons (very few):

PROS:

1. 3.0 LCD inch display with double the resolution of all three cameras.

2. HD Video is amazing with HDMI out

3. Picture quality is amazing including the 5x optical zoom and even the total 20x digital zoom is great.

4. Battery life is much better than any other cameras I've owned (approx. 250 shots)

5. "Blink" indicator that works great if someone blinks

6. The auto feature on the camera (I know that some reviews state that this function doesn't work very well, however I never take it off this setting because it adjusts to every shot automatically and I haven't had any issues with picture quality in this mode.)

7. Menu navagation is very simple and straightforward.

CONS:

1. Slightly bigger than I'm use to but still very compact

2. Noisy when zooming in and out (may be due to 5x optical zoom)

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I am a big canon fan and have been patiently waiting for the release of the SD970 since canon's announcment prior to the 2009 PMA. In the following review my basis for comparison is the new sony w290 and my experience owning a canon SD700. I sent the SD970 back to Amazon after using it for about 1 hour.

What is good:

1.Great screen

2.Solid feel, amoung the best I have seen for an ultracompact

3.Picture quality is the best of the ultra-compacts that I have seen

4.You can program one of the camera buttons to perform functions as you wish. I used this feature to start the video mode

What is not so perfect:

1.After focusing, there is an annoying delay when pushing the take picture button. So when you have that perfect moment when your kids are finally smiling and push the button you have to wait about a third of a second. It does not sound like much but it is the difference between getting a great photo and an okay one. The picture quality is outstanding, but if you can't capture the moment it just does not work for me. The sony w290 which does not take the same consistant quality of pictures does react much faster.

2.Filming in HD. The camera allows you to zoom in and out but when playing back the clip you can hear a significantly irrating sound similar to someone eating potato chips right next to you. This is not cool and was a big disappointment. (the sony w290 does not allow any zooming if you assume that having the ability to zoom and an annoying sound is better than not having the ability to zoom you'd be wrong, its that annoying)

3.There is no continous shooting mode while in the Auto-everything setting. So if you are like me and like to hold down the capture button to make sure take a few photos you are out of luck. The sony w290 lets you do this.

Summary

Great photo quality, but disppointing delivery. My personal conclusion and recommendation is to purchase the sony w290 (basically the same features), which does not take quite the quality of pictures but will allow you to snap photos in continous mode and much faster response times on snapping photos.

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Canon Optura 600 4.3MP MiniDV Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom

In wanting to replace my old (JVC GRDVM90U) camera/camcorder combo, I looked at the Canon Optura 600 and the Sony DCR-PC1000. Consumer Reports claimed high return/defect rates for JVC models, so I steered clear away from purchasing another JVC -especially since my old camcorder exhibited many of the same issues multiple people have documented in the GRDVM90U's reviews. Besides wanting to stick with MiniDV (for my old tapes' sake), what was most important to me in a replacement camcorder was 1) size, 2) still picture quality, 3) low-light ability, and 4) overall versatility. The Optura 600 delivered impeccably on all fronts. Size-wise, it is the smallest MiniDV camcorder I've seen on the market yet, although the Sony DCR-PC1000 appears to be a close second. What I liked about the Optura more than the Sony, however, was the overall design -it felt more solid and compact as opposed to small, but long and narrow. I wanted to be able to tote something around fairly easily and unnoticably, and the Optura delivered. It was so small it fit easily in a small purse (along with other small gadgets, ie. phone and Ipod), and large pockets also made for a comfortable home for it. The still picture quality was probably the clincher in my final decision to go with the Optura over the Sony. One thing to note, however, is that the Optura 600 is 4.0MP, *not* 4.3MP. Regardless, its 4.0MP beats Sony's 2.7MP hands-down. Because it was important for me to purchase a camcorder that would also serve the purpose of a digital camera (why have one of each when you can have something that can do both well?), I went for the higher-end Optura. Also, Canon's Elph Series digital cameras have always appeared to deliver consistent, great-quality digital images (practically everyone I know owns some version of the Elph), and I felt more comfortable knowing that Canon's still-camera expertise would translate better to a camcorder combo than Sony's (last I heard Canon didn't manufacture TVs, amplifiers, and PCs, as well). In addition to having a more than adequate low-light function (sometimes, surprisingly, it makes dark shots brighter than desired), it has all the basic functions and features one would expect from a camera of this caliber (ie. special effects, video/picture transfer software, numerous manual and automatic settings, widescreen functionality, all the cables and connectors needed to hook up to your TV and PC, 10x optical zoom, etc.). The one and only thing that I did like better in the Sony was its built-in, retractable lens cover -I found myself constantly fiddling with the plastic lens cover of the Optura whenever I unexpectedly came across a shot I just *had* to have. Other than that, I'm quite thrilled with my purchase and have not been disappointed yet. Design-wise, yes, it is a bit awkward (depends on the size of your hand and the dexterity of your fingers, really) -but this thing is tiny, so there has to be some compromise in ergonomics. I've found this to be a minor point, as the Optura's style, design, and overall look more than compromise for the slight awkwardness that really only takes a little getting used to. I often get many comments from strangers in awe of it whenever I take it out to capture a moment, and that alone is almost enough to overlook its minor faults.

