Canon DC10 Camcorder Review by David Kender Published on Oct 7, 2005 5:00 PM

Canon, the tortoise of the camcorder industry, has finally chosen to enter into the race with the hare. The DC10 and DC20 (Specs, ) mark their first foray into the DVD camcorder market, currently dominated by Sony. Their large imager size (1/4” and 1/3.9”, respectively) promise some considerable performance, and their stylish and slender bodies indicate superb handling and portability. But how did they do running the Camcorderinfo.com battery of tests? We got our hands on a DC10 to find out.

Video Performance(7.0)
The Canon DC10 put in a decent showing, but not quite what we had hoped from a $750 camcorder. Aided by the 1/4” CCD and 690K effective pixels, the picture was sharp, sharper than most DVD cams. The colors were quite lackluster however. The greens, yellows, and green-blues all tended to run together. They could not compare to the DCR-DVD403 (Review, Specs, $489), which surprised us all with its screaming colors and best performance we’d ever seen from a DVD cam.

The Panasonic VDR-M75 (Review, Specs, $669.99) and the Hitachi DZ-MV780 (Review, Specs, $499.99) both had better colors with approximately the same level of sharpness. They both seemed to have some sort of black boost that made the color look a little unnatural. You might call the DC10’s performance dull, but honest.

Video Resolution (10.3)
With the DC10, we captured video footage of a standard resolution chart in both 4:3 and 16:9 (widescreen) modes. It was then exported to Imatest Imaging Software to calibrate the camcorder’s video resolution. In 4:3 mode, the camcorder gave us approximately 393.9 lines of horizontal resolution, with approximately 262 lines of vertical resolution at its best, producing a true resolution of 103201.8 (0.1 MP). In widescreen mode, this model gave us approximately 418.2 lines of horizontal resolution, with approximately 268.2 lines of vertical resolution at its best, yielding a true resolution of 112161.24 (0.1 MP).  This is a very decent score for video resolution.

The Front (6.0)
The incredibly slender, compact body of the DC10 fits all you need up front. On top is the lens, with a 27mm filter diameter and 10x optical zoom. Underneath is a remote sensor and built-it microphone. This is a rather plain section, enlivened on the DC20 by a video light and flash. At least you know where part of that extra hundred dollars is going if you decide to step up to the big sister model.

The Right Side (9.0)
The right side of the DC10 is as sleek as it is comfortable. Adopting the curvilinear design favored by most DVD-cam manufacturers, Canon has taken the extra step of rounding out the entire back half of the body. This makes for an exceptionally comfortable grip. An adjustable hand strap helps with support, as well.

The Back (7.0)
The rear of the DC10 continues the smart design, with the buttons for record on/off and record/playback/power-off placed in comfortable reach of the thumb. All ports (few that they are) are located here, as well. A/V input is located in the middle, and at the bottom, USB and DC power in.

The viewfinder measures the standard 0.3” with 123,000 pixels, but appears rather small on the body. Still, it fits almost seamlessly into the overall aesthetic, and the body is slender enough that your nose doesn’t get squished quite as much as it does on most camcorders. This problem could have been easily averted by giving the viewfinder a telescoping feature. We don’t want to see viewfinders go the way of the dinosaur, so we’ll keep pushing for more usability.

The Left Side (8.5)
The left side is a fascinating intersection of design versus functionality. The main problem is the battery location. Cleverly placed in the LCD cavity, it fits so well you’re almost left wondering why they haven’t always hid them away there. The answer, of course, is that this design leaves no room for battery expansion. And anyone who has taken a camcorder on a long trip knows the value of a long-life battery. Immediately, your shooting options have been limited.

The left side is also the setting for nearly all the interface. The Function button (manual control), the Menu button (administrative menu), and the “Omni” controller, a jagged, little joystick that constitutes your primary navigation tool, all sit at the upper rear, just under the viewfinder. Below that is the Photo print/share button and the video/still toggle switch. The switch for the internal lens cover is located towards the front.

A number of convenient buttons have also been lined in two rows, one above the LCD cavity, and one inside. On top, they are all multi-functioning: 1) record review / rewind / - (minus sign); 2) drive mode / forward / + (plus sign); 3) digital effects on/off / play/pause; and 4) stop. The second row of buttons is a bit simpler: finalize, display recording information, backlight, and wide screen / playlist.

