So, Adam, how has this nice looking camera been doing? -Carlos On 17/07/2008, M. Adam Davis wrote: > On 7/17/08, Bob Ammerman wrote: >> > They are primarily being positioned as the next stage in digital video >> > media. I just purchased a Canon HF100..... >> >> My son wants to buy that model. Could I ask you your opinion of it? > > Changed the topic and subject. Wonder if this might be OT? Please > change into soft slippers if you're going to boot me Russell... ;-D > > I've only had it for a few days now, and haven't done any significant > shooting or post processing with it, so you might consider asking me > again in a month or two - I'm taking it on a vacation next week. > > I spent a lot of time on here: > http://www.camcorderinfo.com/ratings.php# > > which appears to be (or aspires to be) the dpreview of camcorders. > The reviews are fairly thorough. I also spent some time on amazon.com > reviews and this one had the least number of bad reviews, though it's > a fairly new model. Lot's of, "I bought X but didn't like such and > such about it, so I returned it and bought this one and it's perfect!" > type reviews. > > Noting that I've never owned a camcorder before, here are my first > impressions: > - It's small and light - I can see myself using it for long periods > of time without becoming sore, and the case I purchased for it is > smaller than my DSLR case (Canon XTi 400D) so I won't hesitate to > bring it if I think it might be useful wherever I'm going. Of course, > I'm now faced with the perpetual quandry - which one do I bring, and > if both to I get a larger case for both or let them hang off my > shoulders as two seperate bags? I think that I could modify an arm > lamp to act as a mount for this - it weighs less than the flourescent > head of the lamp, which could have interesting uses for electronic > documentation. > - It's surprisingly stable - I can't hold a webcam by hand with > noticably annoying shake, but this wasn't annoying. The lens > stabilisation (vs electronic image stabilisation) gets high marks from > most reviewers, so I think Canon made a good choice here. I can zoom > in all the way (12x) and while the shake is noticable, the video is > still watchable/usable. This is freestanding hand shake - when I rest > my elbows on a table or other surface even zoomed in it appears rock > stable. I was expecting it to be pretty bad given its low mass. > - The macro focus is AWESOME. I was surprised to find that zoomed > out it would focus to about an inch in front of the lens, which is > perfect for some of the electronics related video I want to capture. > Looking at the fibers in a piece of cloth with perfect focus on a > large high resolution monitor was very nice. > - The image quality is very, very good. Connected to a full > resolution monitor there's no noticable blurriness, aliasing, or image > compression artifacts. (well, that I notice on my cheap 24" screen, > anyway) > - Low light performance is good, though I'm told there are better > (including the previous canon SD cameras with larger sensors). Indoor > use with flourescent or incandescent lighting is fine, although you > can see a marked improvement when the scene is well lit. > - The zoom is variable and starts off very slowly, so it's very smooth > - The camcorder uses a USB profile that is built into Windows Vista, > so even if you use Vista 64 you aren't scrambling around for drivers. > - The lens is threaded so you can add polarizing and other filters > and attachments (telephoto, wide angle, etc) easily and inexpensively. > - Focus is fast. Unless you are outside the focus range (19" zoomed > in, 1" zoomed out) then hunting was unnoticable or, in low light, not > bothersome. It has a seperate focus sensor, so a quick pan from a > near object to a far object was spookily in focus by the time I > stopped on the far object. > - The important controls (zoom, start, stop, power) are within hand's > reach for the gripping hand and usable without loosening your grip. > > Cons: > - It doesn't do live video via USB, so if you want to use it in live > video situations (webcam, ustream, etc) then you need to have a video > input on your computer, such as composite, or the new HD component or > HDMI capture cards now out. > - Rather than turning the power savings due to solid state recording > into longer record times, they shrunk the battery so it fits inside > the envelope of the camcorder. The included battery is 7.4v @ > ~800mAH, and is supposed to last typically just under an hour. > Batteries are not inexpensive, but you can get an extended battery, > and my plan is to simply keep another battery or two around and a > seperate charger - this has worked well with my dslr camera usage > patterns, so we'll see. Alternately I'm mulling over the idea of an > external battery pack that mounts onto the camera's 1/4" tripod mount > - just a small box that adds 1/2 to 3/4 inch to the height and is > packed with lipoly batteries. Should be cheaper than an official > canon battery, and would add several hours of time with not much > weight. > - It appears that nearly every camcorder has a built in microphone > that picks up environmental noise too easily, and isn't directional. > This is no exception - I have a relatively noisy office (a fan, > several computers, furnace in next room, etc) and it was very > noticable on a recording of someone speaking quietly. The reviewers > don't seem to dock points for it, so perhaps it's just par for the > course in camcorder land. > - Very few buttons. It's a reasonably complex and adjustable > camcorder, but you have to go through more than 1-2 button presses to > alter the exposure, adjust focus manually, aperature, etc. I don't > know that I'll be using these things much, so it suits me, but I know > some people like to have everything at their fingertips without taking > their eyes off the monitor. > - It doesn't come with an off-board battery charger. The power > adaptor plugs into the back of the camera while the battery charges > installed in the camera. I suppose this is how most camcorders work, > but I think I would rather carry around a few batteries and an off > camera charger. On the plus side, if there's AC nearby you don't have > to worry about the battery running low. > - I could be mistaken, but it appears the camcorder requires that AC > be plugged in when connected to the computer. Seems odd and somewhat > limiting, but it may be that I was connecting in an odd mode or > something. > > None of the cons really bother me, they're just things I would like > out of a perfect camcorder. > > Lastly, the price is very nice - you can get this HD camcorder for > just over $600 now. I purchased the camcorder and two 8GB cards for > under $700 including shipping. > > The only thing I wish I could add to this review is comments on the > included software bundle (which processes, converts, and burns DVDs > among other things). I haven't tried it yet, and I'm concerned that > even though I've got a reasonably nice computer that should actually > do very well for video, I might still see long conversion times. > AVCHD is a relatively new format, so support is limited and sparse in > most video editing programs, so this is an important part of the > bundle. I'll let you know what I find soon. > > Let me know if you have any specific questions about it. > > -Adam > > -- > EARTH DAY 2008 > Tuesday April 22 > Save Money * Save Oil * Save Lives * Save the Planet > http://www.driveslowly.org > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist