Tape Jams and Bad Customer Support

This camcorder will be an excellent piece of equipment for the first few months. It is ideal for the point-and-shoot crowd who want a few manual adjustments for the fun of it. However, if you want it to work for more than several months, you might want to consider another camcorder. I am very dissatisfied.

My camera started jamming, giving error signals, producing very bad video, etc. after while. I had maintained it regularly. I cleaned the heads, and that did not fix it. With a little experimenting, I found that it was an internal electronics issue, not just a head issue. It wouldn't play back video smoothly even through the DV input jack.

I contacted Canon, and this was the worst part. They basically told me to pay for the repair. I have read online that it costs around $200 for such a problem. Why pay $200 repair on a $500 camera?

Canon eventually stopped corresponding with me. They told me to contact my dealer (which in turn told me to contact Canon). They sent me a nice little customer satisfaction survey form and that was the end.

I believe that Canon's prosumer line is better than the Elura series, but I am definitely not going to go with Canon. I will spend a few more dollars and get a professional Panasonic or Sony.