Canon VIXIA HF100 Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
by Canon
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon VIXIA HF100 Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
Customer Review: Great Entry into HD Video
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my first Flash Drive Camcorder. Prior to this my experience with Camcorders goes back to the early 80s when I first used a Sony BetaMovie, then onto VHS. Previously I still used a Sony Handycam Hi 8 camera for the past 10 years. Incredibly reliable....
Now onto the Canon: I immediately read the other reviews. First let me point out that if you are serious about this camera, make immediate plans to purchase the larger battery and at least a 16 gig SDHC card. For editing, do not use the U-LEAD software. It absolutely can't handle the high definition files that this camera can put out even if you have upwards of a Core QUAD processor as I did. Go instead for the Sony Vegas Pro 8. Save the Grief.
The Camera is outstanding. The only issue I thought of initially was that it did not have a view Finder and uses an LCD viewer exclusively. I tested this in the hot sun on my back, and I had no issues. Video stabilization was good. It is a necessity for such a small camera or you risk having videos that look more like earthquakes. Also important to get a very good tripod. This camera takes exceptional full HD video. Nature shots will require this as well as using this for a good pan shot. It's difficult to hold this camera steady so a Tripod helps. I was surprised at the lack of latency reading and writing to the SDHC card and I am assuming there is a small buffer zone that assists with this.
Most of my initial tests were in the "Cinama Mode" where it moderately degrades the video ever so lightly to give it a Film look. I thought that was outstanding. The color response on the default settings is a bit high, but it can be adjusted. The controls are intuitive. I really only looked through the book only for non basic settings. I also recommend Canon's external directional microphone especially if you are interviewing someone among a crowd. The internal mic's are great but very sensitive to a larger radius of sound. The only negative I have is that the battery doesn't fit as snug as I would like and I hope this doesn't introduce any noise. Photo quality is ok. Glad to have it, but more impressed with the video. Also, this camera does not have an infrared or nightshot type mode. (My Sony had this. It proved useful many times). Since the video in the HF-100 is far superior, I can forget that completly.
Exporting files is pretty painless. Use the Image Mixer software to transfer files to your PC. The additional software is useless. Just get a decent editor such as Sony Vegas Pro 8 (Discussed earlier).
I recommend this camera for those who are above the average person who wants to do serious video in HD but not want to spend a fortune. In the right hands, this camera can produce anything your collective conscience can think about.
Customer Review: Great
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been using my camcorder for about a week now and I'm very pleased. I wasn't sure about getting this camcorder or getting one that supports xvycc or 5.1 sound.
The reason I chose to ignore xvycc is, in it's currently implemented form, requires 10 bits per pixel instead of 8. That means for a given amount of video, you need to store 25% more data. Generally speaking, the higher the bit transfer rate, the better the picture quality. More bits/second means more information per second which means a better picture. So I felt there would have to be a trade off between more colors and picture quality. I would prefer a sharper picture over more colors.
5.1 sound sounded interesting, but I don't think it would make much difference in home videos. if I were making real movies, then it would make sense.
In the end, I wanted as clear as possible picture quality and that's why I chose this camera.
The picture is stunning. I was amazed at how clear some of the scenes were. It looked like I was watching hi-def tv. The sound quality was excellent too. When I film in low light conditions, the picture doesn't look great, but looks pretty good. I don't think it's possible to have good quality low light filming on a consumer level camcorder. When I film in good lighting, like outdoors, the picture looks amazing.
I also love the way the video stores on memory cards. Outside of the lens cover, there are no moving parts. I have 2 ps3's and to view the video, all I have to do is plug the card into a usb port using an adapter that came with my transcend card and select the usb device on the ps3 menu and it plays perfectly. The camcorder is as small as a camera. I store mine in an old camera case I used for a digital camera.
I also place my files on a windows vista pc and using windows media center I can stream the video straight to my ps3's. It's very easy. I just copy the files to my shared video folder on my pc, go to my ps3, select the file and it plays. I also have the option of burning the contents straight to a dvd and sticking that in the ps3 and playing it. These are regular DVD's. Not blu-ray. You can store about 30 minutes per regular DVD or get a double layer DVD and store an hour.
The included pixela software isn't great, but it can do basic editing and it's good for reordering scenes or combining scenes. You don't have to use the software at all if you have a ps3 or another blu-ray player that can play avchd and just want to play the video as is. I highly recommend getting a ps3 with this camera. It makes playing so much easier with lots of options. I just bought one from sony style and got a $150 credit by applying for a credit card, so it only cost about $250 plus tax. Plus you can watch blu-ray movies and play games.
Customer Review: Great Camera - Right Price
Summary: 5 Stars
I got the Vixia HF100 about two weeks ago and I have been quite happy with the quality and output. A great lot has been written about the technical capabilities etc that I will skip to the stuff that I like about this camera.
First, its compact and quite solid to hold. I dont like the fact that it does not have a optical view finder and that I have to open the LCD everytime to record but I think I can live with that in exchange for the HD quality.
I was a bit concerned that there are no free ware to edit the HD format files. turns out that the M2ts files play well in Media Player in Vista. Picasa 3 can play the video and export movies but it has lot of interlacing artifacts appearing in the video. The easiest option is to use the bundled software that comes on a CD. It was easy enough to create a play list and burn the files either into a regular DVD or an AVCHD-DVD. The latter is a High Definition DVD that can be played in Blu-Ray players. The AVCHD disk I created in my PC played without any hassles on a Sony Blue Ray Player . The entire disk creation was snappy and it did not take much time. However I cannot vouch what willhappen if I actually edit the M2ts files as I havent tried them.
