I got this as a wedding present and it got some immediate use as it was used to film both our wedding and subsequent honeymoon. The low lit church was not a problem although we could have benefited from an external microphone. The picture quality was magnificent and I was extremely happy with it! The honeymoon came next and we charged off to New York City for a week with two 16GB SDHC cards (Great Buy: Transcend 16GB SDHC CARD (SD 2.0 SPD CLASS 6) with Compact Card Reader).
br /
br /New York in all its glory on sunny days this camcorder just kept me happy. It was put to the test as well. Time Squre at night, views from the top of the Empire State Building, from ferries, during meals ... it was great and the resulting picture quality was outstanding even coverted to regular DVD instead of Blue Ray. Image stabilization was a major boon. At one stage we were on the ferry going to visit the Statue of Liberty and a dragon fly landed on my wife's purse. She zoomed right in it and the pictures we got afterward were quite stunning. From a distance shot to almost macro quality close-ups in the space of 60 seconds ... fantastic.
br /
br /Even the stock battery has served us well - the upgraded batteries were out of stock everywhere when we purchased this camera (kind of a bummer) but we never had a problem with the original ... seriously how often do you really shoot hours a day even on holiday?
br /
br /I figure when we upgrade to fanatical parents we'll get the the beefier battery.
br /
br /The gotcha for me was the software that came with it -- it is basic and to be honest rather crappy but it gets the job done. The puzzler however was that I was having a hell of a time burning DVD's and it took a significant amount of time to realize that the software would not burn to DVD+R disks, only DVD-R! Once I had bought a punnet of these I was good to go and have not looked back since!
br /
br /You'd be a fool to buy a standard definition camera in this day and age, just in terms of future proofing. This camera appears to be one of the best, if not the best currently available and I for one have absolutely no complaints at all!

I was a little skeptical at first. This camera seems too good to be true while reading all of the specifications listed. But I really have to say that it lived up to all of my expectations. In a well lit area the picture is absolutely stunning--a sharp and true-to-life image. In darker rooms the picture doesn't get grainy at all from my experience. Obviously a darker room isn't going to be quite as stunning as a brighter one but I'm still impressed. The mic picks up wind but not to a distracting point. Burning to DVDs/Blu-rays is actually pretty easy as well. I use Sony Vegas Movie Studio and it imports the video and is easily edited. My computer isn't the most amazing, so the video may take a second or two to buffer before I can preview it but I've been cutting videos and burning them easily since I bought the camera just a couple months ago. The battery that comes with the camera doesn't last all that long (probably an hour+). I would buy the extended battery for something like $85.00 but it's only made in black and the HF100 is silver. Kind of funky if you ask me. I may just buy a second smaller battery. The memory cards used are SUPER cheap to buy making this the camera to get!!
br /
br /In summary (i.e. the only part everybody will probably read):
br /
br /PROS:
br /- Sharp HD picture.
br /- Small camera size.
br /- Easy to edit and transfer video.
br /- SDHC cards are CHEAP to buy.
br /
br /CONS:
br /- Supplied battery has a short life.
br /- Mic picks up some wind noises.
br /- You really should purchase a different editing program.

I made a deep research. My goal from the beginning was Flash and especially SD camcorder. I think this is the future of this product - at least in the next 3-4 years.
br /I found HF100 the best in its class and answering perfect my needs - quality of picture; quality of sound, good variable speed zoom and all this - in an almost pocket size, easy to cary product. Despite the original bag was part of the deal, I found a small, "photo camera" bag. Now I'm carring the camera on my belt, having hands free during my trips. Amazing!
br /In addition to other pros:
br /- High picture quality;
br /- very good sound;
br /- very good zoom;
br /- easy and intuitive operation;
br /- small, compact size;
br /I like very much the function "power save mode" which lets you having your camera ready in half a second. You will not miss the moment, waiting the camera to start and load the tape...
br /I'm using A-Data 16G SDHC card for 2 hours of best quality HD pictures. It's fast and on quite attractive price. Then, it takes about 1G/minute to transfer the records to PC - via third party card reader. Fast and easy...
br /If there was option to give this camera 6 stars, I'll give it. But...
br /Poor battery life. If switching HF100 often on - power safe and playing with zoom, it takes less than 20 minutes of real recording per battery. Very often in one trip day both batteries I own are going empty. Then, it takes 2 hours and 15 minutes to fully charge one battery.
br /It will be great, if the power supply will be charger too. This way one can charge two batteries at a time or charge one battery, while using the camcorder with the other - without carrying extra stuff.
br /Now - the worst thing - the video editing software. I know it's not Canon product - it's Pixela, but it comes with the camera and definitelly decrease the perfect impression of this really great product.
br /The software comes without help.
br /It takes a huge eforts to register it. It seems the registration is the ONLY important thing for Pixela. They have special site only to help you to register the product. There are a lot of promises in this site, but once properly registered (at the end!), you find no any help. Having in mind the software is not intuitive at all, it's practically unusual.
br /The bad software lead me to give only 3 stars to this great camera.

