Benchmark:
NTSC and PAL Camcorder
Canon ES7000V Hi8 camcorder

Larry Lemm
June 1999

Hi8, Ready to Travel

ES7000V Hi8 Camcorder
($999)
Canon USA, Inc.
One Canon Plaza
Lake Success, NY 10042-1113
(800) 828-4040
www.usa.canon.com

Canon recently introduced the ES7000V, a fully-automatic camcorder with a twist for point-and-shoot videographers who travel. One of the most common complaints of video enthusiasts who travel abroad is the fact that North America and Europe use different standards for television delivery. North America uses the NTSC (National Television Systems Committee) standard of 525 lines and 60 fields per second, while most of Europe, except for France, Russia and the whole former Eastern block uses the PAL (Phase Alternating Line) standard of 625 lines and 50 fields per second for television signals. This makes playback of video shot on a North American camcorder impossible on a European television, and vice-versa.

Canon's ES7000V Hi8 camcorder addresses this problem by offering a simple switch on the camcorder that lets you choose either NTSC or PAL playback. The ES7000V also features a large 3.5-inch flip-out color LCD monitor, something that Canon hadn't included in any of their earlier Hi8 camcorder models.

When you pick up the ES7000V, you immediately feel your thumb migrate towards the start/pause button, while your index finger rests on the zoom toggle. You must have the LCD monitor opened if you want to access the titler, turn the electronic image stabilization off or use the digital effects, because they're located on the side of the camcorder body underneath the screen.

The ES7000V features a 16:1 optical zoom, a 72:1 digital zoom and a 160:1 extra-long digital zoom effect. The ES7000V also has a closeup feature that provides a 1.5:1 digital zoom. If you combine the closeup feature and the extra-long digital zoom, the ES7000V can zoom up to 240:1, but the pixelated and grainy image you get at that level of zoom is hardly worth taping.

The ES7000V has manual focus, but limits itself with automatic exposure control and automatic white balance. It does, however, have backlight compensation. One nice feature for beginning shooters is the 10-second counter that appears on the screen whenever you start taping. This is very handy for avoiding the tendency to shoot lengthy shots while shooting in-camera edited productions.

This camcorder has a microphone jack, so you're not dependent on the built-in stereo microphone. However, it lacks a headphone jack for properly monitoring the audio. For playback, the ES7000V includes a built-in speaker, so you can review the audio on playback but not while you're shooting.

The ES7000V also has an arsenal of digital effects like 16:9 aspect ratio for the cinematic look, art mode (solarization), mosaic, mirror image and sepia for an old-time film look. The ES7000V also includes digital faders that include horizontal wipes, mosaic fades, art (solarization) fades and black-and-white fades. The last feature to round out the ES7000V is the built-in titler for adding simple titles to your videos.

One of the most appreciated features of the last Canon Hi8 camcorder we reviewed (the ES4000 in the December '97 Benchmarks) was the inclusion of Rewriteable Consumer Time Code (RCTC). Unfortunately, the ES7000V doesn't support RCTC. It also doesn't use any of the more advanced editing protocols, with only an optional remote control to provides the ability to perform IR editing.

The ES7000V is a basic, fully-automatic camcorder. It is not intended to be the successor to the ES4000: a Hi8 camcorder with full manual controls and time code. If you want to shoot video casually, and aren't planning to use your camcorder as a source deck for editing, you might find the ES7000V to be a handy Hi8. If you want to be able to display your footage on televisions that have NTSC or PAL standards, the ES7000V could be the camcorder you've been waiting for.

Format: Hi8
Lens:16:1 Optical Zoom, 72:1 digital zoom, f/1.4, 4-64mm focal length, 46mm filter diameter
Image Sensor: 1/4-inch CCD, 470,000 pixels
Viewfinder: 3.5-inch color LCD, 0.5-inch monochrome CRT
Focus: TTL auto, manual
Maximum Shutter Speed: 1/4,000 of a second
Exposure: Auto, backlight compensation
White Balance: Automatic
Digital Effects: 160:1 extra-long digital zoom, 16:9, negative, mirror, mosaic, art (solarization), sepia, horizontal wipe, mosaic fade, art fade, black & white fade
Audio: AFM stereo
Inputs: Microphone
Outputs: S-video, a/v jack
Edit Interface: IR (with optional ED-50 editing remote controller)
Other Features: PAL playback, titler, built-in speaker
Dimensions: 4 1/2 (width) x 4 7/8 (height) x 8 5/8 (depth) inches
Weight (sans tape and battery): 1 pound, 15 7/8 ounces

Video Performance (approx.)
Horizontal resolution (camera): 310 lines
Horizontal resolution (playback): 280 lines

Performance Times
Pause to Record: 1 second
Power-up to Record: 7 seconds
Fast-forward/Rewind (120 min. tape): 5 minutes, 49 seconds

strengths

• PAL playback
• Large LCD monitor
• Manual focus
• Microphone jack

weaknesses

• Lack of manual controls
• No time code
• No headphone jack

summary: A decent point-and-shoot camcorder with the the added bonus of PAL playback.