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- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 reviews Back to product review
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8 out of 8 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"Fabulous camcorder! Mac users may want to be wary"
Pros: Sleek, excellent video, decent stills, lots of manual controls
Cons: Smalls size tough for big hands, iMovie HD users may have trouble
Summary: This is a really great camera! You can get nearly the best of both worlds - video and snapshot. If you're looking for one gadget to throw in a bag or jacket pocket that can serve your video and still image needs, this is the camcorder for you.
That said, don't expect this to perform like a Rebel SLR. I've been comparing it against my Canon G2 (also 4 megapixels), and the stills are comparable and sometimes nicer. Great for web posting, up to 8x10 prints, and other non-pro printing applications.
The video has excellent color, though I think you'll want to tweak white balance manually after you get to know it's tendancies. It errs on the side of warm in some situations. Detail is surprisingly fine. Leaves, dog fur, even gravel have clarity I wasn't getting on my older JVC. Very dim rooms are grainy, but this is true of most cameras in this class. Night mode is jerky w/o tripod. Widescreen format is great to work in, and there are tons of other settings to play with.
TIP: Buy a UV filter for lens. The matchbox design and small size means that it's really easy to stick a finger right on the lens. Get a UV filter to protect it.
MAC USERS: I've had a host of problems importing into iMovie HD (5.02) on my G4. Though Canon claims OS X compatibility, the fine print is OS X 10.3 and iMovie 3--those of us with the latest versions aren't covered. Lots of lost frames/audio. Seems to be a common issue with Canon and firewire on Mac. Maybe the new Intel machines will be kinder to it, but I won't hold my breath. I love my Mac, but now all video must be imported by my husband's PC and then transfered to the Mac via network.
Windows folk will be glad to hear that importing into those machines went without a hitch. Try not to smile too wide
- 3 replies to this review
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I just got the the Canon Optura 600 and did a quick import test.
Using iMovie HD 6.0.1 under OS X 10.4.5, I had no problems with dropped frames. I'm using a G4 Powerbook 1GHz.
Hope that helps. -
You might want to upgrade to iLife 06, and also install Tiger, I am sure it will work then. iLife 05 and jaguar are not quite enough for a high grade camcorder
Erika -
Very helpful. Thanks. I have a new (well, pre-Intel) iMac G5 and have been having fun learning to make iMovie's from my stills and short video clips (from my Canon S 45). I had wanted to upgrade to a camcorder thought the Optura 600 might be the ticket, until I read your comment about the difficulty importing to iMovie via firewire. BIG concern. Thus far, have transferred my stills and clips from camera to iPhoto, and then moved them to iMovie. Is that still possible with larger movie files from a camcorder? Or do you have to go from camcorder directly to iMovie? If my old way is feasible, does that get around the problem? Really would appreciate your feedback. I am having trouble finding the camera that I want and have it be Mac-compatible, so would like your input if you have another suggestion.
