Customer Reviews

Canon DC100 DVD Camcorder w/25x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The Canon DC100 is a very easy DVD camcorder to use, just set it to auto mode, press the record button by your thumb, and start recording. The microphone is surprisingly good for such a small camcorder. The camera boasts the ability to take still photos, but I haven't attempted to use this feature at this time. The camcorder is very small, slender, and very light to hold. Although it's a fairly good camcorder for its price range, it's not to say there aren't significant improvements needed.

A couple of things that I felt could be better are the following:
1. The recording function in low light needs improvement. Granted, I don't use the manual controls too frequently, but performance seems to be lagging a bit.
2. The mini-DVD disks hold 20 minutes of video at XP setting. Not that big of a deal to me, especially since the battery will only last that long, but it may be an annoyance to others.
3. The battery (as I mentioned above) only lasts for approximately 20 minutes. Get a spare on E-bay (it's cheap...less than $15 each).
4. You cannot finalize a disk, unless you have the AC adapter (plugged into a wall outlet) connected to the camcorder. It doesn't matter how much battery power you have, if you don't have the AC adaptor, forget about finalizing.

I purchased the Canon DC100 from Amazon in mid-May. This is my fourth camcorder since 1985. Therefore, I pretty much know what is needed by me in the manner in which I use a video. This camera is new but appeared to 'fit the bill', so I bought it on faith. I am not dissapointed! This is a little jewel. How small can a camcorder be designed? It will fit in your coat pocket or your purse. The ergonomics are very good. Who thought to hide that wafer sized battery behind the LCD? That gets it out of the way and it charges in situ. A surprise is the high quality of the fit and finish. From what I have seen in others, this was unexpected. The picture quality is good. Probably not great but this is what you get with small CCDs. However, you do get the long optical zoom (25X). Long zooms are absolutely necessary for my use. You can't get them with mega-pixel cameras. I was apprehensive about the DVD format,but my fears were unfounded. The discs are dirt cheap except for RWs and they are so easy to access and play. If you want a fun camera that you will actually use, this is a good choice. If you are a pro(you probably just think you are) or like to edit(a ridiculous activity) ,get something that costs $800 instead of $400 and let it collect dust.

I recently got new Canon DC100. I was using Sony TRV350 for last 2 years and so was a bit shaky going for Canon. But it seems I did the right thing..

The new camcorder has almost the same recording quality as that of Sony. Audio quality is even better. The size and convenience of use is just incomparable.
More to that it directly writes to DVD. So now onwards no need to spend hours burning CDs/DVDs. Simply superb!!!
The pros could be absence of memory card. I will seriously miss that with my new Canon.

But All in all its a good deal...

It is amazing how technology got so good last less than a decade, it was a dream to directly record right on DVD cd just a few years back. Now you can do that with a price range around $400 and that alone deserves 5 stars. Canon DC100 DVD does it what it says it does and does it so well. I am very satisfied with the quality along with picture resolution and I think this is a fantastic buy for what it costs, I bought it from Amazon and I am very happy with my purchase

I like it for the size and convenience. I think the zoom is good as well. The only problem that I have found is that when recording on the slower setting(which gives you more time on a disk), it is not recognized by the computer or the dvd player. You have to play it thru the recorder. But overall, I am happy with the purchase. It fits in my jacket pocket and is perfect for kids ball games and other activities!

My wife and I bought this camcorder to record our baby's first days and weeks, and while the reviews weren't that strong, we felt it was the best choice for the price.

I am happy to say that this camera has been a surprisingly pleasant experience. The setup is somewhat challenging, hence 4 stars, but once ready, it was very easy to record, view and make changes to videos. The quality of the videos are also better than expected for average folks like myself.

Canon has a good reputation for their camera products, and I think this camcorder is another addition to that reputation. It's not the newest camera on the market, but don't pass this one up.

My old Sony Hi8 is getting a bit ancient and it is time to replace it. After researching dozens of digital camcorders, I decided to obtain one with records on DVD so that we can easily play our recordings on DVD players. I settled on the DC100 as it seemed to be a vert good middle-of-the-road model that should have been good enough for my family and casual use. I also had very good experiences with Canon digital cameras.

The end result is that this was a disaster. While the DC100 is cute and small, the bottom line is that:

- the picture is very grainy
- colors are washed out
- video playback is choppy

Based on this, I am returning the DC100 and moving to a MiniDV-formatted camcorder, probably one of the Sony model.

this camcorder cannot record in low or artificial light environment; the image is so bad that the faces become unrecognizable. Night shot or any other settings are competely useless. Bottom line: this DC100 is piece of junk

1st, I bought the camera and then all the accessories so I had well over $500 invested. It doesn't even come with a blank disk or an extra battery.

I spent thousands of dollars on a trip to Germany, Austria and Venice Italy. Purchased the camera because of its high rating, superior lense and image stabilizer that my last digital camera didn't have. I carefully read the entire users guide because I like to use all the features. Camera operated fine for the length of one DVD RW, then it wouldn't read any of the other disks of the same brand. Spent money and tried other disks to no avail. Then downloaded contents of the disk to a laptop, and reused the disk - that worked fine - one time. Ended up having to borrow someone elses camera.

The movie and pictures I did get to take were grainy and the stablizer didn't help a whole lot. This camera is a major disappointment so beware.

JVB Michigan

Cool camera. DVD-Rs work great but I'm having difficulties initializing rewritable. I don't think its the camera but more me figuring it out. Also seems to be picky on what brand the disk is. Bottom line I bought the camera from a store that sold it to me as a display model. 145 bucks I give it to the kids and are making great movies! A good camera but don't expect a lot of bells and whistles.