Canon HR 10 DVD? No, Thanks.

Canon has had some recent success with their camcorder range, but I have a feeling that their attempts to replicate that success with a DVD-based camcorder is going to end in tears – or at least end in being sold for cheap on Ebay after only a few months use.

The HR10 looks pretty similar to the rest of the Canon range. It has a good lens and produces reasonable results, but I really can’t see the point of shooting directly onto a DVD. As we all know, DVD’s are not the indestructible medium they were originally touted to be. There are too many DVD formats, and the Canon HR10 uses only the AVCHD format, which is incompatible with many home DVD players. Just think about how easy it is to scratch a CD in the comfort of your own home. Now, multiply that X times as you carry a bunch of DVDs around in a camera case.

This is, in fact, a very good quality camera and produces probably the best quality images available in this price range. But, the aggravation of shooting a maximum of 15 minutes onto a disc combined with the hours of downloading/uploading/changing formats means I wouldn’t give Canon the time of day for an HR10, let alone a thousand dollars. No, I’ll stick to my tape-based Sony, thanks.

Here are some alternatives from Amazon.com: