Benchmark: Canon ES55 8mm Camcorder
Canon Says, Greetings Video Newbies
The Canon ES55 is an entry-level camcorder targeted at casual shooters and video newbies operating on a budget. Its sub-$400 list price will surely attract the attention of first time camcorder shoppers, and its features will allow future experts to learn the art of making video without having to spend thousands of dollars on a camcorder. Canon's ES50 is the younger sibling to the ES55. The ES50 retails for $349. It is just like the ES55, but excludes image stabilization and photo modes.
Size Matters
The 8mm format has long been a favorite of casual video hobbyists, primarily due to its small size. Your local drug store sells 8mm tapes, and a single tape records up to two hours (120 minutes) of footage. Because the tapes are small, 8mm camcorders are too. The ES55 weighs less than two pounds and will fit easily into a backpack or picnic basket. Its size will make it easy to carry along for a day at the zoo or a hike in the mountains.
Pushing the Buttons
The ES55 is a sleek, sharp-looking camcorder. It fits nicely in the right hand and its weight is distributed well, making it easy to hold comfortably in one hand while shooting for extended periods of time. Your right thumb can easily operate the large Record/Pause button and standby toggle.
You can use the dial on the rear of the camera to place the camcorder in any of the six camera-operation modes (fully automatic, FlexiZone, Sports, Portrait, Spotlight or Sand & Snow) or into VCR mode for playback. You'll find the VCR controls and eject button located on top of the unit. When in camera mode, the VCR buttons double as controls for fade in/out, backlight, digital zoom on/off, record search and counter reset. The back of the unit is also home to an on/off switch for the built-in light.
A sliding, spring-loaded switch adjusts the zoomslide to the left for wide and to the right for tight. Because of the design and position of the zoom control we found it somewhat difficult to maintain the speed of our zooms. It was also a challenge to start and stop the zooms as gradually as we would have liked. A wireless remote control that comes with the unit lets you start and stop your recording, adjust the zoom and operate the VCR controls without touching the camcorder.
You can access features such as image stabilization, titler and photo mode through an internal menu. To view the menu, you press the Menu button on the left side of the camcorder's body, then rotate the selector wheel to navigate. It is here that we wished the unit had a flip out LCD screen. The only way to view the menu is to peer into the viewfinder with one eye. Fortunately, once we had made our initial adjustments, we had little need to return to the menu.
You'll find two "custom keys" near the Menu button and selector wheel. You can program these custom keys to operate a number of functions. We opted to program the buttons to select and enable the camcorder's built-in digital effects. Effects include art, sepia, negative, half mirror, full mirror, mosaic, pastel, emboss, color key-red/green/blue/yellow, 16:9, cinema (letterbox), slow shutter and strobe.
In the Zone
The ES55 has Canon's patented FlexiZone autofocus/autoexposure. A joystick control on the back of the camcorder allows you to position a small box in the viewfinder to select the portion of the shot you would like the camcorder to use as a reference for adjusting the automatic focus and exposure. You can manipulate the joystick easily with the right thumb while shooting. Push the joystick in to lock the settings. The FlexiZone system performed well in our tests.
FlexiZone allows you a degree of control somewhere between fully automatic and fully manual. Casual shooters may never use it, but more advanced shooters will grow to love it. Our only complaint in regard to the FlexiZone control is really a complaint about the location of the camera's shoulder strap. The strap, when attached, lies directly on top of the joystick and can interfere with normal use in some situations.
Digg This!
del.icio.us
Technorati
StumbleUpon
Reddit