Canon VIXIA HF S11 HD Dual Flash Memory Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom - 2009 MODEL
by Canon
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Our Price: $725.00
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Category: Digital Camera
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Digital product summary information
Manufacturer: CanonModel: HF S11
Product features:
- Dual Flash Memory: 64 GB internal flash drive & SDHC card slot
- Genuine Canon 10x HD Video Lens
- Canon Exclusive: 1/2.6? 8.59 Megapixel Full HD CMOS Image Sensor
- Canon Exclusive: DIGIC DV III Image Processor
- 1920 x 1080 Full HD Recording
- Canon SC2000 Soft Carrying Case for select Canon Camcorders
- Pinnacle Studio HD V14 [OLD VERSION]
- AmazonBasics SDHC Class 4 32GB Secure Digital Card
- AmazonBasics SDHC Class 10 4 GB Secure Digital Card
- AmazonBasics 8 GB Class 4 SDHC Flash Memory Card
Digital camera reviews of Canon VIXIA HF S11 HD Dual Flash Memory Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom - 2009 MODEL
Digital camera Review: A Worthy Contender In The Prosumer Camcorder Market
Summary: 4 Stars
I've used quite a few camcorders, including a professional shoulder mount standard definition camcorder model that I paid the price of a small car for, and this camcorder is a stunner even compared to that. Until now, I have never been impressed with the performance of consumer or even prosumer camcorders because I've been too accustomed to the performance of my professional camcorder that I used to shoot weddings.
Make no mistake, Canon's HF S11 camcorder is not perfect. But at its price it's a steal. I won't lavish endless praise like many reviewers (including professional reviewers) did. In fact, I'll go over the negatives first.
One of its biggest shortcomings is the audio quality of the built-in microphones. I rolled my eyes when a reviewer in VideoMaker magazine stated that the sound was something to the effect of "strong and clear". It is not, there is almost a complete absence of bass, there is not a whole lot of treble; just a whole lot of narrow band midrange with very little apparent stereo separation. I find this to be one of the HF S11's most serious flaws. At first glance, you'd expect the sound to be quite good, especially when each microphone is clearly arranged on each side of the camcorder. But take a closer look and you'll notice that each mic opening through each of the deceptively large mic grills consist of a pinhole! Every camcorder I've used, including the lowest end unit outperforms the HF S11's sound. So don't expect even good amateur results. In fact, if you intend to use the camcorder to produce a professional-quality video, plan on investing in a separate digital audio recorder for the soundtrack and getting it back into sync with the video using editing software. You may be wondering why I simply don't recommend purchasing an external mic to plug into the 1/8" mic jack. Well the jack is side-mounted and there are no firm surfaces onto which you can attach the mic or the cable. The jack itself only supports mono.
The second negative in my opinion may not be too important to a lot of users. The shooting angle of the lens is somewhat narrow. On many occasions when you're shooting in tight spaces, you'll find yourself backing into walls because you can't capture enough video from the sides. Solution: you'll need to purchase a wide-angle adapter. But if you do that you may see a slight loss in picture clarity AND the wide angle lens will block the camcorder's front-mounted light sensor, which would prevent the camcorder from popping up the video light when scenes become too dark to shoot. The "low-light" shooting mode on the camcorder is not a good way to compensate for this because it will brighten the footage simply by slowing down the camcorder's shutter speed until your footage appears as if it's astronaut footage. The half-way compromise in this case is to use the unit's "night scene" shooting mode, which fortunately adds no visible video noise. There's only a very slight loss of clarity. But even then footage will be dark. The built-in lens is of good quality and there is just a slightly noticeable barrel distortion. Be careful when choosing a wide angle adapter; choose the wrong one and the barrel distortion will visibly increase or there may even be some vignetting. I purchased a Canon WD-H58 (0.7x lens) which did not produce these problems, there was just a very slight loss in detail.
The third minus is a sin. Canon uses a proprietary hotshoe it calls the Advanced Mini-Hotshoe. This boils down to being forced to use only Canon's accessory speedlight, video light, or microphone. And these accessories are not cheap by consumer camcorder standards. Sure, you can get around this by using an adapter on top of the hotshoe but the adapter is a coldshoe and it raises the mounting height.
The fourth shortcoming is ironically one of the HF S11's biggest selling points. Reviewers have billed this camcorder as a great indie film maker's tool because it has the 24P shooting mode. Canon is careful not to overtly state that it shoots at 24 frames per second. It does not. Shooting at the 30P and 24P modes (as opposed to the conventional 60i mode) does give your footage more of a film look but this comes at the expense of motion blur or judder in medium to fast-moving objects. Why? Because the difference is not the frame rate but shutter speed! If you switched the camcorder to the 60i shooting mode and entered the custom dial menu to change the shutter speed to 30 or 24, you would get the same look! Personally, I find the 24P mode impractical to shoot anything other than subjects making very small and slow movements. I shoot at the 30P mode as a compromise, which still gives the film look. On the other hand, the 60i mode gives the best clarity and can capture fast motion. It just has a video look and everything appears to move quickly.
The last negative in my opinion is the operating life of the included battery. For the four-figure price tag of the camcorder, consumers deserve more than the 75 minutes of operating time, especially when the internal flash memory already provides nearly 6 hours of shooting time at the highest quality mode.
With so many glaring negatives, you'd expect a lower rating. But things need to be put in perspective because the HF S11 really is just a consumer camcorder. For the price, you really can't expect professional results. But basic picture quality is extremely good. Although the HF S11 only uses a single CMOS chip (as opposed to three - one for each primary color), colors are extremely accurate and realistic. The camcorder itself also supports shooting in Deep Color. Picture clarity is outstanding even in low light shooting without the internal video light, provided that you switch to the "Night Scene" mode. With this mode you really don't see any visible grain or noise from normal viewing distances from your home display. Other modes will give visible noise under low-light shooting conditions. The extra stabilizer mode dubbed as the "dynamic stabilizer" really works well. The standard stabilizer mode works as well as other well-designed camcorders' stabilizers. The stabilizers are optical (a more professional type) rather than digital and very little picture detail is lost when they are activated. The loss is so slight that you'd have to switch back and forth between modes to see any difference. Auto focusing works very well under all but the darkest shooting conditions. In those cases, auto focus is slow. In any case, overall picture quality actually beats my $15,000 professional camcorder, which only provides auto iris adjustment (manual focusing).
Don't forget that the HF S11 also has the 8-megapixel still camera function. The results are on par with a decent point-and-shoot digital still camera. Canon also needs to be given credit for including so many adjustment parameters (red eye reduction, aperture priority, shutter priority, etc.). Results would be even better with the accessory speedlight (flash).
While some professional videographers have commented that the HF S11 does not look presentable enough to shoot weddings, you can get around this by spending a few hundred bucks on the accessory microphone and this will probably dress it up enough to enable the professional to use it for such jobs. Not enough? Well, attach it to a monopod or a Steadicam or Glidecam. Even with such accessories, the HF S11 will be much cheaper than the full-blown professional alternative.
In short, if you want professional video results buy this camcorder. For consumer standards the price is high but the video results take it into the prosumer league. By that standard the price is a steal. And with the still camera function the HF S11 is a compact and powerful unit. For professional video and audio results add a wide-angle adapter lens and an external digital audio recorder.
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Summary of Canon VIXIA HF S11 HD Dual Flash Memory Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom - 2009 MODEL
The Canon VIXIA HF S11 Dual Flash Memory camcorder takes our solid reputation for optical excellence, advanced image processing and technological innovation in high definition camcorders and brings it to the next level. The VIXIA HF S11 offers a large 64GB of internal memory, recording up to 24 hours, 30 minutes (LP mode), approximately 6 hours recording at the highest quality (MXP mode), and compatibility with removable SDHC cards. And the video and photos you record will be as brilliant as they can be - with the Canon Exclusive 8.59 Megapixel CMOS Image Sensor and our advanced image processor, DIGIC DV III. What s more, the VIXIA HF S11 allows you to record at up to 24Mbps, the highest bit rate in AVCHD format, for the highest quality image. The VIXIA HF S11 is packed with Canon Exclusive features - such as the Genuine Canon 10x HD Video Lens, sophisticated Genuine Canon Face Detection, Dynamic SuperRange Optical Image Stabilization as well as Advanced Video Snapshot Mode and a host of new control and creative options. All of which make it possible for you to Shoot, Capture, See and Be HD.Camcorders
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