Camcorderinfo Review Optura 400

Foobush, Golfing, Jens, others

The review here seems pretty bad in terms of video quality - what do you chaps think? I'm having trouble deciding between a optura 400/ MVX30i and a GS200. :confused: I won't have the chance to really test the camera before buying (living in Europe means shops don't take stuff back once you've paid for it!) so any comments would be very welcome.

Cheers.

jin - I actually bought all three cams, the panny 120, optura 30 and optura 400. One major problem I had with the 120 and to a slightly lesser extent with the optura 30 was that I got very shaky video out of both cams.

With the combination of what seems to be better EIS on the 400, a design that's easier to hold and hold still or whatever else, I'm able to get much smoother video on the 400.

Colorwise I thought the 400 was also better than the 30 but not quite up to the 120. For me though, getting shaky video pretty much canceled out any other benefit from the other cams. The 400 is also more stylish and most importantly easier to tote around. For me, this means I leave the house more often with my videocam in tow, which in turn means I end up with more video footage.

As for video quality, this was a major concern of mine since my old Sony D8 footage looked awful on my HD projectors 109" screen. On smaller tv's differences in image quality may not be that appearent, but every flaw in resolution and artifacts is exposed once you take it to the big screen.

I only tested the Optura 30 and 400 on the big screen, and they both did a great job except that the shakyness of the 30 footage was even more obvious. Also, despite Optura 30 users claim here that theres no difference (which Cannon did not confirm), the 400 also produces better color on my setup.

The 400 is a nifty, solid cam. I recommend it highly.

Foo,

Cheers for the opinion -like everyone I'm spinning in circles trying to decide, so views from people like yourself who are using the cameras really help.

Jinj.

I have had the same dilemma choosing between GS200 and Optura 400/500. I’ve finally concluded to go for the Optura 500. Here is why:

First of all my most important requirements for a new camcorder are:

- Video quality – forget still pictures, nice to have – but video quality above all.
- Size and handling – Have for years used a large camera and find myself leaving it at home because of size and weight.
- 16:9 support – When you have a 16:9 television you want your video camera to utilize the whole width of you television.

First off I had targeted the GS400, seems to be an excellent camera, but alas the size. Not something you stick in you pocket or take along “just in case”.

I had almost decided to go for the GS200 when I made a more thorough search for GS200 information on the internet. Besides the reviews I also found some other concerns:

- Image stabilization is not as good compared to Sony and Canon.
- Some GS200 owners complain that the image sharpness is not as good as the GS400 and event the Opturas (although the color balance is excellent).
- 16:9 support – Definitely a showstopper for me is the GS200 support for 16:9. Unfortunately Panasonic chooses just to crop the top and bottom of the image resulting in a 25% decrease in vertical resolution.

I also went to a local store to look at bit closer at the GS200 and to my surprise I got a “plastic fantastic” feeling, especially the buttons seemed to be substandard as well as the LCD which was a bit flimsy in construction.

So despite the overall good reviews for the GS200 it does not fully meet my needs. Fortunately the Canon Optura 400/500 seems to be closer to the mark.

- Good video quality – almost as good as for the 3ccd’s (GS120 & GS200)
- Anamorphic 16:9 support – the best solution when you don’t have 16:9 ccd’s
- Good EIS, even when using the 16:9 mode
- Small and compact
- Pretty good low light performance (They seem to have done something with 400/500 compared to other Canon models)

Whether to choose 400 or 500 - I’ll go for the 500 due to the LCD resolution. Since I’ll be using the 16:9 mode most of the time not all of the LCD screen will be used, best to have as much resolution as possible for the 16:9 image.

I hope this can help other in deciding as well.

O_Brumm,

I'll add my two cents here, as my search is leading me in the direction of the Optura 400/500 as well. In my case the cam is not for me but rather my mom. My thinking has been like yours, and I think she will appreciate the 400/500 for the combination of:

great overall video quality (at least for a point and shoot cam)
low-light performance - the reviews indicate that it is at least acceptable
good image stabilization - very important!
excellent ergonomics and form factor
good 16:9 mode - mom says she wants to shoot widescreen (way to go mom!)
still photo resolution - unlike most of the photo nuts on these forums my mom is very interested in the dual-use of these cams and will probably be satisfied with the still quality

But I'm going crazy trying to decide between the 400 and the 500 for her! My first reaction was that she doesn't need the added features of the 500. But then I caught on to the LCD resolution issue. For me that would be the deal-maker - I would have to have the higher resolution 500, especially for 16:9 mode. But as someone pointed out to me on another forum, if my mom isn't ever going to use manual focusing (she probably won't) the extra resolution may not be that important. On the other hand, the higher resolution display makes for a more pleasant shooting experience I think (at least if her eyes good enough to see the difference!) I may just recommend the 400 to her, but I'm still debating.

By the way, I am a happy owner of an Optura 100MC, if you were wondering.

Thanks

LaserDude,
As I said my main reason for choosing the 500 is the resolution for 16:9 viewing. One thing I forgot to mention is that the 500 has a 4x brighter video light than the 400. Whether this means anything in real life or not someone with the actual 500 needs to answer.

By the way - impressive that your mum will use 16:9 :-)

O_Brumm.

Nicely put Bum and Laser. Even after the 400s finally come out, I'm glad I went with the more portable 400. In two months I've already taken more footage than 4 years with my heavy-ass Digital8 cam. And needless to say the quality wasn't even in the same ballpark.

I was also worried about what the lower rezzed LCD would look like when I went with the 400. But believe me, it looks as good as any other LCD panel I've seen. In fact it looks so good, I'm very curious at what the higher rez 500 would look like. I'd save the money - she'll be pleased as punch with the LCD of the 400.