I was looking for a video camera that used the SDHC card for its files with the hopes that I would be able to simply insert the card into the SDHC card into the slot in my laptop as I do with my digital camera and simply transfer files. Not so easy - computer does not reconginize the format. So after using the cables and the software that comes with the the camera, I have the videos on my computer and the quality is great, but as of yet, I cannot burn them to a DVD in a format that is readable by a standard DVD player, and windows media player doesn't recognize the format. Also, the editing software is AWFUL!!
br /
br /I do like the camera, it is small, easy to use, and the video quality is GREAT, but using the videos or sharing the videos just doesn't work so far. I'll be looking into a 3rd party video editing program that will hopefully solve my problems.

My DV camcorder died some months back and I've been looking for a replacement. It seemed as though a non-tape based camcorder would be a good choice, so I've been following reviews of a variety of flash and hard-drive camcorders for several months.
br /
br /I really didn't think I needed an HD camera, but the reviews of the standard definition camcorders really weren't very good. I had just about decided to go with the Canon FS100 (their standard def. flash based camcorder) but was concerned that many reviews said is was bad in low light.
br /
br /I'm not a professional videographer, so I just want something that will give me great video with a minimum of effort. I use the camera indoors quite a bit shooting video of my kids, so the poor low light reviews concerned me.
br /
br /Then I found the HF100.
br /
br /The reviews were generally very good and since Canon were getting ready to drop a newer model, the price had been falling too. At the time the FS100 was ~$350-$400 and the HF100 was $200 more. Amazon had a great price -- as good as every reputable merchant that sold the camera -- so I bought it here.
br /
br /The camera itself is compact, but not so small as to be hard to handle. It's also pretty light weight (but not flimsy). There are no moving parts since it uses the SD card, and each shot is saved as a separate file.
br /
br /So far, I've shot indoors and at the beach. Both came out great. I got decent looking video indoors with lighting that my old DV camera couldn't cope with (and it was supposed to be above average at low light).
br /
br /The HD looks fantastic even with default "easy mode" settings and general use of the camera is easy. Very point-and-shoot.
br /
br /The default battery drains fairly quickly, but you can get after market batteries pretty cheaply if you shop around.
br /
br /All in all I am very pleased with this camera. It was a good price, is easy to use and takes some pretty good looking video.
br /

Hi Folks,
br /
br /There are lots of great reviews describing the camera itself, so I will refrain from being redundant. I have had the camera for a while, so I want to share some comments.
br /
br /1. VIDEO EDITING: The software that comes with the software is quite awful. I looked at the PINNACLE STUDIO 12 software, and was quite unimpressed, especially with stability. Then, I began using Corel VideoStudio X2 and was pleased with the results. The software is quite intuitive, inexpensive, and very stable. I like to save the files on my home theater PC and play them from there, so I saved my videos in HDV format, which is played by a number of video players.
br /
br /2. NIGHT SHOOTING: Like most video cameras, you will lose a massive amount of detail with this camera when shooting at night. The built in video light is only adequate for subjects 2-3 feet away. It also makes the subject appear a ghostly white. Even worse, it casts a sharp shadow right next to the subject. I decided to purchase a video light. The canon official video light is 3 watts, and is expensive ($119 or more). Many reviewers have said that it has inadequate brightness. I decided to look at regular lights, and purchased the Sunpak RL-2O, and also the Sima ultra bright. The Sunpak is very very bright, casts sharp shadows, runs hot, has uneven light, and lasts only 12-13 minutes. It does not come with a shoe attachment for the bottom of the camera. The sima is quite bright, light and compact, and lasts almost an hour. It also has a built in diffuser, so it casts few shadows. You can also snap two or more sima lights together to create an array. I have decided to return the Sunpak, and order another Sima. One should be enough for most occasions, but 2 should be enough for every scenario.
br /
br /On the down side, the Sima can create a greenish hue. I found that configuring custom white balance using a sheet of white paper, with the Sima light on, reduced the hue a lot. The camera appears to save this white balance setting for future use, so that's very nice.
br /
br /Another issue is that both lights use a standard shoe. This camera uses a mini shoe. I decided to glue the little shoe adapter that came with the sima to the top of the camera's mini shoe using 3 tiny glue dots. It worked well, and I am pleased with the result.
br /
br /Happy Shooting !!

If you've been doing research, you know that most people say that AVCHD is a nightmare to edit and render. Not so! You need Sony Vegas 8.0 Pro and a fairly new computer. Editing and rendering is slower than with HDV, but it's not a nightmare at all. Can't afford Sony Vegas 8.0 Pro? At least download the trial version to see what you're missing.
br /If you want to speed it up, shoot in XP+ instead of FXP--rendering takes 1/2 the time.
br /
br /1) Shoot in 30p. Looks amazing and no deinterlacing required in post to be viewed on the web.
br /2) Do not use the software that came with the camera, Pixela Image Mixer. It wants to change the files to M2TS which, for some reason, turn out all garbled in Sony Vegas. Remove the card from the camera and put it in a card reader and transfer the MTS files directly to your computer.
br /3) Drag and drop an MTS file into Vegas
br /4) Edit
br /5) Render (if you shoot in 30p, then render in 30.000 frame rate (do not render in 29.970--it will give you a jittery video))
br /
br /For Youtube rendering: There is a general consensus as to the settings that are best:
br /Search Youtube for:
br /"how to make your videos high quality using sony vegas"

