Customer Reviews

Canon FS11 Flash Memory Camcorder with 16GB Internal Flash Memory and 48x Advanced Zoom

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought this camera for the flash memory part. I really did not want to cary little tapes or cds or extra wires.
The camera is small, the size of a toilet paper roll, it fits entirely in the palm of my hand and weighs nothing.
The image stabilization is great, I get no shaking or bouncing.
It comes with a USB cable, an AC adapter power cord, HDMI cables, two software discs and a small remote. It has three settings for quality, the highest setting gives me an hour and a half of space on the camera, and the battery has a life of three and a half hours. This is displayed on the screen so you can be aware of how much time and space you have.
The software is to edit your video, it's simple and easy to use. You can write credits in different styles and have them scroll across the screen and you can cut your scene and paste it. You can also play with the audio. The features on the camera are also user friendly and the menu is a sinch.
There are some qualities that I didn't like. The camera is made of plastic, which adds to the weightlessness, but also makes it feel like a kid's toy. The lens is not a wide angle and therefore you can't get a lot into your frame unless you stand back, way back. It doesn't have a view finder, you have to look at the lcd screen. The position of the USB port could have been located somewhere else. To transfer the video to the PC you have to connect both the AC power and the USB.
Overall, the camera suits the purpose I bought it for, family moments and the occasional soccer game.
If you're looking for the same purpose, I'd reccomend this one, if you're a professional who shoots weddings or events, this is not for you.

It is a tiny camcorder. It will easily fit inside cargo, jacket or baggy pockets. Of course with the extremely small size comes some limitations. This camera is not going to have the same picture quality as professional HD camcorders. But that said it is a very nice camera for shooting standard definition home movies. It has an excellent zoom. The battery and built in memory are going to give you about 3 1/2 hours of recording time. As for all the people who are complaining about trying to edit the footage (that is because they are not using Macs.) If you have an up to date Mac it is a breeze.

I have an Intel Mac. I convert the footage with MPEG Streamclip (Which you can download for free at the Apple Web site.) And then it works fine with Final Cut Pro 6. I convert it to Quicktime and then choose the DV setting. It works great. It also works just fine without MPEG Streamclip if you are using iMovie 08'. The whole process is quick and painless. No going through the whole tape to log and capture the footage. So If you are looking for a tiny SD camcorder that you can take anywhere and edit it with newer Intel Macs, this is a great choice. I think you will enjoy this camera.

This camcorder was purchased for me by a friend who makes professional films. That alone tells you that this is an excellent product.
It is so easy to use a toddler could make a good movie (provided they don't use it as a hammer!). Literally you point and shoot and it's in the can and the sound quality is excellent. In addition there are tons of features for those who like to do the techie stuff and get personal results. I haven't shot a movie since the days when Super 8 film started to get impossible to find. In those days camcorders were about the size of a bazooka. Well, I am glad I waited for this one to come along. The fact there are no tapes or discs to fool around with or purchase is another huge bonus. So, now I have about twenty years of filming to catch up with. Better get moving.

When my MiniDV camcorder conked out for the second time I decided it was time to go pure digital and I was either going for a HDD recorder or a flash recorder. This uses the same MPEG4 recording algorithm as the HDD recorders so it has the same video quality; it just records to flash memory. The benefit is that this camera is MUCH smaller and lighter. It also powers on very quickly so you don't miss as many recording opportunities.

I went with a standard def camera over a new, sexier HD camcorder mainly because I make DVDs for family and most don't have Blu Ray players yet. Also, editing and burning a BluRay disc takes a PC with a lot of horsepower. Sure an entry level HD camcorder is only a few hundred more but I didn't want to buy a $2000 PC.

