Canon Vixia Sources

September 9, 2011 lenses No comments

I am a camcorder amateur, so forgive my inability to describe with certainty and exact terminology what I am writing about. I have certainly kept the reality that I am new to this type of device in my mind as I A) worked with the camera, and B) now write this review.

Some cons:

The most significant issue I encountered was the field of vision of the camera lens (I suppose this is the focal length, the millimeter size of the lens). I found myself having to stand an extremely far distance back to capture the subject right in front of me, so far in fact that the rooms of my house simply weren’t large enough to accommodate many of the shots I was trying to achieve. I assure you that the zoom function had nothing to do with this operation.

Another problem was battery life. The included battery started out, fully charged, at about 1 hr. 20 min. and, as I used the camera in what I assume are the most taxing settings possible, the battery faced major drainage. Minutes were divided and sliced in halves and thirds until I ran out of battery life much sooner than expected. I acquired a second, backup battery at the same time I purchased the camera, so I was able to use that. But, to charge the batteries, the camera must be plugged into a wall (the camera is your battery charger), which means that you are no longer mobile and the camera is being tied up with the task of charging.

By now you may have noticed I am writing in past tense — this is accurate because I have returned the camera to Amazon. Ultimately, I feel it is a personal decision of price not justifying the use, and at least in part urged on by the few, though I feel significant, problems I have mentioned here.

The features of this camera seemed oddly barren and few. I have only ever used my point-and-shoot “camera” and video cassette cameras in the past, and I was somewhat surprised to learn that this new Canon VIXIA HF S100 HD didn’t really have many features to offer beyond the few I am already familiar with. The exception being the “cinematic mode” which I found to be interesting and the result very desirable. I was puzzled by the “cheap” solar/polarizing effect (which I think should be banned), and the limited array of hard wired effects available within the camera itself. I also wish, for the price, Canon could develop an extreme high-speed ability (something like 400 to 1000 frames a second). This would be desirable and fun to work with, although no doubt technically expensive to develop — even though some companies are.

Ultimately, the videos I achieved, though wonderful in quality, color, and detail, were all extremely shaky and agitated by the rapid movements of my hand. My hand is steady, or so I thought. The simple act of slowly walking and slowly maneuvering the camera produced a great deal of bonce and jerk. The result is amateur and rough despite the fine video quality itself. A third-party, bulky steady-cam device which requires mounting and practice will be required to produce any sort of professional-seeming video.

The built-in lens cap does rattle (as I read from other reviews). While this seems minor, it is a strange audible con. If anything, it makes the camera seem cheaper than it is and, if you aren’t expecting the sound, you look around wondering what isn’t ‘right’.

Some pros:

There are actually many pros, including the ease of general use (off and shooting in no time), and the ease I found in getting videos onto any of my computers and then editing them fluidly (I used Sony Vegas and did not get around to installing any of the camera’s included software).

The quality is, of course, everything it is chalked up to being. Beautiful quality. Even despite its inherent shakiness, I can easily witness how beautiful Canon’s colors and crisp detail are. This is the preeminent reason to own this camera.

All the physical features — the buttons, the memory card placement, the battery placement, the preview screen, the built-in still camera, the hand strap — all works very well. It’s an intuitive device.

If I were to recommend it (and I’m not sure I’m familiar enough with camcorders to know which to recommend) I would do so based on the ease of use and the picture quality. I, however, think that the price is steep for the issues I faced. If money was not an object and if I had constant use for a video camera, I could see myself living with this camera for years. Now I would, however, modify my next search for a video camera and make sure that reviews and stats address the things I have taken issue with here.

30.5mm LENS KIT FOR CANON VIXIA DC410 DC420 ZR960

US $26.49

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Canon Vixia Sources

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