Canon VIXIA HF10 Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 16 GB Internal Flash Memory and 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom by Canon
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Digital camera reviews of Canon VIXIA HF10 Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 16 GB Internal Flash Memory and 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
Digital camera Review: Don't believe the hype
Summary: 1 Stars
Saving video files to your computer is joke with this camera. Enough said ... buy something else, it's a nightmare. File format not supported by a lot of video editing software and can't download footage from camera ...Digital camera Review: EXCELLENT HIGH DEF CAMCORDER
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this Canon hd first getting a jvc hd cam.and then returning it I did not care for the quality of the JVC HD Cam, After I saw the quality comparison between the jvc hd camcorder and the canon vixa Canon picture quality was breathtaking.the vivid color,Crispness..and quality ...of each shot and scene, Was as good as any movie on HD TV......
canon really dominates the HD Camcorder market in my opinion......If you purchase the Hf 10.I suggest that you purchase the Corel video studio the software that comes with the canon cam........would make a good coffee cup coaster.......
Digital camera Review: Elegant design, easy to use, lovely images - an excellent camera, but there are a few things worth knowing before you buy
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an exceptionally well-designed little camera that does everything you could possibly want for the amateur videographer, and would even be serviceable for smaller scale professional work. The HF10 has 16GB of memory onboard, which is enough to shoot for well over two hours at the highest quality, and you can add an extra SDHC card with up to 32GB additional memory. There are several automatic features for those who like it simple, but the camera allows for a good deal of manual tinkering. The joystick on the LCD panel can be used to quickly toggle between focus, mike, and exposure levels while shooting - or to select from several other more advanced functions. I like the ability to select between aperture priority, shutter priority and "cine mode" - which automatically sets things just right to give (in most situations) a range of shading that looks pretty close to cinema. I've tested with lots of different manual settings but the "cine mode" usually does give an image that is as nice as I could have chosen. You can add an external mike (either by buying Canon's mike that fits into their proprietary "mini advanced shoe", or by plugging any mike you like into the external mike mini plug), but except for outdoors in the wind the onboard mike does a pretty good job for most non-professional situations. All in all, a very fine camera, and one that fits so nicely in the hand it is a delight to work with.
So you can get very good video, but figuring out what to do with it may take a little bit of research. No matter what quality you select to shoot in, the video will be recorded in AVCHD format, which is an HD playback format. AVCHD allows you to record very high quality footage using a relatively small amount of memory, but the problem is that most editing programs can't do anything with this footage directly. Basically, AVCHD is highly compressed but still high quality video, which records only a few full frames of video per second and then records the differences between these frames, which forces the AVCHD player to "fill in" the bits that are left out to create a complete flowing image at, say 30 or 60 "frames" per second. With most editing programs (and here I'm speaking only of programs that I am familiar with on my Mac) you wouldn't be able to work with the AVCHD files until you convert them to an uncompressed format that includes 25 or 30 frames per second, allowing the editor to "cut" on any given frame.
There are three good options (right now, but certainly more on their way as AVCHD storage becomes more popular) I've found on Macs (note: AVCHD only works on Intel Macs) for converting the unusable .MTS (AVCHD) files that the camcorder records into files that are editable (and that, on Macs at least, have the extension .mov). The first is to open the files in iMovie '08 or '09. iMovie will convert the files to "Apple Intermediate Codec" files that can be edited with iMovie or Final Cut Pro or Express. Another option is to import the files using Final Cut Pro 6 or Final Cut Express 4 (I've tried FCE and it works beautifully with AVCHD files). If you don't have either of those programs or if you don't like how big the files get when you convert them that way, you can use Roxio Toast Titanium 9 or 10 to convert the files to something you can edit - the best setting is still Apple Intermediate Codec but when you convert using Toast for some reason the files only blow up about 3 times the size of the original, which is pretty manageable given how cheap external drives are these days. Every Mac user ought to get Roxio Toast anyways, since it is extremely useful for all kinds of video and data management.
Anyhow, I think it is worth knowing (I didn't know, but soon found out) that when you buy an AVCHD camcorder that the size and convenience of the camcorder come at the cost of compressed video files that will need to be uncompressed before they can be edited. I think it's a small price to pay and love this camcorder, but if you bought this and didn't have an Intel Mac and weren't willing or able to get the right software you'd have some very limited options for doing anything with your video. Judging from some other reviews, it has caused some other people difficulties. Before long this won't really be a big deal since the major editing programs will adapt to AVCHD, but for now in spite of the overall simplicity of this camera's design and usage there is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to "postproduction" or the process of making something watchable with all that quality video that is so easy to shoot with this handy little camera.
(Note: there are other AVCHD conversion programs that can be found on the web. Most of these got their start when Apple's software couldn't handle the conversion, and they don't seem to have improved much over the past few years. I tried the trial copies of every such program I could find on the web, and as far as I can tell Roxio Toast's converted images meet or beat the quality of any others out there.)
Digital camera Review: Even better than expected
Summary: 5 Stars
Having owned several (consumer & pro grade) HD videocams in the past, the most important feature I was concerned about was low light performance. The latest competing brands (e.g., Sony & Panasonic) had a few attractive tidbits that this videocam didn't offer (e.g., face recognition) but I'm very happy without them: Low light performance is superb (cannot say the same for the competition, especially Panasonic's "3 CCD" grab)...as are autofocus and stabilization. Side-by-side comparisons reveal that this videocam is certainly the best choice in its class. Photos are quite nice too, with resolution well matching sensor size (the "zillion pixel" gimmick of small-sensor compact cameras just adds grain with bigger files).Digital camera Review: Everything I expected
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't have a lot to say about this camera that has not already been covered in other reviews. other than the fact that it has performed as advertised. You can see some of the High Definition results on You Tube at DanoManno. The proof is in the viewing.