Quick Review Camcorder : Canon Elura 90

The imaging system is identical to the other Elura models: a 1/4.5” CCD with 690K effective pixels. Don’t get me wrong; these are good specs and will produce a bright, detailed picture. But for stepping up to the top model, there should be some incentive. Video performance was similarly identical among all three. The Elura 90 can achieve a 20x optical zoom and 400x digital zoom, up from 18x on the other Eluras.

Canons, in general, are easy to handle and give a solid performance. All the Eluras feature an Easy mode that relegates image quality controls to the camcorder. The automatic controls are accurate, but not as quick as Sony's. Exposure, shutter speed, and focus were all decent, but the automatic white balance stood out as particularly good.

Manual controls are a different matter. The EasyCamcorders.com creed is that manual controls should always be included; users should always be given the option of sliding into the driver’s seat when it comes to their picture quality. That said, medium-end consumer camcorders like the Elura 90 cannot be expected to deliver all the manual controls and make them great. The tradeoff, in this case, is the interface. Access is through two poorly placed buttons towards the front of the body. The buttons are simply too small and too far from the rear to make manual control an enjoyable experience. The LCD screen also has a tendency to eclipse them when tilted upward.

The Elura 90 has enough heft to make it comfortable to handle. This is definitely not of the super-portable class, and would have some trouble fitting in a purse or small bag. The LCD also has a bad tendency to solarize, meaning some shooting on sunny days could pose a problem. There is a microphone jack, a favorite feature of ours, which allows you to pop a mic onto the accessory shoe on top of the body and eschew the mediocre on-board microphone. Other ports include A/V / headphones, USB, and DV.

The Elura 90 captures still photos at two sizes (640 x 480 and 1280 x 960) to an SD/MMC card. The stills are great – some of the crispest you could find on a 1 chip camcorders.

Aside from a better zoom, the Elura 90 sports some features that distinguish it from the other Eluras. It has a video lamp, a Super Night Mode (also found on the Elura 85), Auto Focus Assist Lamp (also found on the Elura 85), and a wide angle converter lens, which added 10 degrees of width to the picture compared to its normal, 4:3 mode.

This is a point-and-shoot camcorder, through and through. The Eluras take great video and offer a number of options, but ease of use is their primary characteristic. If you want the serious options, check out the Optura series. If you want something a little cheaper, but want to stick with Canons, the ZR series might have something to offer. Or read our chart below for information on the competition from other manufacturers.

Canon Elura 90 Compared to the...

Canon Elura 85 Rating:	Canon Elura 70 Rating:100.23	JVC GR-DF550 Rating:195.29	Panasonic PV-GS35 Rating:189.07	Sony DCR-HC42 Rating:175.80
Better	Better	Better	Better	Better
-Audio Dubbing -Automatic Control	-Ports -Audio Dubbing -Automatic Control -LCD	-Automatic Controls -Still Capability -Portability -Ports -Low light -Ease of use -Wide Angle	-Manual Controls -Ports -Low light -Wide Angle -Portability	Accessory Shoe -LCD -Video Performance -Manual Control -Portability -Handling
Equal	Equal	Equal	Equal	Equal
-Imager Specs -Video Performance -Low light Performance -Manual Control -Ease of use -Audio -Flash -Still Capability -LCD -Portability -Ports	-Imager Specs -Webcam -MPEG -Manual Control -Handling	-Imager Specs -Manual Control -Handling	-Video Light -MPEG	-MPEG -Still Feature
Worse	Worse	Worse	Worse	Worse
-Optical Zoom -Wide Angle -Video Light (none)	-Optical Zoom	-Still Performance -Optical Zoom -Video Performance -MPEG (none) -Widescreen	-Imager Specs -Accessory Shoe -Video Performance -Ease of use -LCD -Wide Screen	-Imager Specs -Low Light -Video Light (none) -Automatic Control -Ease of Use