This camcorder has a great 48x optical zoom. Because there are no moving parts it should be very reliable and the battery life is INCREDIBLE. This is the only camcorder I have ever seen where the factory battery has plenty of life... almost 3 HOURS of recording. I am not kidding. I have taken this on vacation and never needed to have a spare battery. Less money and weight. With the built-in 16GB of memory you can record for almost three hours. That may not seem like alot compared to a HDD recorder but it really is plenty for most occasions and the fact that you can instantly delete segments you don't want means you can recover space easily. The Easy mode on the camcorder works very well.

The ergonomics on this camera are quite good. It is comfortable and very light. The mode switch on the back is very easy to select with your thumb. I like the touch screen on the Sony camcorders but the joystick on the FS11 works great and no fingerprints and the touch screen controls do cover up the image that you are trying to record.

After using the camcorder for a few months I have three main complaints (1) that you cannot take a digital picture while recording video. You have to stop and switch modes. (2) I have not been too impressed with the digital pics. The 1MP resolution is fine for 4x6 prints but it seems to over expose easily in sunny scenes. Normally those are easy scenes for a cheap digital camera. (well I gues that is why I bought my 30D). Maybe I need to adjust the default exposure settings. The low light performance is descent but it doesn't have a night shot mode light the Sonys do. (3) That you MUST plug in the DC power adapter in order to download video or pictures. I guess this is a safeguard against running out of battery during a download because this could cause you to lose data. I understand they are trying to protect people from their own stupidity but it seems they could allow downloading as long as you had > 50% battery or something like that.

The FS10 and the FS100 are identical except they have 8GB and zero built in memory, respectively. If I had to choose again I might have gone with the FS100. The only advantage to having built in memory is that you can copy video to an SDHC card. The FS100 doesn't come with memory so you need to buy a card. If you want to add extra memory, flash memory is always getting cheaper so buying an extra card later would be economical.

All in all this is very solid camcorder with good video quality. I cannot over emphasize the size and weight of the camera. You will actually want to take it with you.

Decent battery recording time, video quality is excellent and the image stabilization really works with the long range optical zoom. Everything i'd expect according to vendor description is good. Don't have any problem with the software bundle with it on my Dell Precision 380 PC and work fine with Windows XP Pro. And, great price too.

I had read a few disparaging things on the net about the Canon product in conjunction with Apple computers. I made the purchase because the Canon had all the features I wanted for the right price. I had no problems interfacing with my MacBook (intel) and shooting with the camera was very intuitive, as well as the menu setup. I have hardly had to glance at the owners' manual yet. Yea, I'll get to it to get more out of the camera. But I already have several videos uploaded onto youtube, I recommend this camera. Battery life seems real good, and the separate memory SD gives me flexibility. I can use the Transcend reader to USB the the SD to teh MacBook, without having to plug the camera into my laptop. Very convenient.

When the batteries died on my old Sony Digital8 camcorder I began looking for a replacement camcorder.

My chief requirement was a flash drive camcorder.

I was first interested in the Panasonic SDR-S7, it was not as capable in most - or even all important features - but was as much as $200 less than the Canon FS11.

Then Amazon discounted the FS11, and I'm so glad I got the price drop because this camera is awesome. The hype is true: watch the Canon video about this product. This camcorder is delightful.

MINOR CONS:

1) I'm a big guy, with big hands, and the camera is so compact it is a bit difficult for me to operate some buttons.

2) I think Canon hates Linux, and I have not found a suitable way to upload my movies directly to my Linux machine. Instead I must use the Canon supplied 3rd party software for Windows and Macintosh.

CHIEF COMPLAINT:

3) The still picture quality is rather poor, when compared to my Canon 8MP A630 still camera. Don't bother taking still pictures with the FS11. I can't find any documentation on megapixal values for the still camera feature, I'd guess 2 MP.

