Canon DC95 Digital DVD Camcorder (25x Optical Zoom, 2.7" Widescreen Colour LCD ) Camcorder Best Buys

Surprised at Picture, no stills really a bonus. - 27 Feb 2007

28 out of 28 found this review helpful.

I bought this as a present for my sister and brother in law. As they live abroad I naturally gave it a good test. The idea was for a basic easy to use camcorder. The lack of still features was just one less hassle, they already have a decent digital camera.
Well, it turned out to be a doddle to use, but what really surprised me was the picture. On our Panasonic flat screen CRT TV the picture was superb. The ability to play the recorded DVD back straight away, either using a DVD player or through the camera itself is really useful.
Once the basics are known there are plenty of features to play around with, but they do not get in the way.
The screen and viewfinder worked well, and in sunlight the eyepiece view finder is really useful, it is also easier to hold steady.
The only snag was editing as my software, not being the latest, would not take the .VOB files. Anyhow I managed to convert them and edit and found that the image loss from this changing was not anywhere as near as bad as I expected. I subsequently found that current versions of editing software cope with the DVDs directly, so not a problem.
Only other faff is the need to prepare RW disks. No big deal and they can be reused. R discs are straight in and certainly worth using for those events you do not not want to accidentally wipe away.
Anyhow, as it was a Christmas present it was naturally used at Christmas and the new year, indoor without a lot of light. Again from all the reports I expected this to be terrible. In fact it was the opposite!
All in all I was surprised at how well this camera performed. Certainly better than my 12 year old Canon Hi8 which cost over twice this price then!!
Most reviews suggest getting the DC100 because of the extra features. I say get the DC95 because it DOES NOT have a load of basically redundant features. I suspect the lack of these 'extras' might be helping, but certainly does not hinder the performance of this camera.
As for getting the small DVDs. Marks and Spencers own brand. With the groceries in Waitrose.