- outstanding optical stabilization, better than 90% of all cameras sold - 16:1 optical zoom - Good low-light / light-gathering ability - Lots of features, including manual exposure - Focus system does not "hunt" as much as others (Sony) - Time-tested user-interface perfected by many other Canon 8mm and Hi8 Cameras

Crippled by automatic features to prevent it from being used for professional work, e.g. - no ability to disable ALC (automatic level control) on sound - only 1 CCD, limits dynamic light range and color sensitivity, typical on low-cost DV - playback mode is somewhat clumsy to operate - speaker is weak in playback mode

We bought this camera to film a cruise to Alaska. This is the camera that apple sold with its original DV Macs. After shopping for a while, I realized that this camera has the optics of an old Hi8 Canon camera, but the engine of a DV camera. With a 16x zoom, this makes the camera an exceptional value. You see, the optics are optimized for a low-resolution recorder, but this has a 400-line DV recording engine. We bought our camera refurbished because Canon discontinued the camera. Some people say that Canon discontinued it because it was too bulky (like a Hi8 camera), but my theory is that the specs for this camera were just too good for a low-priced DV camera when the market is so new. Canon prefers to use crappy 10:1 zooms with no low-light capability and force people to buy this junk for several years before they will sell another Ultura with a 16:1 zoom and good low-light capability

Similar Products Used:

Sony PC100 (stabilization sucks) Sony TR9 3-CCD (stabilization sucks) Canon GL1 3-CCD (almost sprang for it)