Review: Canon (Vixia) HF100 AVCHD Camcorder


Not just a truly solid-state camcorder but one that produces superb quality high definition video and has all the inputs and outputs we like to see on a serious camcorder. Can anything beat the Canon HF100?


Canon Vixia HF100 AVCHD Camcorder with LCD closed
Well, if you'd also like to see a built-in flash memory recording capability in addition to its ability to record true high definition video onto SD/SDHC memory cards, then you'll want to look at its slightly more expensive sibling, the HF10. If, however, you're happy to record to SDHC cards it's quite possible that the HF100 will fulfill all your requirements. Why? Because the HF100 (known as the Vixia HF100 in NTSC territories, such as the USA) is one of a new generation of consumer camcorders that uses not tapes or even hard disc drives but solid-state SD memory cards to record and playback true, full specification, high definition video in a way that's actually quite remarkable.

Like so many new tapeless HD camcorders, the HF100 and its HF10 sibling utilise the revolutionary AVCHD format to squeeze the huge amount of precious picture data required to fill a large HDTV display into the thumbnail-sized space that is an SD or SDHC (high capacity) memory card. Furthermore, what makes the HF100 and HF10 so incredible is that they offer an impressive range of additional features and functions that the more serious video-maker will value greatly - stuff like 25p cinema style shooting, a mic input, headphone output, Av and Tv exposure/shutter priorities and so on. In short, it promises everything we've come to want from a great camcorder - but does it deliver on its promises?

First impressions


First things first - unpack it from the box, insert a charged battery into its perfectly-shaped recess slot at the back of the body and switch it on. It feels good. Somewhat surprisingly for a camcorder that doesn't possess any kind of complex and cumbersome tape transport or DVD disc drive mechanisms, the HF100 (as with the HF10) is quite bulky. In fact, it's not much lighter than its HDV cousin, the Canon HV30. That said, we consider this to be an advantage in that it actually aids general handling and stability - you feel like you're holding a proper camcorder as opposed to some lightweight plastic toy!

Whilst not being over-burdened with buttons, dials and switches, the HF100 certainly has everything you'll need to get a good job done with a minimum of fuss. On the right, rear, of the body is a large power dial containing function selectors for movie recording and playback, in addition to equivalent selectors for still images too. On top is a reasonably large zoom rocker, which is light to the touch yet very responsive when zooming, and also a Photo button. Right at the back is a mini Intelligent Accessory Shoe for use with external accessories like Canon's own DM-100 microphone, additional video light, etc.

Canon Vixia HF100 AVCHD Camcorder with LCD open


Pull out the generous multi-angle 2.7" TFT Colour LCD screen (which itself is designed for improved viewing in bright light) and you'll see that there's a range of controls on the left and bottom of the frame. Basic record and playback controls run underneath the screen - including the all-important record button, with the mini-joystick cluster on the left hand side, providing menu navigation and selection capabilities for use with the left hand. There's a FUNC button which provides easy access to the well-designed and manageable menu system.

Inside the LCD recess are contained a few buttons, including an EASY button which provides a highly-useful fail-safe style of fully-auto shooting and which will over-ride any other menaully-set controls at a single press. The SDHC card slot is here, too, along with the Component Digital output connector.

Other valuable connector sockets, such as "Type C" HDMI socket, AV/Headphone out, USB 2.0, DC and external mic input, are all cleverly concealed behind shaped flaps around the body. Overall, the body styling and ergonomics are excellent.

Up front is a 12:1 Canon HD Video Lens and a video light. Sadly, the manual focus that would have made the HF100 an unbeatable proposition is lacking (you have to use the mini-joystick to manipulate the graphic display on screen), but one good (though understated) point is there's a simple "Power" button on the upper left of the main body - you don't have to mess around with the power dial, you can simply switch the camera on and off with ease.

Features


The HF100 utilises an impressive 1/3.2 inch, 3.3 megapixel, CMOS image sensor to generate its 1920 x 1080 high definition images which are then saved to an SD or SDHC memory card thanks to an increasingly popular video compression system called AVCHD. Based upon the widely adopted MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 codec (compression/decompression system), the resulting HD movies look fabulous when displayed via HDMI or Component connections - particularly those recorded at the highest 17Mbps "FXP" setting. The latter (as our test proved) will fill a 16GB SDHC card in just over 2 hours.

