Product Description

Canon has taken the feature set of the highly successful Optura 100MC and added even more capabilities to make the Optura 200MC. The Optura 200MC successfully manages the task of being both a camcorder and still camera. The new features include: video streaming capabilities with Windows XP, Exif 2.2 print standard compatibility, Super Night mode with light, USB terminal, extended range of digital special effects and fades, improved memory card access times, the ability to record video to the memory card, and much more.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #93983 in Camera & Photo
• Brand: Canon
• Model: 7932A001
• Released on: 2002-09-30
• Platforms: Windows XP, Macintosh
• Dimensions: 5.00" h x 5.00" w x 3.00" l, 2.00 pounds
• Display size: 2.5

Features

• Part camera, part camcorder--MiniDV camcorder with digital still photo capability
• 10x optical, 200x digital, zoom with Canon's optical image stabilization
• 2.5 inch color flip-out LCD and tilting viewfinder
• 1.3 megapixel CCD captures 1280 x 960 digital stills--records onto both tape or MMC/SD card
• Includes 8 MB MMC card and wireless remote control

Amazon.com Review
Canon has taken the features of the highly successful Optura 100MC and expanded them on the Optura 200MC, adding digital still-photo capabilities to this MiniDV digital video camcorder. Some of the new features are video streaming with Windows XP, extended range of digital special effects and fades, and the ability to record video to a memory card. The camcorder itself has joined the growing trend of vertically oriented design, making the Optura 200MC a true handheld model.

Lens
At the heart of the Optura 200MC is a CCD image sensor containing 1.33 million pixels. The Optura 200MC incorporates a bright zoom lens that uses a special glass originally used in Canon digital still cameras. The 10x optical zoom lens (4.2-42mm) is the 35mm focal length equivalent of 48-480mm. The digital zoom, which works by electronically enhancing the optical image, has 200x capability.

More Features
For storage of digital still images, you can use either MultiMediaCard (MMC) or Secure Digital (SD) memory cards in the Optura 200MC. An 8 MB MMC comes with the Optura 200MC, which stores up to 17 fine-quality still pictures or 32 standard-quality images. You can save both video and digital still images to the Optura 200MC's tape cassette, and high-resolution still images as well as motion JPEG to the memory card.

The Optura 200MC has a built-in, pop-up flash for taking digital stills. The Optura 200MC will fire one flash (a preflash) to check the exposure, then fire a second time to make the correct exposure. The flash has four modes: auto, on, off, and red-eye reduction.

For greater imaging variety, you can switch on one of several digital effects: negative picture, art, black and white, sepia, mosaic.

Inputs and Outputs
The standard DV IEEE 1394 port (also called FireWire) is present for a lossless connection to a PC or other DV machines. The common RCA AV connections are used for direct viewing on a television or VHS dubbing. You can also plug in an external microphone via the mic jack for better quality sound.

MiniDV Format
MiniDV digital technology delivers clear, sharp video with up to 500 lines of horizontal resolution--far superior to the 240 lines of resolution offered by 8mm camcorders. You'll get minimal color noise interference for a more stable picture. You'll also get excellent sound quality, recorded in either 12-bit or 16-bit audio recording modes.

Specifications and Contents
The Optura 200MC measures 2.4 by 4.63 by 4.6 inches and weighs just under 19 ounces. This package contains the Optura 200MC camcorder, power adapter (model CA-560), battery pack (model BP-512), wireless controller, S-video cable, stereo video cable, 8 MB MMC memory card, and USB cable.

