Canon MV 650i

I have been the proud owner of MV550i Digital Camcorder for just over a year and it has proved to be well up to the tasks I expect of it. This was my first camcorder purchase and it was chosen on recommendation of the shop assistant as well as with Canon’s reputation in mind. At the time it came complete with a Firewire card (to connect camera to computer for editing) and editing software Presto! Videoworks.

The MV550i has the following ...
...range (530i):
• Greater focal length
• 22x optical zoom (instead of 20x)
• 440x digital zoom (instead of 400x)
• Super Night Mode (instead of Night Mode)
• Facility to record motion JPEGS
• 6 colour light up buttons

I connect the camera using a firewire cable to my computer to edit captured footage and then write the finished film to DVD. You can also write back to the MiniDV cassettes in the ... more

I have been the proud owner of MV550i Digital Camcorder for just over a year and it has proved to be well up to the tasks I expect of it. This was my first camcorder purchase and it was chosen on recommendation of the shop assistant as well as with Canon’s reputation in mind. At the time it came complete with a Firewire card (to connect camera to computer for editing) and editing software Presto! Videoworks.

The MV550i has the following extra features when compared to the next model down the range (530i):
• Greater focal length
• 22x optical zoom (instead of 20x)
• 440x digital zoom (instead of 400x)
• Super Night Mode (instead of Night Mode)
• Facility to record motion JPEGS
• 6 colour light up buttons

I connect the camera using a firewire cable to my computer to edit captured footage and then write the finished film to DVD. You can also write back to the MiniDV cassettes in the camera via the firewire cable but I did find that using this method there were occasional skipped frames in the finished cassette although I think this was more down to the computer than the camera. You should be aware that video captured from your camera will take up HUGE amounts of hard drive space. As an indication, a recent 50minute video I produced took up about 5 GB of space on the computer before it was copied to DVD.

The camera has been on several holidays with me including cruises and a trip to Disney etc in Florida so I have used it in a fairly wide spectrum of situations.

The camera feels well built and sturdy. Most features are easily accessible through a menu system on the built in 2.5” screen. Menu control is via a wheel to scroll through menu options. The power and computer connection ports are hidden beneath plastic flaps. I did have a concern that these may be a little fragile – but the camera has been in use for much of the year and there is no sign of weakness yet.

The main on/off control is similar to most camcorders I have seen with a thumb control to select “off”, “camera” or “player” and a central button to start and stop recording. I have found that it is very easy to catch the “start” button at the same time as switching the camera off… this causes the tape to move at the same time as switching off resulting in a “Remove cassette” message when the camera is next switched on. This is only a small niggle though – you soon get the knack of doing it right.

The camera has a rather gimmicky facility to change the colour in which the control buttons light up! There are six choices of colour from green through yellow to purple. I’m not quite sure of the purpose of this – I guess it enables you to match the camera to your outfit!! I have stuck with the blue!

Key Features:
22x Optical Zoom, 440x Digital zoom.
I have found the optical zoom to be excellent enabling shots of distant snow capped mountains to be captured very clearly – although at high levels of zoom it does become very difficult to hold the camera still enough to produce steady footage – I would recommend a tripod for this type of shot. As you zoom in further, the digital zoom takes over and this does become rather pixelated at high magnification. There is a facility to turn the digital zoom off and I have done this on my camera because of the pixilation and because the optical zoom is more than enough for most circumstances.

Digital Stereo sound
Sound quality is pretty good using the in-built microphone, although as with any camcorder wind noise does become a problem. There is a “wind noise reduction” feature which does have a limited effect – by reducing the sensitivity of the microphone – but you will find that the noise can still be intrusive in windy conditions. When filming at events such as the shows and parades at Disney parks, the microphone does a good job of picking up the music etc.

Recording Modes
99% of the time I use the camera in its “auto” mode which enables you to literally “point and shoot” with very good results. Other modes are Sports (for high speed scenes), Portrait (softens backgrounds), Spotlight, Sand and Snow and Low Light. There is a good range of digital effects, such as black and white, sepia, mosaic and art (which gives a solarized image). To be honest, if you are planning on linking the camera to your computer for editing, I doubt you will use these very much – it is far easier to do that than fiddling with camera settings before filming.

Manual Settings
If you prefer to set up the camera manually you can make adjustments to automatic exposure, shutter speed, focus and white balance.

Night Mode
In many respects, whilst appearing to be a great idea, the results captured when using this mode are disappointing. As the shutter slows to catch more light the resulting footage is jerky – almost slow motion. It does, however, enable you to film when you otherwise would not be able to do so. Jerky footage is better than none?... I will leave that to you to decide!

Recording Times
Standard recording is 60 minutes on a MiniDV cassette. The camera has various recording modes which enable you to record up to 240 minutes per cassette. However the image and sound quality does reduce considerably the more you squeeze on and you are also not able to perform audio dubbing in any mode other than standard. I must admit that I use standard all the time as I would rather get the best quality film and use more tapes if necessary.

Memory Card
The camera comes with an 8Mb SD MultiMedia card. This is used to store still images which can also be taken with the camera. The still images are fine for emailing or viewing on a computer or TV screen, but in my view would not be of sufficient quality to use for prints. The resolution is 768x576 pixels and you can fit approximately 43 high quality or 78 standard quality pictures on the SD card provided.

Also on the card there are several demo images which enable you to carry out “chroma key” on your video. This is the process where an area of blue in a picture is replaced by video footage, thus enabling you, for example, to overlay a fancy border over your movie in a similar way to that used in television for titles etc. Pictures from the card can be uploaded to computer via USB (cable included).

Battery Charging
The battery is charged by connecting the camera to the mains through an adaptor. This is fine but does not give the flexibility of an external charger. One is available as an extra.

Manual
The 162 page manual is very clear and covers all aspects of the camera’s operation. All the pages are in English which is good compared to many that I have seen!

SUMMARY
I am really pleased with the camera and would recommend it to anyone. It is very easy to use and the screen enables you to film whilst not having to watch all the action through a view finder. Picture and sound quality are great – I was amazed at the difference between this and my old analogue camcorder. Controls are easily accessible while filming and the facility to edit footage on your computer enables you to produce really professional looking end results even when using the basic “point and shoot” recording mode. For the more expert user there are plenty of manual settings available. The “pros” certainly outweigh the few “cons” I have mentioned above.

UPDATE 29/01/04
I have had a bit of trouble with the camera where it keeps telling me to "remove cassette". This was rectified by using a standard DV head cleaner cassette.
I would also add that the camera does seem to be susceptible to problems caused by condensation (although I guess most probably are) - I was recently filming in a humid indoor swimming pool and the camera promptly chewed up the tape about 5 minutes later. These are both probably not problems confined to this particular camera, but I thought it was worth adding to the review.
 

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