This camcorder is a joy to use. The video quality is really amazing especially for the price. This was my 2nd HD camcorder. The first was a convenience, impulse purchase of a Panasonic HD-9 from Costco. Took it back-the video wasn't very good and image stabilization didn't work.
br /Then I did a lot of research and concluded HF100 was for me. No HV30 because of tape issues and microphone picks up hi-pitch tape noise. No HF10 because SD cards are so cheap anyway.
br /This camera is easy to operate, though you will want practice if you plan to navigate through the plethora of very useful custom settings. The screen brightness is great, it's useable in even the brightest outdoor settings. The image stabilization is really terrific. If you have somewhat of a steady hand you can take great video while hand held even with significant zoom.
br /I was a little apprehensive about the joystick control on the viewfinder but I find it is quite comfortable to use.
br /I use a Mac and it was no problem at all getting the video off the camera. If you have a 16 Gb card and it's pretty full of video it can take several minutes for the computer to go into import mode-seems it has to read the whole card first. So, be patient-it's working.
br /Though I've read some negatives about battery life, tri-pod mount and some about connector placement and such I don't share any of those as negatives. As for battery, we all have so many gadgets that need charging or syncing these days you just develop the habit of making sure they are fully charged. To me the amazing compact size and light weight advantages of the camcorder far outweighs connector or port placement issues.

You got to hand it to Canon to make a subcompact camera with all the bells and whistles of a much more expensive/bigger model. Even better - the performance of this camera is amongst the best I've seen.
br /
br /Pros:
br /* Excellent HD recording performance in different resolution - You can change the mode based on space you have left.
br /* Fairly decent audio recording with decent ambient noise cancellation.
br /* Easy to use controls and modes(I never had to read the manual to figure out different operations..!)
br /
br /Cons:
br /* Recording in SD cards is both a bane and a blessing - I recommend buying atleast a 16GB card with an external card reader - Transcend has a fairly decent one.
br /
br /* Copying a 1GB movie(about 30 minutes in XP+ HD mode) takes a few minutes to convert into AVI or MPEG, after copying over the movie from the camera - I recommend backing up the movies often as SD cards are prone to failure
br /
br /OVERALL: HIGHLY RECOMMEND! Search for a good price before buying it - Bought this camera after a lot of research - very pleased with performance

The camcorder is great. Very happy with optical stabilization, Flash memory storage, and image quality. I found that being able to quickly switch from video to stills and back was much more useful than I thought it would be. It is nice to have a series of high resolution stills to edit into a slide show with music to accompany the videos on a DVD. I am very impressed with the still images. Optical stabilization gives me sharp zoomed images that I could never get on my other camera, and with the capacity of an 8GB memory card, I can store thousands and thousands at the highest resolution.
br / Flash memory is the only way to go. It is so easy to transfer data to the computer. The absence of tape drive, mini-DVD, or hard drive motors really improves the sound quality. The low light video is not too good, but the low light still images are fantastic. Also, it is very difficult to tell the difference between the top 3 video recording modes, so I shoot most of my videos in the second-best mode, saving the best mode for tripod supported shots where the benefits might be apparent. That also saves battery life which is a little short, but I don't find it to be a problem. I was originally thinking of buying a second battery, but after using it every day on a two-week vacation, I don't need it.

I guess I am somewhat of an expert having co-written a few books on high definition video so I did quite a bit of research before deciding on this camera. With a baby on the way I knew I wanted a HD video camera and I also wanted it to be solid state based. My last video camera was the Canon Optura Pi. Standard definition of course and tape based. I don't like tape. I don't like having them around, buying them, tape dropouts, jamming in the transport ($300 repair), or storing them. I like shooting video on the card, transferring the video to the computer and then putting the card back in the computer.
br /
br /With adequate light the video quality of this camera is pretty amazing. I have viewed video from it on my 52XBR4 Sony LCD TV and it really is HD. Only when the lighting gets really bad does the apparent resolution go down and the noise increase. Still the picture remains very usable in all but the darkest conditions. Considering the fact that this is only a 1/3.2" CMOS sensor the picture quality is very good.
br /
br /Despite what you may have heard about AVCHD compression is it quite editable with the right computer and software. I would say that if you have at least a 2.5GHz dual core you should be fine. I am editing with Sony Vegas Pro 8 and the editing experience is quite snappy.
br /
br /At the maximum bit rate (16Mbps) the recordings are very clean with macroblocking only visible on really fast motion scenes or other difficult scenes like water waves. And even then it is minimal. I would like to check out the new HF11 with its 24Mbps data rate and see how much better it does than the HF100 on tough motion scenes. I just hate to have to pay the extra money for the built in memory, which I personally think is a waste. Why be locked into the rate that Canon charges for the memory when it's going down every day?
br /
br /What would I change on this camera?
br /1. Make the zoom control a rocker.
br /2. Increase the max bit rate recording to 24Mbps like the HF11.
br /3. How about the next generation having a 1/2" single CMOS sensor and a larger lens to match for better low light sensitivity.
br /4. True 30p mode that doesn't use the 60i wrapper to store 30p video.
br /
br /