All of this button placement on the left side guarantees that one-handed operation for anything but straight point-and-shoot is impossible.

The Top (7.0)
The top of the DC10 best displays the bisection between the lens/interface half of the body and the DVD recording area half. The left half, above the lens barrel is bare. It could have been the perfect place for an accessory shoe, as found on Sony’s DCR-DVD403, but it looks like we’ll have to wait at least another generation for that.

The right half of the top houses all the interface. Towards the front is a switch for Program AE (an ersatz manual mode), Auto, and Scene mode (all the pre-programmed AE settings). Further back, the zoom toggle rests perfectly under the index finger. Behind this, also accessible by the index finger, is the photo shutter button.

Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control (7.5)
By and large, the DC10 functions quite well as a simple point-and-shoot. Automatic adjustments are quick and accurate. The automatic white balance is particularly good, and managed a color balance in quickly changing conditions with aplomb. The auto exposure took the longest to adjust. There is an option for Auto Slow Shutter, which slows the shutter speed down to 1/30 when appropriate. While this can prove a useful option sometimes, be warned that a shutter speed this slow will almost certainly cause some blurring in moving subjects.

The DC10 includes eight Program AE settings. These are preset aperture and shutter speed adjustments configured to handle specific shooting environments. In practice, their usefulness can be dubious, but they might be worth investigating for new users. They include: Portrait, Snow, Spotlight, Sports, Beach, Fireworks, Night, and Sunset.

The Image Effects menu offers four preloaded settings: Vivid, Neutral, Low Sharpening, and Soft Skin Detail. There are also options for a customizable setting and to turn Image Effects off.

Overall Manual Control (6.0)
There is no full manual control mode on the Canon DC10. Let’s get that fact clear straight out of the gate. DVD camcorders do not cater to the manual control crowd. The nature of the medium is directed at ease of use almost exclusively, with manufacturers only recently adding video quality as a second runner-up. The DC10 follows this trend, much to our disappointment. It should come as no great surprise to those who follow Canon anyway, as none of their camcorders have independent shutter speed and aperture. Instead, the user is presented with “training wheels” controls – Shutter Speed and Aperture Priority modes that allow you to make one adjustment, while the camcorder automatically corrects with the other controls.

You are given the option of manually adjusting the white balance, focus, and exposure, but only the white balance is something you’ll find useful. The others are more trouble than they are worth. The exposure is measured on a sliding scale of the ill-defined “EV steps” and the focus is never defined at all – you must rely only on the appearance of the LCD’s picture.

Adjustments are made using the DC10’s “omni” controller, a small joystick on the left side and two buttons, Function and Menu. The Function menu contains most of the image control settings: choosing priority modes, white balance, Image Effects, Digital Effects, and recording and still image quality. The joystick works decently, certainly better than the minute GZ-MC500 (Review, Specs, $669.99) joystick. The edges of this joystick have been honed to an unusually sharp edge, however, which can make handling uncomfortable. Also, the joystick seems destined to fall out at some point in the life of this camcorder, so hang onto your warranty and parts re-ordering form. The second button, Menu, is used for administrative options and less on-the-go settings like turning the Auto Slow Shutter off.

Zoom (7.0)
The zoom toggle is exactly the design we hope more manufacturers would follow when they are looking to make small zoom controls. The raised shape, with a graspable surface and smooth, quiet operation is a much preferable to the sliding switches on the Opturas and Eluras. There are three zoom speeds available, depending on the level of pressure you exert on the toggle. Unlike many camcorders, the slowest speed functions through the entire zoom -1x to 10x. Many camcorders speed up after 5x.

Focus (5.5)
Manual focus is probably the worst manual control feature on the DC10. The function is activated by pushing down on the joystick. The letters MF appear in blue at the top of the screen. Adjustments are made by pushing the joystick left and right. There is no gauge of how far you have pushed in either direction; you must rely entirely on the LCD’s sharpness, which is far from an accurate rendering of how the image will appear on a bigger screen.

