REVIEW
HEAD
BACK TO THE FUTURE
INTRO
Canon turn the clock back -- in more
ways than one -- with their latest budget palmcorder, the UC100
COPY
If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. That seems to be the
thinking behind Canon’s latest 8mm palmcorder, the UC100, launched later this
month. From a distance it could be any one of half a dozen palmcorders past and
present. Canon have always dared to be different but for every would-be
movie-maker lured by their unique designs, a couple more were probably
frightened off. The UC100 is a clear attempt to win back their share of the
newcomer market with an unthreatening not to say conventional-looking machine,
but more importantly, it heralds their return to the budget end of the market.
The UC100
has a lot of useful features, all of which we’ve seen before, but rarely
together in such abundance. It could just be coincidence but Canon appear to
have been greatly inspired by Fuji’s FF60, which first appeared in Autumn 1991,
and it’s successor, the FF120 that followed a year later. These machines have
an unusually large number of important features in common, including a
switchable 0.7x wide-angle adaptor lens, 12x optical zoom, sliding lens cover,
inner-focus lens, Control L edit terminal, mono sound system and stranger
still, they all cost £700 at launch.
There are
strong reminders of other machines too, like the Sharp VL-M4, which had a
chunky function switch over the lens, and a built-in video light, though the
light housing on the UC100 is more akin to the ones used by JVC on their AX
machines. The sideways zoom control harks back to the Panasonic R50 and the
relatively normal top-opening, side-loading deck makes a welcome change from
the every-which-way systems they’ve used in the past. The rest is pure Canon, though, and the UC100 takes us back to
the good old days when their camcorders consistently beat the opposition with
more features per pound than almost any other brand. For a £700 machine the
UC100 looks like excellent value, in addition to the wide angle lens, light and
edit terminal it has:
* 4-mode
program AE system (portrait, sports, spotlight, sand & snow)
* built-in
title generator (1 page, 2-lines/16 characters)
* IR remote
control
* fader and
backlight facility
* 7-speed
shutter
Under the
bonnet there’s a newly developed autofocus system, digital image processing for
improved exposure and colour balance, plus a new mains charger with built-in
refresh circuit. As far as we can see the only thing missing from this very
well-considered package is an external microphone socket, and that’s more
annoying than usual, as we shall see in a moment.
Talking of
sockets, we mentioned the UC100’s Control L edit terminal in passing a few
moments ago but we would be failing in our duty if we didn’t remind you just
how important that feature is. Control L is the now the most widely used edit
control protocol on domestic camcorders and it enables this machine to be used
with the vast majority of edit controllers on the market. Even if you don’t
plan to get involved in editing right now we’d be prepared to be you will, once
you’ve shot a few tapes. Previously Canon have only fitted Control L to their
more expensive machines; we’ve grumbled about Canon’s apparent indifference to
editing on their family-oriented machines for as long as we care to remember,
maybe someone out there is listening, well done Canon, better late than never,
and let’s hope you make a habit of it!
LAYOUT AND HANDLING
It looks
quite chunky; it’s no featherweight and a far cry from their skinny UC-series
machines, but it feels comfy enough, and the controls are reasonably
accessible. The Program AE selector is at a rather unusual angle but you
quickly get used to it. Some of the controls, including the manual focus
thumbwheel and tape transport keys might be difficult to use with gloves on,
and the latter are almost unusable in the dark; who’s bright idea was it to
have black buttons with black labelling on a black panel in a dark recess?
The battery
fits into a recess on the back panel but it was a rather loose fit on our
sample and it rattled about if touched, with the noise being picked up by the
microphone. The battery release catch is also right next to the zoom lever and
on one occasion a straying finger pressed the wrong button by accident, and the
battery fell out! The AV output sockets are right next to the battery , nothing
wrong with that, but we noticed a couple of blanked-off panels which would be
just the right size for a second audio socket, and an S-Video connector, signs
that they may be a stereo and Hi8 models in the pipeline?
PERFORMANCE
Maybe our
sample was a little under the weather but definition was rather average,
between 230 and 240-lines.
Nevertheless, the picture actually looked quite reasonable with very little
noise and good all-round colour accuracy. The auto exposure system was quite
responsive, without being too jumpy. The backlight button didn’t seem make much
difference but the programmed AE system worked well, and it’s good to see a
machine with a manual shutter once again.
