Reviews for Canon Optura 20 Digital Camcorder - 3.5" LCD - CCD

Canon Optura 20 Digital Camcorder - 3.5" LCD - CCD

Strengths: Optura 20 has a nice bright 3.5 screen, easy to operate, and 16x optical zoom.

Weakness: Included battery is rated for one hour, must recharge battery on the camera, and you must load tapes from the bottom.

I've had this camcorder for six months and have taken some incredible video of my infant (now toddler) daughter. The video quality is excellent with accurate colors and clear sharp images.

This camera is easy to use without reading the manual but offers many advanced options with a bit of reading. My spouse has never cracked the manual but consistently takes great video. The menus are easy to navigate with an intuitive scroll bar/button which makes access to advanced features effortless. When you need to use the manual, it is clearly written and well diagrammed.

My three complaints are first, the one hour battery is inadequate for almost all situations. Second, the only way one can charge a battery is to have the camera plugged with the battery attached. Finally, that the tape must be loaded on the bottom. This requires me to remove the camera from the tripod to change tapes (most camcorders have this design flaw).

I've used the camcorder in a variety of weather situations (indoor, outdoor, humid, hot and freezing cold) and have been very pleased with the results. I have not experienced any fogging or internal condensation.

I process my video using an iMac with either iMovie or Final Cut Express. The Optura 20 works flawlessly with both of these software packages.

When it comes down to results the combination of the Optura 20 and my iMac are an awesome video combo. I've cranked out a 30 minute DVD for friends and family each month. I have not been disappointed in the camcorder performance once!

I have no problem recommending this product to my friends and family.

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Canon Optura 20 Digital Camcorder - 3.5" LCD - CCD

Strengths: Great feature set, big beautiful screen, good manual controls,excellent video quality, manual focus ring.

Weakness: Can only record 10 second motion jpg clips.

This is a great camera with great features. Has excellent manual control and produces great video. I got this camera for $489 on-line and at that price I think this is one of the best camcorders you can buy. Some people have complained about low light quality. However, I believe that if they used the manual controls correctly they could fix that. Setting the manual exposure and white balance will allow you to shoot in all but the lowest light situations. The fact is most consumer level camcorders suffer from poor low light performance. This camcorder performs as well as or better then models costing $100s more. Great camera at a great price!

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Canon Optura 20 Digital Camcorder - 3.5" LCD - CCD

Strengths: 3.5" Viewfinder, 16X optical zoom, price, MegaPixel CCD

Weakness: Low Light performace, over-active image stabilization on extreme zoom, manual exposure control.

I still love this camera. Easy to use and fast rewind functions. Bright 3.5" LCD viewfinder is nice. It shoot excellent quality video that is very crisp and detailed. Color accuracy is very good. I did not hear ANY motor noise recorded during playback. Low light performance could be better but most of my shooting is in bright conditions. The tape compartment on the bottom doesn't bother me. If I could take all the best features of Sony and Canon and combine them, I would have one monster camcorder. Feature for feature compared to the Sony equivelent, the Canon Optura 20 wins hands down.

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Canon Optura 20 Digital Camcorder - 3.5" LCD - CCD

Strengths: Decent stills, good video image & small size. AV-DV pass-through!

Weakness: Tape noise, poor low light shots, bottom tape output & needs a wider lens for shooting in a small rooms.

While this camera is a good camera it wasn't all I expected from Canon. Shooting low light is almost impossible (Sony does a much better job). It also has a hard time focusing in low lighting.

If you're shooting a quiet play/program you get a lot of tape noise in your recording. You can solve that problem by running audio from the sound board directly in but you depend a lot on a good sound man running the board to give you a "true" sound.

I shoot a lot of moving action while I'm holding the camera and it is almost too small to give a stable picture. Definitely something you don't complain about if your looking for a lightweight and small camera.

For the price and quality it is still a decent camera.

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Canon Optura 20 Digital Camcorder - 3.5" LCD - CCD

Strengths: Great zoom range 16x, Color Clarity is excellent, Has nice effects feature. Large 3.5" LCD

Weakness: In super low light you must move the camera very slowly or video appears choppy.

This is a great Camcorder! I chose between the Sony TRV38 and Optura 20. After reading professional and amateur reviews, I knew that this camera excelled and was a great value for the price I paid..

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Canon Optura 20 Digital Camcorder - 3.5" LCD - CCD

Strengths: The LCD screen being 3.5, Battery charger is right on the camcorder. Takes excellent pictures and videos.

