Customer Reviews

Canon Elura 100 MiniDV Camcorder

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

There's a lot to be said for compact cameras and digicams - most people will be happy with the results, and they get used a LOT more than bulkier, heavier, more complicated versions. 2.2 x 3.0 x 4.3 inches is pretty small!

But there are some inevitable compromises - the main one being, the size of the lens and sensor has a lot of impact on the quality of the images, especially in low light. Personally, that's fine for me - there are so many shots I'd otherwise miss, that I get with a compact camera. So if that's your approach, you'll want to consider this entry- to mid-level budget Canon.

The Elura 100 is the replacement for all of last year's Elura models - the only 2006 Elura. (Amazon has it wrong, this camera was announced January, 2006 and just became available.) It's a step up from the ZR line, but below the Optura line.

There's a lot of info above already, so some key points that might not jump out:
- Video is headed toward widescreen; this camera is actually designed for it, not just in the video capture but also the LCD and the viewfinder. It may take some getting used to shooting with it, though.
- At 1/5th inch, the sensor is larger than some low-end models; though it claims 1.33 million pixels; that's reduced in practice, but still more than many at this price: using 16:9 widescreen mode, it's 750,000 (with image stabilization) or 880,000 (without); and using 4:3 traditional form, it's 690,000.
- It has a semi-usable snapshot mode; you can actually make an OK print from a 1 megapixel (1152 x 864) image. You need a memory card, though.
- The lens accepts accessories, like a wide angle converter.
- The external microphone connection is a plus for some, the kind of thing you might realize later that you want; though there isn't a place to physically attach the mic.
- The built in lens cover is handy.
- Like many (but not all) camcorders, it has an analog input; so you can convert your old tapes to digital by using this as a recorder, or even just passing the signal through the camera.

Some caveats:
- Compact cameras can't perform as well in low light as some might like. Experiment a little before you really need it, to learn how to make the most of what it can do.
- Controls may be small and awkwardly placed for some.
- If you want to transfer the video to a computer, you still need a Firewire cable and port. The USB port is only for stills, and analog to digital conversions.
- The viewfinder is fixed, not moveable.
- The movie mode that records onto the memory card is too low-resolution to be any real use (320x240 15 fps), but that's not what you're buying this for.
- The feature menu is a little complex.

I'll leave it to others, for now, to comment on how they like the joystick; the lights; and the low light performance.

Stuff you might need to buy: get an SD memory card for images - they're cheap enough that it's worth having just in case, and standard speed will do, given that there's only low res video modes; and a Firewire cable to transfer digital video.

Filter diameter is 27mm.

The Canon site has more info, and the Support Download Library has a PDF of the manual. Google for reviews, though few are out yet.

And as always ... never pay list price!

Regarding the Canon Elura 100, this is my third camcorder. Having had a Sony analog and JVC Digital in the past, I spent considerable time researching what my next camcorder would be. Ideally, I wanted a Panasonic PV-GS250, but that's just to high an investment for my personal use and abuse.

The earlier purchaser reviews do a great job at detailing technical pros and cons of the Elura 100. Personally, I have not experienced a problem with motor noise in my recordings.

I have a large hand but I enjoy the compact size of this camera -- I can easily slip it into a coat pocket.

Recording in true widescreen is new to me and takes a bit of thinking to adjust old habits of framing the person I'm recording. But the results look great.

Video transfer to my Mac (OS 10.4) and iMovie HD works fine with firewire. I haven't been able to get iMovie to recognize the Elura when hooked up via USB cable provided.

The Elura's on screen menu is fairly intuitive. Navigation by the new joystick isn't hard to get used to.

I love the built in lens cover. No more hassle with stupid lens caps dangling in front.

The instruction manual provided has enough details to answer the few questions I had.

I'd rate the battery as the worst feature of this camera. My complaints:
1. Battery life is horrible. I don't understand why it is nearly drained every time I pick up this camcorder.
2. The battery is mounted internally. You open the view screen and remove a plastic cover to access the battery. Not easy to do on the fly. Nor can you buy a bigger size with greater capacity like externally mounted batteries.

Keep in mind a few things when considering a new camcorder:
1. How much are you willing to invest? That includes buying SD card, spare battery, or any accessories you don't already have like a new tripod or case.
If you say your max budget is $500, then you can get decent video quality for a $400 camera and spend another $100 on the accessories.