The three lesser XP+, SP and LP modes generate 1440 x 1080 resolution pictures, though even the lowest 2.5Mbps mode produces reasonable results when shooting scenes containing a minimum of movement.

Canon Vixia HF100 AVCHD Camcorder Frontal View


Those familiar with Canon's other camera and camcorder products will welcome the ability to shoot with either Shutter Priority (Tv) or Aperture Priority (Av), thus allowing the device to match aperture to a pre-determined shutter speed and vice versa. Canon has also incorporated its own Optical-Shift Image Stabilisation, which does a very good job at smoothing out hand-held wobbliness. The 12x optical zoom lens is supplemented by a reasonable 40x digital zoom. In contrast, its 200x digital zoom option is hardly worth inclusion on an otherwise fine product as it produces blocky, unrecognisable images.

Electronic shutter options are consistent with other models at this price point, and range from 1/2000 sec up to 1/2 sec. The higher shutter speeds are very useful when shooting sport where the requirement is for sharp still frames or slow-motion. However, care must be taken with exposure, since a short exposure requires a significant increase in light, although this is one area where the AV and Tv priority settings come in useful.

Contained in the Program AE options is Cine Mode, which can be used in conjunction with the PF25 option to provide a progressive frame recording rate of 25fps (24fps on the USA Vixia HF100 model) for an enhanced 25P (24P) mode to give a cinema-like feel to recorded clips. The graphical menu system includes a "HUD" (head-up display) style interface which shows what changes are being made to the many operational functions available - of which the common will be focus, exposure, shutter speed, white balance, etc. So, for example, increasing or decreasing the microphone input level manually involves using the joystick to add a "+" or "-" values accordingly. It takes some getting used to, but it's effective all the same. Overall, the cascading, multi-tiered, menu system is well designed and manageable both for recording and playback in movie or stills modes.

Canon Vixia HF100 AVCHD Camcorder with strap

It's a real shame there's no manual focus ring, something that would make both the HF100 and HF10 real killers in the serious enthusiast camcorder market, but there's some compensation in the fact that manual control over functions like focus, aperture, white balance and electronic shutter is reasonably user-friendly when you get used to the method of operating the mini-joystick whilst using the "head-up display" in the LCD screen. At first it seems like quite a task, but users will quickly adjust to it - especially to manual audio control which is managed by reference to linear audio meters onscreen.

In order to compensate against strong light behind your subject, an Auto Backlight control will kick in (selectable by a switch on the bottom right of the LCD frame) in order to correct the exposure in favour of the foreground.

Performance


Where the HF100 really scores is the ease with which you can be up and running and shooting HD video in an instant - thanks to a one-click Easy mode which over-rides any other settings in order that you'll at least get good video when you absolutely need it. Even more interesting is the fact that the camera reverts to your manual settings when you switch back.

Overall control of manual settings is determined by Canon's standard onscreen menu display system, with navigation and choices being made using the LCD frame-mounted mini-joystick controller. It's a bit fiddly to begin with, but the ability to operate this with your left hand whilst gripping the camera with your right is a major plus point.

Additional record and play controls are mounted underneath the LCD screen, too, which is also very handy.
Canon Vixia HF100 AVCHD Camcorder top view
Shooting outdoors in bright sunshine under fully auto Easy mode and the HF100 provides really superb recordings overall. The zoom control is very responsive yet light to the touch, and with practice it's quite easy to produce a smooth zoom in or out, complete with a ramping-up or down at the beginning and end of a shot. The zoom doesn't clunk in or out as is often the case with consumer camcorders. When you need to zoom out very quickly to reframe a shot, it will let you do this.

It's possible to set up a custom WB (white balance) by selecting this option in the menu and then pointing the camera at a piece of white paper (or other white reference point) and pressing SET until the flashing icons stops. This is accessed through the HF100's FUNC button on the LCD panel. There's a mini video light, too, which is also activated by selecting the appropriate option using the joystick.

What's particularly likeable about the camcorder's design is that there's an individual On/Off button positioned on the upper left of the main body towards the back. Very often, the power switch is combined with other functions, and to be able simply to switch on and off power in this manner is useful.

