Canon DC22 2.2MP DVD Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

I recently began using this camcorder again to create direct to mini-DVD recordings to leave with folks who can then pop them directly into a DVD player, so I thought I should add a review of this 8 year old technology. This feature is certainly popular among people who don't have good network bandwidth to watch YouTube, Facebook and other digital sites, or are not comfortable replaying digital media videos on PCs, though some newer, inexpensive video players and flat screen monitors/TVs now include a USB/SD card reader.For anyone looking for a mini-DVD camcorder or who likes the idea of recording directly to mini-DVD which can display directly by dropping into a DVD player, this is still a good choice. This refurbished version may be a bit pricey, these are often found in thrift shops these days! You can use mini-DVD-RW or mini-DVD-R media allowing re-recording on the former. The media is still readily available online, though the price per GB is higher than some SD media the primary use is to create an immediately usable DVD. The mini-SD card is ONLY for the 2.2mp still camera (no longer of great value, IMO). If you do NOT want DVD compatibility, then don't bother with this old camcorder!So some of the highlights:* good optics, good stabilizer, decent sensor* has both a monitor screen and eye level "viewfinder" monitor which is increasingly hard to find on low end camcorders & digital palmcorders* direct "finalize" to usable DVD, take care with DVD-RW to finalize as well for use in a DVD-RW capable DVD player (you can "un-finalize" miniDVD-RW media)* palm sized unit, mounts and works well on a tripod* SVideo output as well as composite video + audioI downgrade this to 4 stars for these reasons:* low light performance is not great especially compared to newer camcorders using digital media (SD cards, et al)* battery performance is not great, though getting a spare (or two) allows you to just change batteries every 2-3 mini-DVDs recorded* the included PC and Mac software hasn't been updated for Windows 7 or Windows 8. If you have decent DVD authoring/copying and editing software which is on most Mac or Windows PCs, then this is likely not an issue* camera requires you to plug camera into AC-DC adapter in order to format a DVD-RW and requests you do so to "finalize" a DVDThough Windows 7 and 8 autodiscover and recognize the mini-DVD in the camcorder when attached via USB, you have to remember to use the VIDEO mode on DVD-RW media not the VR mode, and then "finalize" the mini-DVD to directly read in a DVD drive or player. The mini-DVDs are readable on most PC DVD drives that are RW media capable.

I am just learning to use this camera. I loaded the supplied Roxio MyDVD for Canon software on my computer and plugged in the USB cable. When you go to the video capture screen it says that this version of the software, MyDVD LE, does not support image capture. After a few phone calls back and forth with the Canon service center (in Virgina, not India which is nice), we found that you should NOT go to video capture. Duh, you have to click on DVD_Video and then on top, "Open Disc". This will read the disc in the camera via the USB cable. Oh, and you should finalize the disc before doing this as it might not work otherwise. It is probably faster to put the mini-disc in your computer's DVD drive if it has one. But don't forget to Finalize the disc in the camera before doing this.The camera itself has been working well. Tonight I'm going to try out the Fireworks mode to see how that works.

This is my second DC 22. I bought my first one 5 or 6 years ago, and only had to by another one because my first one quit reading discs recently. I like the dvd format and the ease of use. Great Camcorder!

Received this item as a gift, was so thrilled to have it for the kids first day of school. Luckily I was playing around with it the day before and found out what a piece of crap this camera is. I recorded and then tried to finalize and found that the amera could not read the disc - amazing since it s the canon one that they even provided with the camera!! Then I lost everything I recorded. So, I tried 3 other dvd-r discs -- which are not cheap and the frikin camera could not read those either. What a piece of crap -- lost everything. I read the manual and even called the Canon people -- all they were able to tell me is geesh, that is not supposed to happen. I can only hope 6th ave. will accept the return tomorrow. Please stear clear of this item, unless you like to record things and only see them once and them loose them.