Canon Optura Mini DV Blog |

i do not care about the price. JVC GRD850US, Canon ZR600, or Canon Optura 30

you can consider buying
Sony HDR-CX100 AVCHD HD Camcorder
# Capture 1920 x 1080 HD video to built-in flash memory
# 10x optical zoom, 120x digital zoom; Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens with SteadyShot image stabilization
# 2.7-inch wide touch-panel Clear Photo LCD Plus display
# 4-megapixel still image capture; Face Detection
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PY41YQ?ie=UTF8&tag=bestdeals-y-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001PY41YQ

I have a Canon Optura 30 MiniDV camcorder. I have been previously able to connect to the computer and download the videio via a firewire cable. I did yesterday. After the download and some editing, I installed a trial version of winAVI to convert from AVI to DVD and noticed that there’s a watermark when writing, so I canceled and removed the program. Since then I’ve not been able to connect to the computer with the camcorder. The computer does not recognize that that it’s connected.

any thoughts?

Thanks

Try going to Control Panel / System / Hardware / Device Manager. Expand the IEEE1394 Bus host controllers, right click on your firewire card and uninstall it. Switch your PC off, connect your camcorder, switch it on and reboot the PC.

i don’t care about the money i’m just not sure which one to go with. Canon Optura 30 MiniDV Camcorder or Canon ZR600 MiniDV Camcorder with 25x Optical Zoom

since you will be shooting skate videos it is very important that it has a handle so that you could get a much better shooting angle.

Sony DCR-VX2100 3CCD MiniDV Handycam Camcorder w/12x Optical Zoom
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000X0VU6?tag=dcmb-20

Review: This camera has been in my eye for roughly 3 years now and now that it is finally in my possession, I could not be more pleased. As the previous owner of a Canon Optura 300, I had been craving a more professional camera for a very long time. My Canon, while being possibly one of the best 1-chip camera I have ever used, was far too small for what I needed to accomplish with it. I craved for more manual control, an easier layout, a more stable camera, and full and in-depth control over white balance and focus. The VX2100 fulfilled all these requirements spectacularly. I use this camera primarily for filming skateboarding and snowboarding videos and short films and it is seemingly tailor made to suit the needs of those who documents these sports. Here is a short synopsis of what makes each of the features on this camera so fantastic.

Layout: This camera has a great layout. From the zoom and focusing ring near the front of the camera to the record button and zoom rocker on the handle, to the dedicated Audio and White Balance buttons on the back, everything is easy to find, well labeled, and intuitive in its placement.

Manual Control: This camera has some of the most indepth manual features of nearly any prosumer camera on the market today. As I stated before, this camera is mostly button instead of menu driven, it saves so much time when you’re at a spot and you only have about 5 minutes to get the shot, you just hit the dedicated white balance button and !voila!, vibrant and accurate color reproduction at the touch of a button. The focus and zoom both give the right amount of resistance when turning, making it easy to get the exact focus and zoom that you want. The color shift feature is also very useful, allowing you to change the camera’s settings so the CCDs pick up all the colors perfectly (the VX2100 is notorious for having a colder, more bluish picture compared to the VX1000). The integrated Neutral Density filter is quite useful on those really bright days when glare is overwhelmingly present and distracting. Overall, this camera is incredibly in depth in the sheer choices you can make to tweak the picture just right.

Maneuverability: This camera is just the right size when it comes to handheld filming. Most of the weight of the camera is towards the front, but is perfectly balanced from the top handle. The camera is also not too long, allowing you to get closer to the subject when using a fisheye and allowing you to manipulate the camera in tight quarters.

Overall, this prosumer camcorder is another winner for Sony and should be seriously considered by anyone who is either an aspiring filmmaker, or is looking to buy a top class camcorder. An excellent buy!

I have a Canon Optura 20 camcorder , the Mini DV does not work but the Memory Card does.

In the Manual it states the maximum Video recording time for any size memory card is 10 secs.

It is programmed somehow to stop at 10 seconds , is there a way to "bypass" the 10 seconds ?

It is a 2gb Memory Card that can obviously hold more than 10 seconds of video .

Isnt "something" telling it to stop at 10 seconds ? There should be a way to change it right ?

It has a Menu on the Display screen with options so there is some sort of "Software" in the Camcorder.

It takes better Still Pictures than my camera and the video quality is good too , I would still like to use it.

This is an older camera, and the memory card is not fast enough to record continuous video. The camera buffers the video onto its internal solidstate memory and 10 seconds is the maximum that this can hold. It writes to the card from the buffer at a slower rate. So not only does it not record more than 10 seconds, you will have to wait 30 seconds or so between clips for the loading.

