Canon VIXIA HF100 Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom by Canon
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Digital camera reviews of Canon VIXIA HF100 Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
Digital camera Review: Beautiful
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a beautiful camera, great to use, smooth operation, great build quality, wonderful video and pictures...would recommend it to anyone, easy to use flash memory, buttons are well placed, screen is crisp, might want to get a second battery...Digital camera Review: Best AVCHD bang for the buck!
Summary: 4 Stars
Review of Amazon's Customer Service: I received my HF100 very quickly. It was backordered and shipped out (I assume) the same day that more came into stock. I paid for one day shipping (3.99 with prime), and received my order the day after Amazon got more in stock. Great job at a great price!
Review of HF100: By FAR, this camcorder is the best I have used of any solid state memory camcorder or hard drive-based camcorder. It's not really fair to compare this product to tape or DVD-based camcorders which are in a different (and in my opinion, lower) class of product. The video quality is excellent for the price. There is some noise in low light, but you will never find a camcorder that gives you no low light noise at a consumer price point.
I chose the HF100 over the HF10 for several reasons: 1) I like the silver color better, 2) a 16GB SDHC card is less than one third of the $200-300 premium you pay for 16GB of onboard memory with the HF10, and (MOST IMPORTANT) 3) one of the advantages of using removable memory is that if the camera breaks, you don't lose the stored footage. If you have 3-4 hours of video "trapped" on the HF10's internal memory and have to send the camera in for repair, you can be assured it's gone forever. If everything is always saved to an SDHC card, then you can just pop out the card and send in the camera and wait for the inevitable refurbished replacement unit to arrive.
The camera itself is ridiculously small for a product that produces such high quality results. In fact, I don't think any company could make a smaller camcorder that was actually useful (the exception being the "pistol" shape of the Sanyo Xacti series which are nearly the same size anyway). If you have very large hands, then this size may even be too small, and the button placement will be difficult to get used to. I have average sized hands, and the ergonomics are very good. The zoom and start/stop are in just the right place. The screen frame controls take some getting used to, but considering the number of options/settings Canon overall did a good job of arranging the controls. It would be nice to have a "wheel" type control for the manual focus, but using manual focus is probably going to be a rare occasion for me.
The zoom is virtually silent (and since there is no tape or DVD drive, there is no "whirr" sound in the background either :). Most people don't realize this, but there is a 400x digital zoom on top of the 12x optical zoom. Obviously, if you zoom in digitally 400x, the picture quality is going to be awful, but until you get over 150x, the picture quality is fine and just starts to show lots of grain. It is also nice to be able to take pictures at the same time as video (about 3 megapixel), so you don't have to choose between having a camera or a video camera anymore.
The screen is adequate given the size constraints of the overall size of the camcorder. It does do pretty well in bright sunlight. Some washout occurs as expected, but you can still tell whether or not what you are trying to capture will be in the shot.
Sound quality is also quite good for objects/people close to the camcorder. The wind noise reduction is good but not great, especially on a really windy day. If you're shooting a play or a ballgame and really want to hear what's going on wherever you are zoomed at or if you plan on shooting in the wind a lot, you may want to consider getting the microphone attachment. It's on MY list.
Speaking of add-ons, the two gripes I have are these: 1) there is no HDMI mini cable (these are cheap, cheap, cheap Canon, so there is no reason one shouldn't be included) and more importantly, 2) an external battery charger is not included and they cost $50-75 online. This is a huge oversight, and a charger should be included either with the camera or with the additional battery that YOU WILL end up buying (just put it in the cart now).
If Canon had included the charger, I would have given five stars. The HF100 is truly excellent, and it may be the last camcorder you buy for many years (who really is going to need better than 1080i picture on home movies anytime soon. Anybody?) This is a great product. If you're in the market for a camcorder, get this one.
Digital camera Review: Best Flash Memory Camera on the Market!
Summary: 5 Stars
I debated between the HF10 and HF100 for about a week before I decided the dedicated 16GB memory was just not worth the extra $$$ and I ordered the HF100.
I have never been much into shooting video but with a new project I am doing I have been forced to do so - AND WOW!!
This camera (combined with a MacBook Pro) has made Video shooting (and editing) as easy as can be.
A big debate I had was the quality of the video via a Flash Card. This camera allows you to shoot at 30 Frames per Second (30 FPS) which eliminates any and all quality for prosumer video shooting.
If you want to see some sample video's cruise over to: [..]
Here is a few of the family video's I have shot.
Digital camera Review: Best HD camcorder for the price
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my first camcorder and I absolutely love it. It's compact, easy to use and you can't beat the price. Check out some of the videos people have made using the HF100 in youtube. I do have to point out that the software in this bundle isn't worth the CD it's burnt on. Get a good video editing software like Pinnacle or Vegas and you are all set. Have fun making great pro-quality videos!Digital camera Review: Best Video Camera for the Price
Summary: 5 Stars
I have shot everything from action to near darkness with excellent results. The software that comes with it is horrible (ImageMixer3) but I use Cyberlink DVD Suite and it produces gorgeous videos that we watch on TV. It's easy to use and it fits in my handbag. I had another video camera that used minidisks and it was a pain in the neck. My 32 GB Transcend 32 GB Ultimate Speed SDHC Class 10 Flash Memory Card, I can shoot hours of HD video.