Canon DC20 review

Most digital camcorders record onto miniDV tape.

To watch your home movies you either have to plug your camcorder into the back of the TV, or transfer your footage onto PC and then burn it to DVD. Canon's DC20 camcorder records straight to DVD. Just pop the disc into your DVD player, sit back and relax.

Because it uses DVDs, the DC20 is also smaller and more elegant than equivalent miniDV cams. All the controls come easily to hand, and there are buttons for everything you'll need to do. The menu on the LCD screen provides the rest of the features.

The LCD is a standard 2.5in screen - it's good, but we would rather have seen a widescreen display. Although the camera does support a widescreen 16:9 mode, it just puts black bars at the top and bottom of the LCD screen.

Image quality is excellent; the CCD is over 2-megapixels in size, and produces sharp images with natural colours. Low light performance was adequate with the usual amounts of noise appearing. There is, however, a built-in light for those needing to shoot in the dark. It can also take still pictures with resolutions up to 1632x1224. Stills quality was surprisingly good and colours were also bright and clear. Photos can be recorded to either a DVD or miniSD card, though we'd have preferred a standard SD card slot instead.

There are disadvantages to the DVD recording format, though. The camcorder compresses the video down to MPEG-2 as it stores it. This can result in more noticeable errors in the finished video. Though if you convert MiniDV footage straight to DVD, then the results will be little different. Only those planning on doing a lot of editing will appreciate the extra picture detail from MiniDV

The DC20 is a well-designed DVD camcorder and is good value for money. It's ideal for those wanting to point, shoot and watch with the minimum of fuss.