Decent image stabilisation; fast autofocus; shutter-priority exposure mode
Video quality; poor still photos
The Canon DC220 is a simple DVD camcorder with decent performance and image quality, and although it won't blow you away, it won't let you down either
6 Good
Reviewed by Philip Ryan
Perhaps it's the convenience of popping a DVD out of the camcorder and straight into your living room player, or maybe you just don't feel comfortable with a hard-drive-based model, but whatever the reason, you're looking into buying a DVD camcorder.
Positioned in the middle of the company's 2007 DVD-based camcorders at around £230, Canon's DC220 is a decent, though not very impressive model.
Design
Astute observers will notice that the DC220 shares most of its features with the slightly less expensive
That means that if you're not interested in shooting still images with your camcorder and you don't need Canon's software, then you may want to consider the DC210.
Weighing 405g and measuring 54 by 90 by 128mm, the DC220 is fairly light and somewhat small for a DVD-based model. Compared to similar models from last year, it shows some improvements in design.
Canon now includes a tiny joystick, well located for your thumb, to navigate the menus. That's a big step up from the array of buttons on the left side of the DC100's body. However, the DC220 does have a triad of annoying buttons on its flank. You use them to access the menu, change the information displayed on the LCD or enter and exit quick start mode (aka standby mode).
In our tests, we found these buttons less responsive than we would've liked. In many cases, it took more than one press, not to mention more force than we prefer to exert on the side of a camera body that we're trying to hold still.
It might make sense for Canon to put the menu and display controls along the bottom of the LCD, though the dual-function playback, zoom and record controls that are already there might not leave enough room. Fortunately, Canon placed the rest of the controls in all the right places.
Features
Canon includes a decent array of controls and
features for a midlevel camcorder. You can choose from program,
shutter-priority or night exposure modes, and there are four
white balance settings, including evaluative.
We were impressed with the DC220's long 35x optical zoom lens as well as with the camera's electronic image stabilisation, which remained effective out to about 85 per cent of the zoom range. That's quite good for such a long zoom. Plus, if you have a hard time keeping those variable-speed zoom rockers moving smoothly, the DC220 includes three constant zoom speeds.
Performance
That brings us to the DC220's
biggest weakness: its 680,000-pixel CCD sensor. Right now, as a general
rule of thumb, it's best to try to find a camcorder with at least a
1-megapixel sensor if you can. While video from the DC220 had
respectably accurate colour reproduction, and the camera's autofocus
system does an admirable job of quickly locking on your subject and
adjusting to scene changes, the footage we shot lacked the extra
sharpness we're used to getting from megapixel-plus cameras.
That said, it did a fine job for a 680K-pixel model. Though, as we've come to expect, Canon's night mode doesn't help capture decent footage in very dark situations. Sony's NightShot mode, while monochrome, yields much more useable footage in extremely dark environments. In our tests, the camcorder also had a hard time focusing in very dim light.
Conclusion
If
you're looking for a relatively inexpensive DVD-based camcorder and you
don't expect to shoot in dim lighting much, the DC220 is pretty safe
choice. Of course, as we mentioned earlier, if the DC220's added
features don't make a difference to you, you can save a bit of cash
with the
Additional editing by Shannon Doubleday
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