Canon MV550i Review

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Canon MV550i
2.7 stars
Average rating for this product is: 2.7 out of 5

From 2 ratings and 10 reviews

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scotthatton's Review of Canon MV550i

11th Apr 2005

Overall Rating

0.5 stars
  • Value for money
    0.5 stars
  • Video Quality
    4 stars
  • Battery Life
    3.5 stars
  • Ease of Use
    4 stars
  • Time Camcorder Owned
    Over 1 Year
  • Sound Quality
    2.5 stars
  • Features
    3.5 stars
Good Points

Price,
Zoom


Bad Points

Build quality,
Canon after sales service.


General Comments

I bought the Canon MV 550i two years ago after reading magazine reviews. It seemed to be the leader in the field of budget camcorders and having tried it in the shops found it very comfortable to use.
Initial impressions were very good, and I used the camera to shot some great footage skiing. The only minor downside was the noise of the cameras operation being pick up in operation - this was mentioned in reviews.

However, then it all went wrong. One day whilst backing up some editing footage via DV-IN from my PC, then camcorder chewed up a tape. Suspecting it to be a tape problem, I tried another (new) tape. Was OK for a bit until the camera then chewed up another tape with some valuable footage on it - not happy.
Spoke to Canon who were less than interested in the fault, but suggested I send it back for repair (under warranty). The camera took a long time to be repaired (double quoted time).
I also tried to claim for the 3 tapes that were damaged by the camera but they were not interested. Brushed off and refered to the terms and conditions.

Camera seemed to be OK upon return, but then just after the guarantee ran out it starting chewing tapes again. I spoke to Canon who said I'd have to pay for repair - about £180. Just not worth it. Camera is now consigned to back of cupboard.

Having researched this problem seems tape mechanism issues occur a lot with this (these) models - something Canon seems to be keeping quiet.

I'd never buy another Canon camcorder again and suggest you avoid them.

Scott Hatton

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Members' Comments onscotthatton's Review

  • Tubbs on 18th Jun 2007

    I to have experienced the same problem with a little used MV550I which is now out of warranty, unfortunately I used my tapes with valued video footage on thinking it was a tape problem. Thanks to this review I shall not bother to have it repaired and will have to find some way of restoring my chewed up tapes to disc.