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Reviewed by UK Guest, 29th Oct 2006. |
| Review Summary: True widescreen at last! |
Overall Score: 4/5
 
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Review: I've had one of these Canon MV960 digital camcorders for a couple of months now and I have found it excellent value for money, but not without a couple of niggles.
Good points: It's true widescreen. None of this lop-off-the-top-and-bottom-of-a-4:3-picture stuff, nor the other system where the camera squeezes the widescreen data into 4:3 coding, then decodes it as widescreen on playback; which is all very well until your editing software doesn't recognise that fact, and you have 4:3 not the 16:9 you wanted. (This has happened to me before with a couple of models).
The picture quality is excellent: crisp and dynamic; interior shots are very good; and the low-light perfomance is reasonable too. I have some cavern tour shots to prove it. OK, they were a bit grainy at times, but far better than one might expect from a budget range camera. I certainly haven't had the poor results others have complained about. The onboard mic is sensitive and has a good range. The camera has a DV-in socket, so you can edit tapes on a computer and re-record them to the camera for archive purposes, thus dispensing with junk footage.
Bad points: to make zooming a one-finger operation they've designed the zoom switch to rock side to side, instead of the traditional forward and back, operated by the index and middle fingers. It's now much harder to keep the camera steady while zooming if it's hand-held. The zoom range is impressive, but at the full zoom end of the range don't think about taking steady shots unless you've got a tripod.
Minor omissions and niggles: no SVHS socket, so playback through a TV is via composite/SCART. No mic-in socket, so all you have is the onboard mic. It is very sensitive and can pick up camera noise if you are filming in a very quiet location. Finally, the tape is loaded from the bottom of the camera body, so if you are using a tripod, the camera has to be taken off the tripod to change a tape.
Whether these things are enough to put you off buying this model depends on what your priorities are. For me, the excellent, true widescreen picture quality outweighs the downsides. At this price point you can't expect perfection; I reckon this camera represents solid value for money. |
Ratings
| Value For Money: |
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4 |
| Review Score: |
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4 |
| Recommended? | |
Yes |
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Digital Cameras