Canon MV450i

Use this type of camera with all it's manual settings, external mic (and headphones!!!) and you get great results. Don't use auto!! That goes for any camcorder. Read the user guide and learn how to use your equipment. Like I said FANTASTIC ;-))

I wished I had purchased something else.

After some extensive research into the relatively new field of DV camcorders I plumped for the Canon MV450i on the basis of its high specification levels and previous good experience of Canon photographic equipment.

For the price this camcorder offers the user DVin and DVout, an important point that many manufacturers seem to miss out on sub-£1000 models. Many people are happy to rely on internet 'crack' programs to enable DVin on their camcorders but the 450i comes with this as standard. This is essential if you want to ensure you can edit your movies on a PC and then put them back onto high quality DV tape.

The camcorder is easy to set-up and start using straight from the box with a well-thought-out manual that guides you through the process of familiarisation in bite size chunks. Great if you don't feel like reading 100 pages just to load a tape and start playing around.

Most of the functions are easy to get at and the quality of the video playback is impressive. The camcorder feels well made and unlikely to break easily but operating the main power/play/record button one-handed can be difficult if you've got big fingers.

This model also allows you to capture still images to a multimedia card for easy transfer to a PC but the quality here was a little disappointing. If you're looking to take plenty of digital stills too consider a higher spec camera designed just for that purpose.

This review copyright Amazon