Let there be DVD Camcorders only - this summer. Review on Canon DC100

This summer I was packing for the break, I dubiously looked at my Old Sony 218 Camcorder and decided to dump it. I had to choose a camcorder with DVD, compact, ease in operation and quality of  video. Although not the best Canon DC100 ultimately suited my purpose and budget. Why  DC100 is not the best, will be briefed during the review suitably with the other choices around. One difficult decision today is what to do with the old camcorder and which one is the best to replace the existing one. This review is intended to share the search, alternative options and personal experience.

Entry level models must be easy enough for the novice but have the solid performance necessary to satisfy the knowledgeable yet budget-oriented. You are going to have a difficult time distinguishing and entry level camcorder from the pack.

For the point-and-shoot user looking for a simple and basic interface, Canon’s DC100 is definitely a better option when compared to other options in market. The inclusion of an auto mode will further simplify this camcorder, restricting user controls to image quality and zoom, and an external switch at the top of it makes this mode easy to enter.

The DC100 is definitely an inexpensive DVD camcorder, with only the Samsung SC-DC164 in this range. However, given a choice between Canon and Samsung in photography arena, Canon scores more. With mini DVD(R & RW) rates going southward and everyone having a PC to operate, there were not much choice for me either. One mini DVD will get you 22-54 minutes of recording depending on the type of recording.

This DVD camcorder can also capture still images but the .8mp better be ignored. It can only record to DVD, and doesn’t have a memory card slot, in-camera flash or other hybrid features. Here it loses out to Sony DCR-DVD105(upgraded version of DCR-DVD92) which is at least one advantage over camcorders by manufacturers like Sony, which don’t even offer those options in video mode. Video image quality of the DC100 is better than that of the DCR-DVD92/105 of Sony and I am not a great fan of Sony’s touch screen interface either.

Canon DC100 offers a number of Scene modes(Program AE) such as Portrait, Sports, Night, Snow, Beach, Sunset, Spotlight, and Fireworks. To access these, you must switch the toggle at the top to SCN, and then enter the Function menu. The DC100’s manual controls are not as good as those of some other entry-level DVD camcorders out there.

The DC100, is split into two menus: function and administrative. The administrative menu contains most of the features that you don’t need close at hand during shooting: clock set, image stabilization on/off, etc. This menu is accessed by pressing the Menu button on the back of the body and navigated with the touchpad. The zoom toggle for the Canon DC100 is comfortably positioned on the top of the camcorder and can be easily and comfortably reached by the index finger of the right hand. This zoom toggle is raised from the camcorder body and textured to minimize accidental slippage during use.

The closed battery design is a big disappointment and denies you the ability to purchase an extended-life battery pack.

There are few good alternatives in the entry-level market, one indeed from its own, the Canon DC10, which can be found for Rs. 1000 more. DC10 offers much larger imager-1/3.9” vs. 1/6”-which yields a sharper image in both video and still mode. The inclusion of a joystick, which most people will find more user-friendly, is with DC10. DC100 scored more for its latest entry and the look. I had a choice in Sony also. Sony’s DCR-DVD105 comes with a touch screen and was eliminated from my list as touch screens quickly get greasy. Panasonic VDR-D100 came as the other alternative and has a 1/6” chip with more sharpness in image quality. The negative point is its noise. I had seen Samsung’s SC-DC165 and a big plus here is that the Samsung captures stills to flash media via a 4-in-1 card slot that accepts SD, MMC, MemoryStick Pro and MemoryStick cards. The Samsung also features a better optical zoom at 33x(vs. the DC100’s 25x) as well as an absurdly high digital zoom at an unusable 1200x. While the DC165 also uses a 1/6” imagers like the Canon DC100. However Samsung is perceived as maker of poor quality video in comparison with the market leader like Canon. It fails to overcome my personal test on two parameters Video Quality and handling also tends to be poor. JVC’s GZ-MG21, is a disk drive(HDD) camcorder, but a far more expensive to become a choice. I somehow didn’t see any winning qualities in JVC ever. DC100’s far outshines the JVC.

Camcorders(feature wise) change so frequently that, after buying any camcorder you will have a feeling that you made your decision in haste. Hence I didn’t want to carve out a bigger amount for it. I also wanted a very simple operation CC so that it can be handled by any one in the family. The third preference was to see the video immediately with PC/DVD player. Since I was not having any intention to have one camera(movie+ still) as I already have one Canon Still camera, DC100 was a very close call.