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- Canon MV550i
- scotthatton's review
Have a picture of Canon MV550i?, please send it to us.
| Video Quality | 6.8/10   |
|---|---|
| Sound Quality | 4.5/10 |
| Battery Life | 5.5/10 |
| Features | 7.3/10 |
| Ease of Use | 7.8/10 |
| Value for Money | 4.3/10 |
| Reviewer Rating | 4/10 |
| Overall Rating | 5/10 |
By scotthatton
on 11th Apr 2005
| Time Camcorder Owned | Over 1 Year |
|---|---|
| Video Quality | 8/10 |
| Sound Quality | 5/10 |
| Battery Life | 7/10 |
| Features | 7/10 |
| Ease of Use | 8/10 |
| Value for money | 1/10 |
| Overall value | 1/10 |
 scotthatton's recommendation | |
Price,
Zoom
Build quality,
Canon after sales service.
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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Tubbs on 18th Jun 2007