I bought three of these for use at work and have been thrilled with the performance. I was initially worried about low light quality because of other reviews--we're using them to film in a manufacturing environment with all artificial lighting that's sparse and as much as 100' above the area being filmed. This creates a lot of dark areas, heavy shadows, and generally poor lighting conditions. The camera does an exceptional job and we've had no problems with capturing even fine details even in the darkest areas.
br /
br /The image stabilization is ok - definitely a great improvement over cameras with no image stabilization or only electronic image stabilization. Still, we found that a tripod was necessary when filming for more than a few minutes at a time to get the best quality.
br /
br /We recorded using the camera's highest quality, then down converted to DVD quality for streaming over the company's network (also converted to WMV format). The end result has been videos that are small enough to stream efficiently with quality that exceeds everyone's expectations.

This camera is amazing. The video quality must be seen to be appreciated. I've been using it since May 2008 and would never go back to standard definition nor tapes. I recommend the following accessories: 16 GB SDHC card for over 2 hours of footage, B19 battery for over 3 hours of recording time, clear and polarized filter set, the external mic for the best audio possible (especially outdoors under any wind conditions), and a Mac + iMovie 08 for editing.

I read all of the of the reviews before I bought the camera, and most of everything I have read is true. Camcorderinfo, Consumer Reports, Amazon, all gives this camera good ratings and I can see why. I think that most people will do their own homework when it comes to choosing a camera, so I will not focus my review on the camera itself. I will say it is one of the most convenient cameras I have ever owned, and the flash based recording is great. The thing that I would like to mention is my buying experience with Amazon. I never thought of Amazon as a place to buy electronics, but was I ever wrong. The price cannot be beat especially with the free shipping and no tax, and the camera came within the dates stated on the invoice via UPS. I live in Hawaii and the cost of shipping can be very expensive. I always loved my buying experience with Amazon, and know I can order my electronics from them as well.
br /
br /Thanks Amazon!

LOVE IT!!! This is such a neat product! I am a stay at home mom who uses the camera to capture all the fun things that baby does during the day. This camera is so small, and so easy to use! I can fit it easily in my purse, or diaper bag. It stores all the videos separate, so you can watch each one individually, at one click of the button. We love that it takes the SD cards, for easy video storage and transfer to the PC. It's easy to delete a scene if it's not what you want. We love this camera!!! It's the best Christmas present that we could have bought ourselves this year! You will love it too!

This is my first HD camcoder and first Canon brand after working with SD Panasonic. I am very happy with this camcorder, it is very easy to operate, the footage is excellent quality, it is small and easy to handle. I took 1 star off because of few things I think could be improved
br /1. It takes long time to switch between capturing photo and video. It often takes 15-20 seconds, which sometimes leads to lost opportunities.
br /2. The bundled battery lasts only about an hour and the supplied charger doesn't allow to charge it outside of camcorder.
br /3. I wish the captured photograhs had higher resolution, but even this way, I am very happy with them.
br /4. I wish there is a software for Linux to import and play (not necessarily edit) the footage. As of now the only way to import is to directly copy the .mts files and I haven't found a way how to play them on Linux (I used SageTV and HD 100 media extender to play them on TV with excellent results)

First of all I should have done this review with my camera if it had not been in use by an international broadcaster.
br /
br /This camera is really one that amazes me every time.
br /
br /It is easy to use for the beginner but also a semi pro can do nice things with it. A befriended director of an international broadcaster has used it already a few times and is still using it for recordings. Where the serious cameras too big (like in a giant Ferris wheel and on the roller coaster this camera does it all. Also in low light conditions it does what it needs to do.
br /
br /Copying from card to Powerbook i use a card reader that came with one of the Sandisk cards I bought with it. It is a lot easier than connecting camera to computer and power socket.
br /
br /Once you have set up your editing software it is really easy to do.
br /
br /One thing: I recommend to get an additional battery to avoid disappointments whilst recording because of a flat battery. You can go for the Canon battery but there are also cheaper options available.
br /
br /Oh yes, I of course bought a small camera bag as well to have it secure whilst on the road.

I bought this camera for two reasons, one becase I just wanted to get rid of the old one that used tapes and was big and bulky, the second is because I was going on a trip cross country to a Wedding. The Camera is very small, and very easily fit in my pocket when I wasn't using it, which was fantastic. The quality of the camera itself and the video it records are stunning.
br /It is worth every penny I spent on it. The still camera setting was very usefull to, because I did not want to take both my HF100 and my Rebel, the camera on the HF100 took very good pictures.
br /Very pleased with this camera and will definately recommend it to people in the market.

