Canon DC410 DVD Camcorder with 41x Optical Zoom
Canon DC410 DVD Camcorder with 41x Optical Zoom
Introducing the new Canon DC410 DVD camcorder that
makes every video you shoot great. With the new
Canon DC410 DVD camcorder, its easy to capture the
extraordinary events of your life on DVD and show it on
your home theater. A 2.7-inch widescreen LCD and
simple-to-operate controls let you frame the action from
just the right angle. Stellar features like Canons 41x
Advanced Zoom for heart-pounding close-ups, DIGIC
DV II Image Processor for brillant picture quality and
true 16:9 widescreen recording will keep your audience
on the edge of their seats. Quick Start conserves
battery power between shots and makes sure youre
ready for another take in less than a second. Plus,
when youre shooting, Canons Image Stabilizer keeps
every shot on an even keel. Stylishly compact, the
Canon DC410 even has an SDHC memory card slot for
photos. Get the quality and performance youre looking
for with the Canon DC410.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars It does what we want it to do.
We bought this camcorder to document the lives of our children. So far we’ve had no trouble. It takes a reasonably clear video and we really like the zoom. I’ve been a fan of Canon since my old AE-1 in high school so we knew we weren’t going to be disappointed. I read the other reviews and wanted to make a clarification: This camcorder (DC410) does NOT have a USB connection to the computer. There’s a jack for a microphone and for AV out. The av out can go to a TV or to a computer if you have the right setup but will not connect to the average computer. This didn’t really bother me since I never planned on storing terabytes of video on the laptop!
The DC410 is very easy to use if you spend a little time reading the instructions. You might want to get an extra battery, I was lucky since it uses the same one as my digital camera (Rebel XTi).
2 Stars It falls short of my expectations
This camera has many flaws that are important to understand before buying. First is a limitation of the DVD in recording length. 30 min is the default with 60 minutes max at the sacrifice of video quality.
Consider that Mini-DV tapes will support 60 min at highest quality.
These 3 inch DVD disks are difficult to handle under perfect conditions. I wanted to use this camera for outdoors events but it would be too easy to get fingerprints on the recording surface to take chances without clean hands and dry conditions. The disks are small and have to be forced onto the spindle without touching the recording surface.
Another limitation is that the least expensive DVD disks are DVD-R write once only which makes it impossible to edit what you shoot. They can’t be erased. Scenes deleted so be sure you don’t record anything with them you might regret later. It supports DVD-RW Write Many format also but considering how easy it is to mess up the recording surface don’t expect them to last forever.
The greatest problem with this device is that the DVD drive is limited to only three brands of disks. This makes the DVD recorder not very well supported for using with the video.
The DVD drive does not support all DVD formats available. THIS IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW: YOU MUST USE ONLY DVD-R, DVD-R DL, or DVD-RW FORMATS. Notice it is a MINUS - not a plus +. (Amazon.com bundles this with a 3 pack of DVD+RW disks which are not ever going to work with this camera so don’t include it like I did.)
To make matters worse you cannot just use any 3 inch DVD-R disks. The camera claims to only support 1-layer Hitachi-Maxwell HG series disks or 2 layer Canon DVD-R DL54 and Verbatim DVD-R DL disks. (Not Sony, which is the brand Amazon.com recommends.)
If you decide to risk it and use an unsupported disk, every time the camera is turned on you will get a dire warning that using this disk is not supported and you run the risk of damaging the camera or end up with poor/no video. I could only find Maxell DVD-R DS and TDK-RW at Rite-Aid. Both will work with the camera but the warnings are enough to make me believe I should try to buy disks it won’t complain about. It is very annoying that it doesn’t support both - and + formats like most dvd recorders to start with. I would suggest that if you want a DVD camcorder, look for one that can use both +/- if possible and supports all manufacturers disks.
The camera also lacks a firewire port so you can’t use it with a computer to capture the video stream. The model 410 has an AV port and microphone jack. It does not have a USB port. The model 420 USB doesn’t support the video just the photo feature and takes the place of the microphone jack.
The last disappointment with this camera is the image stabilization feature is awful. The video becomes so shaky that people will think you have been drinking or you are filming an earthquake. Even on a stable tripod the video was not stable even if focused on inanimate objects.
All the reasons I wanted to get this camera are total disappointments for me. I wish I would have chosen a different camera with better DVD support or one that records to flash memory, and probably not from Canon.
P.S NO software with the camera for editing the video or the photos!
4 Stars Canon DC410 camcorder
Not sure what the other reviewer is talking about, but I have this camera and it definitely comes with a USB port and cable. It is very easy to use and takes great pictures.
1 Stars Bad product design DC 410
Cannon’s DC 410 is a bad product by design. No USB connectivity and very difficult to use. I bought it to replace my Sony DCR 550. No match to the
Sony, esp which has USB, touch screen and extremely easy to use.
Guess what? I returned DC 410 and got a Sony DCR 650. I am not sure if
the Cannon product designers and marketing was thinking to put this product in the market. I shall probably not buy a Cannon camcorder ever and would
recommend you to not even consider DC 410 while shopping a camcorder.
Filed under: Video Camera Reviews