Canon Announces DC22 – New DVD Camcorder Replaces DC10 and DC20

by John Neely
Published on Aug 2, 2006 5:00 AM



August 2, 2006 - Today, Canon announced a mid-August release of their new DC22 DVD camcorder, which will replace last year’s DC10 (Review, Specs, $409.99) and DC20 (Specs, ). Canon reports that this will be their first compact camcorder to offer dual layer recording to DVD-R DL discs, capable to storing up to 108 minutes of video at the highest quality setting.

The DC22 carries many of its predecessor's features, including a 1/3.9-inch, 2.2 gross MP CCD sensor, true 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio and one-touch DVD dubbing using the bundled software. This model improves upon the DC20 with a 2.7-inch LCD (vs. 2.5-inch) and a widescreen electronic color viewfinder. The DC22 also adds two features found on Canon's ZR series of MiniDV camcorders: Level Shot, which creates a guideline along the screen for leveling help and Smooth Zoom, which allows you to fix the zoom speed at three different settings or vary it according to finger-pressure.

Canon's DC22 will replace the DC20 and the DC10, narrowing the company's DVD camcorder line down to three models from the current four. The $499 entry-level DC100 and $899 flagship DC40 round out the company's new DVD camcorder lineup. By comparison, Sony currently offers six DVD camcorders, including the new AVCHD high definition DVD camcorder, the HDR-UX1, due out this fall. Panasonic has four DVD camcorders on the market, two of them featuring 3CCD imaging systems and Samsung is in the market with many lower end (low price) models.

Additional features the DC22 will share along with the rest of the DC line include an RGB Primary Color Filter and Canon's DIGIC DV image processor. One of the processor's benefits is its ability to shift color space from video to still shooting modes.

The CCD, measuring 1/3.9 inches in size, offers 2.2 gross MP, 1.23 effective MP in 4:3 aspect ratio, 1.5 effective MP in 16:9 with image stabilization off and 1.38 effective MP in 16:9 with image stabilization on. The effective pixel count for still images is approximately 2 MP. The lens features a 10x optical and 200x digital zoom, a focal length of 43.3 - 433mm in 16:9 with image stabilization on (in 35mm equiv.) and an f-range of 1.8 - 2.8.

The DC22 includes an array of auto exposure modes on par with other DC camcorders (Portrait, Spotlight, Sports, etc.), as well as Aperture and Shutter Priority Modes and a 9-Point Auto Intelligent Auto Focus (AiAF).

In still shooting mode, the DC22 can be operated in Motor Drive mode (often referred to as "burst mode" by other manufacturers), auto exposure bracketing, a built-in flash, red-eye reduction and Stitch Assist, which works in conjunction with the included software to create panoramic photos.

Also available on the DC40 is a direct-to-DVD record feature. With Canon's bundled editing software, Roxio My DVD for Canon, users can perform one-touch dubbing for copying footage onto multiple DVDs. The software also allows basic video and photo editing, titling and basic DVD authoring functions such as addition of a play menu.

The Canon DC22 will be available in mid-August for an MSRP of $699.

See Photo Gallery of Canon DC22