Home > Consumer Reviews > Canon Elura 40MC MiniDV Digital Camcorder w/ 2"LCD, MMC Card and Digital Still Mode

The "remove tape" issue and damage to tapes started in less then two years. We spent $1000 for this camera for two years, you can buy two camera's for that cost now with the same features. I wish we would have read the reviews before buying. It was a nice camera when it was new thats why it gets 1-star from me and not 0-stars.

I'm a little late in the game here -- after taping for about a year - going back and looking at the video now, I am crushed - missed my son's birth, baptism, husband's 40th birthday, and the list goes on and on. The tapes are all scrambled -- the camera store told me that the heads were dirty - NOT. I am continuously having this problem - missing event after event. I had to break out my old Sony Recorder (bought in 1986) to make sure I didn't missed Christmas morning with my children. I will NEVER by anything CANON again. They do not stand behind their product -- by the way -- this happened 1 month after the warranty expired!

The zooming feature on this camera I purchased went haywire. The camera would constantly zoom in on everything unless I held the W down, causing great annoyance. Other malfunctions such as on the LCD, the "no memory card inserted" symbol would light up even after its proper insertion and formatting.

Other than the so-so optical zoom at 10x -- you should never pay any attention to digital zoom claims -- this new Elura is a winner. The miniscule size is definitely its strongest selling point, emphasized by stylish styling. It uses the industry-standard MiniDV tape, unlike Sony's MicroDV model which is slightly smaller but uses the faulty MicroDV format. The Elura is a carry-anywhere, shoot-anywhere camcorder that allows you to capture all the unexpected moments in life. Like other digital camcorders, the still mode is so-so, more an added bonus than a real digital camera, but as such the Elura's still mode yields good-quality photos for its resoluton rating. All in all, a worthy contender in the pocket-size camcorder arena and you won't regret the purchase.

I had read some bad reviews here on Amazon.com and CNet but I thought "hey, its Canon, they sell a ton of them, it must just be whiners". I was wrong. The picture quality of the Elura is awful. It is a nice size, great ergonomics, but lousy picture - very grainy and virtually no color fidelity.

I returned it immediately.