Canon DC100

CNET Editors' Rating

3.0 stars
    Overall score: 6.4 (3.0 stars)

Good

Average User Rating

2.0 stars

9 reviews

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Canon DC100 - camera on Canon DC100 - top Canon DC100 - side Canon DC100 - back
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CNET Editors' Review

CNET Editors' Rating

3.0 stars Good
    Overall score: 6.4 (3.0 stars)
  • Design: 6.0
  • Features: 7.0
  • Performance: 7.0
  • Image quality: 6.0
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  • Released on:
  • Reviewed on:

The good: Fast focusing, long zoom lens; solid image stabilization; decent low-light video; aperture- and shutter-priority exposure modes.

The bad: Fair-to-middling video quality overall; awkward navigation controls; poor still photos.

The bottom line: A basic, inexpensive DVD camcorder, the Canon DC100 is a safe, if unremarkable, choice.

Review: Although it's hardly the polar opposite, the Canon DC100 DVD camcorder is a very different beast from the Canon DC40 that I like so much. In addition to the obvious dissimilarities--the DC100's longer 25X zoom lens, lower-resolution 680,000-pixel sensor, and slightly flimsier-feeling body--Canon cut corners in some subtle but noticeable ways as well. Toss in its middling video, and the DC100 delivers a much less pleasant shooting experience--just like all its budget DVD competitors. Only its handful of semimanual exposure controls and surprisingly fast focus provide notable bright spots.

Light for a camcorder at just a hair

... Expand full review
Although it's hardly the polar opposite, the Canon DC100 DVD camcorder is a very different beast from the Canon DC40 that I like so much. In addition to the obvious dissimilarities--the DC100's longer 25X zoom lens, lower-resolution 680,000-pixel sensor, and slightly flimsier-feeling body--Canon cut corners in some subtle but noticeable ways as well. Toss in its middling video, and the DC100 delivers a much less pleasant shooting experience--just like all its budget DVD competitors. Only its handful of semimanual exposure controls and surprisingly fast focus provide notable bright spots.

Light for a camcorder at just a hair over a pound, the DC100 fits comfortably into medium-size hands, with thumb and forefinger falling naturally into position atop the most important controls.

Canon DC100
The standard controls--power, mode, and record--are located where your thumb naturally lands. The DC100 has no media slot for still images, but you can save stills to the DVD. Ironically, I found Canon's method for snapping stills--using the record button--induced far less shake than the typical dedicated photo-shutter button.

Canon DC100
Although the controls on the left side are simple to understand, they're a bit difficult to use. The four-way navigation switch with its central enter button is not very responsive and is hard to operate precisely.

Canon's budget cuts in the design include an uncovered DC-input jack, a manually operated built-in lens cover, and a smooth plastic grip strip atop the drive, rather than a rubberized one. It also lacks a video light. However, in addition to the handful of scene modes, the DC100 also includes shutter- and aperture-priority modes--they're a rarity in this price class.

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User Reviews

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Average User Rating

2.0 stars out of 9 user reviews

Rating Breakdown

  • 5 star: 1
  • 4 star: 2
  • 3 star: 1
  • 2 star: 1
  • 1 star: 4

My Rating

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Most Helpful User Review

3.5 stars 3 of 3 users found this review helpful

"Good camera for the price" By oragane78

Pros great zoom, quility is good

Cons hard to get movie edited

Summary I like this camera besides the fact that the editing is hard to do becuase of the minidvd format. This is a great camera if you want to take it from the camera to the tv and watch it without editing. I also like the camera feature and the pictures ... Expand full review

Most Recent User Reviews (Showing 2 of 9 reviews)

2.5 stars

By gwenhaven

4.5 stars

By jacoholic

Specifications

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Quick Specs

  • Optical sensor type: CCD
  • Flash type: None
  • Weight: 14.5 oz

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