- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 11 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"Excellent camera, I use it with my IMac G4"
Pros: Clear video, light weight, small, tons of options,
Cons: Can only rechage battery while in camera, very easy to accidently hit record button
Summary: First, it has been probably 10 years since I purchased a video camera. Last one was an 8mm, and I really didn't want to have a lot of tapes laying around any more. The mini DVD's are great in that they don't take up much space. As a newbie though, I have made a few mistakes--DVD+RW is not the same as DVD-RW (notice + is not -). This camera can't use the +RW which Walmart has a lot of. Also, this camera is so small and light, I need to use the tripod a lot more than previous cameras. It is very easy to have a little shake in your hands and not even notice it until you sit down to watch the video ("Gosh dad, do you have palsey?")
AS far as the battery goes, it is small and only 1 size will fit the camera as it fits inside of the camera body. It lasts about 25 minutes. As I used the camera on a family vacation, I did not find the battery to be a limiting factor (I did carry a spare). However, if you were going to film a sporting event, this could be a problem. A problem I did experience is that I could only charge the battery while it was in the camera, so if I wanted to charge 2 batteries after a day of filming, I needed to start early, so I could switch out the batteries before going to bed.
AS far as the features of the camera, frankly, it has so many I'm not a good one for comment. It has a detailed manual that leads you through it, but I'm not a special effects guy--just point and record. As you may have guessed, the colors outdoors are spectacular, indoors/low light the colors are washed out. I did have a problem of having the camera in standby and then accidently hitting the record button. Also, the camera does not come with a memory card which seems pretty lame. Supposedly you can record stills to the disc, but I haven't done it yet.
Commenting on its compatibility for the mac--I was frustrated at first. Canon says that it is mac compatible, but that is only for stills i.e. drag and drop from DVD to computer. For video, you can only play the DVD in your computer (after you have finalized the disc in the camera). I talked with Canon rep and said I didn't think they should call that Mac compatible, but he chaffed me off. But here is the solution (after much web surfing) and it is easy and cheap--download Streamclip off the web. It is free. You will also have to buy a Quicktime plug in from apple for $20, part# D2187Z/A. With these 2 peices, open up one VTS.VOB file with Streamclip (the VTS.VOB file can either be opened directly from the DVD, or copied to your hard drive first and then opened). It will give you an error message concerning timebreaks--fix the time breaks wtih control F. Once complete, select file/export to DV. Be sure to select split stream. Streamclip will export a QT file that you can drag into iMovie where you can edit and crop. Repeat for every VTS.VOB file. Sometimes Streamclip will get 98% of the way through converting a .VOB file to DV and say there is a disc error and quit. Luckily it does produce a QT file still that you can edit. If any data is lost, I haven't noticed it. I believe that Toast 7 will do the same thing as Streamclip.Updated
Have used the camera now for about 6 months with no problems. Have even taken it to swim meets and have had no problem with the humidity. Still getting video of my shoes occasionally--that %^#!@#%@ record button is too easy to engage.
- 1 reply to this review
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I downloaded Streamclip for XP, but when I tried to buy Quicktime 7 for XP, that was $30 and when I went to checkout, they had added another $20 for an MPEG-2 bit of software. Is it the second item (since you said $20) that I need to get? Streamclip only asks for QT 7. Also, is an export to DV the same as an AVI file? AVI is what my film editing requires (Serif MoviePlus 5). Thanks for any help you can give me.
Claire
Where to buy
Canon DC20 DVD Camcorder:
$579.99
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$579.99 | Yes |
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