I should add that although it's possible to take manual control over all key operating functions of the camera, doing so does require a modicum of patience initially. For instance, achieving a smooth manual pull-focus is not achieved anywhere near as easily as it would be by turning a good filter ring; to that end it requires practice. Good results can be achieved, but many users will rely solely on the auto-focus default option and in the majority of instances this will be more than acceptable. The same applies to other manual functions like aperture, exposure and audio recording level. However, users should experiment with the variable shutter speed options, especially when shooting sports, etc., since there's a whole world of possibilities with the HF100. This is also the case with the PF25 Cinema Mode shooting, too.

In all, the HF100 performs superbly in almost all situations. Certainly, the generously-sized CMOS imaging chip does an exceedingly good job in good light; take the product indoors into less-than-perfect light and you'll start to notice picture noise sooner than you would with equivalent 3CCD camcorders, however. That said, there's a video light to assist this so it will be considered to be a problem only for the fussiest of users who have unrealistic expectations of a high definition consumer camcorder at this price point.

Playback options


There's a comprehensive range of playback options applicable to both movie clips and digital stills. Using the mini-joystick it's possible to select a variety of functions such as Fast (5x, 15x, 60x speed) modes as well as equivalent slow modes. Where close analysis is required, frame-by-frame advance is also possible - useful for sport - and playback pause. It's also possible to digitally zoom into and out of movie clips and still images in playback mode, too. Thanks to the nature of the recordings as individual clip files, we can use the joystick and other functions to skip scenes forward and back and generally navigate in the same way as we would on a DVD disc. Digital still images can be directly output to a Canon SELPHY printer using Pictbridge compliant settings and with the supplied USB cable, although it will also support output to other USB -equipped printers, too.

Importing and Editing clips using Apple Intel Mac OSX computers, Windows/Vista and Canon's DW-100 USB DVD Burner


With there now being so much concern about how users can import their AVCHD clips to either a Windows/Vista PC or Apple Mac, it's worth mentioning that the HF series camcorders come with a PC version of Pixela Imagemixer 3SE software. This will facilitate import and simple deletion, trimming, re-arranging of clips on a PC and also export to DVD or web. Although there was insufficient time to test this at review stage, we did successfully import all test clips from a 16GB SDHC card into iMovie '08 on an Apple 24" iMac running OS10.5 Leopard without any problems at all, and the results were more than impressive (as was the ease of editing of the imported clips).

For easy creation of DVD copies as either HD or SD (standard definition) we should mention Canon's own standalone DVD writer. The DW-100 DVD Burner is designed to connect directly to the HF100 (and other AVCHD camcorders in Canon's range) via USB 2.0 in order to facilitate one-touch DVD disc creation. This can be undertaken either from individual clips, all clips or from user-defined playlists. If there's more content than can be stored on a single disc, the software (driven from the camcorder's menu system) will indicate how many discs are required and prompt the user to load additional discs as required. For many users looking for a quick and pain-free means of making DVD copies of their HF100 movie projects, this will undoubtedly be the preferred option. With the burner remaining connected to the camcorder via USB, and the camcorder connected to a HDTV via either HDMI or Component connectors, playback of HD movies can be achieved using the burner drive itself using the camcorder's wireless remote for control.

Canon Vixia HF100 AVCHD Camcorder included accessories

Conclusion


Every so often we receive a camcorder for review which knocks us out from the moment it's removed from the box. We'd already seen advance pre-production samples at an invitation-only Canon preview back in February 2008 in London and although it wasn't possible to explore either the HF100 or the HF10 in any detail, it was obvious that it was destined to be a winner. We haven't been disappointed. At its highest 17Mbps quality setting, the clips recorded with the HF100 are absolutely superb when played back not only on a HDTV display via HDMI but even when displayed using the supplied AV connectors on a 28" Widescreen CRT monitor, too. Its Dolby Digital 2-channel (AC-3 2ch) sound quality is also very good indeed, with clarity and stereo separation being well up to expectations from such a product.

Whilst it's fair to say that a great many users will have no interest in connecting an external microphone (either via the 3.5mm jack or on the intelligent accessory shoe) or even headphones (actually very useful as a means of checking wind-impact on the built-in mic even if monitoring with iPod-style earbuds), it's also worth noting that there will be many other users for whom the inclusion of these features will make the solid-state HF100 a very attractive proposition indeed, and for that Canon has to be congratulated in coming up with such an excellent pair of products.

There are only two words to describe the Canon HF100 - absolutely fabulous!

Reviewed by: CB. May 2008. Canon HF100 images courtesy of Canon UK.

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