2. Who will use it? In my household it is mainly me. But if you have to share with wife/kids, think about how the camera might get abused.

3. Where will you use it. Many early reviews on other sites said the Elura 100 doesn't perform well in low light conditions. They are right. But if you are smart about where and when you use the camera, low light probably wont be an issue. Take advantage of natural light. Turn all the lights on in a room indoors, even during daytime. Pick well lit part of the room and try to steer your subjects there.

4. Do you want to digitize your old analog 8mm or VHS tapes? Those old memories are deteriorating and Do It Yourself digitization has never been easier. The Elura 100 is one of the few cameras I could find that had A/V input along with decent performance features.

5. Even though this takes still pictures, you should invest in a separate good quality digital camera. I carry both when I'm out with the family. The camcorder still camera feature wont provide as high a quality as you can get from a dedicated digital camera.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

So far so good. I like my new Elura 100 MiniDV camcorder. It has a lot of options and is within a good price range. Most of the reviews below covered the important aspects of the camera. I bought this to replace my old RCA, analog camera. In general the quality of the picture is much better on the Elura. This was something I was worried about in switching to the digital format, but the pictures from the Elura have been incredibly crisp and show up well on a large (standard resolution) TV set. The only exception is low light recording, where the RCA seemed to do a little better. I'll break it down to pros and cons:

PROS:
1. Small size--a true palm sized camcorder. By the way, there were some reviews that were critical of the 'small controls.' I have at least average sized hands and the controls, including the joystick, were easy to operate. They do take some getting used to, but they are very straight forward.

2. WIDE SCREEN FORMAT: 16:9 and 4:3 formats are available. One caveat, is you will need capture software for your computer that can handle the 16:9 format to make DVDs from this. The software supplied with the camcorder is barely adequate and very clunky. But it is usable.

3. ZOOM: 20x Optical Zoom--some have larger zooms but stabilization becomes a real problem after 15x or so. This camcorder has electronic stabilization which seems to work well. I've turned off the digital zoom option. Digital zoom just makes for a grainy and unstable picture. Theoretically, the camera can go up to 800x. This is, of course, completely at the expense of the picture. 20x is a fine Zoom range. The highest zoom range in this class appears to be 30x. As I said before, above 15x it can be a chore to keep the image stable and probably requires a tripod.

4. LOTS OF MANUAL CONTROL if you want it. You can either control Nevertheless there's an automatic mode which most of us will use 99% of the time. Exposure can be totally automatic, you can use pre-determined 9 scene modes, or manually control the exposure. Very nice. Focusing can be done automatically (two different algorhythms to choose from)or manually using the joystick. I'm not a fan of the the effects but you have 9 different fading effects and 9 different digital effects to choose from. (This is fine if you like it, but most of this is better done post production on your computer.) Interestingly, the manual makes all of these features appear incredibly complex. In practice I have found the camera to be quite intuitive, and it is far easier to use out of the box than it would appear to be if you look at the manual.

5. ANALOG VIDEO TRANSFER: You can transfer video tapes or old analog video to digital through the camera. You can even record right off your TV. This has been a nice feature to transfer my old Hi8 videos to digital video.

6. LONG BATTERY LIFE: I'm getting about two hours from a battery so far. This depends on usage, but is generally good. Others have stated that battery life is poor, but I think about 2 hours is great. I wonder if there is variability in the quality of the batteries supplied.

7. INTEGRATES WELL WITH WINDOWS XP: no problems with firewire capture of the mini-DV. The ease of capture may depend on your software. Mine is pretty straightforward. Windows recognized the camera instantly. (I have a fairly neanderthal set up--right now I am using a 900 mhz Athlon powered laptop. So if my computer can find the camera, I imagine yours can too...)

8. COMES WITH A REMOTE CONTROL: not necessary, but a nice feature.

CONS:
1. NO TRUE USB CONNECTIVITY: One of the reasons I bought this camera was because the hype stated that it has USB connectivity. Well it does. But then again, it doesn't. Being a MiniDV/digital video virgin, I didn't realize that the USB connectivity only works only for images on the SD card. It DOES NOT work for standard MiniDV capture to a computer. For this you need a firewire connection. Once you have the firewire, there's no problem with connectivity.

