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REVIEW
HEAD
HIGH POINTS
INTRO
Canon keep up the pressure on Sony with their
new Hi8 camcorder, the UC2Hi, designed with the demanding enthusiast very much
in mind
COPY
If
the number of new slim palmcorders now coming on to the market are
anything to go by, we can thank Canon for starting yet another design trend.
This particular one began back in late 1991 with the launch of the UC10, an
unconventional 'upright' 8mm machine. It made sense of Sanyo's 'Zeema' concept
which had appeared three years earlier, by turning the awkward flat camcorder
on its side, so it could be used one-handed. Canon refined the idea with the
UC1Hi last Summer, and this was
followed by Hitachi and Panasonic with
their own distinctive 'thincams'. Canon seem determined to stay one jump ahead
and the UC1 has now been superseded by the UC2Hi, which goes on sale this month
for just under £1,300..
The basic UC or 'ultra-compact' layout
remains the same on the UC2, with a bottom-loading Hi8 deck, topped by the lens
assembly and viewfinder, however, Canon's engineers have been busy refining and
improving the UC1's video processing circuitry, optics and control systems, as
well as adding a set of digital effects, so to all intents and purposes this is
a brand new machine. The lens has been uprated to a 3-speed/12x zoom, and new
algorithms controlling the AF system speed up focus response in poor light, or
when there is little contrast between the subject and its background. The most
obvious outward change is a large LCD panel on the left side of the machine,
this repeats much of what is shown in the main viewfinder display, which can be
a big help when wading through the various menus, or setting the program auto
exposure system, and manual parameters, including the shutter, exposure,
effects and audio systems.
Not everything is new, though, and the UC2
retains the UC1's quirky remote infra-red control handset which forms part of
the handgrip, Canon have also kept the all-important Control L or LANC socket,
so it can be used as a source deck with an edit controller, including Canon's
own, the rather basic VE-100. The UC2 also has an inner-focus lens with a servo
control ring around the lens barrel, like the UC1 this works very well and
you'd be hard pressed to tell it apart from a mechanical front-focus lens.
The main camera controls have been made a
little larger, and spaced more evenly, making them easier to find. Several buttons have been tucked away under
a little flap to the side of the display panel, though these include the record
search keys which need to be used
fairly frequently; three more buttons lurk beneath the viewfinder, though
these, which include edit-erase, counter reset and secondary start/stop, are
rarely needed. In common with its predecessor the UC2 makes extensive use of
menu-driven displays. The system has been improved, and now the large control
knob on the side both selects the required function -- by pressing the 'shift'
button in the centre -- and riffles through the options, using the outer ring.
It can take a while to get to some of the functions near the bottom of the
list, fortunately they're fairly well organised in order of priority.
The digital effects system should please
those keen to add a few creative touches of their own. There are four options:
close-up which is basically a 2x electronic zoom, doubling the power of the optical zoom; the second is overlap,
it's similar to the digital mix effect on a couple of Panasonic machines, where the frozen image from the last shot is
gradually replaced by the new picture as it is recorded; number three is
digital freeze, which simply records still images; the last one is called art,
it's a solarization-type effect, which
greatly reduces contrast, giving the image a cartoon-like quality.
The UC2's program auto-exposure system is
almost unchanged from the one on the UC1Hi. There are six modes, starting with
Sports, which automatically selects the highest shutter speed for the
prevailing conditions, for improving the replay of fast-moving subjects;
Portrait modes adjusts the shutter and iris for a narrow depth of field, so the
subject stands out against a blurred background; Spotlight compensates for
brightly-lit subjects against a mostly dark background; Landscape prevents
over-exposure when shooting a scene with a lot of bright sky in the frame; Sand
& Snow uses a combination of iris and shutter adjustments to get the
correct exposure when the subject is strongly backlit by a highly reflective
background, and Low Light engages a
slow shutter speed (below 1/50th sec.), to increase sensitivity.
The UC2 also has manual shutter and exposure
controls which give the user some leeway for adjusting or compensating for
various lighting situations, both are accessed and adjusted using the large
control knob on the side of the machine. The exposure control has 8 steps
either side of the nominal centre position, equivalent to a couple of f-stops
on a still camera. This is an improvement on the manual override on the UC1
which had a much smaller range, and was controlled by a pair of tiny buttons,
but it's still a long way short of being a manual iris. The shutter goes from
1/6th of a second to 1/10,000th of a second in 12 steps. Shutter speeds below
1/50th of a second produce an interesting blurring effect which can be quite eye-catching
during a slow pan, or fast zoom. Both the exposure and shutter settings are
graphically shown on the LCD panel, as well as in the viewfinder.
