2003 CamcorderInfo.com B&H Camcorder Shoot-Off: $800 Price Group

by Robin Liss
Published on Oct 19, 2004 12:00 AM



The $800 - $899 price group includes four camcorders. The first is the Sony DCR-TRV38, a DCR-TRV38 was not available so a DCR-TRV39, with an identical imaging system was used instead. The second camcorder is the GR-DV3000. The third is the Canon Elura 50 and the fourth is the Canon Optura 20.

The first camcorder in the group is the Sony DCR-TRV38, however a DCR-TRV39 was used in it 's place. They have identical imaging systems:

 

The DCR-TRV39 as the identical imaging system as the DCR-TRV38 and the DCR-TRV33. The DCR-TRV38 leans toward red like all of the other Sony camcorders (with the exception of the DCR-TRV19 (Review, Specs, $372)). It improves how well the camcorder films skin tones however it hurts the overall color representation. Read the full DCR-TRV38 Review - Shop for the DCR-TRV38 @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the DCR-TRV38 @ PriceGrabber

The JVC GR-DV3000 is the second camcorder in the price group:

 

 

The GR-DV3000 improves slighty over previous JVC camcorders but it still has weaknesses in undersaturation. The yellow tile, even under normal lighting conditions, looks incredibly washed out and bland. The blue tile looks brownish and totally undersaturated. The magenta tile and the red tiles do look good however, the JVC represents it better than the other camcorders in the group. Shop for the GR-DV3000 @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the GR-DV3000 @ PriceGrabber

The Canon Elura 50 is the third camcorder in the price group:

 

 

The Elura 50 does a pretty good job, though the colors are not as saturated and bright as the Optura 20. Shop for the Elura 50 @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the Elura 50 @ PriceGrabber

The Optura 20 is the fourth camcorder in the group:

 

The Canon Optura 20 includes the exact same imaging system as the Optura 10 (Specs, $373.15), and it does a good job under normal lighting conditions, placing first in the 3000 LUX test. Compare the lower left green tile on the Oputra 20, which is much better than any other camcorder. The weakest point for the Optura 20 is the red tile, it's the second worst representation in the price group. Shop for the Optura 20 @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the Optura 20 @ PriceGrabber

Here is the composite of all four camcorders:

 

In the $800 pricegroup, the Optura 20 takes first place for an great overall mix of color saturation and color representation. The Sony DCR-TRV38 takes second place because of it's lean towards red. The Elura 50 takes third place because of it's less vibrant colors than the first two models and the JVC GR-DV3000 falls into last place.

Here were the results under low lighting, when the lighting was brought down to 15 LUX.

 

The Sony DCR-TRV38 (39) does the best job in the field, having the Sony win out for lower light once again. Read the full DCR-TRV38 Review - Shop for the DCR-TRV38 @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the DCR-TRV38 @ PriceGrabber

The second camcorder is the GR-DV3000:

 

Although the greys are much better on the GR-DV3000 are brighter, it shows that the JVC is compensating for the lack of color information. The low light picture on the GR-DV3000 is washed out with barely any color information. Shop for the GR-DV3000 @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the GR-DV3000 @ PriceGrabber

The third camcorder is the Canon Elura 50:

 

The Elura 50's low light perforamnce is certainly better than the Optura 20 or any other Canon camcorder in the lower pricegroups. There still is a problem of excessive grain and not as much color information but the picture is generally brighter than the Optura 20. Shop for the Elura 50 @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the Elura 50 @ PriceGrabber

The fourth camcorder is the Optura 20:

 

Like the Optura 10, the Optura 20 suffers from the problem of too much grain. Shop for the Optura 20 @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the Optura 20 @ PriceGrabber

Here is the composite of all four camcorders:

 

Taking both low light and normal light performance into account, the ranking for the $800-$899 price category in the 2003 B & H CamcorderInfo.com Shoot-Off is 1. Sony DCR-TRV38, 2. Canon Optura 20, 3. Canon Elura 50, 5. JVC GR-DV3000. Again, the Sony rises to the top because of combinded low light and video performance. The Canon's loose out again because of their poor low light performance.