Following the same colour combination as the Canon DC210, the DC230 even has the same bright blue sticker showcasing the 35x optical zoom, and the On/Off button is located very con¬veniently-and works mighty well. We really like the idea of placing the 5-way joystick at the rear, where it is right under your eye¬you can access it one-handed quite easily. The Auto/Programmed mode select but¬ton is right on top and very visible-in fact, everything feels so easily accessible and transparent. Once again, the detailed menu on the DC51 makes another appearance-lots of set¬tings to tinker with-but it's all very easy to get into, and you'll never feel intimidated by the sheer number of options available.





The LCD viewfinder is widescreen (16:9) and quite clear-in fact, a pleasure to work with, overshadowed only by the LCD viewfinders on the Panasonic models. The slightly higher specifications don't really make a difference to the DC230 as far as distinguishing it from the DC210 goes. The IS system works identically, which is to say, not satisfactori¬ly. Outdoor shooting was a real joy with the DC230, and such videos really come to life-you won't know the lack of a 3 CCD sensor¬able models in our markets and brought them together for the first time. the same noise was noticeable-the DC51 did much better than both its cheaper siblings.

At Rs 24,995, the DC230 performs very sim¬ilarly to the DC210-we'd figure a positive difference of around 10 per cent. There's nothing other than its on-paper specs to justifY shelling out six thousand rupees more. If you don't mind a cheaper Canon camcorder, buy the DC210 and save some cash.

specifications
1/ 6-inch CCD sensor (1.07 megapixels);
2.7-inch LCD viewfinder (123,000 pixels);
Digital (Electronic) Image Stabilisation;
Weight: 405 gm.