From Digital Living Today
Canon's highly successful Optura 100MC has been jammed with new features and released as the Optura 200 MC MiniDV 1.3 Mega-pixel Camcorder. Both a camcorder and a still digital camera, the 200MC combines useful features into one compact and versatile home machine. Using digital technology to record onto MiniDV cassettes, the 200MC utilizes its FireWire port to allow you to export your data with "no-loss" dubbing. An optical image stabilizer removes the inadvertent bumps and shakes from the filming process, qualifying even the most inexperienced photographer to stand behind the camera. The 10x optical zoom allows you to adjust your image size, but when it's boosted by the digital zoom technology, you can enlarge your subject by up to 200 times--useful when you want to capture detail at a distance. Add to all this a built-in flash for still pictures, compatibility with Canon printers that allows direct-from-the-camera printing, and a built-in viewfinder and LCD screen so you can choose how you want to view your subjects as you shoot. The Optura 200MC is an excellent all-in-one solution for the consumer interested in making the leap into digital video and still photography.

Customer Reviews

Poor value for unneccesary features
The lens, single-CCD sensor and optical stablization on this camera are of course excellent, as one would expect from Canon. But the 200 MC's predecessor, the Optura 100MC, was a much better value for the steep price tag.

For one, the 100MC came with an accessory shoe that made it much easier to attach a pro-level directional mic and light, which fed right off the camera battery and required no cables. Because of the 100MC's very compact size and adaptability, it was arguably more portable, versatile (and certainly cheaper) than the 3-CCD pro-level GL2, the next model up in Canon's line. (And despite having only one CCD, the 100MC's picture quality did not differ that significantly from the GL2 either.)

Alas, Canon has apparently decided to kill its own competition with the GL2 not by making the GL2 a better camera, but by stripping down the Optura series. With the 200MC revision, they've taken away the accessory shoe and added consumer features of debatable value, such as a blotchy, preprogrammed "Super Night Mode" and a useless, Windows-only DV messenger functionality. You can still attach accessories, but Canon makes it hard; you have to use an awkward bracket (sold separately) and the accessories must have their own power sources and cables. A fully loaded 200MC is an unwieldly and unpractical tangle.

You're better off with the Optura 100MC, a great little camera that can still be found from used or like-new sellers on Amazon for [price-info] less than the price of a new 200MC.

Or, if you can live with a digital (rather than optical) stabilizer, I'd recommend you save yourself [price info]and get a brand-new ZR50MC, which still has the accessory shoe that the new Optura has lost. Those are simple but decent cameras, and a bargain considering their price.

Outstanding Quality
I just got this camcorder after lots of reasearch. Unlike what other people on here said, it is a great camera. The quality is awesome and the audio quality is also very good. It doesn't have an accessory shoe which is disappointing but you can buy an adapter from canon that attaches to the bottom. I have also taken some great stills with it and made a VCD slide show with them, many of the people I showed it to thought the pictures were from a 3MP camera. Overall this camera is great and I am very happy with my choice, plus it is now at a much better price. I definitely recommend it to anyone.

Versatility the best feature of the 200mc
I had doubts about the 200MC based on complaints about the changes from the 100MC. In the end I chose the 200MC because it suits my purpose. My subjects are usually outdoor/action and I was especially interested in the Progressive photo aspect along with video.
Some may be disapointed with the departure of the built-in accessory shoe in favor of the built in flash and if you are shooting a lot of indoor video and don't care about the photo aspect this could be a big issue for you.
This camcorder is pretty versatile. it is easy to mix images and video between media (tape or card) the USB port in addion to the DV and video connectors make it very easy to fire off a print, e-mail attachment or develop a full-blown video production via computer or VCR. I had no problems moving images and footage to my mac. (It comes with the usb cable but not the firewire cable, be warned.)
There are compromises in all this clever versatility however. Don't expect brilliant photographic quality - there is noise but it is handy for getting just the right action shot without the bizarre distortion that sometimes appears in digicamera shots.
I am new to video so have little to compare there but optimal quality seems to depend on selection of settings used which may mean actually reading the manual and experimenting. It did perform better than expected however on the dusky end of a snowy day with light colored moving subjects which would probably be a test for any camcorder. Low light, night , and supernight make good exposure adjustments but lose on movement. Better to get the bracket and light for any serious low-light action footage.
It is light weight , may feel too small to someone with larger-size hands.
Video Conferencing is another possibility with this camera apparently.