Exposure (Aperture) (4.75)
Exposure on the DC10 is better than the manual focus, but not by much. Like all their consumer cams, Canon offers a scale of arbitrary numbers, in this case ranging from -11 to +11. In many cases, this may do the job, but an independent f-stop range would have been nice. Aperture Priority is available, which allows you make f-stop decisions while automatically adjusting the other controls to compensate. F-stops range between 2.0, 2.4, 2.8, 3.4, 4.0, 4.8, 5.6, 6.7, 8.0, 9.5, 11, 14, and 16.

Shutter Speed (3.0)
Shutter speed adjustments cannot be made independently. There is a Shutter Priority mode which allows you to make shutter speed choices while automatically compensating with other controls. Choices include: 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/100, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, and 1/2000. We do not consider this a full manual control, however, because you cannot adjust the other controls at will.

White Balance (7.0)
There are several white balance options on the Canon DC10: Automatic, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, and manual. Setting the manual white balance is a simple and effective one-touch process.

Gain (0.0)
There is no manual gain on the DC10.

Other Manual Control (0.0)
The DC10 offers no other manual control.

Ease of Use (6.0)
The ease of use crown still rests solidly on the heads of Sony; nothing has changed with the release of the DC10. There is an Auto mode, easy accessible via a switch on top. If one were to leave it in Auto mode the whole time, the DC10 could easily compete with a camcorder like the DCR-DVD403. It’s the manual control sections that can get a little tricky. Maneuvering through the Function menu can get tedious with the sharp, little joystick. Some very basic usability improvements could have been made, as well, like when you get to the bottom of a list of items in a menu, you should be able to get back to the top by pressing down once more, rather than pushing up again through each choice. It’s the little things like this that may not seem like much now, but cost precious seconds when your subject is a one-year old child on the verge of taking their first steps.

Still Features (6.5)
With their first time out in the DVD realm, Canon has chosen not to distract themselves with a boatload of still features that the user may or may not want. This is not a competitive hybrid camcorder / camera by any means, though it does takes stills and offers some simple features.

Stills on the DC10 can be taken in resolution sizes of 640 x 480 and 1280 x 960 and three quality settings, Normal, Fine, and Super Fine. They can be saved to the DVD or to a dedicated SD/MM card port. No cards are included with purchase of the DC10 or DC20.

The same Image Effects that are available in video mode are also found here in still mode, including Vivid, Neutral, Low Sharpening, Soft Skin Detail, and a customizable setting. The Drive Mode has options for continuous shooting, high speed continuous shooting, and auto exposure bracketing. This last feature takes three stills in rapid succession, each at a slightly different exposure setting, in order to obtain the best image possible. Drive Mode can only be used when saving to the MiniSD card, not DVD.

There are three light metering options. Evaluative metering uses the average lighting across the picture. Center Weight Average, as the name implies, favors the central regions of the frame. Spot metering uses just the area within a frame which appears on the screen. You also have the option of enabling a focus priority, which does not allow the picture to be taken until it is in focus.

A flash and video lamp are included on the DC20, but none on the DC10.

Still Resolution (3.2)
Canon’s DC10 can capture stills on a Mini SD card or the DVD-RW at two resolutions: 1280 x 960, and 640 x 480. Stills are taken of standard resolution chart and exported Imatest Imaging Software. The DC10 had a best possible still resolution of 319219.32 (0.32 MP). This wasn't a very good score and we are fairly unimpressed, despite how sharp the stills appeared to our eyes.

Still Performance (7.0)
The DC10 produced exceptionally sharp stills, thanks to the 1.23 megapixels on the CCD. The colors were far more vivid than in video mode, so bright (as opposed to richness of the DCR-DVD403) I might call them a little overexposed. No particular part of the spectrum performed better than the other.

In comparison, the DZ-MV780 showed almost as much sharpness, but much richer colors. The VDR-M75 had darker and muddier colors, without the DC10’s sharpness. Finally, the DCR-DVD403 showed extremely rich colors, but at the cost of its sharpness. Comparing the DCR-DVD403 and DC10 becomes difficult in this regard, as they each excel in the different areas. You’ll have to decide yourself whether you would rather have color or sharpness stills from a DVD cam.

