Canon Elura 100

Canon Elura 100

This very small and low-cost camcorder offers a true wide-screen display, but lacks manual focus.

The Elura 100 ($400 as of 5/2/06) is small both in size and in price: In fact, at 2.2 by 3.0 by 4.3 inches, it's one of the smallest camcorders available. Though it's not quite pocket-size, it's compact and light enough to fit into a purse, so it won't drag you down.

Despite that, the Elura 100 fits comfortably in the hand, and the controls are in the right spots for easy shooting. The zoom control for its 20X optical zoom lens sits under the index finger (the digital zoom goes up to 800X, but the image quality is so poor at that level that the digital zoom is unusable), and the record button is under the thumb. It's also easy to switch the camcorder from camera mode to player mode via the mode dial located around the record button. Though most of the controls are accessed through an on-screen menu (which is controlled with the four-way joystick on the back of the camcorder), there are some buttons for features such as the wide-screen mode and for turning off the LCD backlight. There's also a switch for going into program mode or easy mode, which puts most settings at automatic for point-and-shoot use.

It feels as though Canon cut corners to keep the Elura 100 inexpensive. The case feels too flimsy to stand up to rough treatment--the plastic port covers are attached by small pieces of plastic that could easily get torn off.

The 2.7-inch LCD screen is clear and bright, and (unlike the LCDs of many of the other camcorders we looked at) it's a true wide-screen display: When you're shooting in the 16:9 wide-screen mode, video fills the entire screen. The Elura 100 is also unusual for a budget camcorder in that it shoots true 16:9 wide-aspect video: While many other camcorders just trim the top and bottom parts of the video, the CCD image sensor in the Elura 100 is a true wide-screen sensor, which makes for higher resolution.

Though video showed good detail, it lacked the vivid colors we saw from more-expensive models. In low light, problems were more pronounced, with some colors almost vanishing in a gray haze. You can add more light by using the two built-in LED lights, but these provide light only at a range of a few feet. The video didn't look unattractive in good lighting--it just wasn't as good as the video of more-expensive models.

We also noticed a quiet but distracting noise while recording. Though the stereo microphones on the top of the case picked up good-quality sound, they also picked up the motor noise, which was audible in quiet parts of recordings.

The battery life of the Elura 100 was excellent: A fully charged battery lasted just over 148 minutes, long enough for an extended trip. It's a pity that the video quality wasn't better, however, as that's our only serious complaint about what is otherwise a worthy low-cost camcorder.

The Canon Elura 100 is a good choice for budget shooters. While the image quality isn't great, the Elura is a compact, easy-to-use camera that won't confuse novice filmmakers.

-- Richard Baguley