Canon DC410 DVD Camcorder with 41x Optical Zoom

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!

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).

Buy Canon DC410 DVD Camcorder with 41x Optical Zoom Now

Before buying a camcorder (1st camcorder purchase in 17 years) I checked Consumer Reports which listed this model as a Best Buy. Because of the multitude of choices out there, I leaned on them for guidance. But as usual it comes down to Sony and Canon slugging it out with JVC a distand third. For me, quality of results, affordability, ease of use and features are important in the order listed. This camcorder seems to strike a reasonable balance (at least for me) on these features. I was able to become fairly proficient in the operation of this camera within 1 hour and am pleased with image stabilization, audio and video quality. Low light level video is grainy but that is typical of cameras in this price range (

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