My Canon Optura 20(camcorder) no longer works with the battery pack(I bought a brand new and worked a couple of times then, nothing) when I use the power supply it works sometimes turns off by itself and turns on same way and keeps working ok, What is wrong? and how can I fix it ? Thanks In advance

You should check the contacts on your camera and battery.

I plugged it in using the "DV" Port. The computer found it but says "USB Device Not Recognized." I have like 2 hours of video that I want to put on my computer. Its recorded on the video cassette on there. Is there a program or free Canon software to update my camcorder so my Windows Vista recognizes it? Or how about the port on the side of the camera. It say "S IN/OUT". Basically have the camcorder, and I’m trying to get the video from the video cassette on to the computer. Also, what’s the best FREE Video editing software and where do I get it? Thank you oh so such.

You may try this AVS Video Editor which has many great functions. The features in the official site are below:
1. Direct Transfer to iPod, PSP, Mobiles and Other Portable Players
2. Supports Virtually ALL Video Formats
3. Burn Movie DVDs
4. Capture and Edit Video from External Devices
5. Edit Video and Enhance Your Movies
6. Create Slide Shows
7. Make Perfect Audio for Your Video Editing Tasks
8. Scene Detection
9. Convenient Video Editing Tools and Interface

There is the free download link:
http://www.avs4you.com/AVS-Video-Editor.aspx?sct=aff&ct=regnow&cid=189508
Also, you can use Photoshop which may be difficult for us:
http://www.adobe.com

And I would like to know if theres any gun microphones I can get for it. Along with one of those handles which you can grip it above the camera for death cam shots. And for the cassettes, how can I tranfer the videos on the cassettes to my computer. Even if I have to buy a cassette to digital converter. Thanks.

This is a digital camera, it does not need a "digital converter". You will need a ieee1994 interface on your computer for editing in/out.

If the camera is going to be in motion then a shotgun mic is the absolutely worst possible mic as they are extremely sensitive to wind noise. The camera does have a stereo mic input jack.

some aftermarket handles attached to the tripod connection (on the bottom of the camera), that is the kind you should look for.

it has a 34mm filter ring for mounting a fisheye lens adaptor.

How is it for regular use, both outdoors and inddors. Also is it easy to transfer files to your notebook? I want easy compatibility with both MAC and windows. Also do you record everything in a CD or a cassette?
Is there any other similar camcorder that i can consider?

The good: Manual focus ring; cameralike mode wheel; shutter- and aperture-priority modes available for video; optical image stabilization; excellent LCD and microphone; takes decent snapshots.

The bad: Poor low-light video quality; microphone picks up motor noise.

The bottom line: Canon's feature-packed camcorder shoots very good daylight footage but has reason to be scared of the dark.

if the answers above that i gave u is little help this site shows pics and more information for the Canon OPTURA 50 hope i answered ur question. good luck.

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Canon–Optura-50-Camcorder-Review.htm

I have a Canon Optura 50, I have a firewire cable, and I use Windows Movie Maker.

When I record from camcorder to my computer there seems to be a slight delay in recording. For some reaso it looks like it skips a second or two once in a while. I don't know how to fix this. Ultimately I would like to record to my computer and then make a DVD out of it. What's the best resolution and recording to use? There are a lot of options on the resolution to record, but I'm not sure what to pick. One of them says "if you want to save, edit and watch on your computer choose this one". However this one saves it into a really small resolution. I then picked the option "if you would like to make edits on your computer and then record back onto tape choose this one." This one is (DV-NTSC – AVI) something like that. With so many to choose from I'm lost. Ultimately I would like to have something that doesn't skip. I'm not sure why it's "jerky" and looks like it's having seizures.

If you want to author a DVD from the footage, you should save either as DV-AVI or the highest resolution WMV. Go to Save Movie, choose the My Computer option, and on the Movie Setting tab click the Show more choices link. Click Other Settings and choose either High Quality Video (NTSC) or DV-AVI.

Your computer may not play either of these back smoothly on your computer screen because your video card may not be up to playing back high quality video. But burning a file from either of those two settings to DVD will result in a DVD that should look great.

I have a Panisonic PV-GS83. It just broke, however I have a warranty on it. Now I need to know whether to buy another one. Or a Canon Optura 50. Some of the features of the Optrura 50 sound like something I would use, the mic jack, manual focus ring, I read it has better video quality.

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Canon–Optura-50-Camcorder-Review.htm

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Panasonic-PV-GS85-Camcorder-Review-33760.htm

Canon ZR950 or ZR800.

Good zoom, mic-in jack, miniDV tape based…

If you still have the warranty on the GS83, does that not just get it repaired?