I also did quite a bit of research between various Sony and Canon HD models and kept coming back to this one, partially because it had very similar specs to some of the more expensive models, and partially because the indication seemed to be the quality was top-notch for HD video. Let me tell you I have not been disappointed. It IS true that the default battery loses its charge pretty quick in the higher quality modes, when stopping and starting your record sessions (I film landscape stock footage so I do a lot of 1-3 minute takes and that's it). So first off, get yourself the higher capacity battery for this camera and an AC charger for sure. You'll need it unless you only plan to use your camera sparingly.
br /
br /I do not use the Canon software so I can't comment there (I use Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, which does a really nice job of letting you look through the AVCHD files on your camera and quickly pick the ones you want to include and edit in your project), but the quality of the HD output from this little camera is truly amazing for such a small camera. No banding of any kind, good white balance performance (little off in spots but not a big deal - easily corrected in Premiere Pro), and the detail is outstanding. Color rendition is very good also, but again like a digital photo I tend to handle the colors in the applicable program rather than always leave them as-is.
br /
br /Because I deal with a lot of wind, ultimately I will probably get the Sennheiser boom mic and a "dead cat" for the mic, but really, if you have your extra batteries, memory cards (they get filled up quick! 8GB recommended at least) and a tripod you can produce some professional quality video clips with this camera. And for hand-held fun it does a real nice job with the stabilization as well, and any minor gaffes there are easily handled in After Effects (which, is admittedly beyond the scope of the average user for this camera but worth knowing if you're into that sort of software). The only minor downfall is the part of the menu system that lets you review your many clips and delete unwanted ones (for when the card is full or nearly full). This part was really confusing the first couple times I tried it but eventually you remember which options take you where and you are able to work pretty efficiently. The menu system that controls your white balance and other "shoot settings" are very easy to use (like a Canon still camera).
br /
br /Definitely a "best buy" among the small, hand-held HD cameras that use AVCHD.

I purchased this right before we went to Hawaii and it's been great ever since. It's light, easy to use, and has long life. It's just what's needed for someone on the go.

I think this camera is great and would most certainly recommend it for anyone. The only one problem I found with it is that it is not as "shake proof" as I was hoping it would be. However the picture quality is excellent, and has more features then any other I have seen. Its easy to switch between setting things yourself and allowing the camera to do it for you which is wonderful for the inexperienced user. Worth the investment for capturing memories for a life time. Keep in mind though, this does not come with a memory card, but they are rather inexpensive.

After much research b/t different brands, I got this camcorder so I can have a friend record my wedding in High Def.
br /I got these to go along with this camcorder:
br /TIFFEN 37mm UV Protector Filter
br /Transcend 16GB SDHC CARD
br /
br /These arrived in a few days and I open the box. It came with a remote, charger which plugs in to the back of the camcorder (not a separate charger), and the video cables so you can watch on your tv. 2 cables, 1 for hd and one for rca.
br /
br /I inserted the card, put on the lens filter for protection and starting testing the recording.
br /
br /The recording in bright day light is beautiful. But, then I brought it into the house in darker areas, the picture comes out very pixelly/grainy. This is the only reason for the 4 star instead of 5.
br /
br /Luckily, my wedding is outside during the day which this camcorder did a great job of capturing my wedding in HD. I looked at it and its wonderful crisp and the sounds is amazing.
br /
br /On the new battery, I am able to get 61 mins per charge. This is with out any viewing in the middle. Just record. Hope this helps you plan out the amount of batteries you will need.
br /
br /Now, if I have hire a videotographer , it would have cost me between 700 - 3000 dollars depending on the package. I got this on Amazon for 625 and I get to keep the camcorder at the end. Its a worthy purchase.
br /
br /
br /GL.
br /
br /
br /

I must say, the quality that this camcorder produces is jaw dropping. This thing takes such good video I would not be surprised to see it used to film a low-budget film. Very easy to use and Canon quality - not much more you can ask for. The 30p made takes great video and the optical zoom is quite impressive.
br /
br /The only complaint that I have, and the reason for the one star deduction, is that it forces you to have it plugged into power to do pretty much anything outside of filming. I hate that I have to plug it into the wall when I want to hook into a PS3 and show video. The means that I have to carry the AC adapter around anywhere I go if I think I might want to show video... I have an extra battery - why can't I just use that??? It also requires it be plugged in when importing video to your computer (which makes a bit more sense since you don't want it to die in the middle of that).
br /
br /Other than this one complaint this is an amazing deal and product!

If you have an HD-TV this camera is the way to go. it is much cheaper than the newer models and the picture quality is great! I am not a technically savvy person and found this camera very easy to use. Save money! Buy this one over the newer models.

After considerable research, I settled on this camera as a birthday present for my husband. He is delighted with it's features, size, and convenience of operation. Delivery was great through Amazon.com

Video quality:10/10
br /Sound quality:10/10
br /i dont know what else to say, but after searching and comparing all canon vixias, i settled on the Hf100. and now i have it!

The camera is great. However, I can't edit the footage. The camera and accompanying software is not compatible with an iMac G5 (power pc). Went to the apple store and they sold me iLife 08. Still doesn't work. Very disappointed.

