A member of Canon's debut line of DVD camcorders, the DC40 offers a larger single-CCD imager than most competing models. The 1/2.8-inch CCD delivers 4.3 gross megapixels when the digital image stabilization is disengaged, which translates to 3.5 megapixels in 4:3 standard mode and 2.99 megapixels in 16:9 widescreen mode. So what does all this mean?

Simply put, in a well-lit outdoor shooting environment, the DC40 delivers solid video footage. While there is occasionally some video noise present, the overall performance is good, with excellent color saturation and solid contrast. Unfortunately, like the entry-level DC20, the DC40 suffers from less-than-stellar low-light performance. The DC40 provides more manual controls than many other Canon models, although it may take a while to get used to the navigation system.

Like the other models in Canon's DVD camcorder series, the DC40 captures video and stills directly to write-once DVD-R and rewriteable DVD-RW. This unit can also record stills to MiniSD card, although no card is included in the package. Since MiniSD cards are not as easily available as we'd like to see, we suggest you stock up before taking a trip. With a maximum stills resolution of 2,304X1,736, the DC40 performs well as a hybrid unit. The DC40 offers a wide selection of focus and exposure controls for stills, including automatic exposure bracketing, integrated red-eye reduction, a burst mode and a built-in flash.

The 2-7/10-inch wide-format color LCD makes it easy to frame your shots when recording in Canon's high-resolution widescreen mode, which is ideal for capturing cinematic views for display on a widescreen TV. Canon's PictBridge function lets you print stills directly to a compatible printer, and the DC40's USB 2.0 port enables rapid transfer of stills and video to a PC for editing, printing or posting to the internet.

The DC40 delivers the fine color reproduction and solid video you expect from Canon, but otherwise this DVD camcorder doesn't offer much to set itself apart from the competition.

Pros:  Large CCD, great color reproduction, good manual controls
Cons:  Can't match the performance of some competing DVD camcorders, larger and heavier than Canon's lower-end DC20

Warranty
1 year parts and labor