Canon MVX4i

Performance
The Canon MVX4i is an excellent all-around performer. We encountered no performance-related issues or annoyances in our testing; the camera felt responsive in both fully automatic and semiautomatic modes. It quickly adjusts focus and exposure when you pan to a new subject.

The zoom control worked smoothly, and electronic image stabilization capably tempered hand jitters throughout most of the zoom range; shake became evident during only extreme close-ups.

Audio quality using the built-in stereo microphone was very good. An audio-gain button allows you to boost or decrease audio sensitivity depending on the proximity and the volume of your subject. We didn't detect any motor noise from the camera when recording at the default sensitivity--an improvement over our experience with the earlier MVX30i.

The 2.5-inch LCD offers a sharp image with vibrant, realistic colors, though it's a bit small for precise manual focusing. Despite the somewhat grainy display, the color viewfinder works well for framing shots.

Battery life is typical for a smaller camcorder, offering about 60 minutes of typical use (shooting with the LCD on and occasionally reviewing footage). You can buy an extended battery, but the battery's placement on the left side of the MVX4i, below the LCD, means that the larger model will create an unsightly bulge.

Image Quality
The Canon MVX4i produces good overall video quality, with sharp images and vibrant, if a bit oversaturated, colors. Autoexposure and automatic white balance worked well in a variety of shooting settings, except indoors, where automatic white balance looked overly warm. The camcorder did an especially good job capturing detail in areas such as hair and grass, which many models will blur.

Low-light performance was very good overall. The graininess that consumer camcorders often produce in indoor shots begins to appear only in dimmer-than-normal room lighting. The video light adds flexibility for shooting in very dark situations, though it's primarily helpful if your subject is within about six feet of the lens. Super Night Mode eliminates much of the graininess from low-light situations, but it slows the frame rate significantly, resulting in jerky video and blurred pans.

Still-shot quality is far better than you'd expect from a camcorder, although the colors appear surrealistically vivid. The 4-megapixel images offer reasonable detail, and indoor shots with flash look about as good as you'd expect from a budget digital camera. Images reveal ample detail, without the graininess evident in snaps from earlier models. Overall, the MVX4i's still-camera functionality is strong enough that you can consider leaving the digital camera at home and using the camcorder for both movies and photos.

• Most Popular

• Upcoming

What's Hot