Canon Elura 85 MiniDV Camcorder w/18x Optical Zoom

by Canon

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8 x 5 inches ; 1.1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0007G6QTQ
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,741 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 10, 2005

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Don't let the joy of first steps, first graduations, and first grandchildren pass you by. The Elura 85, part of Canon's redesigned line of Elura camcorders, offers the perfect balance between functionality and affordability. With a smooth, streamlined design, easy-to-use controls and powerful digital image-making capabilities, there is nowhere you'll want to go without the Elura 85 in the palm of your hand.

It's no wonder that Canon is known the world over for its professional image quality in photography and broadcast television. A true two-in-one solution, the Elura 85 gives you the ability to shoot videos and photos that capture all of life's vibrant color, clarity, and detail. It's all thanks to Canon's advanced DV Photo Plus technology, which combines Genuine Canon Optics and a Mega Pixel CCD image sensor, with a Digic DV image processor and versatile Print and Share features.

Edit your digital videos and photos into the perfect family album for playback on a TV or computer. Dim the lights, grab the popcorn, and treat your family and friends to high-resolution 16:9 widescreen images. A step above the Elura 80, the Elura 85 extends your memory-preserving power even farther with Super Night and Night+ low-light exposure modes, and a new built-in flash. And since the Elura 85 is compatible with Windows XP and Apple computer systems, you'll be able to share your favorite memories for years to come.

Experience the Canon Difference: DV Photo Plus
Canon's DV Photo Plus achieves premium quality video and photos by combining four features; Genuine Canon Optics, a Mega Pixel CCD image sensor, Digic DV image processor and Print and Share. The moment you watch video on a TV or hold a print in your hand, the difference is clear. DV Photo Plus unleashes the full digital imaging power of your Canon camcorder, promising a superior level of clarity, color, and excellence to video and photos.

Extend Your Sight with Optical and Digital Zooms
This is where Canon's vast expertise in designing and crafting precision lenses for 35mm and broadcast TV cameras truly shines. The Elura 85 features an 18x optical zoom/360x digital zoom lens that delivers superior imagery with vibrant color and clarity. Snap on the optional WA-34 Wide Attachment (0.7x), and you'll be able to capture a wider perspective for indoor shots or panoramic views.

Preserve Every Moment with Vibrant Color
From forest green to ocean blue, sunflower yellow to fire red, the Elura 85 digital camcorder preserves every hue with superior clarity and detail thanks to its 1.33-megapixel image sensor. The product of Canon ingenuity and technological expertise, the image sensor achieves high-resolution results whether recording video to DV tape or still images onto a memory card. Photos can be captured at a variety of different image qualities and compression sizes (Superfine/ Fine/Normal) giving you the ability to balance quantity with quality.

Go Wide with 16:9 Widescreen Recording
Hollywood directors have known for decades that a widescreen image captures the vibrancy of life best. That's also why the Elura 85 features a high-resolution 16:9 widescreen recording mode. You'll be able to take true widescreen videos and photos for playback on your home theatre system.

SD Memory Card/MultiMediaCard Slots
For convenient storage and portability of your still images, the Elura 85 features a built-in slot for SD (Secure Digital) Memory Cards and MultiMediaCards. You can also store Motion JPEG mini-movies directly on the removable card for later attaching to e-mails or posting on the Web. Shoot in two different resolutions, 320 x 240 or 160 x 120, for the full duration of the SD Memory Card.

Print and Share at the Touch of a Button
Printing and downloading images to a computer is a quick, easy, and enjoyable task with an Elura-series camcorder. When the Elura 85 is connected to a printer, the Print/Share button lights up blue, letting you know that you can begin printing simply by pressing it once. You can also transfer a photo directly to your computer, with just a single press of the button.

Shed Light onto Low-Light Situations
When the available light still has your subject in the dark, switch on the Elura 85's Night Mode feature. One press of the Night Mode and the Elura 85 automatically selects a slow shutter speed and increases the sensitivity of the CCD to brighten up your subject, while still preserving color.

For enhanced capability in low-light situations, the Elura 85 gives you two additional Night Mode settings, Super Night Mode and Night Plus Mode. Each mode can be selected from the menu and assigned to the Night Mode button. Super Night Mode automatically triggers the white LED Lamp when needed to enhance the subject for shooting. Night Plus Mode is used in the toughest lighting situations, keeping the white LED lamp on all the time.

Lock-In on the Action
Even the most photogenic of friends and family are sometimes hard to pin down for a great shot. Fortunately, the Elura 85 features Canon's high quality Image Stabilization system. Even when shooting hand-held at full telephoto, the Image Stabilization system is working behind the scenes to instantly correct camcorder shake, resulting in videos that are smooth, steady, and natural.

