Canon VIXIA HF10 Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 16 GB Internal Flash Memory and 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
 | Average Customer Rating: Recommend With widescreen TV and HDTV approaching as a viewing standard, it's sensible that home video be compatible. That's the philosophy behind Canon's VIXIA HF10 HD Camcorder. You can have stunning AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition) format recording with the ease and numerous benefits of Flash Memory - No discs or tapes required! It's used in most innovative electronic products such as notebook computers, MP3 players, and cell phones. Record to both… Product details and pricing info |
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76 Customer Reviews Posted
- Not the video quality you might be expecting
- When I read the Canon website, I figured that this little camera would give me superb FULL HD video. But if you are expecting the same quality of full HD 1080 video that you see on your big screen tv set, you'll be disappointed. I have been very happy with Canon video cameras in the past and currently own an Optura 600. The Canon HF10 (set to Full HD) is quite a bit better than the Optura 600 (set to widescreen mode 740X480) but nowhere near the quality that I have seen from miniDV full HD Canon video cameras. Perhaps the AVCHD compression is the problem. After trying many different settings and filming in different lighting conditions, I was unable to get the crispness of detail that I was expecting from this FULL HD camera. It does in fact record in 1920x1080 resolution, but there are artifacts and jaggedness to diagonal lines that shouldn't be there. I have returned the camera and will try to find a better choice, or simply wait until the technology improves.
- 2008-05-13, 13 of 17 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- The best AVCHD camcorder, period!
- Having read 4 EXCELLENT professional reviews (just google it to see them for yourself) on the HF10 before buying, I completely agree with what was said about this camcorder. It is simply amazing, in virtually every measure of performance! Beats ALL OTHER consumer AVCHD camcorders in the market including the more expensive Sony, Panasonic and JVC counterparts. It even outperforms CANON's own intimidating HV30 in real-world testing in terms of resolution, artifacting, low light performance.
My only complaint is that the HDMI output doesn't work with all 3 of my 720P HDTVs (whose manuals state that they accept 1080i signals). I think the TV has to have a native resolution of 1920 X 1080 in order to display the HF10's signals.
In short, this camcorder can't be beat, especially at this price.
Best,
Advanced Amateur - 2008-05-05, 6 of 9 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Good camera - Software is poor
- There are only a few software packages which can be used to manipulate the video output from this camcorder on a PC
- 2008-05-05, 0 of 22 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Love/Hate relationship
- The Canon HF100 is the same as the Canon HF10, except it has no internal memory (the HF10 has 16GB) and the HF100 is $200 cheaper. For $75 I can buy a 16GB SDHC card which works great with the camera;... you do the math.. ~ three 16GB cards for the same price has the HF10 which only has 16GB of memory (but can take external cards also)
Records video at Standard Definition (SD), 720p and 1080p (also takes still shots) This is a must for those that have upgraded to an HD TV and want to watch their home movies in HD.
Here Be Dragons...
If all you want to do is watch your videos directly from the camera, no problem; comes with composite and component cables (will take HDMI sold seperately) However, if you actually want to save your videos, without buying new SDHC cards, then there are a few hiccups. The camera will download to your PC, but only in the format filmed; no filming in HD then downloading in SD. It will capture the HD you filmed in, but the software will not edit the HD format and you will be hard pressed to find a codec that will play the H.264 format nicely.
Here's my problem. I want to film my son's soccer games in 1080p for viewing on my 57" TV, so I film in 1080p. His coach, along with 1/2 the parents, want SD because they still use DVD players, while I can play the HD via my PS3. I tried many video capture/editting software to capture the HD I film in; nothing recognizes my camera. If I film in SD, everything works great, but this defeats my primary reason of wanting HD (so I can view on my 57" TV, thereby justifying to the wife that HD is worth it...) So, here's what I do. I film in HD, 1080p, use the Canon DVD burner that connects directly to the camera (sold seperately $250) to capture 1080p source (by the way, no blue rays reqiured, a 1 hour soccer game fits nicely on 2 standard DVDs; 1 half per disk - that can then be played back via my PS3) For the coach, and the rest of the parents, I use a Pinnacle 500-usb Video Capture box (about $50) This little device was intended for turning VHS tapes into DVDs. But just plug into the composite output of the camera, and into the usb of your PC, and your PC DVD burner will make the 1 hour of 1080p video into 1hour of 480p on a normal DVD; plus the Pinnacle software also allows you to edit anf make menus and all the good stuff that the HD software hasn't really caught up with yet. - 2008-05-03, 59 of 62 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Nice Camera for the Money
- First I want to say that I'm an average Joe when it come to shooting video, I'm not a videophile or pretend to be an expert in filming. With that being said, here's my thoughts.
Nice camera for the money. Video looks great! I think the indoor performance is very adequate.
Don't care for the fact that you have to plug in the camera to an electrical outlet in order to transfer video from camera to computer.
Wished the camera came with a batter charger, had to buy a separate charger for $75, ouch! HOWEVER, you can charge the battery while it's plugged into the camera and the camera plugged into the wall. Battery that comes with camera only lasts a little over an hour, you'll want to buy an extended battery (which obviously won't sit "flush" with the camcorder, but it doesn't stick out too far).
I have big hands and the camera is almost too small for me! :) Really though, great size and doesn't weigh too much.
I haven't tried taking a still photo with this and probably won't, typically all the video cameras out there today don't come close in taking the quality of digital photos as a good digital SLR, so not going to knock Canon on that one. I bought a video camera for video and not photos.
Quick start mode is great!
I did have a standard def panasonic before this one and I think the image stabilization worked just a little better on my Panasonic than on the Canon HF10, but that being said, OIS isn't bad.
Overall I think it's worth the money I paid for it. Would recommend to my friends. - 2008-05-03, 12 of 13 people found this review helpful, Rated:
