Canon DC20

The DV camcorder format, dominant for so many years, is now under threat. JVC is pushing hard disk technology, and Panasonic has opted for SD memory in its SDR-S100. But Canon has finally put its cards on the table and is joining Sony in backing recordable DVD instead.

The primary benefit of a camcorder that stores its video on optical disc is that you can whip out the media and put it straight into your DVD player. You can also stick the discs into your PC's optical drive and read them directly, with the appropriate software, thus avoiding the fiddly process of video capture altogether. But all this ease of use comes with a major downside. Each 8cm DVD-R or DVD-RW can store only 21 minutes of video at the top-quality settings.

The DC20 is a comfortable, sleek-looking unit. It's based around a 2.2-megapixel 1/3.9in CCD, which means still images can be captured at up to 1,632 x 1,224 pixels. This is hardly up to the 5-megapixel standards of even the cheaper pocket standalone digital cameras, but it's just on the cusp of printable. The cheaper DC10 has a smaller, lower resolution CCD, so is less capable in this department.

Canon has veered away from its traditional menu system for its new range. Many often-used settings are separated into an easy menu system, accessed via the FUNC button. No less than six preset white-balance modes are available, in addition to fully manual and automatic. You can choose Program, shutter priority and aperture priority Auto-Exposure modes. There are also built-in image effects such as vivid mode and soft skin, which are handy for controlling the harshness of camcorder digital sharpening. The special AE modes are accessed with the camera in Scene mode, which enables a healthy eight different options including the usual Sports, Portrait and Snow.

The DC20 has some other handy features to make its use less fiddly, such as the built-in lens cover, operated by a slider. However, there's no microphone input or headphone socket, nor an accessory shoe, confirming the DC20's point-and-shoot intentions. It's also worth noting that the much-vaunted DVD ease-of-use comes with a few caveats. For a start, if you record to DVD-R you have to finalise the disc before it will become accessible in a DVD player or PC DVD-ROM drive - and then you can't record on it any more. This isn't a drawback with DVD-RW discs, as they can be unfinalised, but these are less compatible with DVD players. Still, most editing software will now import files straight from either disc type.

Despite its non-professional intentions, the DC20 achieved decent enough video quality. Light sensitivity in poor illumination wasn't as bad as we were expecting, although colours ended up being far more red than they should be. In better lighting, the DC20 acquitted itself well, showing decent contrast even in cloudy conditions. Overall, it was a cut above the lower-end JVC hard disk-based Everios, such as the GZ-MG30EK.

The DC20 succeeds in terms of ease of use, and image quality was above the level of many entry-level camcorders as well. However, its biggest downside is the same as all the other new recording formats vying for your attention - the price. It isn't hideously expensive, but you pay a premium for the privilege of recording straight to DVD. And with so little storage available on each 8cm disc, it isn't entirely clear that the new format is such a leap forward from DV in the first place.

Author: Bentley Dean