Canon DC22 Camcorder Reviewby John NeelyPublished on Nov 29, 2006 12:00 PM
|
Advertisement
|
|||||||||||
 |
|||
|
The DC22's flash |
|||
The Canon DC22 shoots still photos in three resolutions: 1632 x 1224 (about 2MP), 1280 x 960 (about 1.3MP), and 640 x 480 (about 0.3MP). Each size can be recorded in Normal, Fine, or Super Fine quality. Stills can be captured to MiniSD card, as well as DVD. The latter is a pretty useful option considering that the camcorder does not ship with a MiniSD card, and they’re so rarely used that most places stock them in small quantities, if at all. We’ve yet to see a benefit of MiniSD over SD, save for the size, which cuts the shoulder-aching weight of 0.07 ounces down by about half.
Canon claims that their Digic DV processor is capable of shifting to the correct color space when shooting stills, rather than trying to process it under the same color space as video, as some camcorders have done in the past. For full results on our testing, see the Still Performance section below. In short, they look good, for a camcorder. Canon was a camera company first, and the fact that they created this sort of technology indicates that they consider hybrid capability an important feature.
 |
|||
|
The MiniSD card slot |
|||
The DC22 allows for continuous shooting and high speed continuous shooting at varying speeds depending on the resolution. At 1632 x 1224m, it can shoot up to 2.5 frames per second and 3.8 frames per second in high speed. Using the flash, it slows to 2.1 frames per second. There is a cap of 10 stills total. At 640 x 480, you can take up to 5 stills per second in high speed, with a cap of 60 stills total. In Auto Exposure Bracketing mode, the camcorder takes three different stills in succession: one at 0EV, one -1/2EV and one at +1/2EV. This way, you can choose the best photo after the shoot.
Shooting stills while simultaneously shooting video is also possible, but only at a 640 x 480 resolution. In this situation, you cannot use the DVD as the still recording medium. A flash comes built-in on the DC22, and can be adjusted for auto firing, forced on, forced off, and red-eye reduction.
Still Resolution (7.4)
The DC22’s 1632 x 1224 stills were tested for their resolution by shooting a standard ISO 12233 resolution chart and running stills of that chart through Imatest imaging software. In all, the DC22 produced a resolution of 739089.97.
The chart below shows how the still resolution compared to other camcorders in its class.
Still Performance (5.0)
Canon’s claim that the Digic DV processor shifts to the appropriate color space for stills seemed to prove true. The colors were fairly even, except for a rather flat green portion of the spectrum. But even the proper gamma levels can’t do much for noise, and the stills were noisy. They also showed ghosting along high contrast areas like the resolution trumpets.
The DC40 stills were largely the same as the DC22’s, with the same noise and ghosting problems. But the much higher resolution of the DC40 (2304 x 1736) created far more fine detail. The DC100’s stills looked to be from a different line of camcorders altogether. The colors are terribly uneven and completely washed over with noise. Comparatively, the DC22’s stills are great.
The Panasonic VDR-D200’s still features are more of an afterthought than anything. At 640 x 480 with no regard to color or noise management, they’d have been better off not even including the option to capture stills.
Finally, the Sony DCR-DVD305 showed an abysmal still performance, virtually two-toned between blue and yellow with the same blue noise that haunted the video performance. This too is a camcorder whose still function you’d be better off never using.
In all, the still performance of the DC22 is not bad, the same conclusion we came to about the video performance. There are better models out there, but for its price class, this is satisfactory.
Advertisement