Weakness: While having the LCD screen open the viewfinder is also running and uses the battery.

The sound, picture and audio are all excellent. You can install your own opening image. I haven't found anything negative about the camcorder. Excellent camcorder the purchase.

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Canon Optura 20 Digital Camcorder - 3.5" LCD - CCD

Strengths: Nice, crisp picture and vibrant color for a single CCD camcorder.

Weakness: Slight camera noise picked up in quiet recordings. Low light functions not great.

Overall, this is a great camcorder if you don't want to fork out a lot of cash. This is coming from a very picky consumer. As someone who works in the broadcast industry, I had high standards in searching for the right camera, but didn't have a huge budget. I just wanted a nice family camcorder, but didn't want to give up on quality. Picture is sharp in good lighting conditions, and the colors are vibrant. Also comes with plenty of manual controls, which is great.
On the downside, there is some slight camera noise picked up in quiet conditions. Also the low light functions make the video way to jerky to use... almost like a strobe effect.

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Canon Optura 20 Digital Camcorder - 3.5" LCD - CCD

Strengths: Ease of use,quality of unit.

Weakness: Cheap door on cable connection section.

Everything works very well as advertised. Great image quality even in low light. I like the 3.5 screen and to be able to take still pictures while video tapeing. I chose it over the Sony DCR-TRV-38 because I like the SD memory card better than Sony's memory stick. I'm afraid the touch screen would be easy to damage and for me , it is harder to use.

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Canon Optura 20 Digital Camcorder - 3.5" LCD - CCD

Strengths: GREAT VIDEO PICTURES, LOTS OF ZOOM,

Weakness: None I can find

Great camera. Mine does not have the noise people complain about when recording. Don't know what they are hearing. Takes great video and has excellent features. This Video Camera has high ratings by all the reviewers, that is the reason I bought it and I am glad I did

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Canon Optura 20 Digital Camcorder - 3.5" LCD - CCD

Strengths: Compact, pretty easy to use.

Weakness: You can hear the noise from the tape recording in quiet situations. The picture is not very crisp or vibrant in color.

After spending some time doing research I decided to purchase the camcorder. Unfortuantely I didn't do enough research and am dissappointed with my selection. As stated in other reveiws, you can hear the noise of the tape recording if you are in a quiet setting. The picture is not very vibrant in color. It pays to go to a retailer and get inforamtion first hand and test the models before buying anything online. A leading "consumer" rating ranked this camcorder 14th out of 17 and I find that accurate. There are better models out there for around the same price.

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Canon Optura 20 Digital Camcorder - 3.5" LCD - CCD

Strengths: Large 3.5inch LCD, nice zoom, wide variety of attachments,easy point and shoot camera, nice picture, decent battery included, compfortable to hold steady, easy to use.

Weakness: viewfinder doesn't extend.

a great camera for the point and shoot guy. At about $600 its tough to beat. I'd recommend getting a decent wide angle lens attachment. Most Dv cameras have a narrow field of view(except some JVC's. There are a lot of decent cameras, try before you buy and do some research to see what your needs are, then match um up. Good luck, and have fun.

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Canon Optura 20 Digital Camcorder - 3.5" LCD - CCD

Strengths: none

Weakness: everything

This camera is a piece of junk, do not buy it. I had 3, yes, 3 defective ones, or maybe Canon just doesn't care about the loud grinding motor noise when recording and during playback. Yes, some cameras have a little motor noise, but this one was horrible, and picked up on the recording, ruining a few of my projects. I had nothing but problems with this camera, the construction leaves a bit to be desired, not to mention the motor buzz and noise. It is easy to use, and the picture quality is ok, but don't buy it. Spend a bit more, and go with a Sony. I did not want to buy a Sony, but they are better cameras. After much bickering with Best Buy, (that is another bad review altogether), I got them to return the camera so I could buy a different brand. I went with the Sony DCR-TRV38, which is a far better quality camera for a little more. I am so glad to be rid of the Canon, I will never buy anything Canon again, I am surprised they let this model go out the door, especially after all of the hype surrounding it. DON'T BUY IT.

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Canon Optura 20 Mini DV Camcorder and S830D Photo Printer

The gradual and incremental pace of improvements in consumer Mini DV camcorders can mask how far we've come in the last seven years. When we take a step back and look at the state of the industry, we suddenly notice that the quality to price ratio of the latest mid-range cameras is really astonishing. And there is no better example than the new $1,000 Canon Optura 20. Capitalizing on Canon's...

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