We recently decided to sell our Canon GL2 and Firestore FS4 tapeless setup and purchase the Canon VIXIA HF100.
br /
br /Selling points for me were the ability to capture in 1920x1080 at 24fps. This meant no more converting 60i to 24p through Twixtor or other software. In addition, the Cinemode is a nice feature because it cuts back on the electronic sharpening and handles the colors in such a way that you have more tonal latitude in post-production.
br /
br /The selling points for my wife were the "Easy Button", in which the camera handles exposure and other settings to ensure an adequate picture (and because home videos look better in 60i - 24p would be far too stroby in that case), and the small size of the camera: as other reviews have pointed out, it is the size of a soda can.
br /
br /Of primary concern before finally deciding on the HF100 was whether or not we could effectively edit the .MTS / AVCHD files that the camera outputs. We discovered a very helpful thread at forum DOT Videohelp DOT com, under the topic "Mini Guide - AVCHD to Anything Using DGAVCdec".
br /(http://forum.videohelp.com/topic346331.html)
br /
br /I highly recommend... before purchasing any AVCHD converter software, try that solution because all of the required software mentioned in that thread is completely free (VirtualDub, AVISynth, some codecs, etc.)
br /
br /I appreciate all of the other reviews here that have helped us make our decision, and hopefully this review helps answer the more technical/editing side of things that we found difficult to find info on.
br /
br /P.S. The only potential downside to the camera itself is the lack of a manual focusing ring.
br /
br /For those using 35mm Depth of Field adapters this is not an issue, since the camera would be set to manual focus to view the ground glass, and the focusing when shooting would be done on the 35mm lens.
br /
br /In our case, we simply had to purchase a couple of ring adapters (58mm-52mm and 52mm-37mm ) to use our 35mm adapter with the HF100. It works splendidly!
br /
br /Overall this is a great camera at an excellent price!
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After reading the reviews on this site and others and seeing the awesome videos on YouTube I decided to buy this camcorder. I give it 5 stars because I believe it lives up to everything that has been said about it. However, if you are a camcorder newbie, such as I am, be aware of the following: You will not be shooting "Star Wars" caliber movies simply because of the camera. All my footage looks like I am in the middle of an earthquake (I do have very shakey hands). I finally went out and bought a $30 tripod from Wal-mart. It definitely helps. The on-screen menu structure is alien to me. There is going to be a high learning curve in understanding all the modes this camera has and what they do. I bought the Transcend 16GB card with the card reader and it was a breeze transfering the files to my computer. However, it then took me nearly 4 hours to get my computer to play the MTS files. Nothing I had would play them and I could not get the free stuff that is suppose to play these to work. I finally downloaded the trial version of Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9 and it worked flawlessly. I was able to view them, do some very simple editing and burn them to a DVD (I don't have Blu-Ray and neither do any of my family and friends, so I have to convert these). I definitely will be buying this software to use with my HF100. All-in-all I think I made a good decison in selecting this camcorder. Just remember, if you are a novice you will most likely be putting some time and effort into shooting good videos.

This was an experiment for me as I had never played with a flash memory video camera. But I have used several tape based cameras, including professional equipment. The size is perfect it just fits in you hand and the unit is light. In fact it is so light you have to remember that it is there and avoid moving the camera too fast. A couple of minutes practice and I could smoothly and slowly zoom the 12x lens. Far better than any other tape camera I have used other than a $50K PROFESSIONAL SONY camera.
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br /The camera comes on quickly.
br /A 16 GB SDHC class six card gives over 4 hours of video. Need more switch to another card.
br /The standard battery last 80-90 minutes. You may want a spare or a larger battery.
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br / That "usability" which is great is still not the best feature. The actual video is stunning. I transcode the video into Final Cut Express for editing and I can create beautiful HD videos. I haven't played with the PC video software yet but when I get time I will write another review. Meanwhile, I rate this camera A for Amazing.

I must admit, this is my first HD camcorder, but I have not ceased to be impressed since it was first purchased. On the "Pros" side, the video quality is amazing (actually looks better than some of the lower quality HD-DVDs I have seen, and low light performance is the best I've personally seen), the ergonomics are great, and the removable SDHC card is very convenient and never an inconvenience. Also, the navigation of the controls and settings screens are intuitive. The only "Con" is the battery; for a camera in this price range, I'd like a battery that can last more than an hour on the highest quality setting. However, I do understand the power consumption at such high data transfer rates.
br /Overall, I'd recommend this camera to anyone. I'd also recommend one of the higher capacity batteries :)

The day after I got the camcorder, I went to a wedding. I recorded there under not good lighting condition. When I came back and play it on my Sony HD tv, I was amazed how good the video quality is. Last weekend, I recorded a political rally, it is better than my local news quality (they are not all converted to HD recording yet).

Love it.
br /I had an HDD right before this, but was not happy with the quality.
br /This camera even exceeds my expectations.
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br /I love the SD format as you can store your video indefinately.
br /Great weight, great function.
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br /The only con I can think of is there is no good way to store the video.
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br /If you try to burn it down to a DVD it converts to normal DVD. Still good, but not HD. You have to either get a Blue-Ray burner (too expensive) or use the camera for watching back.
br /Not a big deal, but it seems that the storage technology has not caught up with the camera......so for now, I simply buy new SD cards.
br /16GB for $30 is cheap enough. (2 1/2 hrs of recording)
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br /BOTTOM LINE: BUY IT, YOU WONT REGRET IT.

This camera produces excellent visuals inside, no need for a flash or any other lightings, it adjust itself perfectly!

I've had the camera now for a month. It's pretty straight forward to use and all features seem to work as described. I bought a mini-HDMI cable (also from amazon) and played video back on my 50in plasma straight from the camera. Great pictures with good lighting...ie outside in the daytime and inside with all the lights on. The image deteriorates rapidly in lower light, gets very grainy. Sound is OK but if you want the sound to equal picture quality in good lighting, you probably need an external mic...I imagine this is the same for any camcorder.
br /I have yet to download video onto a computer however. I little apprehensive based on all the comentary about download speed and computer requirements. I actually am in the market for a new computer...so in the mean-time I bought a few of the 16GB cards. 4GB equals about 30 minutes in the highest resolution.
br /Summary. Very pleased. Worth the money. Straight-forward function. Need a good computer.

I really have enjoyed this camcorder. Easy to use. Small in size, big in features.
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br /My only issue has been with my iMac in terms that it can take forever for iMovie to detect the camera. But I think that has to do with the Mac not the camera.
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I read a lot of good reviews on this camera and the others say it all! I'm very glad I bought this camera. I was debating about whether to get one with a hard drive or not, and I'm glad I made this choice because it is lighter and I don't have to worry as much about dropping it (not that I'm going to try to). The price was good, and the HD quality is awesome!
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br /The only thing I don't like is the still camera on it because it takes forever to reload between pictures, and they come out a little yellow. You can't expect a great still camera on a camcorder anyway.

Clearly the people who gave this camcorder 5 stars are either techies who are good at , super users who want to pay a few hundred dollars for editing software, or have a lot of money
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br /This camcorder is ahead of its time. I'm resentful that both for my Mac and my PC I have to buy new software or learn all about transcoding, freeware, and all sorts of other "hacks" to get this to work.
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br /I wish I'd known what a huge pain and expense this would be before the 30 day return policy was up.

This camcorder is amazing. Don't let all the back and forth among the reviews scare you away. I spent many hours researching this camera, reading incredible numbers of reviews. I finally ordered and received it 2 days before my son's last football game of the season. I opened the camcorder, went outside and started recording to try it out. Very easy to use!!! A day later I recorded my daughter's basketball game. WOW!!!! Then I recorded my son's final football game. It was raining during the football game but you would never be able to tell it. The qualilty of the recording is wonderful. This camera is absolutely AMAZING. Don't hesitate to purchase this(unless you don't have a HD TV). I do recommend buying the extra extended life battery, sd card and HDMI mini/standard cord when you purchase the camera. I have read part of the manual and it is very simple to understand and takes you step by step through different processes. BRAVO Canon!!!!!!!

This is really a cool one, I bought it for my dad's gift. He really likes it. Everyone should buy one!

Basically, it works as advertised. But with a few hiccups.
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br /The image stabilization is poor. Combined with the light weight of the camera, it's hard to hold without jitter, practically impossible at maximum zoom. Walking with the camera makes the picture jump all over the place. And these fast movements don't make the compression algorithm happy. As a comparison point, my old Sony Hi8 camcorder can handle even the vibration in a race car without any of it showing on the screen.
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br /Light sensitivity is poor. In low light it drops the frame rate and the video looks funny, blurred and stepped.
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br /If you just leave the camera on without shooting, it still eats the battery like it is shooting. Turning it off and on takes a while, a few seconds. You'd think that this should not be the case in a device without mechanical moving parts but it is.
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br /The file format is weird. There is a good reason why they sell a special DVD writer as a separate (not cheap) option. You can't just copy the files to DVD and expect them to work on normal players, you need some weird codec (I had a whole pile of them already installed on my computer, so I don't know which one did the magic). The format must be converted. This means that postprocessing and editing of the material is mandatory, I'm normally too lazy for this kind of stuff.
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br /The editing program just hangs every time when trying to open the file, but this might be because of some conflicts with the codecs I had installed. I haven't looked deeply into it yet.
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br /For playback, there seems to be no way to set the screen ratio, and the picture looks compressed horizontally on the normal (not-wide-screen) TV. And it has no digital output that my DVD writer could understand (it understands I think DV but not HDMI).
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br /I don't know how does it compare to the other digital camcorders, maybe all of them have the same issues.
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br /If you wonder, it has no inputs for external cameras (such as something you could mount outside the car), not that I had any expectations for that.
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br /There was also a minor issue with the battery, that after a couple of days started reporting all the time that it's running out but otherwise worked fine. This issue went away by itself after a week or so. The larger extra battery I bought separately didn't have this issue.

I just spent four hours testing out my new camcorder only to discover that my non-intel Mac will not accept video from this product. Canon customer support was great and broke the news to me gently. Apple is the bad guy here. My first Amazon return ever.

The image quality is prety good, and it is very easy to operate. its weight is very light,I like it. The battery usually can last 80-90 minutes, if you want to take a long time video outside, you may need a spare battery.

I bought this camera to use in our business, mainly to produce high quality videos for use on our website and some youtube videos, as well. I realize I didn't have to have HD, but the camera was rated really well, so I sprung for it. The problem with most of the reviews I read is that almost none of them talked in depth about how to edit these videos. Essentially, you can't edit them in Windows Movie Maker and many of the well known video editing software. There are a few programs you can, but the video is so choppy that you can't effectively edit it anyways. You ca use VoltaicHD to convert it to avi or wmv then use common programs, but it's coverted and worse quality, which defeats the purpose of editing hd video for high quality purposes. To me, AVCHD is only worth a darn if you have a supercomputer with an expensive software program to edit it, and even then, it's not worth the hassle at this point, to me. So, I returned it, and bought the non-hd version of the same video camera instead, which I'll be trying out tomorrow. I'll let you know on the difference.

This camera takes great movies. Getting them onto a disc is another story. It is a horror story too! First the Pixela program is incredibly slow, counter intuitive and limited in features. The effects are scarce compared to teh ones that can be found on Windows movie maker. Windows is incompatible with the HD level movies so you can buy the new camera (which also has limited features) to take non-HD movies and use the easier Windows program to edit them or hang onto the old camera and spend the money on something more practical.
br / The customer support at Pixela borders on the sub moronic. They dribble out advice in stingy portions that make it seem like they are playing the "Jan Brady Exact Words" game. They may point you in the direction of solving one problem but can give no warning of the deluge of other problems that that solution unleashes. For instance, to download anything longer than 35 minutes or so with HD you need a DL disc. This would not be a problem except for the fact that the escaped mensa members did not specify which type (external or internal) to get. Spare yourself the guesswork - it needs an internal drive. This is the type of information that seems vaguely important, but the cagey heroes of Pixela decided to wait until I ran into problems after buying an external burner. The manual is another story. It doesn't open!

I had expected a lot from this camera after seeing so many good reviews about the same, but that didn't really happen. Every picture i have taken with this camera has some kind of blueish-ness in it and the switch that moves from still picture to movie mode didn't work very well either. Also while reviewing the pictures/videos it took a long time to fetch them from the flash memory card. So, in short i'm not really happy with this one.

High definition put a new level in home video quality after I've been using standard definition for the past 8 years with my Sony camcorder. What I do appreciate is the absence of moving tape mechanism and spinning disc. This would reduce noise and hopefully, improve on reliability. My last camcorder failed due to the tape mechanism. However, speaking of reliability, the battery that came with the camera failed in less than one month of usage - it just refused to be charged.

Great camera but: this camera takes just wonderful video but: it seems that in order to view the pictures on tv you must first buy a dvd recorder hw100 for $177.00 and then in order to play this dvd you must purchase the blu-ray dvd player $299.00. i guess it was worth it but: i guess i would have bought these items anyway but: the camera just made me do it. if you are ready for high def? this camera is the way to go....

we cancelled are order. steel we haven't got refund yet.after three weeks we called tigerdirect and amozon. they hangup phone.then we called are amx credit card now they are going to investgateing.

A company I work for bought this camera to be able to use in our training division. The idea was to get a camera that could take some good still pictures, good video footage, be small and compact, and easy to use. We really liked the idea of no clunky video tapes since all the footage goes on a small SD card that you can pop in most any newer computer. For the record I would consider myself an fairly advanced user of digital media and editing software. No genius for sure, but I've spent many hours in front of a screen editing pictures and video and puting together many training videos. After using the camera for the past two months, many hundreds of pictures and several hours of video clips later, here is what I found.
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br /The camera itself is awesome. The still pictures it takes are great quality and it's about as simple to take pictures on as a regular digital still camera. The video operation is similar to other video cameras and the quality of the video is stunning. The quality and ease of use in capturing the media you want just can't be beat. Anyone can operate this camera without any problems at all, regardless of your technical "know how".
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br /Now for the reason I rated this camera so low... Once you have that stunning video inside the camera, there is no simple, easy, user friendly way to get it back out onto something you can pop in your 2 year old DVD player and show the family. The software that Canon packages with the camera to install on your computer is absolute junk. It's software that is comparable to what you'd find in a Dollar Store somewhere. The user interface is so poor that even advanced users will be pulling their hair out to get the thing to work what little features it has. No problem you say (like I did), you'll just use one of the easy programs like Windows Movie Maker to make your video....Sorry, Movie Maker isn't able to work with the format of video that the camera records. And that is the root of the problem. The AVCHD format that the camera uses has very, very, very few programs that will work with it and they all cost a hundred bucks or more to buy.
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br /So, in conclusion, from an average guy that is pretty tech savy...stay away from this camera and any like it that use some special wiz-bang format to record with (specifically like AVCHD). The technology is good but the software to work with it still has a few years to go. Go with a good quality Mini-DV camera that you can actually use to make videos on with your home computer....and you'll save pulling your hair out!
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