Some reviews thought there was something wrong with their computer connectivity. Nope. YOU NEED FIREWIRE TO GET VIDEO TO YOUR COMPUTER. So you will have to invest in a firewire cable if you don't have one and make sure you have a firewire port on your computer (or buy a card).

The funny people at Cannon only supply you with a USB cable as if that is all you need. This only suffices to transfer the 1 megapixel and the 320 x 240 (76,800 pixels) video on the SD card. Even if the thing took great still pictures, they would only be 1 megapixel. This is less than most cell phone/cameras nowadays. The video recorded on the card is a joke. It might be 'fun' for a website, but it looks small and grainy even on the flip-out screen on the camera itself. It will look more ridiculous on your computer. Skip the SD Card. Use the MiniDV tape and record at 690,000 pixels or greater depending on the mode. This may not seem like a lot compared to a standard still camera, but this represents far more pixels than can be displayed on a conventional TV and translates into a great picture.

2. "MEGA VIDEO LIGHT": These twin LEDs are supposed to help with illumination indoors. You turn them on using a separeate switch. If you do not manually correct the light balance, however, you will find that all your subjects have an eerie bluish cast. Additionally, these small LEDs don't provide the 'mega' illumination needed for subjects that are beyond a few feet away from you. They're better than nothing and a nice try, but not very effective and so they really don't enhance the low light perfromance in a real, palpable way.

3. LOW LIGHT PERFORMANCE IS NOT SO GOOD: One area that my old RCA analog recorder did better than this one is in low light performance department. This probably was due to the lens being three times larger in diameter. It was less compact, but captured more light. Still, in this price range, low light performance appears to be universally poor. At times, you have to manually override the automatic exposure as the shutter speed is set so slow that moving objects have small tails like comets flashing through the night. Also subjects become more mono-chromatic and grainy. Once again, this kind of poor low light performance seems to be a 'class' feature. Reading the reviews, the Elura 100 may be one of the better cameras in its class.

4. STILL PICTURES ARE SMALL: Not great still picture capability. This is standard for these kinds of camaras. I guess it would do in pinch, but is absolutely no substitute for a digital still camera. There are a number of features you can use for the pictures, including a 'burst' mode, but given the size of the image, none of this is worth the worry. Given the lack of megapixels, I'm not sure why Canon spent a lot of time on a wide feature set here. I played with stills initially, but given the low megapixel count, I don't really use it any more.


5. NOISE: Canon may not be the only camera to have this problem, but the camera generates a soft but significant hum while operating. This IS picked up by the microphone. You can set the camera to eliminate wind noise, and this effectively blocks out the hum. I have my camera set to this and never touch the setting. This is a significant problem with this camcorder (and looking at the reviews) other Canon camcorders. One would think Canon would have thought this through better and made the thing more silent.

CONCLUSION:
All in all, you get a lot of bang for the buck. If you have an extra $200-$300 to spend you might want to try a 3 CCD type camera. But in the under $350 budget range, MiniDV category this one is well worth it. This camera may not be for the amateur cinematographer, but is a great, easy to use, and portable family camera. The picture quality is excellent for a camera in this range and it has a broad feature set as well.

I purchased this camera to start a videography business. I know I know you need to have the $1000+ Canon GL's and XL's for that! But, I just could not afford so I started hunting.

The #1 thing that drew me to this camera was the single LARGER ccd. It seemed that most other cameras in this price range/category were smaller and had some poorer reviews.

The second item that drew me was the price point. I needed something within my budget that would offer what I needed.

Third, I use this to film in foreign countries. There are times that having a small descreate camera allows for capture of other wise uncaptured footage. It's size tucks away nicely in almost any shoulder bag and well...there is not much weight.

I have used this camera for two weddings and two documentaries. In my most recent wedding I borrowed a pv-gs150 and shot from the wedding from two different angles. Ready for the cool part...When editing and viewing the video there is NO difference to the average person which video came from which camera.

Sure the Canon does not shoot AS WELL in lower lighting. But how often are you going to shoot in the dark?

Some of the features I have grown to love on my Elura is the effects button and still photos.

First the effects button allows you to on the fly change from your pre-determined effect, my case b/w, without shutting the camera off.

Second, I like to incorporate some still photos into my videos to change things up. This camera will rapid shoot to a sd card and I have gotten some CRAZY good pictures. Here again I like the ability to use the effects button. I have also found out it is not to painfully bad to switch from video to still and back w/o much effort.

