Cameras & Camcorders

[#1]

Not having the creativity left in me to describe Canon’s Vixia HD camcorders for myself, I’ll borrow a quote from the company’s own perky presenter: “Man, they are super wow!” Well, maybe I wouldn’t go that far, or use such a mind-numbingly ridiculous choice of words, but I’ll admit there’s something really appealing about these little cams.

I gravitated toward the new  Vixia HF10, which is situated at the top of the new line with both 16GB of internal memory and an SD expansion slot (the nearly identical HF100 has no internal memory, just an SD slot). For having all that internal storage, plus a full HD 3.3MP CMOS sensor and 12x zoom, the camera is surprisingly small and light, fitting nicely into the hand without actually being so small that it’s hard to operate.

While Canon didn’t have the cameras set up in such a way that we could view their output in full resolution for ourselves, I was pleased with the generally easy operation of the camera, and what features I could test, like the image stabilization, passed with flying colors. At 12x zoom, image stabilization made an enormous difference, and actually tricked me into thinking I was quite a steady-handed pro until I realized it was on, turned it off to test, and realized that I have the hands of an over-caffeinated journalist running on way too little sleep.

When the HF10 debuts in April, it will retail for a steep $1,099, planting it firmly in the prosumer category.  So if you're looking to shoot exploding diet Coke and Mentos experiments for YouTube, you might want to look elsewhere, but those wanting to capture baby’s first steps without missing a beat might want to check it out.

[#2]

I'm glad its HDD based, I like something I can fit into my camera bag easily and use wihout any fuss. Way to go Canon! How big is the screen? Actually $1100 isn't all that bad, a bit hefty but not too bad. I wouldn't buy it for piddly things either...I agree with you there.

[#3]

$1100 is still pretty much consumer - the only prosumer cameras FS carries I'd say would be the JVC HD7 (which also has dropped alot in price, mind you) and the Sony SR7. The Hitachi hybrids can get pricey, but I wouldn't say they're prosumer - I can't imagine anybody filming a movie for distribution on those things.

[#4]

I saw some of those Diet Coke and Mentos experiments on You Tube - oh my goodness! WOW!

You could spend $500 - $1200 on a family camera...no problem. For piddly things, a couple hundred. For more serious videography, $1000+ like a wedding videographer or similar. The skys' the limit for movies, I can only imagine the cost of an actual movie camera - I bet its a lot more than my car brand new!

[#5]

For about $3000 you can get a really good prosumer camera; another $800 for a top of the line boom stick and you're good to go.
If you're talking production quality, you're looking at around $25-$50k, plus lens rental for different effects.

[#6]

Its pretty expensive isn't it! Those cameras are probably really complicated too, but the quality is absolutely exceptional. I guess it really depends on what quality one would need for a camera, for what I would use it for - I would do fine with a $500 - $1000 camera. Quite frankly...so would the average person. Some people get a kick out of all those fancy bells and whistles which in-turn get fruatrated because they have no idea how to use them. Some people simply don't care to read the manual - I've learned lots by reading the manuals.