Canon DC220 DVD Camcorder with 35x Optical Zoom

by Canon

Product Details

• Item Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000M4YAJQ
• Item model number: DC220
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,334 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

Manufacturer Description

Canon DVD camcorders offer the perfect blend of performance and features. Enjoy a wide variety of advanced, yet easy-to-use features in compact and lightweight style. Canon camcorders are perfect for capturing all of your life's most precious moments, for beginners and advanced users alike, and make it easy to share your video with family and friends.

DC-220 Highlights

DVD-R/-RW/-R DL format Only 8 centimeters (3 inches) in diameter, these discs can store up to 80 minutes of video (up to 108 minutes on a dual layer disc), and are compatible with most old and new DVD players.

Genuine Canon Optics with 35x optical zoom/1000x digital zoom lens Canon’s longest optical zoom ever. Genuine Canon Optics ensure that video and photos are clear and rich with color and detail. Canon’s expertise in designing lenses for photography and broadcast television goes into every camcorder we make.

Quick Start Instead of powering off your camcorder between shots, simply press the Quick Start button to put the camcorder in stand-by mode. Quick Start considerably reduces the power consumption of the battery and allows the user to return to recording mode in approximately .9 seconds, so you’ll never have to miss another special moment.

Widescreen HR recording The DC220 records true widescreen for picture-perfect video. Canon’s image processing system uses the entire width of the image sensor, capturing a big picture in true 16:9 widescreen so no one and nothing is left unseen. And Canon camcorders take advantage of more pixels to give you amazing quality.

2.7-inch widescreen LCD A 2.7-inch widescreen LCD lets you see exactly what your camcorder is recording, and what your TV will display later.

Joystick The joystick makes using the camcorder easier than ever. Extra buttons have been eliminated, allowing you to control playback, focusing, exposure, and menu options from one convenient place.

Image stabilizer Shoot rock-steady video -- even when you’re at maximum telephoto without a tripod. It is even effective while panning or zooming.

Lower battery consumption The DC220 consumes less battery power giving you longer operation time.

DIGIC DV II image processor DIGIC DV II is the next generation of Canon's exclusive DIGIC DV signal processing technology.. Even though video and still images have different color requirements, DIGIC DV II digital signal processing ensures optimal image quality for both video and still images. Thanks to DIGIC DV II image processing, the D121 produces video with improved color reproduction -- especially in skin tones, and dark and light scenes. It also uses a hybrid noise reduction system that employs two types of noise reduction -- for images that are crystal clear.

Smooth zoom control Want to shoot like the pros? Three fixed zoom speeds allow you to produce smooth video that will be enjoyable for everyone to watch.

Level shot control Even if you are a first time camcorder user, you’ll never have to worry about shooting crooked video. A horizontal marker and center indicator always keeps you on track.

Grid display It's easy to compose your shots for more professional looking video. The Grid marker is very convenient for setting up the special balance in your shots. Since background colors vary, you can select from two line colors to make the lines easily visible.

Built-in lens cover A built-in lens cover means no dangling lens cover to lose.

Still image recording Capture stunning photos in 4:3 aspect ratio to a miniSD card.

USB 2.0 hi-speed terminal The DC220 features a hi-speed USB 2.0 terminal, which allows for DV streaming and ultra-fast transfer of movies and photos.

Advanced photo features A variety of features allow you to capture great photos.

• 9-point AiAF: Bring off-center subjects into sharp focus.
• Histogram display: With just one push of a button, the brightness information of a still image is revealed. This allows you to monitor image quality, so you can make adjustments to improve the next shots.
• Simultaneous photo recording: Capture e-mail ready digital photos to a memory card while you record video.
• Image effects: Choose from the following effects to add a creative flare to your photos: Vivid, Neutral, Low-Sharpening, and Soft Skin Detail.
• Special Scene modes: A wide selection of automatic exposure modes makes it easy to capture great video or photos under any condition. Choose from: Portrait, Sports, Night, Snow, Beach, Sunset, Spotlight, or Fireworks.

  17 selectable languages English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Polish, Romanian, Turkish, Russian, Ukrainian, Arabic, Persian, Thai, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.

Product Description

The name Canon has always meant photographic and broadcast television cameras with optical excellence, advanced image processing, and superb performance. And Canon digital video camcorders are no exception. In fact, Canon digital camcorders include a family of sophisticated and powerful DVD camcorders. With this innovative line, you experience all the image quality, convenience and compatibility of DVD technology in sleek and compactly designed camcorders. With the affordable and easy-to-operate DC220, you get all the performance of DVD technology, along with the brilliance and power of a Genuine Canon 35x Optical Zoom. You also get an impressive array of features found on more expensive models, including a miniSD card capability for easy image storage. With the DC220, you'll enjoy capturing the precious moments of your life and sharing them with everyone.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed with grainy picture, January 16, 2008

By 

J. Jones "jayjay" (florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canon DC220 DVD Camcorder with 35x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

After researching and reading reviews, I purchased this camcorder from BrandsMart at what seems to be a good price at $278. I had to test it and make a decision to keep or return within 5 days because of their return policy and ended up returning it.

Outdoor videos looked great, even on my 50" HD Plasma TV, however, when I recorded indoors in my living room, the quality was horrible. My old VHS camcorder did better than this thing. Although it was night time, I was shooting in a fairly well artifically lit area, hardly dark, and what I'd consider even more than 'low lighting'. The picture came out extremely 'grainy', certainly not what I'd expect from today's technology. On other small non HD tv's it was still very grainy and bad quality.

I would have loved for this camcorder to live up to my expectations, as it was fairly simple to use, although the manual is not very well written, eventually I figured it all out. Things are laid out pretty nicely and it fits well in the palm, even with a small hand.

Now I'll have to read another manual and learn another and different camcorder. Right now I'm looking at a Sony dcrdvd308 and the associate at BrandsMart now informed me that Sony's night recording feature is much higher quality than this one from Canon. Wish they had told me that before I wasted my time on this one.

Unless you're planning on filming outdoors or inside only during daytime with the blinds open, I wouldn't recommend the Canon dc220. I think there are better options out there for nearly the same or little more money.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good choice!, December 26, 2007

By 

Ryan Creeden - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canon DC220 DVD Camcorder with 35x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

The camcorder was received rather quickly and we really do like it. For a non-techy the camcorder was very easy to understand immediately. The only two drawbacks are the quality of picture isn't top notch and recording in not so bright of a setting is not too good. However, overall I think this is a great camera for the price.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great VHSc replacement, October 1, 2008

By 

Mark S. Hancock - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canon DC220 DVD Camcorder with 35x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

This is a great inexpensive camcorder. MUCH easier than our VHSc camcorder that has been sitting in its bag for 5 years now and also better than the short videos we can record on our digital camera. After you are done you can just "finalize" the DVD, put in in your DVD player and watch the movie.

I blank miniDVD-R are inexpensive (I got 50 for $20) and very easy to store.

One minor complaint. The "finalize" option is only available if the camcorder is plugged into wall power. This is no problem but there is no way to know that unless you read the small comment burried in the manual somewhere that mentions that. Having that comment on the camcorder "finalize" menu would have been a lot more stright-forward.