Low Light Performance(4.0)
Low light performance was certainly no championing area for the DC10. At 60 lux, the equivalent of a room lit by a single bulb, the picture was exceptionally noisy, though the colors remained decently represented. This compared about equally with the VDR-M75, and better than the DZ-MV780. No DVD camcorder could compare to the outstanding low light performance of the Sony DCR-DVD403, which simply burst with color.

At 15 lux, the picture was awash with noise, almost as if those cheesy “Mosaic” or “Art” digital effects were engaged. Still, there was a decent amount of color information remaining. The DZ-MV780 and VDR-M75 could not come close. Again, only the DCR-DVD403 succeeded. Despite lots of noise, the color was simply amazing.

Zoom Power/Ratio (10.0)
The Canon DC10 reaches an optical zoom of 10x, and a digital zoom of 200x. The digital zoom can also be capped at 40x. I believe that Canon deserves some accolades for keeping their zoom levels down to a reasonable level. Too often, manufacturers who make camcorder models without a leg to stand on will boost the zoom, a cheap way to inflate prices. A word to new users: footage of anything over 5x-6x will be too shaky for even the steadiest hands, and a tripod will be required. Digital zoom is even more reprehensible, because it is a digital process that artificially increases the size of each pixel, thus distorting the image. This is all secondary to the fact that nobody wants to watch video that zooms in and out every ten seconds. Find a good shot and stick with it. Your audience will thank you.

Wide Angle (7.4)
Canon’s DC10 was measured at its widest angles in both aspect ratios (4:3 and 16:9). In 4:3 mode, the camcorder had a wide angle measurement of 37 degrees, which stretched to 49 degrees in widescreen mode (16:9). Because the widescreen mode and the electronic image stabilization utilize some of the same pixels, the DC10 can attain a wider angle by turning the image stabilization off.

4:3 Aspect Ratio

16:9 Aspect Ratio

VCR Mode (8.0)
The DC10 has a simple, effective playback feature set. In video mode, each clip is organized in thumbnails, six per screen. Use the joystick to scroll through them, and enjoy the jazzy little animation as you select each clip. Moving from one screen to the next can take a relatively long time as the camcorder reads the DVD creates the thumbs. When playing the clips, you can fast forward at rates of 1.5x, 5x, and 25x. There are also very basic editing features like shifting the playlist around and dividing scenes. These options are better left to editing software.

Still playback is also good. The zoom toggle is used to switch between the thumbnails and a full screen of whatever image is selected. You can also zoom up to 5x into any still pan around the picture using the joystick. To play stills back on a DVD, use the Photomovie Scenes feature, which creates a universally playable slide show.

LCD/Viewfinder (6.0)
The DC10 features 2.5”, non-widescreen LCD with 123K pixels. It has an backlight which can be turned off to conserve power. Somehow, Canon is still producing LCDs that solarize when tilted at even the slightest angle. This corrective technology has been cracked for quite some time, and we were all hoping they could get on board. The viewfinder is 0.3”, also 123K pixels. It does not telescope, but the body is slender enough the users may find it better than a lot of other non-telescoping models.

Audio (4.0)
Audio can only be captured by the stereo microphone beneath the DC10’s lens. This camcorder lacks an external microphone port, an inexcusable deficiency for an $850 model. The camcorder is also missing a headphone-out port, surely proven to be one of the more useful features for anyone who has used one before. The lack of a microphone jack really makes this camcorder an undesirable purchase for anyone who wants to push their camcorder to it's best performance.

Handling (8.0)
If you reconcile yourself to the fact that the DC10 is a two-hand camcorder (for those who like to make adjustments), the handling is excellent. It feels perfectly matched to the hand, with a great grip and a round back that seems custom molded to the curve of the thumb. All the point-and-shoot buttons – record start / stop, photo shutter, and the zoom – are easily accessible by the right hand. As no manual control adjustments can be made while the DVD is recording (a lamentable fact), it’s just as well that all the adjustment buttons be placed on the left side. The joystick is my only grievance. The edges seem to be razor-honed.

Portability (8.0)
The DC10 is probably the smallest DVD camcorder, so far. An incredibly slender 1.9”, with the smooth body and built-in lens cap, this seems like a cam made for a purse or large pocket. This was, perhaps, the logic behind hiding the battery in the LCD cavity, and thus non-expandable. So, is this the cost of portability? I hope not. Precluding people’s options is rarely a good policy, especially since battery life ranks among the most pressing concerns among camcorder buyers.

