Canon DC10 DVD Camcorder
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"Unreliable, Crashes frequently. Loses data." on by Dad_1960
Pros: small and light, nice conversation piece
Cons: DVD eedia is unstable, loses video footage by wiping out entire disks. Small battery.
Summary: It was a mistake to buy this camera. The technology for using DVD Camcorders is not mature. Several times, I have encountered disk errors, which wipe out all of the footage that is recorded on the media.
One time, I turned the power off while the disk was still spinning. It caused a disk error that lost all of the data on the DVD.
Another time, I started the camera up with the Movie/Still switch in Still Mode without a SD card in the slot. It took about 10 minutes for the camera to initialize. Afterwards, it issued an error message that there was no media, followed by an error that the data was unrecoverable. Again, it wiped out all of the footage that was already on the DVD.
The cost of the media is high. It is about $2-$3 per DVD. Each one records only about 20 minutes.
The small battery is hidden inside the cavity behind the display. Canon estimates that the battery will run for about 40 minutes of recording time. I have never confirmed if this is true. Extra batteries are about $70 each.
A few months ago, this model of camcorder was over $700. Today, you can purchase it for around $450. I think that it is becoming steeply discounted because so many users are unhappy with it. I would return mine, but it has been more than 30 days since I purchased it. -
"Awesome, very user friendly" on by josare
Pros: Fast and easy to use
Cons: could use a camcorder light
Summary: I just bought my dvd camcorder and have recorded my first dvd, it's awesome to use, very compact fits in the palm of your hand. I have an old magnavox dvd player, I just popped in my newly recorded dvd and it worked right away. Here are the steps 1 you record your dvd video 2 you FINALIZE the dvd by pressing the FINALIZE button 3 you remove the dvd from your DVC camcorder 4 you play it on your DVD player and watch on your tv, it' that easy.
I recommend you read the manual though don't try to figure it out, when finalzing the dvd video you need to connect the Camcorder to electrical outlet the manual states do not finalize video with camcorder battery only. -
"Very Good Camcorder for the Price!" on by realdrgeek
Pros: Very Small - Compact - Easy To Use
Cons: Poor Low-Light Recording - Very Shaky quality when using Telephoto Zoom (Indoors Only)
Summary: So Far - So Good - I purchased the DC10 at Costco for $400.00. Yes - you can buy a better Camcorder - for twice as much money - but for $400.00 it a pretty dare good camcorder and deal. Read the Manual! Record Only in -R Mode for important moments - only Finialize with the Power Cord - DO NOT FINIALIZE WITH THE BATTERY. Very easy to use - very easy to create DVD's for viewing. Very shaky video quality when shooting Telephoto Zoom (indoors only) HOLD the camera very steady under these conditions. Excellent outdoor quality! Yes - Battery Life is short - but I received two with my purchase. I'm sold!
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"Pretty careless experience" on by kammack
Pros: good video quality, nothing more, nothing less...
Cons: menus a bit too heavy to work with
Summary: I think it never allows you to start finalizing if the AC is not switched ON, But disconnecting AC while finalizing is bad news. That`s time and power consuming process and if it runs out of power before completing, bye bye data...
I have shot 100+ cheap -R discs, LP mode on most of them, 2 lost data, not a bad percentage overall...
Once I dropped it on a wooden floor from about 1.5 meters while walking and shooting. The disc finalized and the drop was recorded flawlessly.
Even il LP mode (1 hour disc record) the video quality is decent. XP/SP/LP can be switched at any time.
Fits in any pocket.
I use it 3 years with no service required, battery life still good (I have 2),it`s a well built product.
Hundreds and hundreds 1280/768 stills can be shot on a single disc, or on a miniSD card while shooting video, but I never got SD, I use the disc.
Apart from that: Sometimes it takes long time from switch ON to start shooting.
Menus a bit clumsy - go to an on/off option, select it, enters an on/off menu move to "on", select it, time passes....
Somting always must be changed - put a new battery, in few minutes the disc is over - change the disc...
Lens angle not wide enough, and check the wide converter`s price.
Never get too far from a power outlet, that laser is powerthursty.
Oh I forgot to mention that`s my first cam I`ve ever had, can`t compare it with anothers, may be worse than I think.
Ovwerall look for a carrying bag, 2 batteries and a disc pack in one kit on a good price. -
"Excellent camera for the price, but pick your media CAREFULLY!" on by NetFu
Pros: Thinnest DVD camcorder, Incredibly sharp/clear video, Clean sound
Cons: Poor quality DVD-R/RW's can cause crashes and video loss, Video colors seem dull compared to the oversaturated colors of Sony HandiCams
Summary: Two things to keep in mind on my review: One, I'm a longtime Sony HandiCam customer going back to the video-8 days (before Hi-8), and have purchased 4 Sony HandiCam's over the years (and still own a Hi-8). Two, I'm not writing this review a week or a month after I bought this camera like most reviewers, I'm writing it 15 months after, basing my review on a lot more experience and experimentation.
I took a chance on a Canon video camera for two reasons: Sony HandiCams similar to the DC10 were significantly inferior in features and way more expensive. I paid $400 for the DC10, and the Sony HandiCam with features about one level lower than the DC10 was over $600. The choice was obvious.
I purchased the camera with JVC DVD-R media, mainly because the DVD-RW media was hard to get and very expensive at the time. Out of 5 discs, the camera crashed when finalizing one of them and I lost all the video on it. Luckily it was only 30 minutes, but I was really mad. Also, the video colors seemed really dull, not vibrant enough. So, I used the DC10 only sparingly for family stuff and depended more on my great quality Olympus digital camera.
So, about 6 months later I used only about 2 discs for video (not much for a Dad with 3 little kids), but I'm in Fry's where I bought the camera, and I notice there's now half of an aisle full of DVD video camera media, including DVD-RW. One of the downsides of DVD-R's is it's like using a tape-based video camera that you can't overwrite, so I bought a pack of Sony DVD-RW media. After taking a bunch of test video, the experience with this camera is much better because of the media.
The Sony media is honestly better quality than the JVC media and I haven't had anything close to the lock-ups I had in the past when I almost or did lose video. DVD-RW's are easier to work with on this cameara and on computers -- pop the DVD-RW into your computer, drag-and-drop the movie files to your computer for processing and burning to the final full-sized DVD, then pop the empty DVD-RW back into the camera for more video-taking.
Also, the colors seemed "dull" when I first bought it because I was honestly used to years of seeing the oversaturated video from Sony Handicams. Compare the video from this camera to the original, and it's almost 100% accurate color. Sony Handicam video is way more oversaturated, I guess so it looks more "vivid". If you like that oversaturated, inaccurate color in your video, you won't like the DC10. If you just want super-sharp video with accurate colors, the DC10 is great, especially for the price.
The bottom line with ANY DVD video cameras is this: don't go cheap on the media, unless you want to risk losing it. It's the same with el-cheapo CD-R's on a computer where one out of every five is garbage and goes straight into the trash, except with DVD video cameras you don't KNOW you have a piece of garbage until you finalize it, and at that point you've lost possibly valuable video.
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