Canon announced on Monday that they have added three new digital camcorders to their product line: the Elura 60, Elura 65, and Elura 70. All three feature optical zoom of 14x, 16x, and 18x, respectively, as well as Print-and-Share and other new options.
The new Print-and-Share feature allows you to quickly download video from the camera to your Mac or a Canon printer by pressing the Print/Share button. All three camcorders also offer Canon’s own Image Stabilization system, which reduces handheld camera shake; an automatic slow shutter speed for low-light shooting, as well as a night mode that also slows down the shutter and increases the sensitivity of the CCD; an enhanced Motion JPEG format the records in one of two resolutions; Canon’s Skin Detail Mode, which softens details when shooting people close, so that they’re more willing to say “All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up;” and more.
All three Elura models can also be used as still cameras, with the ability to capture digital photos in 640 x 480 resolution while shooting video. A continuous shooting function allows you to snap three frames per second, or five in 1280 x 960 resolution, and auto exposure bracketing grabs three test photos in normal, underexposed, and overexposed lighting so that you can quickly figure out which lighting effect is best. You also have a choice of using an SD Memory Card or a Multi-Media Card when shooting digital photos or Motion JPEG video clips.
When you’re done shooting, the Elura 60, 65, and 70 all allow easy transfer of still images and video clips to Mac OS X without the need to install any drivers. All three are also PictBridge compatible, which allows them to print directly to any PictBridge-compatible printer, regardless of manufacturer.
In addition to higher optical zoom, the Elura 70 comes with a 0.7x wide attachment lens that expands its wide-angle capabilities as well as Canon’s new double-capacity rechargeable battery. It also ships with still photo and digital video editing software from Pinnacle, but neither application is Mac OS X-compatible. While Canon doesn’t have Web pages up yet for the three cameras, the previous Elura models were compatible with iMovie 3 and Final Cut Pro 4, so these will likely also work with Apple’s iApps and pro editing tools.
The Elura 60, Elura 65, and Elura 70 will ship in April with estimated retail prices of US$599, $699, and $799, respectively.