Ok...so I do like my Elura. BUT, two main issues leave me on the hunt for another camera. There is NO shoe whatso ever on this camera. I very much want to add a shotgun mike, in an effort to reduce background noise. (I did not mention, but the built-in mikes don't do a horrible job. They just pick up to much like most other mikes.) To work in conjunction with that, the controls for the shotgun mike volume would be better accessible. (Actually I guess to say the input.)

I did add an inexpensive wide angle and filter. (Even though it has a good wide angle w/o) and have plans for a shotgun mike.

I spent a bit of time researching MiniDV recorders and felt that the Canon Elura was best suited for our needs. We wanted a recorder that would convert VHS to DV and one that would work easily with a Mac and a PC. We have not been disappointed.

Our first run was a recording of each of us reading a children's book to our grandchild who lives in Germany. The recording was done indoors and the results were excellent. The raw footage was transferred to a Mac, edited and made into a DVD.

The second trial was a recording of golfing buddies on the golf course in action. This recording took several weeks and was filmed on sunny days, cloudy days and foggy days. The recording was great. It was transfered to a Mac edited and converted to a DVD.

If I have one complaint about the Canon it would be that the zoom button is located in a spot that is difficult to operate easily with one hand.

If you are looking for a recorder that is priced right and easy to use, you can't go wrong with the Canon Elura 100.

My Elura 100 just came in. I really just bought it to replace our aging Sony Hi8 and to hold us over until more HD cameras had come out with big HDD's. After my first few days of using it though,
I don't think we'll be replacing this one with a HD one anytime soon!

I have to say I was utterly surprised at just how small the Elura is, any smaller and it just wouldn't be usable anymore. Still, at this small size it is easy for me to operate and use and I have rather large hands (I'm 6'4"). All the buttons on the back do not bother me the least. I honestly rather have them there then deal with a touchscreen LCD!

The video quality is outstanding, even indoors and with only little daylight/artificial light.

I had looked at a lot of cameras, but here is what I persuaded me to get the Elura 100:

- analog to digital pass-through (a lot of new cameras start skipping that this year)
- good color performance
- good low-light performance
- small size
- lens cover built in (that way it won't get lost)
- quick startup time (probably 1-2 secs)
- TRUE widescreen (although not HD, but that'd cost another $1k right now; most budget cameras just crop the image)
- easy to use, yet still somewhat powerful/manual friendly
- good price

At this time I haven't found anything I don't like about the camera; however, here are some things you should now:

- Camera is VERY small. I still find it easy to operate with my medium to large size hands, though.
- Don't "rest" your thumb on the joystick, rather "lightly" guide it in the desired direction.
- By default the camera is setup to play on a widescreen TV/projector. You need to change that first in the playback menu (not the widescreen/standard button on the back), if you want to play your video properly on a 4:3 screen. Or just leave it be and everybody will compliment you on how this camera makes them look like they dropped 20lbs!
- SD card and/or tape are NOT included.

I personally haven't noticed any more motor noise than with any other (super) small size camcorder, even when filming just our youngest (4 months) laying on the bed chewing on his foot (very quiet scene). Be advised that due to the small size of this camcorder, the mic is closer to the motor than on previous generation camcorders.

Final Verdict:
For a "budget" camcorder (well under $500), this little jewel packs an awful lot of bang for the buck!

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.

Owned it for 3 weeks now and I am impressed with the price to features ratio. Purchased $309 from Amazon.

I stayed with the Mini DV format because I needed something to read my older Mini DV tapes I already possesed. I also chose this camera because it offered the Analog to Digital option not found in the current line of many low end Sony Mini-DV camcorders.

My last Canon Mini-DV ZR50 (which I purchased for $440 in 2002) died after 4 years faithful service. I captured close to 70+ tapes with that camcorder so I got my money's worth. I thought that was a good camera, but comparing the color, sharpness and low light level capture with the ELURA 100, it was obvious that there was a gigantic leap in technology and in a smaller package (around 25% smaller than the ZR50) too!

I finally got to play with the special effects and my kids get a kick out of the "mirror" effect. If you set it right you can make your kids appear and disappear on camera like magic!

Daytime filming is very good in my opinion for a camera in this price range. The color balance is great and the auto focus is quick and sharp. Manual focus overide is great, you just need to master how and when to use it.