LCD Backlight
When shooting outdoors, the Elura 85's bright 2.5-inch LCD view screen features an LCD Backlight button that boosts the displays brightness by 250%. Now it's easier than ever to compose sensational shots without having to squint into the viewfinder. You can also rotate the screen for high-or low-angle shots, or turn it around 180 to record yourself. When you're done shooting, the screen is perfect for reviewing your scenes.

Give Your Memory Banks a Rest with Bonus Software
Your Elura 85 Kit comes complete with bonus software for image management and editing: ZoomBrowser EX (Windows) and ImageBrowser (Macintosh). Download, browse, archive, and retouch your photos, or have your images automatically resized for e-mail. The software also assists with arranging images for printing and even adding text.

MiniDV Format
The MiniDV format offers more precise image detail and color accuracy than previously possible with analog camcorders. The superior quality of digital video results from:

• Higher Resolution: Up to 530 lines of horizontal resolution, on select models for sharper picture detail
• CompOnent Color Sampling: Preserves three times more color information than analog VHS and S-VHS video, for brighter and truer colors
• Time Base Correction: Stabilizes the picture, eliminating video jitters
• Error Correction: Fills in missing video data, providing seamless, professional-looking video

What's in the Box:
Elura 85 camcorder, NB-2LH battery pack, CA-570 compact power adapter, STV-250N stereo video cable, WL-D85 wireless controller, SDC-8M SD memory card, IFC-300PCU USB cable, SS-900 shoulder strap, Digital Video Solution disk for Windows and Macintosh.

Product Description

The Elura 85 digital camcorder lets you record those graduations, first steps and other momentous events. Enjoy widescreen recording in 16:9 fomrat or switch back to standard 4:3 proportions by touching a button. The bright 2.5" LCD view screen boosts the brightness by 250% for better previewing. No more squinting through the viewfinder - rotate the screen for high or low angle shots, or flip it around to record yourself. Auto-Exposure Bracketing takes 3 photos at once: normal, underexposed and overexposed. Selectable Focusing Points put your subjects into sharp focus, while Continuous Shooting Mode takes 3 shots per second at 1280 x 360 or 5 images per second at 640x480 resolution. Elura camcorders even have a Skin Detail Function to soften skin details, for more complimentary close-ups. Best of all, it connects easily to any TV, VCR computer or other output device. Add a custom start-up image to your start-up screen Built-in Flash Accepts SD and MMC cards Super Night Mode and Night Plus Mode for tough lighting situations PTP transfers information to CD or PC without drivers or special software Multilanguage displays - English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese Support for PictBridge and Exif Print 2.2 Includes ZoomBrowser EX for Windows and ImageBrowser for Mac for image management and editing

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Corrections, June 13, 2005

By 

Dare to love (Alingsås, Sweden) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Canon Elura 85 MiniDV Camcorder w/18x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

This camcorder has been reviewed by several experts and has received very good recommendations. See for yourself at www.dvspot.com or www.camcorderinfo.com.
As for the reviewer that complained about the firewire...ALL digital camcorders use firewire for video transfer to a computer since USB only has a transefer rate of 1,1 Mb/s vs Firewire which has a rate of 400Mb/s. 4 minutes of finished video takes up 4 Gb!!
Nobody would want to transfer video using USB 1. NOBODY, not Sony, JVC, Panasonic, or Canon ships their camcorder with a firewire cable ($14,99 Amazon.com). Please get your facts right before you give a great camcorder 3 stars.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Ejection mechanism failed after 2 years, March 10, 2008

By 

T. Pence (Naples, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canon Elura 85 MiniDV Camcorder w/18x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

I have not used this camcorder very much at all in the past two years I've had it. I've maybe recorded about 10 tapes with it and watched a few back on playback. Today I was getting it ready to film the birth of our second child and all of a sudden a message came up telling me to "Remove Cassette Immediately". I pushed the eject button and the cassette is totally stuck and will not move. I called Canon and they told me it would be around $150 to fix. I researched other blogs and electronics trouble shooting websites and read several comments from others with this exact same problem. VERY DISAPPOINTED!

3.0 out of 5 stars Loved it, but mine broke., February 3, 2010

By 

Will C. (Nashville, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Canon Elura 85 MiniDV Camcorder w/18x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

I haven't used mine a whole lot, but I was impressed with the features and usability. It comes with USB and FireWire connections, but the USB cable is only for transferring still pictures from the SD card to a computer, and the FireWire (IEEE 1394) port is only for transferring video to/from the MiniDV tape.

After about three years, the FireWire port stopped working on mine, so I have some tapes that I can't directly transfer to my computer. I could still use the analog ports to transfer the movies to another recorder, but I was primarily using my computer for this. Evidently other people have had this problem, and repair is not very cost-effective. I can still record and play videos, but I can't transfer them digitally without borrowing a working MiniDV camera, or buying a cheap used one.