The Canon DC10 enters the consumer DVD camcorder market, with a 1/4”image size for performance, along with an easy to handle design. Equipped with a 1/4” CCD and working with 690K effective pixels, the picture was crisp, with excellent video resolution, surpassing most DVD camcorders, but the colours were disappointing; a far cry from the stunning colours produced on the DCR-DVD403. The design is sleek with all controls in logical order at the front of the camera. The lens has a 27mm diameter filter with a 10x optical zoom. The remote sensor and built-in microphone is underneath the chassis. The comfort of handling is enhanced by the curvaceous design that encompasses the back of the camera and a adjustable hand strap for additional support. The power, record start/stop and record/playback buttons are at the rear of the camcorder, easily found by your thumb. The ports for USB, DC power-in and A/V cables are located here as well.

The viewfinder is designed to standard; 0.3” with 123,000 pixels, but it appears smaller due to the overall design which focuses on ease of use. The main problem is the battery enclosed inside the LCD cavity which prevents the use of extended life batteries. The interface is located on the left side; manual control, menu and the joystick “Omni” controller, are your primary tools found at the rear underneath the viewfinder. But with all of the features the result is best suited for those who fancy a sophisticated point and shoot camcorder. For the serious videographer who desire manual controls, this camcorder would be extremely frustrating to use. From both the features and pricepoint, there is a lot of improvement needed on this camcorder in order for it to compete successfully in the marketplace.