Canon Vixia HF10

Sep 6, 2008 by Dan Taylor    22 Comments    Posted under: Photography, Technology

I recently purchased the Canon Vixia HF10 and can honestly say, I couldn’t be happier.  As with any purchases that involve circuit boards and electrical power, I did a boatload of research before plucking down any cash.  The total cost came to approx. $1200.00 at the end of the day, but in addition to the Vixia HF10, I also picked up the additional DM-100 Omni directional Microphone and the WD-H37 II wide angle lens adapter.  Even after paying the 200 euro import tax to have it shipped into Austria, is still worked out being a better deal than if I had bought it here along with the additional accessories.  Yet again, thanks for being my import/export specialist mom.

Right.  Let’s get down to brass tacks here.  Considering that I was previously working on a Samsung SC-X300, the Vixia HF10 is like stepping into the director’s chair on a Hollywood set.  In addition to the obvious difference in quality of an SD camera vs. an HD camera, the Vixia has already allowed a number of variable shot lighting conditions, effects, shooting modes, etc.  One of the main factors that attracted me to the Vixia HF10 is the lack of tape.  I’ve never really worked with tape before, and with the advances in solid-state storage media, I don’t really see a reason to start now.  The Vixia HF10 features a 16gb built in flash media drive.  The Vixia’s less-expensive little brother, the HF100 is exactly the same camera, but without the internal memory, and a slightly less attractive silver paint job as opposed to the HF10’s sleek black finish.  Because I’m slightly anal retentive, I also purchased an additional SDHC 16gb drive that simply slides into the side of the camera.  So in total, I’ve got 32gb or approx. 4 hours of non-stop shooting time on this little wonder.

Size is also another key factor in my gear selection.  I wanted something small enough that could easily be slipped in a large pocket, or not going to take up much space in a backpack.  Weighing in at only 15.1 ounces and measuring 2.9 x 2.5 x 5.1 inches, it a fair statement to say that this junior packs senior power into a small package.  While I did read a few reviews prior to the purchase that complained about the size vs. usability issue, I find the camera incredibly easy to use, buttons are well place, and the joystick navigation just to the left of the main LCD display is nothing but smooth sailing.  The one and only minor gripe I have is with the power button.  It’s located over on the left side of the top of the camera, and it does take a bit of juggling to turn the camera on.  On the other side of the coin, perhaps this is done intentionally by Canon in order to prevent accidental on/off.

Moving up to HD video has presented a bit of a learning curve.  The VH10 records in AVCHD format at a maximum of 17 mb/sec.  At this capture rate, you can shoot in full 1920 x 1080 resolution.  True HD.  AVCHD is a new format to me, and I have to admit, I did have to check a few final cut forums in order to figure out exactly what to do with these files, and how to import them.  On the Samsung, videos were encoded in mpeg4 format, and once plugged in, the camera showed up as an external drive and I was able to drag and drop the files on to the desktop.  With the AVCHD files, I’m required to select the ‘log and capture’ option in final cut in order to bring the files on board.  However, one of the benefits of this method is that I can preview the files in final cut and decide which files I want to bring over, and which can simply head straight to the bin.  While even with my macbook pro with 4gb of memory, large HD files do take a while to move over from the camera to the machine.  I don’t have a point of comparison, but my first guess is that even though taking a few minutes, they’re still transferring via the supplied USB cable faster than a traditional tape method import.

Here’s some test footage that I uploaded to Vimeo.com. Vimeo is one of the few video sharing sites that supports HD footage. The above footage has been resized by Vimeo, as HD is not supported via embedding. To see the full HD version, check it out over here.

The optically stabilized f1.8-3.0 12X zoon lens is slightly longer than most of the Vixia’s 10X zoon lens competitors, and really, who doesn’t need more zoom?  The SuperRange optical image stabilization works well all the way out to the 12X zoom range, and focuses quickly in both bright and dim conditions.  This is going to come in particularly handing while filming live musical performances.  Other than the slightly bigger zoom, most of the features on the Vixia are industry standards for this price and model class.  On video these features include:

• Aperture and shutter priority modes
• Three fixed, one variable zoon speed options. (I personally leave it on variable, as I believe it offers the most amount of control)
• Video light
• Instant AF
• Windscreen filter (on the built in microphone)

Image Taken with the Canon Vixia HF10

A nifty little feature that I’ve played around with a bit is the ability to record in 24 frames per second as opposed to the ‘normal’ 30 fps, and the ability to shoot in 60i.  When hooking the Vixia up to an HD monitor via a mini HD jack, the 24 fps footage really does have a ‘cinematic’ look and feel to it, but sadly, I discovered that editing 24 fps footage in final cut is more or less next to impossible.  It is entirely possible that I haven’t yet found the proper conversion setting, but I’ve also not been able to find much info on the internets about 24 fps editing.

As with 99.44% of video camcorders on the market today, the Vixia HF10 also functions as a digital camera.  In photo mode some nice features include:

• Metering
• Flash
• Burst and exposure bracketing options

Another perk that sealed the deal for me was not only the additional shotgun microphone via Canon’s new ‘mini-hotshoe’, but the microphone and headphone mini jacks located on the backside of the camera.  This comes in particularly useful when doing interviews and is an increasingly rare feature in cameras in the price range.

As is usual with compact designed cameras, the Canon Vixia HF10 ships with an 890mAh battery with a rating of about 55 minutes time.  I’m not exactly sure where Canon is getting these numbers from, as I managed to pull of a full day of recording (over 80 minutes of footage) on a single charge.  Maybe it’s better to underestimate the charge time and over deliver?  If that is in fact the case, well-played Canon – I’ve yet to come up short on juice yet.

All in all, the Canon Vixia HF10 has met and exceeded all of my expectations thus far.  It’s even pushed my boundaries in respect to the way I look at video and video editing, and am looking forward to growing with this camera.