Canon MV5iMC Review

Overall Rating

Very small camcorder with superb outstanding quality. Many useful features - especially the Night Mode wich is not so bad as I expected.

If you don't spend hours reading the manual you'll be lost in seconds without any idea what are you doing and you won't be able to find most connection sockets since they are well hidden.

Don't get me wrong, the Canon MV5i MC digital camcorder is something I always wanted and I'm far more than astonished. This little baby made from one of the best/most well known companies is great for shooting movies. It's very easy to use and edit your videos...of course after you've read the manual (which takes a few hours to properly understand) and and are confident with it. I highly recommend you get yourself a good video with S-video In/Out so you can get the best possible video and sound quality. The camera, although it doesn't arrive with cassettes, has many useful cables but not the expensive ones (such as DV cable) and software wich gives you tips on how to get the best from your camera. The rechargeable battery last only 1 hour (as does the tape) but you can buy another pack with 2 hours recording time. Also note that the time of recording depends on if you use the viewfinder or the LCD screen. I was worried in the beginning about the LCD display because it's too small (I've always wanted 2.5 even 3.0 in display). But the 2.0 is enough and it doesn't really matter because smaller is better (not always). With the model I've got (MV5i MC), you can enjoy the multimedia card which is the only way to put your videos or PICTURES on the PC. About the zoom, i can only say that before you buy something always look at the optical zoom first rather than the digital. This cam has 10X optical and 200X digital but after I pass the optical I only use up to 40X since it's plenty of zoom and also the picture does get worse at 200X. And believe me, don't worry about it because, as I said, it's plenty of zoom which you want to use anyway.
All I can say about this Canon Camcorder is it's really good if you have £900 - this is the choice you should make and it sets the standard for years to come.

Please note also that Canon make one of the best Camcorders and Nikon make one the best Digital Cameras when it comes up to which manufacturer is the best.