Lake Success, N.Y. — With little fanfare, Canon has begun shipping its first DVD camcorders to dealers after announcing the models for overseas markets last month.
While the company made no formal U.S. announcement and is not displaying the products on its Web site, the two DVD camcorders have begun shipping to dealers. Canon would not comment on the products other to confirm that they were indeed shipping.
The models include the 1.3-megapixel DC10 ($749 selling price) and 2.2-megapixel DC20 ($849) record MPEG-2 video onto DVD-R discs. They can store up to 60 minutes of video on a single-sided 3-inch DVD-R/RW disc.
The models feature an RGB color filter, Canon’s DIGIC DV processor, a 2.5-inch LCD with anti-reflective coating and high resolution 16:9 recording. The camcorders also feature a 10x optical zoom lens with electronic image stabilization, and USB 2.0 high-speed connectivity.
The camcorders also offer a variety of still photography features, including preset scene modes, a nine-point AiAF auto focus system, a dedicated print/share and PictBridge compatibility. Stills can be saved to DVD or to a miniSD card.
The camcorders offer several auto exposure modes including aperture priority, shutter priority, Program and Auto and a five frames per second burst mode.
The DC20 also features a Super Night Mode which incorporates a mini video light and a light guide flash.