DVD cams have been given a run for the money in the portability column with the arrival of flash memory and hard disk memory camcorders. While the DC10 is extremely compact, you may need to carry a plastic jewel case or two for extra DVDs. Having handled hard disk camcorders like the GZ-MG30 (Review, Specs, $399.95) recently, I’ve also been reminded of the weight of mechanical parts. MiniDV and DVD cams must move the recording media in some way; the new breed of camcorders has shed that burden, and several ounces in the process.

Battery Life (6.7)
The DC10’s included BP-208 battery was tested for its running time. We tested it with the LCD open, and no manual controls engaged. The DC power was plugged when the discs were changed. In total, the battery lasted 1 hour, 7 minutes, 1 second (67 minutes).

Compression (5.0)
The DC10 compresses video into the MPEG-2 format. While there have been a number of improvements recently in the compression engines that make these compressions, footage is never quite as good as the relatively uncompressed MiniDV format. Stills are saved in the JPEG format in three resolution sizes and three quality settings: Normal, Fine, and Super Fine.

Media (5.0)
The DC10 uses DVD-R and DVD+/-RW to record video and stills. Before the DVDs can be played on anything other than the camcorder, they must be “finalized.” Unlike most the DCR-DVD403, the DC10 does have a dedicated still media slot for MiniSD cards, a popular format for still cameras, but relatively unknown for camcorders. MiniSD cards cost about the same as full size SD cards, but are approximately 60% smaller.

Editing (3.0)
Editing DVD footage is not nearly so enjoyable as MiniDV, as most editing software cannot import the file type. The included software, Digital Video Solution and Roxy MyDVD, allow for basic editing. For anything beyond the rudimentary, you’ll want to investigate programs like Final Cut Pro or Premiere. Roxy MyDVD has the added feature of allowing PCs to view and edit unfinalized footage.

Widescreen/16:9 Mode (8.0)
Widescreen mode can be implemented by pressing the widescreen button found at the top of the LCD cavity. According to the manual this model achieves widescreen by utilizing the entire width of the 1/3.9 inch CCD. The 16:9 images are meant for playback on a widescreen TV. When played on a standard TV the image will appear stretched. Because the electronic image stabilization and the widescreen mode both use the same pixels on the far sides of the CCD, turning off the image stabilization will result in a wider field of view. This issue could have been avoided if Canon had included the much preferable optical image stabilization system, found on nearly all its MiniDV camcorders.

Scan Rates/24P (0.0)
The DC10 has no scan rates other than the native 60i.

Ports (3.0)
The DC10 only houses a few ports within its silver frame. The A/V out, USB, DC-in and Mini SD card ports can be found at rear of the camcorder . The lack of an A/v input port limits this camcorder’s versatility; it can only be used to play back video, not record. Without analog to digital pass through, it is impossible to digitize images from older media such as Hi8. This DC10 also loses points for lacking a microphone port and accessory shoe. At this price, you should be demanding features these simple features which are commonly available on camcorders like the VDR-M75.

Other Features (5.5)
Image Effects - The DC20 offers several image effects. In addition to the four preset modes, there is a customizable setting which allows you to adjust color depth, brightness, contrast, and sharpness. Card Mix- This feature, as ubiquitous on Canon camcorders as it is undesirable, allows you to make composite images with video and stills or preloaded, cornball images like the cartoon newspapers.

Digital Effects - There are a host of too-cheesy-to-believe effects included with the DC10. Fades include: Fade trigger (fade up from black), Wipe, Corner Wipe, Jump, Flip, Puzzle, Zigzag, Beam, and Tide. Digital picture effects Black & White, Sepia, Art, Mosaic, Ball, Cube, Wave, Color Mask, and Mirror.

Multi-Image Screen - This effect works like a high speed continuous shooting for 4, 9, or 16 images. It then tiles the images on the LCD.

Wind Screen - This feature cuts high end noise on the audio track, often caused by wind.

Stitch Assist - This feature works in conjunction with the included software to artificially create a panorama shot from several photos working along the same horizontal plane.

