From what I have read in several forums, it is the luck of the draw for noise. I just got my Optura 60, and it is so noisy I am sending it back. It is a whinning machine. Absolutley unacceptable. I called Canon and was told they hadn't heard of that. It even states in the manual that it is noisy. Canon told me to buy the external mic. I told them I didn't spend that kind of money to have a defective product. I would also like to say that I cannot transfer from the camcorder to my computer via the firewire. The camcorder is recognised and it starts the camcorder playing, but no video is transfered. Canon tech says it is the program I am using. I tried 4 programs and none worked. I built my own computer and am running Win XP Pro with AMD 64 bit,512 meg ram. This has really turned me away from Canon!
Hi out there,
The discussions on the Optura 60 show a contradiction:
some have brought back their Optura 60 because of excessive noise (by taping and projecting) and others say: I like it because of its quiet operation.
So what is the right line? Is there a consensus?
I would appreciate the inputs of Optura 60 users.
Thanks very much

Chowhound
Comic Vine
GameFAQs
GameSpot
Giant Bomb
TechRepublic