The
wide-angle lens facility is excellent, it makes all the difference on indoor
shots, no more standing outside and shooting through the window to get everyone
into shot. Inevitably there’s some barrel distortion but it’s only really
noticeable when door frames or other vertical edges come into the picture.
However, it’s at its best with panoramas, giving a real feeling of space on
longshots and landscapes. The only slight drawback to this kind of arrangement
is that there’s no way of attaching any other kind of special effect lens or
filters to the front of the machine.
The video
light is fairly puny, it’s okay for close-up shots but it doesn’t have much
effect more than a few feet from the lens, and it’s probably not a good idea to
use it in the wide-angle mode as the beamwidth is considerably narrower than
the lens’s field of view.
It’s all
been fairly routine until this point, but now we come to the UC100’s Achilles
heel, and the surprise is that it’s the sound system. The FM soundtrack works
well enough, a little too well possibly, because the microphone picks all
manner of unwanted noises. There's a continual background whine from the
transport motors, but the worst offender is the zoom servo which can be heard
whenever it’s used, even when the noise from the capstan motor is drowned out
by background sounds. The UC100 doesn’t have an external microphone socket, so
there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it..
VERDICT
Canon
couldn’t design an ordinary camcorder if they tried; in its own way the UC100
is as distinctive as any of their other machines, though not always for the
best of reasons. No complaints about the price, features and general design.
Picture quality is okay but we’re not happy about the noisy soundtrack. In
spite of this we rather like the UC100, it’s full of character and just what
the rather dull budget market needs right now to get things moving again.
THE RIVALS
The £700
sector has looking a little more interesting lately and we’re still quite
smitten by the Panasonic R30, which would be our first choice for a capable
edit-friendly machine, but the UC100 is definitely a close runner-up. However,
we would suggest that anyone serious about video movie-making finds an extra
£100 for the excellent Panasonic NV-S70 which brings S-VHS-C recording quality
and stereo hi-fi sound into the equation.
SPECIFICATIONS
Make/model Canon
UC100
Recording format 8mm
Guide price £700
OPTICS
Lens f/1.8, 5.2-62.4mm (normal); f/2.8,
3.6-7.2mm (wide)
Zoom x12
Filter diameter n/a
Pick-up device 0.3in CCD
Min. illum. (lux) 2
VIDEO DECK
Long Play (LP) yes
Max. rec. time 240mins (LP mode)
IR remote control yes
Edit terminal yes (Control L)
MAIN FACILITIES
Auto Focus yes
Manual focus yes
Auto exposure yes
Programmed AE yes (4-modes)
Fader yes
Manual white balance no
Auto white balance yes
Manual zoom no
Power zoom yes
Insert edit no
Character generator yes
Digital Superimposer no
Image stabiliser no
Video light yes
Battery refresh yes
Accessory shoe no
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
time/date recording, high-speed
shutter (7-speed up to 1/10,000th sec), record review, tally lamp, dual
trigger, built-in lens cover, backlight compensation
VIEWFINDER
Viewfinder 0.5n monochrome
Viewfinder info. deck mode and status, low
battery, tape count, shutter speed, fader, focus mode, tape end, time/date,
title
AUDIO
Stereo no
Audio dub no
Wind noise filter
no
Mic socket no
Headphone socket no
Microphone unidirectional electret
GENERAL
Sockets
AV out (phono), LANC (minijack)
Size (mm) 118 x 117 x 199
Weight 1.1kg inc. tape and battery)
STANDARD ACCESSORIES
Batteries, (nicad, lithium and
alkaline), straps, AC charger/power supply,
AV lead yes
video light? yes
remote control? yes
cassette adaptor? n/a
RF Converter? no
SCART adaptor? yes
PERFORMANCE
Resolution 230-lines
Colour fidelity good
Picture stability good
Colour bleed none
White balance good
Exposure good
Autofocus good
Audio performance fair
Insert edit manual inserts clean
Playback thru adaptor n/a
VC RATINGS
Value for money 9
Ease of use 8
Performance 8
Features 8
---end---
R Maybury 1994 0706
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