Canon MVX4i A Personal Review By Derek Yeo

Canon MVX4i is a camcorder that I can say truly is a breakthrough in palm size camcorders. The MVX4i delivers excellent video quality and is probably the first camcorder that I can say will probably give camcorders such as the SONY HC90 and 803 a run for their money. (US Version known as Optura 600)

I took the camcorder on a test shoot and tested it under all different conditions and these are the things I can say about the CANON MVX4i. A very compact camcorder but with a whole load of features and also plenty of useable functions. Weighing about slightly over 400gms the camcorder is a great choice for those who like to have something small and light but with the ability to shoot super sharp video and great stills. ( Great Travel Camcorder )

Superb CCD

The MVX4i is equipped with a 1 /2.8 inch 4.29 mega pixels CCD with the ability to shoot stills of up to 4 million pixels and movie pixels of up to 3.5 million pixels. This is indeed an impressive specification in terms of movie pixels compared to other camcorders in its price range. Also a first in single CCD camcorder with the capability to shoot true 4 mega pixel stills without any pixel shifting or interpolation. Using also the renowned Canons Digic DV imaging processor the MVX4i is capable of producing outstanding color reproduction. I was indeed truly impressed with the color tones of the stills and also video.

Aperture and Shutter Controls Program and Automatic.

For a camcorder this size the MVX4i allows you to shoot in aperture priority and also shutter priority modes. This you will find easily on the mode dial with the ever recognizable AV and TV symbols similar in all other Canon cameras with this ability. There is also a Program mode or P mode that you can set and make certain adjustments for e.g.…exposure compensation and also manual focus etc. In Auto mode nothing can be manipulated. I wish Canon threw in an M mode instead of the P mode which will allow me full control over exposure and shutter.

One good thing is that you are able to take the shutter speed below the 1/50 setting in shutter priority. The MVX4i also display readings and settings in actual F stops and Shutter speeds. Pretty cool eh?

Focus

With a depression of a button the MVX4i in an instance switches to manual focus mode. Focusing is however done with the rotary dial instead of a focus ring. Though this takes some getting use to, I found the focusing method pretty effective with the rotary dial and pretty accurate.

Low Lighting

I tested the camcorder side by side with the SONY HC90 in the same lighting conditions and this is what I have to say in my opinion. The HC90 is indeed already a very capable camcorder that performs well in low lighting environment. The MVX4i I found to only edge over the HC90 marginally and had lesser grain in the same dim light conditions. However, I must stress I do not find the difference significant. The one other advantage however was the little video LED light that CANON has included on the MVX4i. Similar to the ones you find on mobile phones today, the LED proves to be a great feature especially in the case you are shooting in a for example in a disco etc..  The on board LED can adequately light up your subject without the nasty low light grain. I am surely certain other makers will follow suit with 2 maybe 3 LEDs in the future. (Canon has one LED)

Electronic Image Stabilizer

They built a camcorder so good and they throw in an EIS instead of an OIS in it. What is CANON thinking about? I simple cannot understand this philosophy. Though the EIS does well in keeping and eliminating shakes right till you get to the long end of the zoom, don’t we all know it also sacrifices in quality. Ai Yah Yah !!! And what makes things worst is all the previous models come with an optical image stabilizer instead.

Tape Loading

A bottom loader and a problem if you plan to shoot with tripod and need to change tapes. Well, I will not complain much in this area, after all, the battery only last an hour anyway and my tapes goes for an hour anyhow. So., if you shoot alot on a tripod i suggest you pick another camcorder which loads from the top.

Digital Still Camera

The MVX4i is a very capable digital still camera as well and has a whole arsenal of mega features that you will not find in another camcorder today. A truly video cum still camera the functions include a 9 point Artificial Intelligence Auto Focus capability. A custom photometry system where you may select your prefered focus points for off center shooting.

The MVX4i also allows you photo bracketing for shooting of up to three frames and 3 different levels of exposure. Also the high speed continuous shooting of up to 3 frames per second. However this is only confined to resolutions of up to 1632 X 1224.

The MVX4i also provides you different metering modes such as EVALUATIVE, CENTRE WEIGHTED and also SPOT. Now tell me isn’t this awesome so far???

You are also able to capture stills onto the memory card when shooting video but this would only be confined to a 640X480 resolution. A great feature to have if you want a still of the video image you are simultaneously recording.

There are also a whole array of scene modes that you can choose from such as fireworks, sunset, beach, snow, spotlight and also foliage for shooting greens flowers etc..

Electronic Image Stabilizer

They built a camcorder so good and they throw in an EIS instead of an OIS in it. What is CANON thinking about? I simple cannot understand this philosophy. Though the EIS does well in keeping and eliminating shakes right till you get to the long end of the zoom, don’t we all know it also sacrifices in quality. Ai Yah Yah !!! And what makes things worst is all the previous models come with an optical image stabilizer instead.

Tape Loading

A bottom loader and a problem if you plan to shoot with tripod and need to change tapes. Well, I will not complain much in this area, after all, the battery only last an hour anyway and my tapes goes for an hour anyhow. So., if you shoot alot on a tripod i suggest you pick another camcorder which loads from the top.

Digital Still Camera

The MVX4i is a very capable digital still camera as well and has a whole arsenal of mega features that you will not find in another camcorder today. A truly video cum still camera the functions include a 9 point Artificial Intelligence Auto Focus capability. A custom photometry system where you may select your prefered focus points for off center shooting.

The MVX4i also allows you photo bracketing for shooting of up to three frames and 3 different levels of exposure. Also the high speed continuous shooting of up to 3 frames per second. However this is only confined to resolutions of up to 1632 X 1224.

The MVX4i also provides you different metering modes such as EVALUATIVE, CENTRE WEIGHTED and also SPOT. Now tell me isn’t this awesome so far???

You are also able to capture stills onto the memory card when shooting video but this would only be confined to a 640X480 resolution. A great feature to have if you want a still of the video image you are simultaneously recording.

There are also a whole array of scene modes that you can choose from such as fireworks, sunset, beach, snow, spotlight and also foliage for shooting greens flowers etc..

I captured output the footage of the MVX4i on my Panasonic & LG Plasma and my conclusion is as follows. Though it is a single CCD camcorder, the 4 megapixel CCD and 1.2/8 size CCD is very capable in low light conditions. I find that it is indeed a great camcorder to carry around and very capable in shooting good video and also good photos. I can also say that the stills produced even beats some of the dedicated digital still cameras found sold over the counters today.

 

Zoom lever is very very responsive and highly sensitive and very capable in producing tremendously slow slow crawls. If you want a good single CCD camcorder that shoots SD and uses the MINI DV format check out the MVX4i. (10X Optical)

 

The only fault you can pick with this camcorder is probably the price, the awkward handling and the absence of a full manual mode in my opinion a short battery life unless you splurge on an extended battery. I guess this is why they give a spare battery when you buy this camcorder now. ( 60 minutes with LCD )Besides that, it is light, small enough for discreet shooting and a two in one camera.

 

Article by Derek Yeo