Quick Review Camcorders : Canon Optura 30

At our strong light level testing environment of 3000 lux, the Optura 30 does very well -- on par with many of the JVCs that have been lauded for superb video performance. With a well-balanced spectrum and brilliant gray scale, the Optura 30 performs well with a lot of light. Under low light environments of 15 lux and 60 lux, the Optura 30 doesn't perform as well as Canon would like; however, with the Optura line, Canon has made some positive steps away from the low-light performance of the ZR series.

On a more positive note, the Optura 30 includes good automatic adjustments along with manual control over focus (with a decent focus ring), exposure, shutter speed, and white balance. Most of these adjustments are controlled by a nice jog dial. What can you say? Canons handle well.

The Optura 30 has an optical zoom of 12x and a digital zoom of 240x. Exposure is available for adjustment within the window of -11 and +7, with shutter speed adjustments between 1/60 and 1/2000. There are also presets for automatic exposure adjustment within prescribed windows. These include: Sports, Portrait, Spotlight, Sand & Snow, and Low Light. Standard white balance options include Auto, Indoor, Outdoor, and Manual. Unfortunately, there are no gain options on the Canon Optura 30.

Still options on the Optura 30 are nice. Stills are taken at 1632x1224 to either SD card or MM card (secure digital or multimedia). There is a built-in flash, as well as many options for stills, including multiple selectable focal points and exposure bracketing.

The LCD of the Optura 30 solarizes similarly to many Panasonic camcorders; if you'd like a better LCD, buy a Sony. Audio is available to be recorded at both 12- and 16-bit levels. The camcorder includes the following ports on the front of the camcorder: FireWire, A/V in/out, DC in, and USB. The S-Video in/out is located on the tape mechanism.

Canon Optura 30 Compared to the...