REVIEW
HEAD
POP STEREO
INTRO
Canon continue to add to their range of family camcorders with the
arrival of the E500, a new stereo 8mm compact with a pop-up video light
COPY
We would like to apologise in advance for frequent references to the
Canon E300 which was reviewed in the July issue. Blame it on Canon, the E500
and E300 are peas from the same pod, the only significant differences being the
prices, the audio systems and the lenses.
Taking them one by one, the E500 costs £800, that's £100 more than the
E300. The E500 has a stereo hi-fi sound system whereas the E300 is a mono
machine, and the zoom lens now has 12x magnification, instead of 10x. None of
that is particularly controversial, the lacklustre price reflects the exchange
rate turmoil of recent months and Canon, like most other manufacturers have had
to trim their sails. But there is a fly in the ointment, it's called the E400.
This machine, which we reviewed in May costs £50 less than the E500, yet it has
a remarkably similar specification, including a 12x zoom and stereo sound
system.
The E500 must have something to commend it? That depends on how much
importance you place on a pop-up video light! Five years ago Canon were the
first camcorder manufacturer to supply a clip-on video light as standard, other
companies quickly followed suit; now it seems Canon are trying to regain the
initiative by borrowing an idea from their EOS SLR cameras. Instead of a flash
gun the E300/500 has a built-in video light that springs out of the top panel
of the machine. You'll have to make your own aesthetic judgements about the
impact this has had on the shape of the machine, we're not keen, it looks
bulbous and top-heavy.
We have a couple of other misgivings. The lenses on these machines are
conventional front-focusing designs, that's good because that means it has
direct manual focus, no buttons, switches or thumbwheels to hunt around for; by
rights it should also have a manual zoom lever. For some reason Canon have
decided to omit this valuable feature, and made matters even worse by putting
in a little window, so you can watch the zoom collar turning, for no good
reason, as far as we can see. Like the E300 the power zoom is quite sluggish;
pressing the go-faster button makes it go a little quicker, but at the expense
of camera shake, if you're not careful.
Stereo sound is definitely worth having but it's all very well having a
more realistic soundtrack but no means of substituting the on-board mike, when
the wind blows, or the subject is out of range. Canon clearly recognise the
need, why else would they fit an external mic socket and earphone monitor
facility on the E400? There's no such provision on the E500.
HANDLING AND USE
It's not all bad news and Canon's expertise in designing straightforward,
easy to use camcorders is undiminished. We have one or two reservations about
the labelling of some of the buttons on the right side of the machine but the
layout is logical and simple to follow. We mustn't forget the excellent
swivelling hand grip and viewfinder assembly which makes overhead and
waist-level shots a doddle, they're helped by the sportsfinder eyepiece which
allows the viewfinder screen to be clearly seen at a distance. Balance is good
and with an all-up weight of just over a kilogram, so it's comfortable to use,
even for prolonged periods.
PERFORMANCE
Picture quality is hard to fault; resolution at just under 240-lines is
reasonable and maybe a few lines up on the E300 sample we reviewed earlier, and
like its stablemate noise levels are lower than average, which results in a
very clean-looking picture. The lack of manual white balance controls isn't a
disadvantage and it coped with most forms of lighting, though it's happiest
with strong daylight. Tube lighting produces a slight yellow tint but it's nowhere
near as bad as some other machines we've seen.
The three-mode program AE system is fairly basic but it does the job and
the backlight option is quite effective. We couldn't see much difference
between spotlight and sun and sand modes.
The stereo sound system gives the soundtrack a much better sense of
space, though the actual soundstage is fairly small and at its most effective
when the subjects are no more than a couple of metres from the microphone. The
mic is adequately insulated from the rest of the machine, so there's no
problems with motor or handling noises, except when background noise levels are
low and the audio system's automatic gain control is turned up high.
VERDICT
We said in the E300 review that we'd be inclined to spend another £50 and
buy the E400 instead; this time we suggest you do the same but save yourself
£50!
SPECIFICATIONS
Make/model CANON
E500
Recording format 8mm
Guide price
£800
OPTICS
Lens
f/2.2, 6.7-80.4mm
Zoom
12x (two speed)
Filter diameter
37mm
Pick-up device
0.3in CCD (300k effective pixels)
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
stereo FM
Microphone
single point stereo electret
GENERAL
Sockets
audio and video out (phono)
Size (mm)
122 x 259 x 115
Weight
1.2 kg (inc. tape and battery)
STANDARD ACCESSORIES
Batteries, (nicad, lithium and alkaline), straps, AC charger/power
supply, RF converter
PERFORMANCE
Resolution
<240-lines
Colour fidelity fair
Picture stability good
Colour bleed
negligible
White balance average
Exposure good
Autofocus
average
Audio performance good
Insert edit
manual inserts clean
Playback thru adaptor N/A
VC RATINGS
Value for money 7
Ease of use 8
Performance 8
Features 8
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R. Maybury 1993 1006
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