Canon DC210 Camcorder Reviewby Michael PerlmanPublished on Dec 26, 2007 6:15 PM 
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Still Features (4.0)
For an entry-level camcorder, the DC210 (Review, Specs, $0.00) is decently equipped in the still image department. There’s one serious downside, however. The DC210 does not have a card slot, unlike nearly all camcorders and cameras. Instead, photos are saved to the DVD. This doesn’t hinder the quality of the photos, but it does seem like a strange throwback. We know this it’s fairly limiting without an SD card slot because that compact, easily swappable media is a nice separation between video clips and images. On the other hand, all images recorded on a Canon camcorder are accompanied by a small screen with a histogram that displays exposure levels, shooting mode, image effects, white balance, image size, aperture, shutter speed, and date and time the image was captured. Yowzers! All images are captured to disc in the JPEG format in two sizes—1024 x 768 (L) or 640 x 480 (S). The camcorder lacks a flash, however. Top that, Sony, Panasonic, or JVC. The DC210 also includes a Self-Timer and Photomovie option, which simply converts a batch of captured stills into a slide show video.
All manual controls are available in Photo mode as well, including White Balance, Exposure, and Shutter Speed. Image Effects and Digital Effects can also be applied. The Photo menu consists of the following items:
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Photo Administrative Menu |
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| Camera Setup | Auto Slow Shutter, Zoom Speed, Focus Priority, Self Timer |
| Disc Operations | Disc Info, Disc Initialize |
| Display Setup | Brightness, LCD Mirror, TV Screen, Markers, Language, Demo Mode |
| System Setup | Beep, Power Save, Standby Off |
| Date/Time Setup | Time Zone/District, Date/Time, Date Format |
| Back | |
In Playback mode, the Photo menu contains the following options:
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Photo Playback |
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| Camera Setup | Auto Slow Shutter, Zoom Speed, Focus Priority, Self Timer |
| Disc Operations | Disc Info, Disc Initialize, Finalize, Unfinalize, Disc Protect, Photomovie |
| Display Setup | Brightness, Language |
| System Setup | Beep, Power Save, Standby Off |
| Date/Time Setup | Time Zone/District, Date/Time, Date Format |
| Back | |
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The still image playback menu in action |
The still image playback mode, |
Still Performance (6.59)
The still performance of the Canon DC210 was tested by shooting a GretagMacBeth Color Checker chart at an even, bright light, then running the stills through Imatest imaging software to determine color accuracy, noise, and resolution. At best, the DC210 was able to produce a color error of 9.11, statically identical to the Canon DC220 (Review, Specs, $318), and not quite as good as the Panasonic VDR-D230 (Review, Specs, $0.00) and the Sony DCR-DVD108 (Review, Specs, $339). The noise of the DC210 measured 1.6025%, much higher than the Panasonic but about the same as the Sony. The saturation measured 108.2%.
In order to get this best score, we manually lowered the exposure two increments (an EV level of -0.5).
Still Resolution (4.08)
The still resolution of the Canon DC210 was tested by shooting an Applied Image ISO 12233 resolution chart at an even, bright light, then running the results through Imatest imaging software. At best, the camcorder was able to produce a horizontal resolution of 553.3 line widths per picture height (lw/ph) – with a clipping of 2.31% and an oversharpening of 4.48% - and a vertical resolution of 436.2 lw/ph – with a clipping of 2.0% and an oversharpening of 7.94%.
The camcorder did not produce its best results in auto mode. In order to get this best score, we had to lower the exposure on the camcorder down one notch (an equivalent -0.25EV).