Canon VIXIA HF20 HD Dual Flash Memory with 32 GB Internal Memory and 15x Optical Zoom Review
Canons new VIXIA HF20 Dual Flash Memory camcorder packs somuch excitement and high-quality imaging power into its small,lightweight body, youll be inspired to keep it close. Capture vividlycolored, realistically detailed, high definition video and photos with aGenuine Canon 15x HD Video Lens with SuperRange Optical ImageStabilizer, 3.89-megapixel Full HD CMOS Image Sensor, and Canonslatest DIGIC DV III Image Processor. The VIXIA HF20 lets you recordup to 12 hours of HD video to a 32GB internal Flash drive, and alsolets you enjoy the option of recording directly to removable SDHCmemory cards.Youll love shooting with the user-friendly layout andswitching seamlessly between shooting video and photos. The CanonVIXIA HF20 is packed with innovative new features like Pre-Recordthat captures the action 3 seconds before you press the record button,so you never miss a memorable moment, Video Snapshot Mode thatlets you set 4-second video vignettes to music, and Genuine CanonFace Detection that perfectly focuses and exposes selected faces--anywhere in the frame and even in profile. All this in one compactcamcorder! Canon USA 1-year limited warranty included.
Description
- Capture up to 12 hours of HD video to a 32GB internal Flash drive as well as directly to removable SDHC memory cards
- Genuine Canon 15x HD video lens; DIGIC DV III image processor
- 3.89 MP Full HD CMOS image sensor; 1920 x 1080 Full HD recording
- SuperRange Optical Image Stabilizer; Genuine Canon Face Detection
- HDMI terminal for easy, one-cable connectivity to your HDTV
Technical Details
Canon VIXIA HF20 HD Dual Flash Memory with 32 GB Internal Memory and 15x Optical Zoom Customer Review
There are pleanty of reviews on the HF20/HF200 out there, so I'll just give a few highlights on what I found to be better or worse than expected.
Initial video quality: Stepping up from Aiptek ActionHD GVS's, the quality was actually not that much better! Indoor colors here more accurate and low-light performance was greatly improved, but average shooting is quite similar. This is good (for me at least) so if I use this camera in conjunction with the Aipteks for a project, their won't be an obvious difference between the sources. The bad is just it costs 3-times as much, but I guess the money went other places (microphone, lens, optical stabilizer, brand name!)
Low-Light performance: People tend to overestimate what these cameras can do. As the shutter speed goes down, quality becomes softer. It also seems to bump the exposure/ISO up making the image more grainy. While it does look quite grainy on the LCD, outputted videos, especially those down-scaled to DVD look very good. I think in general CMOS sensors tend to be more grainy than the more traditional CCD sensors we're used to. I've noticed this in my new SLR and now in this Canon.
Photos: Honestly, I'm quite surprised in the quality of the photos. Even shooting items across a dim room (using flash of course) images are well exposed and relatively sharp. Aside from the lack of resolution, the images produced are exceptional for a camcorder.
Ports: I'm quite disappointed when I see reviews bashing the camera for lack of firewire. Even if this camera DID have firewire, I can't see it being used the same way miniDV/Digital8 cameras used it. People need to realize this camera is flashed based and does not require the media to be streamed. Downloading the footage is tremendously faster than streaming it "real-time". But Firewire aside, there are plenty of ports on this camera. I'm very glad to see the microphone port accepts both mono and stereo mics. My only dislikes are how so many ports have their own doors. While this keeps it looking clean, when you start using many external devices/plugs, there are plastic flaps laying everywhere. I also really don't like how the camera MUST be plugged into AC before you can connect to a PC.
File Format: I was a little confused at the .MTS extension, but my computers played it flawlessly without any additional software. Just load the K-Lite codec Pack - Standard and you'll be good to go. As for computers, both my C2D T5550 laptop and i7-920 desktop played the videos smoothly (though I'm mostly testing using SP video). Now, I am a bit disappointed in all the junk within the memory. Rather than simply having the videos, there are many directories, even thumbnails for the videos. While this may increase performance while browsing the camera's memory, I typically dump all the video to my computer and sift through it there. I wish there were some way of just having a "Videos" folder on the flash.
I guess that's about it. All in all I'm pleased with this camera. I do wish it's price was a bit less, but the HF20/HF200 are still probably some of the best HD camcorders currently on the market.
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