Canon DC210 Camcorder Reviewby Michael PerlmanPublished on Dec 26, 2007 6:15 PM 
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Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control (4.0)
The automatic controls on the Canon DC210 (Review, Specs, $0.00) are rather good for a camcorder in this price range. For the simplest possible recording, simply slide the switch on top from “P” mode to auto mode and let the camcorder do the thinking. In auto mode, you retain some control over quality settings and aspect ratio, but the core image controls (i.e. focus, exposure, and white balance) are automatic.
The auto exposure is proficient for most shooting environments. It’s not as quick as comparatively priced Sonys, nor some of the upper-end Canons. It can take a few seconds for the DC210 to “read” the scene and make an exposure decision. The auto focus is faster, working very well in bright to moderate lighting, and holding its own in low light, as well. Auto white balance was also found to be more than adequate.
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The well-placed joystick |
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Overall Manual Control (5.0)
The manual controls on most Canon camcorders are good, though the best features are typically reserved for their higher-end models. Compared to other DVD camcorders in its price range, however, Canon ranks about even or just below Panasonic, and above Sony.
Part of the DC210’s strength comes from its rear-mounted joystick. This allows for one-handed operation with the shooting hand’s thumb. The second part of the equation is a healthy number of manual controls. Focus, exposure, shutter speed, white balance, and color controls are all included. The third winning component is a great menu system. It’s intuitive, easy to read, and simple to navigate.
Zoom (6.5)
The zoom control on Canon camcorders is better than most, thanks to an option that allows you to control the speed of the zoom. Normally, a zoom lever is pressure-sensitive; the harder you push, the faster the zoom moves. This is one option on the DC210. However, if you seek out the Zoom submenu in the Main Menu, you’ll find three speed settings. These lock the zoom to a fixed speed, regardless of finger pressure. Speed 1 is the slowest, Speed 2 is in the middle, and Speed 3 is the fastest. This is a great option for the trigger-happy shooter who too often receives complaints of manic footage.
The zoom controlled is a small toggle on top of the camcorder, located in just the right place for the index finger. A second set of zoom controls, labeled W (wide) and T (telephoto), are located on the LCD panel, below the screen. When zooming, a scale appears on the screen to tell you where in the zoom range you are.
Zoom Power Ratio (35.0)
The Canon DC210 has a 35x zoom, certainly more than most shooters will need. We’d like to take this opportunity to stress that most shots over 5x or 6x require a tripod or steady surface to avoid shaky footage.
The digital zoom can extend the zoom to 105x at one setting, then all the way to 1000x. The latter option is simply absurd. If you can find a use for 1000x digital zoom, please feel free to add a comment with your suggestion at the bottom of this review.
Focus (4.0)
The manual focus activated by pushing in on the joystick. A small menu appears in a lower corner of the screen. Toggle through the options until you get to focus. Once activated, the joystick can be moved left and right to shift the focus. Unfortunately, Canon provides little help in ensuring accuracy with this control. There is no numerical value given to tell you where in the focal range you are. The sharpness of the picture as it appears on the screen is all you have, and the screen is small and of a low resolution. There are no additional tools such as instant zoom or peaking to help with manual focus, though these are normally withheld for upper-end high definition camcorders. All in all, the manual focus on the DC210 is weak, but par for its price range.
The focus control in action
Exposure & Aperture (5.5)
The exposure control, like focus, is activated by pushing in on the joystick. A small menu appears in a lower corner. The exposure can be adjusted on a scale from -11 to +11. Each increment corresponds to approximately one-quarter EV steps.
The exposure control in action
When using this control, both the shutter speed and aperture are being affected, though you’ll never be able to find the actual shutter and aperture values displayed. If tighter control is required, you can shift the camcorder into Shutter Priority mode and lock the shutter speed. Then, when you engage the exposure control, only the aperture should be affected.
Shutter Speed (5.85)
The Canon DC210 offers shutter control, even on this entry-level DVD camcorder, giving it a big leg up over Sony. Panasonic and JVC also offer this in most of their models. To activate the shutter control, go to the Function menu and switch the top menu item from “P” to “Tv,” the perplexing abbreviation for Shutter Priority. Shutter speeds include 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/100, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, and 1/2000.
White Balance (5.5)
Canon offers four white balance options: Auto, Daylight, Tungsten, and Manual. This is not a very comprehensive set of presets, and other Canon camcorders have several more options. To make a manual white balance adjustment, choose the Manual setting, then push in on the joystick. The icon will blink for a few seconds, then stop, and your picture will be correctly adjusted. This process takes a little longer in low light.
Gain (0.0)
There is no gain control on the Canon DC210, or any consumer Canon camcorder. Only Panasonic offers gain control in this price range.
Other Manual Controls (2.0)
Image Effects - The Image Effects suite of controls is unique to Canon, and a very good set of options. Located in the Function menu, these controls allow you to control the way color and sharpness appear – something very few consumer camcorders can boast. More expensive Canon models have even more features, including a customizable setting where you mix and match four parameters. On the DC210, there are four simpler settings to choose from. You can choose one and only one at a time. The Vivid setting boosts color saturation. This can be good for outdoor shooting to get green grass and blue skies.
The Neutral setting reduces saturation, which may be better for low light shots where you don’t want a lot of false color saturation.
The Low Sharpening setting reduces the amount of in-camera sharpening – a cheat that cameras use to increase the appearance of resolution without increasing the actual resolution. It does this by pushing the shadows and highlights along the edges of objects. The Low Sharpening setting reduces the effect. On the whole, the low resolution of the imager prevents this setting from having much effect.
Finally, the Soft Skin Detail setting searches for colors within the “skin tone” area of the spectrum, and manipulates the color to make the tones appear better.
Markers - This feature creates symmetrical lines on the screen to help you line up your shots. These lines are not recorded to the final footage. Options include a single horizontal line across the middle of the screen, or two pairs of vertical and horizontal lines that form a 9-square grid. Both of these options can be displayed in white or grey.