totable video recording

Author's Rating:

Pros: small size, fits well in hand, stylish, standard tape format.

Cons: easy to lose lens cover, un-intuitive menus, poor microphone placement.

The Bottom Line: 
A solid, full featured camcorder you can take almost anywhere. The Elura 50's profile, the standard MiniDV format, and Canon's solid reputation, make it a strong palmcorder choice.

Author's Review
This is my first MiniDV palmcorder. My previous video recording device was a Sony Hi-8 camcorder. We recently had our first child, and thousands of digital still pictures later, we realized we needed to up the ante and start recording video. In our household the use of a device is directly proportional to its size; the smaller it is, the more use it gets. Although this Canon is too big to fit in most pockets (it does fit in some of my baggy short pockets), it fits right into my wife's bag/purse, which means it goes everywhere with us. The exterior is durable enough that we don't worry about it floating around loose in the bag.

- Point and shoot -
Another significant factor in device use for us is whether or not it has an "idiot mode" (aka point and shoot). At first I couldn't figure out why Canon included a physical/manual switch to switch between auto and manual modes, but I quickly realized it was a good move. When you want to capture a moment without notice, rather than figuring out what state you left the camera in (e.g. was it last in night mode, or sports mode, when you really need it in regular mode for the moment), you just grab the camera, make sure the "mode" switch is in auto, and you start recording; no guessing.

- Customizing the shooting -
This is where things get a little tricky. The camera is loaded with useful and cool features (I particularly like the "fader" effects you can select which "fade" in and out of scenes as you start and stop recording), but getting to them initially, took some reading. I don't mind plowing through manuals to get to the good stuff in the products I buy, but the level of complexity with this camera gives it a pretty steep learning curve to climb right out of the box. After using the camera for awhile, it starts to make sense, and I'm now able to get the functionality I need quickly, but user interface design is a fine art, and Canon could have done better here. With that said, the actual act of menu navigation is very simple and intuitive. The ergonomic placement of a "set"/"ok" button and a scrolling wheel (which doubles as the volume control for the built-in mono speaker when playing back video) makes moving through the menus a breeze. My gripe is with knowing when which menus are available, and how to initially get to the set of options you want (which is a function of the mode the camera is in at any given point in time).

Setting the date and time was super easy which speaks to the fact that they did put some good thought into that at least. Setting the date and time on some devices requires a PhD it seems; not this Canon though.

- Still images -
There's a rush by digital camcorder manufacturers to provide digital still image capturing, ala digital still cameras. Some of them go so far as to provide built in flashes, and decent resolution, however, this Canon has neither (its highest resolution is 1024x768; barely enough to produce a good 4x6 print). Trying to consolidate the two seems like too much. You can take digital stills by putting the camera in still mode (memory card mode; which it has a slot for), or you can take them directly on the tape. I have tried neither. When I want a digital still image, I'll use my digital still camera that was exclusively made for doing so. Perhaps one day the two will merge, but that day is a long way out from where I sit.

- LCD Display -
Looks great, nice and crisp. When collapsed it fits nice and snug against the body. Well integrated and easy to open/close.

- Motor noise -
The Elura 40 has been heavily criticized for the tape drive motor noise being picked up by the built-in microphone. As a result, I waited for the Elura 50 to come out, assuming Canon would have solved the problem. However, I can hear the motor during playback. It's not loud enough to bother me however; at least not yet. I was pretty bummed that Canon didn't solve this outright with the Elura 50. It seems that they could have put the mic toward the front of the camera, on top of the lens perhaps, and that doing so would greatly reduce the problem. If you need to record absolute dead silence, you'll need to use an external microphone. In relatively noisy situations, a party for example, you don't hear the motor noise; just in quiet situations.

The output jacks and DC power cord connection jack are neatly hidden behind little panels that are easily popped open with your fingernail.

The lens cover should have been built into the camera and retractable via some sliding mechanism. A removable cover is a pain; plain and simple.

We are really enjoying having such a portable camcorder, and look forward to many, many, hours of recording.