After looking into a camcorder with DVD capability and the flexibility of good still photos, I decided to go with the Canon DC40. It has everything I wanted and is easy to use, at least up until this point (I haven't transferred photos or movies to my computer). The only drawbacks that I have noticed is that battery must be charged by plugging in the camera so you're unable to use the camera while charging your second battery and the battery life if you take stills does not last very long. You can purchase a separate charger (approx $20). Photo quality is great and DVD quality is great. Indoor settings you have to remember to check lighting or use the flash. I don't have much of basis to compare it to, but I do love the camera. It beats carrying a camcorder and still camera and the picture quality is no comparison from older generation cameras. Definitely something to have with small children.

Excellent.
Easy to use. Easy to use instruction manual too. I tried out a SONY camcorder, and found the CANON much easier.

Switching between camcorder, and still photos is as easy as flipping a switch.

Photos are excellent! I have printed out 5X7s and 8X10s. I take a lot of photos, and they come out great. The flash is small and only reaches so far. Photos may be blurry or dark if the flash can not recharge in time, or you are too far away. Turning on a light helps this.

No firewire. However, you dont' really need one. It's dvd. After you finalize your dvd, you just slip it into your computer dvd drive, or put it into your dvd player. . .and there you go. You are ready to play your home movies.

Applause for the remote control! This remote works fast. I used to have a high-end digital camera, and the remote was always slow to respond. This remote takes photos great. Get a tripod, and let everyone be in the photo! It's away. It works with both video, and still photos.

Drawbacks: Price. (Ouch) It is the top of line, right now, however. I think it blows the SONY away.
You do have to pay for the upgrade on MYDVD, if you plan on editing a lot. However, you can use any DVD editing program that you like
Otherwise, I can see no drawbacks.. I love my CANON D40

Most of the DVD Camcorders can not film well in low light. This product does an excellent job in low light conditions. Not everything happens in good lighting.

I like Canon,that's why I choose this Canon DC40 over Sony DCR-DVD505. Very dispoint me is this Camcorder over heat the first day when I tried to download still images into my PC. Even it claims 4.3MP, the pictures quality only equal to 2MP digital camera. Make it useless.

It does not support IEE firewire.

It only can use DVD-R and DVD-RW. Does not support DVD+R nor DVD+RW

Mydvd software comes with the Camcorder have to pay for up-grade in order to transfer Video File from Camcorder to PC or Add Video file from dvd drive to PC.

Very slow start.

But Video quality very good.

I've done my web research and it pointed me to buy the Canon DC40 among other dvd-camcorders in market. It was such an amazing experience using it to capture moments during my nephew's birthday party. The still shots were absolutely fantastic! The video was like no other...it was very clear and sharp. You may want to tweak the settings to get that film look versus the homevideo look on your video shots. Also, tweak the stills settings as well to get that SLR-like shots. I love this product and I highly recommend this to all of you who are planning on purchasing a dvd-camcorder. Cheers! -- Joel Pelayo

This is the machine you have been waiting for. It is so easy to use. It will do almost anything you can imagine in terms of still photography. It is as if you have the best digital compact camera.
The quality of the DVD movies are amazing. It is like looking through the window when you watch your video on the TV. It is as close to High Defonition as I have ever seen.
It is worth while to read the instruction manual first, as there are few little things that have to be done in the correct sequnece to finalise DVD's, but it is very simple.
The sound is crips and clear with out any noise interuptions. I would say that this is the best DVD camcorder available at the moment.

I wanted to buy a camcorder that records with high quality.This camcorder does just that...Wonderful quality and easy to use controls makes it very user friendly....Also finalazing the video to dvd takes just 2 minutes which is good.

Overall the performance is too good and it is a must buy for people thinking of a quality camcorder

I really do love this camera, yet, there are a few drawbacks, that I would have liked to know prior to purchasing:

1) It does take time to initialize and finalize discs (and must be plugged in and NOT MOVED to do so) which isn't horrible, but somewhat annoying.

2) Another drawback is the battery life which is pretty short... although it lasts about as long as the 30 min. discs.

3) On the side of the camera is just says DVD R/RW, but you must buy the -R and -RW discs as the +R and +RW don't work (learned after buying 5 discs at Wal-Mart for [...].) I assumed either would work since the camera doesn't specify either on the side.

4) Another thing that is odd is that the camera says it's 4.0 megapixels, and all of the reviews and manufacturers descriptions says it's 4.3 MP??? I'm sure it doesn't make much difference, but it is a bit misleading.

5) I also have a total of 4 DVD players in my house, and only one will play these little discs... and after I burned it to a regular size DVD, only one played that, but it was a different DVD player, so go figure???

All in all, though, I really do like this camera. I love the still pics it takes and I love the sound quality which is in stereo!!! It sounds so good on surround sound! There are lots of neat features on this camera and with the software... I made a little Halloween video and added titles and fades and such and made it look "old". If you'd like to see it here is the link... it's fairly short, but I got lots of compliments on it, and I'm no camera expert!!! [...]
Just copy and paste the link if you'd like to see what you can do with this package!