I ordered the Canon FS 11 after thoroughly searching for a good tapeless unit. After receiving the camera and charging it promptly, I started taking closeup and wide angle shots both around the house and other places where good videography was possible. I got down to do the video editing. I could not import the clips onto vegas 8.0, since the camera was not recognized with the USB attachment. I installed the Pixela software for windows after some difficulty with the activation part of the software, since the software would not accept the camera serial number. I got the problem solved after calling canon and the software people. I thought it was going to be easy going to be a breeze in creating the DVD. Boy was I wrong, I wasted two or three DVDs getting only aprtial footage and not playable on sand alone DVD player. To my horror, I found that hte software permits only 99 clips, no matter how long the videos are. My video clips were only few seconds long each. I was disappointed at the way the software is designed. It is not user-friendly at all. Also creation of the DVD is not intuitive. I had to go through so many hoops to get the vidoe clips onto a DVD. Finally I got a playable DVD, but with no sound. I strongly recommend the camera for novice users based on quality of images, but the software stinks. The company is not of much help both by phone or on their web site. Hope this helps other future buyers.

I am not a techie, so for information on specs, you'll have to scroll on and read someone else's review. What I can tell you is that I'm an ameture photographer with limited means who wanted something simple, functional, and compact for my purposes and that's exactly what I got with the FS11.

The video camera was bought as a companion for a Nikon D80, so I cannot speak for the photography function as I never use it.

The video camera (for the price) works extremely well in all lighting conditions. In dim/dark/spotlit areas, it has trouble pulling focus as you zoom closer, but that's to be expected for the price range of the model. The video quality in low light does have some noise, but it isn't anything that will distract you upon re-viewing unless you are specifically looking for it.

For all intents and purposes, it is exactly what I wanted- something small enough to shove into my D80's camera bag (it is smaller than some of the lenses I own- and very light) that could be brought out, loaded in a flash, and start recording my favorite moments while on vacation.

*Buy an extra battery pack and keep it with you.* Good advice for any photographer, but in this case practically a necessity as the camera tends to wind down long before you have filled the memory.

Pros

Lightweight
Small
Solid State Flash Drive

Cons

Awful unnatural light performance (worse than my $175 still camera on video mode)
No thread to attach filters
LED light is useless

Do NOT buy this camera if you intend to use it in unnatural light conditions (anything other than sunlight with the exception of maybe studio lighting).

I recently got this camera as a replacement for a Panasonic Mini DV GS-230 that was stolen from me. Although I had not had it long the idea of carrying tapes had started to bug me and I thought this would be a good opportunity to upgrade to something with a HDD. I was offered a few options from my insurer, one of which was the Canon FS11. I must admit the idea of a solid-state flash memory camera excited me as I intended to use it for snowboarding and vibration can trigger HDD cameras to power down to protect the drive. I searched in vain for a review on the FS11 with no luck so I decided to take the gamble and boy was it a bad one. Upon receiving the camera the first thing I did was charge it up to have a play, as it was night time I just did the basic walk around the house filming random stuff. While filming I noticed that in rooms that had light fittings over the globes that the picture looked very grainy with purple and green pixels appearing of which my first assumption was that maybe it was just the quality of the LCD. I copied the footage to my PC and in horror found that it looked just as bad. As I had not had my other camera for long I only had limited footage to compare it to which included some footage shot at night in my study, I decided to replicate the footage as I knew the light would be the same. I shot some footage of me standing in the study and the new footage was awful, I could hardly see the details of my face, I compared it to the footage shot on the GS-230 which looked flawless in comparison. The first thing I did was to call the insurer and organized to exchange it ASAP and fortunately I was able to. To be honest I imagine the FS11 would have probably performed a lot better in daylight but as an amateur/hobbyist I was looking for a good all rounder and the FS11 seemed far from it. I ended up paying an extra $100 and got the Panasonic SDR-H280 and so far I am really impressed with the performance, funnily enough both of the Panasonics I have had are 3CCD cameras which are noted as having excellent colour definition at the expense of poorer quality in low light, from what I have seen they both perform 100 times better than the FS11 did. As an amateur I, like most am restricted to a relatively low budget and as a result cannot expect to have the best of the best however, considering the price I would expect much better performance, Canon should be ashamed and I hope that anyone who buys one still has the ability to exchange/return it.