Labs

Canon's MV series has always offered great value, but its prices have reached a point where you wonder if they can go any lower. Considering that the MV700i costs less than a third as much as the most expensive camcorder on test this month, it acquits itself reasonably well.

Obviously, it couldn't hope to compete with the semi-professional three-CCD models in the Labs, but it was still acceptable, particularly in sunlight. Brightly coloured objects occasionally spilled over their edges, especially red or orange ones. But otherwise, chromatic fidelity was adequate. Performance in artificial lighting was more problematic, with very edgy focusing that became even worse in low light. The Canon still achieved reasonable colour accuracy, though.

Considering the price, you also can't expect the MV700i to have every feature under the sun, but again it still has a handy selection. Shutter and exposure can be controlled manually, as well as the essential white balancing. Shutter options

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range from 1/6 to 1/2,000 of a second. Even manual focus is available, although it operates via menu buttons rather than a dedicated lens ring, which makes it somewhat fiddly to use. All the most important AE modes are present, too, although the range-topping MV750i's Super Night and Night+ modes are missing; these use LEDs to light the scene. The MV700i also lacks the MV750i's 22x optical zoom, but its 18x makes it very well endowed, only equalled here by Canon's own higher-end MVX250i.

The main area where the MV700i makes economies is digital photography. In a nutshell, it doesn't offer any. But considering that the still-image capabilities of budget camcorders are little more than a gimmick anyway, this is no great loss.

Another gripe is that the tape-loading mechanism works from the bottom, which will make this camcorder irritating to use with a tripod. Although there's an accessory shoe, no microphone input is provided. A headphone socket is available, however, should you wish to monitor the audio input.

Still, for the resolutely domestic video maker, the MV700i has enough in its favour. Image quality is acceptable, and there are some useful manual options should you wish to take a little more control over how your video is being recorded. If you do find yourself attracted by the MV700i's low price, though, don't let yourself be tempted to save a further £10 on the MV700. This may be identical to the MV700i in many ways, but with one important difference: it has no FireWire input, so it won't allow recording back to tape when you're editing.