Canon MV550i

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Canon's MV550i MiniDV camcorder makes high-quality videos with little fuss, and it also comes with some unexpected extras, including a wide-range 22X zoom lens and Canon's Advanced Accessory shoe. The MV550i is an excellent value for the family videographer who likes a machine with a bit of extra horsepower.

Portable Size, Pedestrian Design
Like many small camcorders, the MV550i is caught in a three-way tug-of-war between size, function, and beauty. About the shape of a thick paperback book and reasonably lightweight--a little more than 500g with the battery and the media loaded--the camera is undeniably portable and fits comfortably in your hand. This Canon's construction is solid but not inspired; it's a combination of good workmanship and almost entirely plastic materials.

The camera is a bit clunky looking, and having so many controls crowded onto such a small body causes some mild annoyances. Among those irritants are a zoom control that's slightly too far forward and a manual-focus wheel that can't be used without jiggling the camera. On the other hand, the LCD menu system is very logical and efficient. If you like to leave your camera running on a tripod, be forewarned: You'll have to take it off every time you want to change cassettes because the hatch for loading them is on the bottom of the device.

The Long View
Sub-S$2,000 (US$1,116) digital camcorders with impressive feature lists are becoming more and more common, and the MV550i in no exception. It has every feature that you need for simple and automatic recording of family and travel videos, including a nice selection of scene modes for specific shooting situations such as sports or portraits. But this camcorder comes with some features that are uncommon for its class as well, and at the top of the list is a 22X zoom lens with impressive telephoto reach. The lens isn't much good for wide-angle shooting, though, so you'll need to buy an optional lens converter if you want to take in an expansive vista.

Canon also touts the MV550i's still-picture features, which include an SD/MMC storage card and a USB connection for quick photo downloads. The card does make still photography more convenient, but despite Canon's Progressive Photo technology (not to be confused with a true progressive-scan CCD), the pictures are typical of camcorder stills: crummy. And there's no flash on the camera for low-light snapshots. Much more useful are the camera's analog video inputs, which let you take a VHS cassette or an 8mm tape, convert the video signal to digital, and record it on the camcorder's MiniDV tape or save it to your computer's hard drive. Another nice touch is Canon's Advanced Accessory shoe, which provides power and electronic communications so that you can mount an optional video light or directional microphone without any extra battery packs or connecting cables.

A Reliable Performer
We found operating the MV550i a reasonably pleasant experience. The camera's automatic focusing does an adequate--though not great--job of keeping up with zoom, composition, and subject-distance changes. The zoom switch itself is of average quality for a consumer camcorder, meaning that it's sometimes difficult to exert fine control over zoom speed and consistency. To maintain a steady image when you're moving with the camera, the MV550i uses an effective electronic image-stabilization system. As is typical of electronic stabilization, this feature slightly degrades video quality--but not enough to make most home videographers complain. Even in bright daylight, the MV550i's 2.5-inch LCD is adequately usable, but the color viewfinder isn't terribly sharp, making it a slight disappointment. On the other hand, we easily captured clear audio with the built-in stereo microphone.

The MV550i records video with 290,000 effective pixels, which is slightly below average for sensor resolutions of MiniDV camcorders in its price range. Image quality in our daylight test videos was good, with decent exposures, fairly vibrant and accurate color, relatively few artifacts, and ample detail. Unfortunately, we did notice somewhat worse-than-average lens distortion. Our low-light videos were, of course, much noisier and less colorful than our daylight footage, but they were still quite usable.

Digital-video camcorder price/performance barriers are crumbling everywhere these days, and the MV550i fits right in with that trend. For S$1,990 (US$1,110), it offers an excellent combination of features, performance, and portability. However, if you need more manual control and the boost in image quality that optical image stabilization will give you, take a look at Canon's Optura 100MC.