Home > Consumer Camcorders > News > Canon >

Three New Standard Def DVD Camcorders from Canon by Michael Perlman Published on Jan 7, 2008 8:00 AM

Canon News Coverage

Canon  High Def  Solid State  Camcorders

Canon High Def HDV Camcorders

Canon  Standard Def Solid State  Camcoder

Canon Standard Def DVD Camcorders

Canon  Standard Def MiniDV  Camcorders

Canon DC330 DVD Camcorder, new for 2008

Today at CES Canon announced the DC310 ($349 MSRP), DC320 ($369 MSRP), and DC330 ($379 MSRP), whittling down the standard definition DVD camcorder fleet from four models to three. As high definition encroaches even further in 2008, the standard definition population is depleting to make room for the boom. All three 2008 DC models are equipped with SDHC card slots, 2.7-inch wide LCD screens, and Digic DV II image processing. This year, Canon is all about zoom. Like the 2008 MiniDV ZR line, the DC310, DC320, and DC330 will feature Canon’s new Advanced Zoom, expanding zoom up to 48x.

“[Advanced Zoom} is not digital zoom,” says Mitchell Glick, assistant manager Product Marketing, Consumer Division for Canon USA. “The lens is constantly in motion and it’s using the image processing to scale the image as necessary. In certain portions of the range, when necessary, [Advanced Zoom] is going to use Digic DV II processing to achieve the long focal lengths.

The DC310 is capable of a 41x Advanced Zoom while the DC320 and DC330 are capable of a 48x Advanced Zoom as a result of their higher 1.07-megapixel count. Though all the new DVD camcorders feature 1/6-inch imagers, the DC310 has a 680,000 pixel count, limiting the overall resolution, hence constraining the Advanced Zoom to 42x. All three models have a 37x optical zoom and the option to set either optical, Advanced, or digital zoom.

Canon DC310

The DC310 can capture stills up to 1024 x 768 while the DC320 and DC330 can capture stills up to 1152 x 864. All camcorders are equipped with LCD joysticks, AV out jacks, and SD/SDHC/MMC card slots. Shooting qualities are XP (9Mbps), SP (6Mbps), and LP (3Mbps) and a maximum reported battery life of 108 minutes in the highest quality. The DC310, DC320, and DC330 are equipped with 2.7-inch LCD screens with a 112,000 pixel resolution and Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS). Compatible DVD formats include –R, -RW, and –R DL.

 
Canon DC320

The DC330 is the only model to offer a USB port and PictBridge compatibility. The DC330 also ships with a remote and advanced Corel editing software similar to Canon’s HDD AVCHD HR10 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $0.00).

The DC310, DC320, and DC330 are set to ship in late March for $349, $369, and $379, respectively.