Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I am used to a VHS camcorder (a Sharp Slimcam) that takes fabulous video, but am upgrading to digital for the first time. I did a lot of research and decided that DVD recording was better for me than hard drive or card media because I'm not into the "transfer to computer, edit, burn to disc" video making. I want to pop the finished disc into my DVD player and be done with it. I never saw the attraction to Sony's touch-screen camcorders. Why smudge up your LCD screen with fingerprints? This Canon has two buttons and a joystick next to the LCD as well as a regular viewfinder in case bright daylight washes out the LCD. I bought the cheapest SD card I could find (Kingston 2gig $14) for the still pictures and Memorex miniDVD-RW's (3 for $15 at Best Buy) for the video. Both work fine. I'm sure there are better prices out there but I wanted to get started. All I want is simple movie making and, while this unit has some whistles and bells I will never use, they don't get in the way. There is an "easy" switch to make the camera do everything, and a manual mode that lets you tweak settings if you're into that. It takes pretty good quality video with the SP (higher quality) setting, I haven't tried the lower one. But don't expect eye-popping videos. You will need a hi-def camcorder for that and a Blu-Ray player to watch them unless you intend to use the camcorder as your player. As far as recording standard, home videos, the DC320 is a good value if you pay less than $350. The still camera, however, cannot match my little Fujifilm S3100 and I did not buy this Canon for that. If I happen to have it handy when a photo op arrives, I may use it, but will always have my "real" still camera with me. When you snap the shutter, there is a long delay for focusing before the picture is taken, so candid shots will be challenging. It does have a rapid-fire setting so you can press and hold the shutter for a series of quick shots. But you will have to upload your pix via a card reader of some kind because there is no USB port on this camera. Images can be watched through a standard 3-wire AV cable plugged into your TV if you want. There is no built-in light for still shots, but you can use the LCD screen as a small light source by using a menu setting to switch it on, (it turns white) and turn it towards the front. Better than nothing, I suppose. There is no extra light source for video taking, but there is a night-mode among the different settings. Videos can be recorded in one of two modes - you have to initialize the disc for the mode you want before shooting. One mode lets you erase specific scenes in the camera while keeping others, but requires a limited type of DVD player for playback. The other mode is more universal but restricts your options to erasing the whole disc if you want to start over. DVD-RW discs let you do that, DVD-R's are pretty much "you shoot it, you keep it" unless you edit with your computer later and burn to another disc. Overall, the menu is pretty intuitive once you learn where stuff is, and the joystick makes for quick navigating, plus you never touch your LCD screen! The biggest complaint I have is the position of the on/off/mode switch. When your hand is through the strap, it is very difficult to operate this switch with your thumb like you're supposed to, but fortunately you don't need that switch while you're shooting. There is a standby setting that lets you power down for a few minutes to save battery power and then power up quickly. The battery life is dismal - maybe 20 minutes of average shooting time, you will want to find a long-life (1 hour) battery to carry as a backup. Videos can be shot in widescreen format which is great for my LCD TV. Battery charging must be done on camera unless you buy a separate charger. Also, you need to remember to close the lens cover when you're done shooting - no automatic cover at this price. Summary: Nice, easy to use, somewhat flexible camcorder with average resolution. Don't expect miracles with a camcorder under $600 and you will enjoy this Canon.
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