Comparison
Canon DC20
The big sister model to the DC10, the DC20 features a larger imager (1/4” versus 1/3.9”), which boosts the effective video resolution to 1.23 MP and the effective still resolution to 2.0 MP. It also adds a video lamp, a flash, and an additional still resolution size of 1632 x 1224. These features promise a picture, but handling, ports, and pretty much everything else is identical.

Sony DCR-DVD403
The DVD403 proved to be the powerhouse performer in this year’s DVD line-up. With a much larger imager (1/3”), the gap between this cam and every other DVD cam s pretty wide. It also had spectacular low light performance, making it a viable choice as one of the top performers in any format this year. The 403 has no dedicated still media and no audio input. It does support analog to digital pass-through.

Panasonic VDR-M75
The VDR-M75 offered no great competition to any camcorder. Its biggest obstacle is the naked disc recording format, making playback on anything but the camcorder difficult. Still performance was great, but bright light and low light video moved from decent to disappointing. It does sport an audio input and A/V in and out. The DC10 outperformed the VDR-M75 in most key categories, but the Panasonic also has a much cheaper price tag.

Hitachi DZ-MV780
Like the VDR-M75, the Hitachi DZ-MV780 was nothing special. In fact, it seemed to perform more poorly than the model it replaced from the previous year. Along with the benefits of a mic jack and A/V in and out, it is a considerably cheaper investment

Who It’s For
Point-and-Shooters (0.0)
The DC10 could easily accommodate a point-and-shooter, provided they never strayed beyond the safe haven of Auto mode. The automatic controls are quite good. Manual mode is also good, but a little tricky to maneuver for the outright beginner.

Budget Consumers (0.0)
At $750, this seems a bit steep for the penny pincher, or even the well-educated consumer looking to save a few bucks. Most DVD cams are cheaper, if you have your heart set on the DVD medium.

Still Photo / Video Camera Hybrid (0.0)
The DC10 has few still options. If everything else about this review struck your fancy, the DC20 is by far the better option to explore. Nearly all the improvements concern the still performance.

Gadget Freaks (0.0)
The DC10 is not a breakthrough for anybody except Canon. The real news in the DVD cams this year was the DCR-DVD403.

Manual Control Freaks (0.0)
With no full manual control, this is probably not the option for you. Manual control freaks know that DVD cams are the wrong place to look for options anyway. With no full manual control, this is probably not the option for you. Manual control freaks know that DVD cams are the wrong place to look for options anyway.

Pros/ Serious Hobbyists (0.0)
For a DVD camcorder, it’s pretty good. But DVD cams have so many limitations they a can really only serve point-and-shoot purposes. That may be a large market, but not your market.

Conclusion
The DC10 represents Canon’s first attempt at a DVD camcorder. Biding their time has paid off for them, as far as performance goes. The video was incredibly sharp, if lacking in a little vibrancy. It easily trumped the top DVD camcorders from Panasonic, the VDR-M75, and Hitachi, the DZ-MV780. This is not much of a feat, as a host of MiniDV cams beat them, as well. At this price range, the Sony DCR-DVD403 offered some incredibly stiff competition. And unfortunately, the DC10 could not match it. The voodoo power Sony loaded into the DVD403 made the picture so vivid that we don’t expect another DVD cam to top it for a while.

But losing out to the DVD403 is not the DC10’s only problem. This camcorder seemed to hit all our sore spots, the elements (or lack of them) that make us throw up our red flags. The first is the enclosed battery. Time and time again, we’ve heard that consumers want longer battery life. By hiding the battery under the LCD, they have eliminated the possibly of making a larger, longer-life battery – a terrible choice. Secondly, there is no audio input for an external microphone. You are therefore left to deal exclusively with the inferior built-in microphone, never a camcorder’s strong suit. Like a lot of camcorders this year, the DC10 leads a bad taste in our mouth when it comes to expandability - it really can't and it makes it really hard for us to recommend it.

It’s a decent first time out, but we recommend holding off on the Canon DC10. If you say, well, this is a camcorder for those seeking ease of use, you do have somewhat of a good point. But, if you're seeking ease of use, you'll get a much better deal in the Sony DVD403 or the DVD203 (Review, Specs, $587.65).