Canon DC50 5MP DVD Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

I've had this camcorder for about a year now and have enjoyed it thoroughly. The camera is light enough that it doesn't weight you down and more importantly has a very quick start up if you're like me and turn the thing off to conserve battery life. As many have noted before me, the battery life is not the best (30min.) so you will definitely need a spare. Mainly used for family videos, and kids' birthdays, along with the occasional golf swing analysis. The only negative about the camera, that I can find, is the hand strap. It sits really low on the camcorder and sort of requires me to torque my hand awkwardly. Maybe someone with a bigger hand won't have this problem. Let me end by saying that I am a camcorder novice. This is the only camcorder I've ever owned so I have nothing to compare it to.

I sell camcorders and cameras for a living. I've used and sold about 25 current camcorders and 50 cameras. I purchased the DC50 because Canon has the best lenses and image processors in the business. Here is everything you need to know. If you buy this model allow one day to figure it out, because I work with electronics every day and it took me hours to figure everything out(read the end to hear my problem). The picture is amazing, great color saturation, it makes high def camcorders obsolete (unimportant). The zoom is great, you can set it to slow or fast speeds, and I mean very slow or very fast. The light for recording at night is effective up to about 10 feet, very good for one LED light. The microphone is perfectly sensitive, you dont need an external one. To give you an example of zoom power, you can zoom on to a persons face effectively up to approximately 40 feet away. The camera function is one of the best I've ever seen in a camcorder. Shutter lag (a delay in taking the picture after you hit the button) will be corrected in any recent (05' to 08')camera/camcorder if you buy a high speed memory card. Look for an extreme III or ultra II MINI SD card, not micro sd and not sd, get MINI SD. Its not the camera its a cheap memory card that causes delay. As for vista users, you dont need to plug in the camcorder to the computer. Just buy a program for about 40 bucks, thats vista friendly, and that converts the dvd to the computer memory. 4 more things you need to know. This model only takes Panasonic, TDK or Maxell brand mini DVDS. If you buy a DVD RW, you can record over it 3 times before quality suffers. DVD R can only be recorded once. You must initialize before you record and finalize after you record each dvd IN THE CAMCORDER, not the computer. Furthermore, the process for each takes less than one minute, but cannot be performed on battery power, it must be pluged in the wall to initialize and finalize dvds. Last thing, this is what took me hours to figure out. Set the date and time in the camcorder or it will not take pics. ALWAYS, format a memory card before you use it in any camera or camcorder, see your manual to see how. Lastly, and only read this if you buy this model, you change modes buy sliding the on button all the way down. If you hit the menu button and it doesnt match the page in the book, slide down the on button and change modes, then hit the menu or function button again. With all that said, buy this Camcorder with no hesitation, if you want to record directly to DVD.

If you're using Windows Vista, DON'T buy this camera. The camera is not compatible with Vista, meaning you can't plug the camera directly into your computer. Also, the software the camera comes with (Sonic MyDVD) isn't compatible either, so you won't be able to edit the video or even copy to your hard-drive.

Maybe it's more fair to say don't buy Vista, but since Canon technical support was unapologetic and un-helpful, I'm not going to give them the benefit of the doubt.

After researching on many similar camcorders from different manufacturers,
I purchased DC50. What a great choice !!!
This is my very first camcorder and nothing to complain about; easy to operate. I JUST LOVE IT !!!

I give this product a 5 star rating because I believe it's great at what it does. I see this as a high end consumer product and I don't think Canon pretends that it's anything else. I bought the DC50 after reading just about everything I could find to compare the Canon with the Sony. I chose the Canon because I really dislilke the Sony marketing scheme wich to me is like the Microsoft of the consumer electronics indusrty. I also can not get my eyes to see a better picture from the Sony for more money or enough bells and whistles to make a difference. If you're looking for a Prosumer product with great editing features for making movies and have an audiophiles ear or if you expect to take award winning stills, I'm sure you will be dissapointed. If you want a digital DVD Camcorder with still photo function that delivers excellent pictures at a reasonable price point then this one is hard to beat. If you're like me,just about everything you shoot are Family and Friends, Sports events, School plays and Car Shows. I don't see anything better unless you just can't wait for the High Deffinition camcorders either HDD,DVD or Tape to get through the de-bugging process over the next couple of years and find a comparable price point to the DC50.