Canon DC50

The DC50 isn't the most intuitive camcorder, but its video and photo quality can't be beat.

Canon DC50
If you already own a Canon digital camera, you'll feel right at home with the company's DC50 camcorder ($720 as of April 24, 2007), thanks to the similar control systems. If you're unfamiliar with Canon cameras, you may find the DC50 a bit intimidating at first. But getting through the initiation phase is worth it: This camcorder takes outstanding video as well as still photos, and makes lots of useful controls available for both modes. The DC50 records onto -R, -RW, or -R dual-layer discs, recording up to 36 minutes total on a dual-layer disc at its best quality setting. That's less shooting time than you'd get on a tape or hard-drive model, but you can remove the Mini DVD disc from the camera and play it on most home DVD players (after finalizing the disc) without further intermediate steps.
In tests performed by the PC World Test Center, the DC50 earned top scores for video quality in standard light and under low-light conditions. Its audio scores were about average for the 11 camcorders we tested. Casual outdoor videos looked pleasing, with nicely saturated colors and sharp details. For instance, the DC50 did a fine job of capturing kiteboarders zipping around in a roaring 30-knot wind in late afternoon sunlight, despite the difficult lighting and fast action. The DC50's windscreen setting performed quite nicely in capturing the kiteboarders. Though the camera's front-mounted microphone pointed directly into the wind, little of that noise carried over into the recorded clip. The sharp, bright 2.7-inch wide-format (16:9) color LCD worked well in full sunlight, though the camera's color eye-level viewfinder was still preferable. Switching on optical image stabilization vastly improved the video.
Operating the DC50 has its ups and downs. The start/stop, zoom, and photo buttons are sensibly positioned for one-handed operation. The power switch doubles as a record/playback selector, which works fine once you remember that fact, but the switch is enigmatically labeled 'Mode'. Fortunately, most of the other buttons' labeling is logical. Typically you select a setting by pressing the Function button and then using the camcorder's tiny joystick to scroll through an on-screen menu of minuscule (and somewhat cryptic) text. Buried at the bottom of the Function list is yet another menu of camera setup options.
What the DC50 lacks in intuitiveness, it compensates for in specialized controls. A dedicated button lets you jump to Quick Start mode, essentially a sleep status that instantly powers the camcorder up or down. It's faster than the camera's still relatively snappy 3-second cold start time. A tiny and nearly hidden switch offers access to either Program mode or Full Automatic mode; the latter mode disables most of the settings found in the Function menu. Four on-screen grids (single or multiple horizontal and vertical lines in gray or white) simplify the task of keeping those horizons level. In addition, you can use the eight scene modes for video or still photography.
Since it can take 5-megapixel still images, you might consider the DC50 a legitimate replacement for a good digital still camera; but matched against a good-quality 5-megapixel fixed-lens camera, the DC50 couldn't equal the still camera for image sharpness, though its color fidelity was every bit as good. The DC50 does provide most of the exposure controls you'd expect for handling still photography, including shutter- and aperture-priority modes, histograms, and auto-bracketing.
Canon bundles Roxio's Windows-based MyDVD software with the DC50. The camcorder supports Windows XP but not Windows Vista. Another limitation: Canon provides no support for downloading video from the camera's DVD to a Mac; you can download still images, however.
The DC50 is a poor choice for a technology-challenged user, but for someone with experience shooting video, the DC50's image quality and many custom settings more than outweigh its slightly awkward controls.
Tracey Capen


Local Articles
Home Electronics
Home