I've been using a Canon Elura 2 for several years now, and have been amazed that it has taken so long to produce a better camcorder in the same small package. For a long time, the smallest camcorders have been bigger than the Elura 2. Finally, the Optura 600 is a worthwhile upgrade. Better video quality, better lens, better semi-pro features (exposure, etc.), full anamorphic 16:9, external mic input, and a great still camera mode.

I've always liked the smallest camcorder available on the theory that if you don't have it with you, you can't take the videos. The Optura 600 is small, and really packs in the features.

I did some extensive still photo comparisons with the Optura 600 still camera and my Canon Elph 500 (5 megapixels). Other than a slightly different color balance, it was nearly impossible to tell any significant difference. I also compared Super Fine vs. Fine mode, and actually thought the Fine mode had slightly better image quality. Just because the file size is bigger doesn't mean that the resultant photo is any better. I'd recommend you try the comparison yourself, but my choice is to keep it in Fine mode and not use the full SuperFine mode. This is a really great feature of the Optura 600 because you can really leave your digital still camera behind (which usually only have 3x or 4x optical zoom) and use the very nice 10x optical zoom.

For anyone who has any intent of editing, miniDV tape is much better than miniDVD. The quality (and bitrate) is far better, and most editing software works much better with this format. And shoot your videos in 16:9. Even if you don't have a widescreen TV now, you will before you know it, and you'll appreciate the fact your videos are in the modern format. The Optura 600 uses the whole image sensor for 16:9, so you aren't losing any image quality.

My main complaint is the lack of an external battery charger, but this seems to be the trend these days. It is amazing that they can fit the battery charging logic into the camcorder body, but I really like to have an external charger to charge one battery while I use a second. You can get one for under $30, but they really ought to give you one in the package.

(All the comments about it being uncomfortable to hold seem to fail to take into account that this is a small camera. The hand hold design is the same as the old Elura 2 you hold it at an angle with your thumb on the record button, and your index or middle finger on the zoom. Your ring and little finger wrap around the front. With the great new still camera mode, I find it better to use the middle finger for zoom and the index finger for the shutter release. But the design works as well as you could hope for in such a small camera. Left handed folks may have a bit more trouble, but that is true for most camcorders.)

If you've been waiting to upgrade your camcorder, this is a good choice. You'll get great MiniDV quality (suitable for editing to high quality DVD) and a really great still camera in one package. The video will look good on HD widescreen TVs. Maybe in a few years high def camcorders will be small, cheap, and easy to edit and produce to HD-DVD, but for now, this is much more practical, and will give you very good quality video. And it is so small, you might actually take it with you.

Update: I just took this camera on vacation, and I love it even more. I carried only this camera most of the time, and could take both video and photos as needed. While the still camera takes great pictures, it is a bit slow on startup and between picture cycle time. Also, there is a noticible lag between pushing the button and taking the photo, so it is critical to use the "push the button down half-way" feature to pre-focus. If you do this, then there is no delay. But it was just fantastic to have the 10x lens, and a great photo and video camera in one small unit.

Buy Canon Optura 600 4.3MP MiniDV Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom Now

I have used this camera only for a day or two. Picture quality is really good. The photo quality is great, almost as good as a stand alone digital camera.

This camera is ideal for someone with small hand size. Otherwise please try it before you buy. The hand strap can be VERY uncomfortable. I have already felt it on the first day of use.

Not a great feel to hold it. Other than that no major complaints so far.

Please do not buy the SC 2000 case from Canon. That case is way too big for this tiny camera.

Read Best Reviews of Canon Optura 600 4.3MP MiniDV Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom Here

This is a great versatile camera. It takes fantastic video and fantastic stills. It's features are easy to use and convenient. It's size is perfect and I do not have a problem accessing all of the buttons with my hand throught the strap. I purchased this camera the first day it was available not waiting for anyone else's opinions or reviews and I am glad I did. A camera this small is a pleasure to take with me wherever I go.

Want Canon Optura 600 4.3MP MiniDV Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom Discount?

I purchased this video camera after looking at my old Sony Handycam (video 8!)CCD-F501 that looks like a cannon compared to this lil' pistol (awkward pun intended.) I finally decided that enough time had elapsed and it was time to get a decent camcorder. Around mid-December 2005 I was salivating at the recently released hard drive cameras but after some search found out that that was just the only innovation, the other features were just standard or less than par for the course, and for the kind of money they were asking? I would be darned if I went to my Paris trip w/o a decent camera. What sold me on the Optura was the combo video/camera features and all the technical stuff you can read above. I won't repeat them here.

The Optura is surprisingly small and, as others have commented, if you have a hand shaped like a ham, this camera ain't for ya. I am 5'7", medium sized hand, the strap that wraps around the hand does not provide the best support when using the zoom. You can get used to it, but use both hands to steady the camera when zooming. Last week I went to J&R and bought a small tripod that when the legs are folded, it serves as a monopod, I intend to use it when I want to shoot without much camera shaking as I use the zoom.

I haven't had the camera for too long, there's lots of features in this camera for the video and photo functions, you gotta read them fully to truly appreciate this jewel. At night, while taping around Notre Dame, I noticed light streaks emananting from every lampost in the neighborhood, and I was using the automatic setting, I gotta try a couple of other settings to get that right. At the Louvre, the guards now won't let you take pictures or tape inside the museum. Well, as long as you don't use the flash option for pictures, you can snap away unless they catch you. But at the Mona Lisa's new abode, man, those hounds are circling around making darn sure you are not taking pics or filming. Ha! Enter I & my Optura. Them Clouseaus never seen an Optura, I turned it on, partially obscured by my hand, held it close to my chest, they did not have a clue! If you want hundreds of feet (exaggerating . . .a bit) of mini-DV tape of La Gioconda, talk to me. That, right there, made it worth the $850 plus I paid for it. great picture, small package. And, of course, with a flick of a switch, presto, now you can take pictures! and not grainy, melting pics, no sir, great resolution pics if you want 8x10's of every darn pigeon from every piazza from here to Ulan Bator.

I gave it a 4 outta 5 because of the awkward strap designed to steady one's hand. Must have been an afterthought.

Sony Handycam DCR-DVD101 AV Cable - TV Video Cord for Sony Handycam DCR-DVD101

I needed this cable to make a medical video documenting my child's condition & couldn't find one anywhere. This is the exact cable for the handycam model listed & works perfectly! Thank you!! Super fast shipping too!

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