Summary: HD camcorder at its finest

Comment: One terrific camera. Months of research paid of 100 times over with this little gem. A palm size HD camcorder that is user friendly, takes great movies, and under a grand. Enough said, buy one.

Summary: Vixia HF10 versus Panasonic HDC-SD5

Comment: So I am a dad taking video of my family. I wanted the best HD camcorded possible. I originally purchased the Panasonic HDC-SD5. It has beautiful color AS LONG AS YOU ARE OUTSIDE WITH GOOD LIGHTING. Any video shot indoors are pixelated. In fact, even outside shadows pixelate - like if somebody is wearing a hat and their face is shaded. So I spent the money and purchased the Vixia HF10, then shot side-by-side video inside and outside for comparison. Figured I'd return the HF10 if it didn't give the results I wanted. Results: the HF10 is MUCH MUCH better quality in low light conditions like indoors. The Panasonic SD5 has slightly (but noticeable) more vibrant colors in well lit outdoor conditions. For me, the low light advantages of the HF10 far outweigh the perfect/vibrant colors of the SD5 outside. In fact, if I wasn't comparing two videos side-by-side I would not notice the more vibrant colors of the SD5.

I've benefited from the great user reviews here at amazon so wanted to give back. Hope it helps others when making their purchase decision. Now I have an $800 Panasonic "stand-by" video camera I guess :)

Summary: Canon's Vixia HF10 - Great Camera - Little Package

Comment: The Canon VIXIA HF10 is a great camera. It has many pros and very few cons.
The pros are: the fantastic HD camera resolution and color, easy to use 3MP camera, beautiful LCD display, and general ease of use.
The cons are: the power cable needs to be plugged in to transfer video and pictures (why?!?), the display needs to be opened to use the camera (it shuts itself down otherwise), and the limited battery (only about an hour with HD recording).
All in all, a good purchase.

Summary: HF11 / HF10 Best of breed video cameras !!

Comment: Long review: 10 min.| I got the HF11 video camera in urgent need for a specific occasion.
The 60th fireworks event of Suwako lake / Nagano Prefecture in Japan on 15th August 2008. (offical sale start in Japan)

As the overall package Canon with its long term experience in Imaging seemed like "The natural Choice to make".

The HF11's navigation is intuitive and exactly as the digital camera products.
Most users are able to use the product within minutes !!
The video camera integrates a huge amount of intelligent functions that ensure the quality of your video experience.

- image stabilizer,
- light sensitivity sensor,
- profiles
- variable zoom speeds,
- remaining battery status info,
- alignment markers in the screen


On top of that the video cameras body weight with 380gr. and the size of your favourite beverage is well acceptable even for ladies or kids hands.

The HF11 does not come with any major usability hitches but for video editing features you might want to look into additional software editing and codec converter solutions like Divx, Xvid etc. to be able to share the joy with your friends on DVD etc.


The major salespoints of this video camera are

- Imaging quality (resolution and smoothness of video)
- Canons colours
- Usability
- Usability and
- Usability

My subjective opinion is that the Imaging quality is unlike anything I have seen before and easily justifies the product alone.
The intelligent functions and the exceptionally good design make the HF11, the HF10 or the HF100 the natural choice for beginners, amateurs and professionals.

This is the quality customers are expecting from a long term Imaging company like Canon !!


As requested from comments I have shortened this review.

Please see my How to guide (http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltguides/fullview/R1350ZLGI7U7TP/ref=cm_sylt_byauthor_title_full_1) for more details.

Summary: Great camcorder - Internal memory of HF10 is a 'safer' choice

Comment: This camcorder is simply great. Small, excellent video quality, and an extremely convenient storage. Like many other costumers, I was divided between the HF100 and HF10 models, but here is a definitive difference that, after two moths, made my choice the right one: I've lost a very important recording with a defective Transcend SDHC 16gb card when plugging it to my computer. So, first of all, I recommend buying cards from traditional brands, to avoid headaches. Second, as the HF10 has 16gb of internal memory, you're able to record to it and then copy the files to the SDHC card with the camera, before plugging it to the computer. With this simple procedure, the operation of transfering files to the computer becomes safer, as you have a backup.