In the beginning I only had a 2GB MicroSD card lying around and it worked okay with a SDHC adapter. it was supposed to give me just about 15 min of HD recording at full quality. I need not have worried as I never hit the 15 min limit in between file transfers to my PC. Later on I plonked on a Sandisk Extreme III SDHC cards and they are supposed to give me 1 Hr of full HD recording. Havent hit the limits on that yet. Recording on flash cards is a novel experience. I am so used to tapes (VHS, Digital8, MiniDV) that the thought of not handling them and instead useing these postage stamp sized cards is pretty neat.
The other thing I like about the Camera is that it has a bundle of ports - Component, Mini HDMI, AV out etc that should be sufficient. I havent had the chance to try any of these as I mostly watch the clips either on my PC or via the AVCHD disks on the Blu Ray.
Battery lasts for just over an hour and till now thats fairly sufficient.
Update: I tried editing the MTS files in the bundled editor and it was fairly decent. i did not have any major issues. editing 15 min of video and burning the AVCHD disk took me about 20 min or so. Fairly happy with the experience.
I keep reading in reviews that you need a powerful machine to do the edits. For info - I use a laptop with a 2.2GHz Dual Core Processor / 4GB RAM / 5400RPM HDD. Not exactly top of the line but a decent common configuration that almost all laptops nowadays come with.
Customer Review: Why I bought the HF100 instead of an HV30.
Summary: 5 Stars
Before I bought an HF100, I first bought an HV30 due to reports of it having better video quality. But I ended up returning that camera the moment I heard the audio play - the tape noise was LOUD and distracting. Totally unacceptable.
I knew Canon made the highest quality HD cameras, though, so I went with the HF100 as a replacement based on good reviews and the fact that it had no moving parts that create noise (like the tape drive on the HV30 or the hard disk drive on some other models.)
Having now shot several things (a baby shower, a friend's farewell party) I can tell you with confidence that I absolutely made the right decision. I think the video quality is just as good as the HV30. I was worried it wouldn't be, but it absolutely is. (Low light footage is expectedly a bit grainy just as it was with the HV30 - and always is with small handheld models - and daylight footage is near perfect.) And the audio quality is as good as I've ever heard from a consumer camcorder. No unwanted noise.
And then there are the bonuses:
- This camera is noticeably smaller and lighter than the HV30. Very very nice.
- The AVCHD format is 100% functional with a current Mac (I tested footage shot with this camera on a MacBook and the lastest version of iMovie). The process is seamless, in fact. Absolutely handier than importing from tape.
- I was worried that I wouldn't be able to backup the footage for long-term safe keeping. What would I do without mini DV tapes? Well, problem solved (for Mac users). You can simply create a little disk image copy of your camera footage (using Disk Utility, which comes with all Macs) and drag that image over to a blank DVD. Burn the DVD and voila - perfect backup. I even tested the process of loading footage into iMovie from the backup DVD and it absolutely worked. iMovie thinks the backup disk image is a camera and will let you import from it no problem.
- If you happen to have a PS3, you can pop your HF100's memory cards right into the system and the PS3 will play your footage in full HD immediately. Talk about handy! Yes!
That's about it for me. Oh, I also HIGHLY recommend getting the Transcend 16GB card that amazon recommends near the top of the page. Not only does it work great, but the card reader it comes with is awesome. It enables me to pop the card directly into the PS3's USB slots (as I mentioned above) and also works for popping the card directly into my Mac's USB slots (so I don't have to fiddle with hooking up the actual camera to import footage.) Gotta love it!
Customer Review: Too Hard to Resist!
Summary: 5 Stars
Somewhat long/complete review...get a cup of coffee.
Gotta check out the quality of this thing before you buy, it is amazing. Go to youtube or vimeo, search HF100 (or HF10, same thing but with built in memory and different color).
Pros: Video Quality!!!, Size, Weight, look, LCD Screen Resolution, Stereo recording (Left and Right Mics), Flash memory (so easy, cheap, reliable?), 3MP Stills, onboard light (for camera flash or somewhat lighting up your videos), lots of manual options (mic level, zoom, recording qualities), External Mic Jack(important for us music/band folks), Menu is ok once you get to know it.
Cons: Could offer better optical stability, wind interferes with sound, battery life, cost of official replacement batteries
Cons to AVCHD (not camera): Limited editing software, requires powerful computer (I'm running off a NEW laptop, barely keeps up...3GB Ram, AMD 2GHz)
The video quality is highly dependent on the settings you use...60i, 30p, or 24p? Cinema Mode, Portrait Mode, Auto, etc? LP, XP+, etc?
I suggest Cinema mode in 30p for most recordings. I tried the "easy" button at night, was grainy. I have yet to try the easy button in sunny conditions. I recorded a few scenes in 24p Cinema, came out pretty choppy, I'm guessing it would be best on a tripod, capturing movement, instead of moving the camera around (I'm no pro).
Some people have mentioned long waits between switching from Video to Still mode...I have tried this with both a 4GB and 16 GB disk...it takes 3-5 seconds with the 4GB and 9-11 seconds with the 16 GB. As other folks have mentioned, it appears to be inventorying the empty portion of the disk, to inform you how many pictures you could take. I suggest recording with a 4GB card if you plan on switching between modes frequently. (Note: I was counting, not official Omega seconds)
For Memory, I have a 4GB PNY Class 4 and the Amazon recommended Transcend 16GB class 6. They both work great, I haven't been able to notice any speed difference.
As we've all read, AVCHD editing is limited. I tried the Sony Vegas 9 Platinum trial version, works well. The Corel Ulead trial software doesn't include the capability of importing the mts/m2ts files. However, I have purchased Corel Ulead VideoStudio 11.5 Plus [AMAZON.COM EXCLUSIVE] from amazon. I hope it works well with the avchd files.
UPDATE: Corel 11.5 works great! I've posted a review on it, go find it.