I bought this camera for general use and like it a lot. Compared to other cameras ive owned this one has very good sound recording capability. It's ergonomics are good and its pleasant to use for the most part. Using the DVD options on the camera could be a little more refined but I imagine that will mature with future generations. I'd recommend it for anyone looking for a DVD camcorder to use for family or low end presentations.
The Bad: The editing software included with it is rubbish and requires shelling out more money right off the bat if you actually want to create anything reasonably professional with any footage. In my opinion its a technical support headache waiting to happen. I checked it out then threw it in the trash.
It also does not have firewire which is highly irritating and odd considering my older Canons/sonys all have firewire connectivity. MAC USERS: This means it will not work with iMovie or Final Cut Pro / Express.
Since my preference is for using OS X based editing suites I finish out the DVD and then put it in the computer directly. Rip the footage off the DVD and then import it into either FCP or iMovie. If only it had firewire...
In short: Great camera, very good sound, easy to use and pleasant to operate. Clunky, out-of-box-upgrade-requiring, low-end editing software and lack of firewire keep it from being the perfect little camera it should be.

I did a lot of research on camcorders before I decided to purchase the Canon DC-40. It has been everything I expected and more. The video and audio quality is far superior to our old videotape camcorder. The DC-40 gives me all the tools I need to get the best picture and sound under any condition I am shooting under. To get the same number of pixels the DC-40 offers, you might have to pay twice as much. I am amazed at how good video I get for a camera that I can carry in my coat pocket.

It is a pretty good camera. Its my first camcorder, I bought it because I had a baby in October and need to capture everything, and my Nikon digital wasn't doing it for me. The optical zoom is great, its pretty easy to use, and I love that you can just press the finalize button wait a little bit and then play the dvd on the dvd player.
The only negative thing is the price, it was a bit high, and Im not sure if its that much better than the other ones out there at lower prices.

This camera fulfiled my expectations as well as the seller who shipped it right away.

It's excellent dvd camcorder but has some problems with the execution of the edition software to keep the archives in little traditional formats. In general it's an excellent option of purchase.

Very compact, light and easy to hold - full marks for design. Buttons etc can take a bit of getting used to, but ok once mastered. Main downside for me it only takes DVD-R/RW- and not DVD-R/RW+, bit of a problem when you pick up the wrong ones! Also, can be a problem taking it abroad - I had issues charging it as it would take a standard US to UK converter plug as the pins are slightly wider than normal US plugs.

This camcorder does an excaptional job. You get what you pay for. The still pictures are very nice for being part of a camcorder. The only complaint I have is the batteries don't seem to last long.

I've had this camera for 6 mos. now. This is a great option for those not wanting to carry two different cameras. Switching between video and still is quick and easy. The quality of the pictures and video are superior to others. My brothers own comparables Sonys and a Panasonic. Pictures/Video are better on this; however... The video editing software leaves much to be desired. And the very low light video is better on the Sony. Other than that I would choose this camera vs. the others. The best part is that the wives agree; the Cannon is easier to use, more comfortable to hold and takes better pictures.

The Canon DC40 is a great camera in all levels of light. I just got back from Disney and filmed the fireworks show. I've never had any luck filming things like this but with this camera set on the special "Fireworks" setting it looked as good as the firework shows you see on TV. Daytime movies came out fantastic as well. The camera feels sturdy and I have no fear of it breaking. Takes really sharp vivid color photos. The option to take pictures while you film video is pretty cool but the photos don't come out as good as when you take the photos by themselves. The one problem I have with it is that it picks up a lot of wind sound. I glued a very small piece of foam, kinda like what is on earbuds, on the mic and it cut down on the noise quite a bit with no loss to voices and sounds. If your budget won't allow you to go hi-def then this is the cam for you.

I bought a DC40 in Feb, 2007. From the first day, I found that I couldn't transfer the vedio from the camcorder to PC. I thought that it may be the problem of software, I contacted the Roxio, which is the manufacturer of software. It was very difficult to get support from Roxio. After many trys, they didn't tell me what was wrong, and stopped responding my questions.

I read the manual carefully, but couldn't find any answers for the problem. I just gave up.

In the middle of July, I found that the camcorder was dead, couldn't be charged. I called Canon. It was easy to get some one on phone to talk to. I was told to mail it or drop it to the nearest repair center. I dropped it to a repair center just 20 mins away.

The young lady of repair center took the camcorder, and told me that it may be the charger didn't work. The problem of transfering vedio may be caused from the same part of camcorder. I was told that it should be fixed in 5 business days.

I received the call from repair center after 8 business days. I went there to pick up, the girl gave the fixed camcorder. I tried to use it right after I got out the door, but it was not working. I found that the battery was missing. The girl couldn't find the battery. She gave me a new one. I tried to charge the battery after I got home, it was not working. I had to go back with the AC adapter. It was the defective of the adapter. Now it is working, charging battery and importing the vedio to PC from the camcorder.

I may be just unlucky.

THIS IS MY FIRST CAMCORDER BUT IVE SEEN SEVERAL DIFFERENT ONES. BUT THIS CAMCORDER OUT RATES ANY OF IT.. YOU CAN DO SO MUCH WITH IT WITHIN THE CAMCORDER OR ON TO YOUR COMPUTER.. YOU JUST HAVE TO READ THE BOOK CAREFULLY.. THIS IS THE BEST DVD CAMCORDER AND I SUGGEST YOU GET ONE..

The camera boasts lots of features and a decent price, however Canon has omitted one very important feature that is very crucial to some users such as myself- It has no ability (per the Canon Service Reps) to have the video pass- thru without having the on-screen data shown on the recieving end (such as on a video switcher). The only way to get that data off is to RECORD your video. We needed to use the camera for sending a live video feed, but alas, we were not able to get the on screen info to not show on the final feed destination. The Canon rep said that this is the only video camera that he has seen without the proper menu options to correct this.

Other than that, the video quality appeard to be very nice.