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- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 4 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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4.5 stars
"Excellent DVD based Digital Camcorder"
Pros: Excellent Picture quality for Non HD format, Very Good under Low Lighting situations, Excellent support of 16:9 format., Good use of Manual Settings
Cons: Hand Strap in awkward location, Poor low light "Stills", Poor Software Compatibility/Functionality.
Summary: This is my first Camcorder review. My main goal when buying this camcorder was to produce excellent looking videos (no matter what adjustments need to be made on the camcorder) under varying scenarios and lighting conditions. Second to that would be the ability to modify and edit the content of the videos. I looked at some of the HD camcorders? but at the time this one was selling for around $500 and the cheapest HD was around $700. My thinking is that a High End SD Camcorder would probably suite me better than a low end HD Camcorder.
The first goal is exceeded with the DC 50 and with minimum adjustments. I have been using the camcorder for 3 months now and am completely satisfied in this respect. The software that is provided is very limited in functionally but I have been able to create some basic DVD?s with Menus. My rating for my second goal is mediocre.
Video Quality: I record all of my videos in XP mode (which means only about 20 min per DVD). I also always record in 16:9 format since I am viewing them on a 46 in. Widescreen HDTV. When I compare the quality of a DVD right out of the camera (Finalized) to a DVD off the store shelf (movies?etc). I find little discernable difference. If I import from the Camcorder to the computer using the included Roxio software and then burn a new full size DVD? there have been times when under poor lighting conditions that I have noticed some Artifacts but only in spots and not the entire screen. If I view the same movie on a Standard Definition 27in TV, none of the artifacts are visible.
Lighting: With some minor adjustments I was able to make the camera work indoors with great video quality. In a medium size room with only two 60 Watt shaded lamps and using the ?Night? mode on the camera produced very good results. At times, when hitting a poorly lit area the camera would change to 1/15 shutter speed, but by doing this kept most of the noise out of the picture. If not in the night mode the camera stays at 1/30 or above and poorly lit areas will suffer.
Still Picture Quality: Taking snapshots provided the most challenge in poor lighting conditions. If the lighting was adequate I found the picture to be cooler than what you would expect from a Digital Camera. But I actually thought that the colors were more accurate. Under poor lighting conditions I found it difficult to get a good picture even with the flash.
Ease of use: There are a few things that you need to learn how to do. Initialize the disk and finalize the disk. This is not difficult to do but other than that? turning on, pressing record and operating the zoon is all you need to do to start taking excellent videos. One advanced feature that I would recommend is switching to ?Night? mode. I recommend this for all indoor videos (unless you have a lot of light).
Software: I am disappointed in the fact that Vista or Mac?s are not supported though I am using XP. I am thinking about buying something more powerful than what is provided. But if you use the Roxio software? make sure that you set the quality to its maximum setting. It may take a little longer to compile, but maintaining as much quality as possible is worth it. One other option is to finalize the CD and use the media on the cd rather than importing it from the camera. I am sure there are disadvantages to this but I?m not sure what they are.
My Conclusion: If you are not an expert? you don?t plan on doing a lot of editing and you want an easy to use camcorder with excellent video quality? this is your camcorder.
Canon DC50:
