Reviews

We've not yet reviewed many video camcorders but Canon's DC51 has a 5-megapixel imager and offers some handy features for photographers. The new model is an upgrade to the DC40, with the same 6.1-61mm lens and still picture storage to Mini SD cards. Like its predecessor, it records video to 8cm DVDs, although the new model can use both single- and dual-layer disks, while the DC40 was single-layer only. It also includes optical image stabilisation, whereas the DC40 has electronic.

A new joystick-based interface and a simplified set of controls should, in theory, make this camcorder easy to use. However, some of the buttons are a tad small and they lie flush with the camera body so you can only activate them with a fingernail. The joystick, too, is small and somewhat clumsy to use at times but the Photo button for shooting still pictures is well located and the hand strap makes it comfortable to use. The nearby zoom lever is rather short and it's difficult to make fine adjustments to the lens focal length. (Zooming is rather savage.)

The camera body is solidly built and the widescreen LCD is easy to view when you are shooting both stills and video clips. It's even usable out of doors in fairly bright sunlight. The DVD compartment opens and closes easily and disks are simple to load. The memory card compartment lies beneath a tethered plastic cover rear of the LCD. This area is shared with the AV port, while the battery slots into recess beneath the LCD, with the USB port between it and the card slot. A DC-in port is located at the lower front edge of the camera.

The hand strap sits rather low on the camera body, with anchor points front and rear. The base of the camera carries two tripod sockets. Buttons for accessing the Function menu, Display settings and Quick Start are ranged between the viewfinder and the LCD, just above the card compartment. The viewfinder eyepiece is small but the LCD behind it is bright and its resolution is adequate with a 4:3 aspect ratio. However, we suspect most users will prefer the widescreen LCD for shot composition.

The all-glass lens focuses internally and remains within the camera body throughout the entire zoom range. It has a built-in cover that slides up to protect the optics plus a 37 mm thread for attaching filters and conversion lenses. A maximum aperture allows users to shoot in light levels down to 0.3 lux when the Night mode setting is used. Beside the lens, at the front of the DVD compartment are a slim flash tube (for stills) and an LED video light, which doubles as an AF-assist light in low light conditions. Unfortunately, the flash is fully automatic and fires whenever light levels are low or backlighting is detected.

Built into the DC51 is Canon DiG!C DV II processor which is designed to handle the different needs of video and still images. It provides improved colour reproduction, especially for skin tones and high dynamic range scenes. It also uses a hybrid noise reduction system that uses two types of noise reduction covering still images and video.
An extensive range of shooting modes is provided, including full-auto, P, Av and Tv settings plus Portrait, Sports, Night, Snow, Beach, Sunset, Spotlight and Fireworks pre-sets. White balance adjustments are as extensive as those on a still camera, with Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten and two Fluorescent settings plus a Set mode for manual measurement. Sensitivity, however, is not adjustable, although up to 11 steps of adjustment is provided in both over- and under-exposure. This equates to +/- 2.75EV, which is similar to a typical digicam. Exposures are locked by pressing the joystick upwards.

Evaluative and centre-weighted average metering are supported. Focusing options include auto, manual and forced infinity and shutter speeds range from 1/6 to 1/2000 second. A useful Wind Screen setting is provided with the Auto setting and optional with other shooting modes.

Users can select from four image effects (video, neutral, low sharpening and soft skin detail) or create Custom adjustments. Four video effects are provided: B&W, sepia, 'Art' and mosaic, the first two being also available for still shots. However the only transition effects are auto fade and wipe. The DC51 records audio with Dolby Digital 2-channel compression and video in MPEG2. This can affect performance as outlined below.

The DC51 is supplied with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and AC adaptor/charger, cables for connecting it to mains power a PC and a TV set, a remote controller, two software disks and an 8cm DVD. If you want to record still pictures on a memory card, you must buy your own MiniSD card (and adaptor if you use a card reader). Supplied software includes Roxio MyDVD for Canon software as well as Canon's Camera Window and ZoomBrowser EX.

Camera Window is used for downloading and printing still shots, while ZoomBrowser EX provides basic still picture editing functions like cropping, sharpening, colour and red-eye correction and adding text to still pictures. Roxio MyDVD is a consumer-level video editing application with functions to help users import and arrange video clips and burn finished movies and slideshows to DVD. This suite of applications is an excellent match with the DC51.

Performance
Performance-wise, the DC51 we reviewed was something of a mixed bag as it delivered excellent results under certain conditions and not quite as good performance in others. Whether the average user would notice these flaws is open to debate. However, as reviewers, we feel it necessary to point them out.

As a still camera, the test unit produced excellent snapshots, although they showed many of the characteristics of a small-sensor camera. Colours were natural looking and exposures were well positioned to record both highlight and shadow details. Contrast and saturation were very modest. However, sharpness decreased slightly towards the edges of frames and we found slight coloured fringing in outdoor shots. Shots taken in dim lighting were visibly softened, even when the built-in flash was used to boost light levels. The flash was only just powerful enough to allow shots to be taken in normal room lighting - although the video light was somewhat more effective.

None of these factors mattered much for close-ups, where the DC51 was a very good performer in both stills and video mode. White balance performance was slightly better than average, although the auto setting failed to remove the orange cast of incandescent lighting. Fortunately, the pre-sets and manual measurement delivered excellent results.

Imatest confirmed our subjective assessments of the DC51's stills capabilities and revealed that the camera's resolution was very good for a camcorder with its imager size. It also showed colour accuracy to be generally good, while overall saturation was significantly lower than the usual level for a compact digicam. Lateral chromatic aberration was generally low.

For still shots, the test camera's response times were slow. It took roughly five seconds to power-up the camera for shooting and we measured an average capture lag of 1.3 seconds, which reduced to 0.5 seconds with pre-focusing. Both continuous shooting modes recorded shots at 0.8 seconds intervals. Image processing appeared to be capable of keeping up with the burst rate as we were able to record 10 shots with only slight slowing towards the end of a burst.

Video performance was very good - as long as the amount of motion (camera or subject) involved in shots remained relatively low. With fast moving subjects or reasonably fast tracking, macro blocks became visible in the footage. These artefacts are associated with Motion JPEG compression and can be seen as a loss of detail in the block-like sections of the image that are formed through JPEG compression. They are not specific to any one camera but generally associated with the compression format.

The appearance of the video clips was also different from the still pictures. Contrast was noticeably higher, which meant highlights and shadows became blocked in sunny conditions. Colour saturation was also elevated to the level commonly seen with compact digicams. This tended to make the macro blocks a little more noticeable - but also produced the bright, vibrant look that many consumers prefer. Widescreen videos looked quite impressive on a 16:9 TV set.

IMATEST GRAPHS

SAMPLE IMAGES

Close-up.

Snapshot.

Widescreen mode.

Auto white balance with fluorescent lighting.

Auto white balance with incandescent lighting.

Low light recording.

Image sensor: 5.27 x 3.96mm interlaced CCD with RGB primary colour filters
Sensor Resolution: Approx 5.39 megapixels (total); 3.69 megapixels (16:9), Approx 3.98 megapixels (4:3), Approx 5 megapixels (still)

Lens: 6.1- 61mm (44.7mm - 447mm 35mm equivalent, 4:3 aspect ratio); max. aperture f/1.8
Zoom ratio: 10x optical; 40-200x digital
Video System: DVD Video (MPEG2 compression)

Recording Modes: XP, SP, LP
Sound recording: Dolby Digital 2 channel
Still Image Sizes/ file format: 2592 x 1944, 2048 x 1536, 640 x 480 pixels; JPEG (Exif 2.2); Super Fine, Fine, Normal compression
Shutter speed range: 9 levels, 1/6 - 1/2,000 sec, 1/2 to 1/500 sec (movie night mode), 1/25 - 1/500 (auto slow shutter for low light on)
Image Stabilisation: Lens-shift OIS
Focus system/range: Auto, Manual, Forced Infinity; minimum focusing distance 1 cm on maximum wide angle
Exposure Compensation: ±11 steps (± 2.75 EV) correction possible by moving joystick left or right. Exposure locked by pushing joystick upward
Exposure controls: Program AE, Tv, Av, Portrait, Snow, Spotlight, Sports, Beach, Fireworks, Night and Sunset modes.
Minimum illumination: 0.3 lux in Night mode; 4.1 lux in other modes
White balance: Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Set
Flash: Built in, red-eye function provided

Video Light: Built in, Bright LED, AF auxiliary light for low-luminance
Storage Media: Video - 8cm DVD-R DL, 8cm DVD-R, 8cm DVD-RW; Still pictures - Mini SD
Viewfinder: 0.27-inch real widescreen EVF with approx 123,000 pixels

LCD monitor:  2.7-inch real widescreen (approx. 123,000 pixels)
Power supply: 7.4 V DC (battery pack); 8.4 V DC via compact power adapter
Dimensions (wxhxd): 62 x 90 x 130 mm (excluding grip belt)
Weight: 450 grams (camcorder body only)