The UC2's audio system has been carried over
from the UC1 and it features the same three sensitivity modes plus a zoom
setting which ties the mike's directionality in to the optical zoom; the polar
pattern is prettily shown in the LCD display. The wind-noise filter on this
machine is now manually selectable, as opposed to being fully automatic on the
UC1.
There are two independent titling systems;
the first is a simple 1-page/2-line character generators; the second a fancy
2-page superimposer with 8 colour and reversal options plus various effects
including shadow, see-through, scroll, wipe and variable image density. Just in case you forget to slot in a title
at the beginning, one can be superimposed onto the video output, so it can be
edited or re-recorded onto copies.
We're pleased to see that Canon have
responded to two of our main grumbles from the UC1 test. The first is a
re-designed operate button. On the UC1 it was possible to inadvertently press
the button, switching the machine off, whilst operating the zoom rocker. To
prevent this happening the button now has a protective lip around it, so it's
almost impossible to press it accidentally. We were also concerned about the
strength of the clips retaining the remote control handset, they're now a lot
more flexible and should last the course, even with clumsy handling.
PERFORMANCE
In spite of the rather elaborate claims made
for the UC2's digital processing circuitry we found the on-screen performance
little changed from its predecessor with horizontal resolution just topping 380
lines. Noise levels were already low on the UC1 so any further reductions are
difficult to see. Colour response appears to have been tweaked and the smearing
which we noticed on the UC1 has all but disappeared. Recordings made in the
standard 8mm mode showed reduced resolution, down to around 240 lines, which
compares well with most 8mm machines.
The auto and effects systems are potentially
very useful and work extremely well though the normal auto systems can be
relied upon most of the time to get the exposure right for most everyday
situations. Auto white balance needs help every now and again, especially in
artificial light where there is a tendency for reds to be overemphasised in
tungsten light, and there's a slight yellow cast under tube light.
The UC2's audio system is a very workmanlike
affair and within the constraints of its
single-point stereo microphone it functions well with a broad response
and moderately well-defined stereo soundstage. The mic zoom facility is there,
if you listen hard, though it's no substitute for a proper directional
microphone.
VERDICT
As a successor to the UC1 the UC2 stacks up
very well indeed and all of the changes have been to the good, except one. The
price, at just under £1,300 reflects the unfavourable currency fluctuations but
it's still hard to swallow a £300
increase (the UC1 cost £1,000), when for the past ten years we've become
accustomed to Canon leading the way forward with improved specifications and
falling prices.
SPECIFICATIONS
Make/model CANON UC2 Hi
Recording format Hi8/8mm
Guide price £1300
OPTICS
Lens f1.8, 5.4-65mm
Zoom 12x, 3-speed
Filter diameter 37mm
Pick-up device 0.3in CCD (470k pixels)
Min. illum. (lux) 1
VIDEO DECK
Tape speed (mm/sec) 20.051(SP), 10.026(LP)
Max. rec. time 240 mins (LP mode)
Remote control full function IR and Control L (LANC)
Main facilities auto/manual focus, auto/manual exposure, programmed auto exposure (6-mode),
auto/manual white balance, fader, slow/high-speed shutter (11 speeds, from
1/6th sec. to 1/10,000th sec.), world time/date recording, title generator,
title superimposer, digital effects (2x zoom, overlap, freeze, art), zoom mic,
wind filter, self timer, tape return, edit erase, bi-lingual replay
VIEWFINDER
Viewfinder 0.5in monochrome
Viewfinder info. deck mode and status, low battery, tape count, shutter
speed, fader, focus mode, tape end, time/date, titles, AE mode, digital mode,
time zone. fade trigger, dew, timer, menus
AUDIO
System stereo hi-fi
Microphone variable directionality, single-point stereo
GENERAL
Sockets headphones, ext. mic, Control L
(minijack), stereo audio out, composite video out (phonos), S-Video
Size (mm) 80.5 x 134 x 183
Weight 0.9 kg (inc. tape and battery)
STANDARD ACCESSORIES
Batteries, (nicad and alkaline), straps, AC
charger/power supply, RF converter, AV leads, IR remote handset, cassette
PERFORMANCE
Resolution >380-lines S-Video, 240 lines composite
Colour fidelity good
Picture stability good
Colour bleed none
White balance good
Exposure very good
Autofocus good
Audio performance good
Insert edit manual inserts clean
Playback thru adaptor N/A
VC RATINGS
Value for money 7
Ease of use 8
Performance 9
Features 9
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(c) R Maybury 1993 1904
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