Digital zoom when enabled is pretty effective, you just need to utilize a tripod to avoid the shakes.

There are 2 negatives (albeit minor)I can think of:
One is I instinctively mistake the joystick control center button as the shoot button as my thumb settles naturally in that position. This produces a few embarrasing moments when I think I'm shooting when I'm actually not and vice versa. Only repetitive use can fix that.

The second is that though the low light capture is vastly improved from the ZR50 I wish that the external light shoe was still an option. The built LED light is only effective in my opinion to objects within 4-5 feet and in a narrow field, Otherwise it is useless. I can only speculate that the small internal battery could not sustain the current draw for such a light and operate the camcorder at the same time but if it just had a shoe for a self powered unit would be nice.

All in all I am very happy with my purchase...a nice little camera with a lot of features at a low price.

Just remember never buy at retail price, get that free shipping option and shop via the Net to avoid paying sales tax - then you're a happee chapee!!!

I've had this camcorder for 2 months now and use it several times a week. I have to say -- coming from the Sony world of camcorders -- that the Elura is far superior. The only thing I miss in my Sony is the touch-screen control, but the joystick of the Canon works just fine. I was in Prague in August when my Sony simply upped and died on me -- and it would have cost more to repair than the camcorder was worth. Very pissed, I used my Canon (Elph) digital camera to take movies (in addition to the stills it was already taking) and came home with some good movie footage that I stitched together using Windows MovieMaker. But that's not what I bargained for.

Now I own the Canon Elura 100, and I've been using it hard for 60+ days, and have downloaded (via FireWire) tons of footage, and most of it shot at 16:9 widescreen. And it's GREAT! Especially for its price, the Elura is a no-brainer. I don't seem to suffer from the motor noise I keep reading about. Ninety percent of my shooting is regular daylight, and I use all the effects and controls available (especially the fun "mirror" effect), and this little thing is a charmer. Kids and excursions, family dinners and high-school outings, flying kites and visiting relatives -- these are the things we use our camcorders for. I am one happy fan of the Elura 100.

While I don't yet own a Mac with iDVD (check in with me next month!), I have been making cool videos with the free Windows MovieMaker and with Adobe Premiere Elements. This is why god made computers -- so we can have some control over our lived lives and depict our roles, families, loves, and travels for the generations to come. The Elura 100 rules.

PROS:

-Excellent price
-Excellent quality in exterior shoots.
-Big zoom at 20x
-Wide screen and 4:3 aspect ratio
-It accepts lenses (.5x, 2x, fisheye, and more)
-Battery life is very good!!!
-Maximum 2 seconds to start up
-Vivid colors
-Can record low quality videos onto SD card to send via email or internet
-Able to digitalize your old VHS
-Can attach a microphone.
-Lens cover included
-The LCD is really REALLY good.
-Love the remote control.
-Did I tell you it's really cheap?


CONS:

-No accesory shoe... if you want to add extra light or microphone, it won't let you stick it on it.
-Grainy quality in low light scenes (average).
-The back controls are not so easy to use, at least not for me (I have a big hand... any girl interested?!!!)
-The printed manual doesn't include screen captures to show the user how to choose the options, everything is narrated :s
-The software IS NOT FOR CAPTURING MINIDV VIDEO, it's just to capture the SD pictures and SD mpeg's. ¿Why would I want to install a mega loaded software with some drivers just to copy pictures that I can load to my pc by just inserting the SD card into my SD reader and acces the files via "My Computer"?
-You CANNOT DIGITALIZE YOUR MINIDV VIDEO USING THE USB. The USB seems to be only to access the SD card. If you are planning to get your pictures with a SD card reader, SELL THE USB CABLE AND DON'T BOTHER INSTALLING THE SOFTWARE.
-The kit doesn't include an I-Link (or fireware) cable (used to capture your video to your computer)
-It doesn't include a decent editing studio like ulead
-The menu is easy to use but I would appreciate to have hints or built in help to learn how to use it without the manual book.

Overall, I really like it... These cons don't affect my camcorders performance, that's why I'm still giving it a 5 stars, but most important it costed me 320 dlls, shipping included. you'll never get a better camera for this price.

My next camcorder will be a Hard Drive or SD based, but I'll wait until they get better..... and cheaper!!!. And for now let's shoot like crazy!!!