REVIEW
HEAD
POP CULTURE
INTRO
The sharp-eyed may just catch a glimpse of
Canon's other life, as a leading manufacturer of SLR cameras, on the E300, their latest compact 8mm camcorder
COPY
Cross-fertilisation, or moonlighting still
camera designers? The pop-up video light on the new E300 (and soon to be
launched E500) is clearly inspired by the spring-loaded flash guns on Canon's
highly regarded EOS SLR cameras, a timely reminder that still and video cameras
are not as different as you might think...
In fact the two markets are very similar and
in addition to well known companies like Canon and Pentax who are involved with
both products, a large proportion of camcorders are now sold through what were
traditional photographic outlets. There's a similar set of distinctions between
simple-point-and-shoot compact models, and larger, more sophisticated designs
aimed at serious and professional users; and both technologies support
burgeoning accessory markets.
But we digress, the E300 joined Canon's E series this month, slotting in between the
E200 and E400 in terms of facilities, though as far as the price is concerned,
at £700 the E300 is closer to the E600 which has stereo sound, and sells for
£749. Those facilities include a 3-mode program AE system with backlight, spotlight
and sea/sand options. These are designed to compensate or optimise for strong
backlighting, brightly lit subjects,
and very bright scenes, where there is a lot of reflected light. As is usual
with Canon equipment there's plenty of convenience features, including a title
generator, IR remote control, edit search, edit erase, tape return, fader and
those two Canon trademarks, the swivelling handgrip and sportsfinder eyepiece.
This is beginning to look like another Canon
classic but they have unwisely strayed from the tried and tested in at least
one respect and the E300's apparently normal-looking front-focus lens should,
by rights, have a manual zoom lever. Instead, for some inexplicable reason it
has been omitted. In its place is a little window showing the settings on the
rotating zoom barrel; it must have some use but for the moment we can't think
what it might be. We even have been tempted to let this pass, but the power
zoom is dreadfully slow, you can speed it up by pressing and holding the zoom
speed button on the side, but this has only a slight effect and only adds to
camera shake. Moreover, selecting the
macro mode involves pressing another button, you guessed it, we don't like that
either...
Earlier E-series machines were justly famous for
having a few simple controls but the button count has been gradually creeping
up over the last couple of years and the E300 has at least 25 to contend with,
which rather dent's the 'E' for easy image they have tried hard to foster.
Fortunately most of the buttons are only needed occasionally and the machine's
auto systems take pretty good care of itself
most of the time. The controls are mostly large, well-spaced and adequately labelled and ordinarily we
wouldn't even have bothered to mention the fact but there is a small problem!
It concerns four buttons, which you may
not even be able to spot as they're mounted on the backside of the lens bulge. They're the same colour as
the case, which doesn't help, and the
labelling is moulded into the panel, which makes them almost impossible to
read.
LIGHT WORK?
Now for that video light. Canon were the
first to supply video lights as standard accessories with their machines, and
it has proved to be a very successful idea that others have since copied. Clip-on
or built-in video lights have, of necessity only modest outputs because they
draw their power from the camcorder's own battery. Typically they cut running
times in half, which can leave some machines with only 15 minutes recording
time. The one on the E300 is rated at 4 watts, which may not sound a lot, but
it's fine for close-ups, or helping to brighten up dingy corners. The light
switches on automatically when it is in the open position, and the machine is
in the pause or record-pause mode. The beam pattern is a bit uneven in places
but at least there are no apparent hot-spots. Talking of which, the light itself gets quite hot after a few
minutes and when the cover is closed all that heat has to go somewhere; hopefully
it doesn't get anywhere near critical or meltable components but the plastic
cover remains quite warm to the touch for several minutes.
Just time for a couple of small pats on the back. Number one goes to
whoever thought up the small plastic cover for the battery contacts. Few people
who carry charged battery packs in their pocket, along with metallic objects
like keys and coins, realise how dangerous this can be! The second one is for
the excellent instruction book and comprehensive accessory pack which includes
an RF converter; they're rapidly becoming an endangered species as
manufacturers trim their margins. Admittedly most TVs these days have AV input
sockets, but as anyone with an older set will tell you, they're an absolute
necessity on 8mm camcorders whose tapes
haven't got the luxury of cross-compatibility with VHS video recorders.
PERFORMANCE
Picture quality is generally good, though the
horizontal resolution on our sample -- a little over 230-lines -- is no great shakes. It's offset by
creditably low noise levels, and good colour rendition. The auto-white balance
system is clearly optimised for natural light, and there's little to complain
about on recordings made outdoors. There's a mixed response in artificial light
and tungsten bulbs produced a light red/pink caste on our test recordings; on
the other hand fluorescent light, which is notoriously difficult for auto white
balance systems to cope with, didn't cause any problems at all. The E300's deck
mechanism was very stable, and hardly missed a beat, even when subjected to our
ruthless 'tap-test'
The E300 has the standard 8mm mono FM audio
recording system, The on-board mike appears to be semi-directional and quite
responsive. Sadly there's no external mic socket which might disappoint more
adventurous users.
VERDICT
Normally we have very little trouble coming
to terms with Canon camcorders, the E300 has been an exception. To begin with
it's nowhere near as good looking as its predecessors, the built-in light has
given it a rather bulbous, top-heavy appearance. The lack of a manual zoom
lever is irritating; it's understandable on machines with inner-focus lenses
but this one has a conventional front-focus lens, and the little window that
allows you to see the zoom collar trundling round is rubbing salt into the wound.
The price is on the high side, and that's saying something for Canon who are
renowned for giving value for money. Unless we had an overwhelming desire to
own a lumpy camcorder with a pop-up video light we would be inclined to
consider the E400 which looks like a much better deal!
SPECIFICATIONS
Make/model CANON E300
Recording format 8mm
Guide price £700
OPTICS
Lens f2.0, 6.7-67mm
Zoom 10x
Filter diameter 37mm
Pick-up device 0.3in CCD
Min. illum. (lux) 2
VIDEO DECK
Tape speed (mm/sec) 20.051(SP), 10.026(LP)
Max. rec. time 240 mins (LP mode)
Remote control full-function IR
Main facilities auto/manual focus, 3-mode programmed auto
exposure (backlight control, spotlight, sand & snow), auto white balance,
fader, high-speed shutter (7-speeds up to 1/10,000th sec), time/date/age
recording, built-in video light, record search, record review, edit-erase, tape
return, title generator
VIEWFINDER
Viewfinder 0.6in monochrome
Viewfinder info. deck mode and status, low battery, tape count,
shutter speed, fader, focus mode, tape end, time/date/age, title, dew
AUDIO
System mono FM
Microphone omnidirectional electret
GENERAL
Sockets audio and video out (phono)
Size (mm) 122 x 115 x 257
Weight 1.2 kg (inc. tape and battery)
STANDARD ACCESSORIES
Batteries, (nicad, lithium and alkaline),
straps, AC charger/power supply, RF converter
PERFORMANCE
Resolution >230-lines
Colour fidelity average
Picture stability good
Colour bleed none
White balance fair
Exposure good
Autofocus good
Audio performance average
Insert edit manual inserts clean
Playback thru adaptor N/A
VC RATINGS
Value for money 8
Ease of use 8
Performance 8
Features 9
---end---
(c) R Maybury 1993 1404
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