Canon Optura 20 Mini DV Camcorder

Pros: Very simple to use, connect, and "fiddle" with...
Cons: The battery could be better, but I know this one is better than most...

After consulting with a few professional video editors, my options in mini-DV land were incredibly diminished. Turns out that Canon and Sony are the two best brands of cameras. However, Canon manages to do the same thing as Sony for $100’s cheaper. ...

Pros: -quality stills, lightweight, BIG SCREEN
Cons: -no green "nightshot" mode

... After much deliberation I recently decided on the Canon Optura 20 and it has been everything I wanted. I've been pleasantly surprised by many of the features. When I first went exploring the menu, one of the first things I found that ticked the ...

Pros: Near-broadcast quality video, ease of use, accessory hot shoe, large LCD, excellent features.
Cons: Bottom-loading tape, non-extendable view finder, larger than pocket-size.

After having created my first home DVD movie with my Canon Optura 20, I can honestly say that I am extremely pleased with this camera’s incredible value in terms of features, ease of use, feel, and especially the video quality. Although slightly ...

Pros: good video
Cons: EXTREMELY painful d-camera photo manipulation

It's video is pretty good: - image quality (from home-use perspective) - ease of use I think its low-light performance is not too good - but the "good ones" aren't much better either. (Sony video claims to work well at 0lux; I have a Sony DFS707 ...

Pros: Compact, easy to use
Cons: Has trouble focus in low light, built-in light works in S.Night mode only

I like this unit, but we return it because I need to shoot indoor a lot.

In moderate to low light condition it would make picture granular and might have trouble to find and keep focus. Shooting outdoor produces great picture.

As...

Pros: small size, good quality in a good light, many extra features
Cons: motor noise, bad quality in dark places.

Before this camera I had Sony DCR-TRV120 digital8 camera, but it broke after 2 years and I didn't ha ...

Pros: Great picture, lots of manual settings, comfortable to handle.
Cons: Motor noise picked up by built in mic; 16:9 feature useless when shooting.

This is a great camera for the price. The visual quality is awesome for a one-chip cam. It has all the bells and whistles you ever gonna need. I particularly like the fact that you can make lots of manual adjustments if you wish (white balance - ...

Pros: NONE
Cons: That I trusted Canon as a name and bought it.

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 ...

Pros: Compact Great Design Excellent picture quality Easy to operate
Cons: None

This is my first Camcorder and I am literally blown away by the picture quality and how easy it is t ...

Pros: Very sharp image. Good auto color. Big 3.5" screen. Lightweight, compact.
Cons: Bottom loading tape. Needs external cam mic. Steady shot engages auto shutter.

I bought this primarily as a playback camera to feed the tapes from my 3 chip mini DV camera into my computer. I am also using it to transcode analog tapes to DV format (without running tape) to get that material into the computer. The Optura 20 works nicely for both purposes. The fact that it is also a very decent video and still camera is a plus. Stills from the memory card (1.3MP) are surprisingly good under medium to bright light. The internal mic does pick up the motor noise. For $40 or so you can buy an AT-25 stereo camera mic and solve that problem. The 16x zoom is very good and sharp but cannot be successfully hand-held, even in steady shot mode. Also, lens is not wide enough for most inside shots. However, despite these drawbacks, I feel the Canon Optura 20 is far superior to most of the newer Canons in this price class.

Pros: impeccable sound and video, no problems for 1.5 years, grandparents happy as clams
Cons: low light setting

I've been using this for 1.5 years and I'm very happy. It's the first and only digital video camera I've owned. I also use Pinnacle software to edit and create DVDs - I don't do any editing on the camera itself.

Menus are intuitive. Picture and sound are crystal clear. The shape/feel/weight are excellent - I think some video cameras are too small and lightweight and have awkward shapes. Battery life is excellent, but any video camera owner is crazy not to have a backup on hand.

The only problem I ever had was it once slightly ate a tape (I was able to salvage it), but it's possible I inserted the tape incorrectly somehow, because it never happened again. And I have never, not once, experienced any of the motor noise problems that other reviewers have mentioned.

Also, the low light setting is something I tried once, but the image was very grainy and appeared like it was in slow motion.

Bottom line: Both sets of grandparents live in other cities and depend on our homemade DVDs to see their grandkids grow up - They are in awe of the shots and clarity we get. Enough said.

Pros: Nice, crisp video and vibrant colors for a single CCD camera. Not too Pricy.
Cons: Slight camera noise picked up in quiet conditions. Low light functions aren't great.

Pros: Great optical telephoto detail-good sound also except under windy outdoor conditions (to be expected)
Cons: None

The motor noise, that shows up as audible and visual (white horizontal lines) occurs on the included Canon tape. However, the extra tapes I bought were Maxwell DVM60SE. I had no sign of audible or visual noise on the Maxwell. Maybe it is a tape, not a camcorder problem.
I am extremely pleased with the Optura 20 and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the still shots from only a 1.33 meg chip.

Pros: High optical zoom, great normal light video quality and good stills for a camcorder!!!
Cons: Low light video too choppy. Low-light LED should have been operable at adjustable shutter speeds!!!

A great camcorder overall!!!! Great normal light video's and quality stills for a camcorder!!!! All in all a great buy for a sub 1000 budget!!!! Highly recommended!!!

Pros: good price
Cons: motor noise

Nice camcorder easy to use and but the motor noise is noticable at the queit conditions. The price is very good for the feature you get.