Canon MV5iMC review

Canon's new MV5 range of digital camcorders fits a plethora of features into a stylish and very small case, and plugs the gap between the MV500 series and the soon-to-be-released MVX2i.

There are three cameras in the series - the basic MV5, the mid-range MV5i, which adds digital and analogue input and an analogue-to-digital converter, and the model on test, the MV5iMC. As well as boasting all the features of the MV5i, the MV5iMC also includes a Multi Media card slot, which allows still and moving images to be stored on a Multi Media or Secure Digital card. An 8Mb card is also supplied.

Silver service

While it's not the smallest digital video camera around, the MV5iMC is remarkably compact, and it sports a very stylish silver finish with blue flashes, which lend the camera a more consumer-friendly look than most devices in its price range. There are some compromises necessary in designing a DV camera this small - the lens is smaller than many other devices, there's no manual focus ring, no room to attach a lens hood and there's no hot shoe for flash or microphone attachments. Perhaps most importantly, the LCD screen is only 5cm across its diagonal. However, all the left-out features are available in other devices in Canon's range, such as the forthcoming MVX2i, and, though the LCD screen is small, it's still very usable.

The lens on the MV5iMC is a 10x optical zoom device, and images are captured to a 1/6in 800,000-pixel CCD. Canon has developed a new signal processing circuit, which sensibly assumes that most people will watch the footage they capture on a TV screen and that digital stills will be printed or viewed on a PC. Still image and video signals are, therefore, processed separately.

Photographs can be taken and stored on the MMC/SD card at up to 1024 x 768 pixels, while video clips can be captured to the card in Motion JPEG format. An onboard USB port means that still images and Motion JPEG clips can be transferred to your Mac easily. Exif 2.2 support means that this additional data is available to a compatible image editing application, such as Photoshop Elements. In addition, still images can be printed directly to Canon's CP-10 Direct Printer without the need to connect to a Mac first.

The ability to capture analogue video via S-Video or RCA-style composite connectors is a very useful feature of a number of Canon DV cameras. The onboard analogue-to-digital converter means you can use the MV5iMC to record video from an analogue source, say a VCR or analogue camcorder, and import it to iMovie for editing.

Some of the MV5iMC's array of features are essential, while others are less useful, but fun to have available. Among the essentials are eight program auto-exposure modes: Full auto, Auto, Sports, Portrait, Spotlight, Sand and snow, Lowlight and Night. In the very useful category are image stabilisation, preset white balance control and audio dubbing. Among the fun-to-haves are nine new digital effects, including Flip, Tide and Puzzle.

Small wonder

The MV5iMC performs admirably. Despite being small enough to be carried around easily, it's not so small that it becomes fiddly to use. The Camera/VCR switch, record button and wide and telephoto zoom rocker, and are all easily accessible in one-handed operation.

The LCD flips out to reveal the controls for searching through and playing back recorded footage. Switching from tape to card capture is also very easy. The remote control, despite featuring an array of buttons, is fairly easy to get to grips with. Our only small complaint is that the viewfinder doesn't extend by half an inch or so, as it does with some of its rivals. This means that you have to hold to camera very close to your face to use the viewfinder.