Customer Reviews

Canon FS400 Flash Memory Camcorder with 41x Advanced Zoom and SDXC Card Slot (Blue)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I received this yesterday (22 Apr 2011).

INITIAL THOUGHTS
I wanted a basic camcorder to capture the typical kids events, vacation stuff, etc. I'm not trying to make pro quality videos, so the Standard Definition is fine...the widescreen format is a plus. Prior to purchasing this, my main concerns were what file type it would record as and how smoothly the transfer to my computer would go. Videos on the SD card are recorded as a .mod file which are converted to a .mpg during transfer (if you use the Pixela software that comes with the camcorder). Transferring to the computer was pretty straight forward and fairly intuitive...my old Vista machine with a 1.8Ghz processor easily handled the transfer and conversion. The size of the device is great; it truly fits in the palm of my hand. The ergonomics are laid out well. On screen menus are not overly cumbersome or confusing. The LCD panel is very bright and readable outdoors. Video quality is what I expected from a camcorder at this price - not eye popping good, but not grainy and jerky either. Videos are clear and smooth. I haven't taken enough videos to judge the battery life or video quality in different settings. Overall, I feel like I got what I paid for. At this time, I'll say, "So Far, So Good".

This has been a nightmare! I called Apple, researched for hours, and still couldn't find how to make this camera compatible with iMacs and iMovie.

Well, it took a call to Canon where I spoke with a very pleasant representative after zero wait! Here's how you do it:

1) Open up iMovie

2) Turn on your camera

3) Display your recorded clip on the camera screen (don't play it just display it)

4) Plug the USB into the computer USB port (no firewire necessary)

Voila!! There it is. Just import it from the camera and you're on you way to editing fun. I had all this done and my video uploaded on YouTube within 10 minutes.

Have a good time with this wonderful little camera. It may not be HD but the pictures are sharp, the color is brilliant and I can't tell the difference. It's not hard to use and its not hard to carry. I highly recommend this little super priced camera.

I bought the Canon FS400 Flash Memory Camcorder with 41x Advanced Zoom and SDXC Card Slot in July of 2011, and I am NOT impressed with the quality of the indoor footage at all. I tape mainly family stuff and some weddings. Of the four weddings over the past six months only the outdoor wedding was of any quality.

I will say that is it super easy to use, and works great with my Mac computer and iMovie, but the poor quality of the footage is not worth it. I would get my money back if I could.

Seemed to fit the bill for a small road-trip video camera. It zooms in pretty well and seems to stay focused ok for a camera in this price range. The software it comems with seems a bit goofy and it did not recognize the camera when it was plugged in to the USB port. I had to pop out the mem card and plug that in instead.

Overrall ... not bad for the money.

This is my first camcorder i found easy to use the instruction were excellent. Battery life was good, although I bought a battery charger, as charging with out one took a long time. Transferring onto computer was good, and the vision was good.

My selection of this camera was based on the following criteria

Compatible with Mac iMovie '08
Standard Def - Fine for home videos and sharing with grandparents via DVD. Using RAID for backups and HD requires too much space.
Flash-based - Was originally open to both flash and HDD. Preferred flash but it was pricier. Just bought/returned a HDD which locked up after a handful of uses.
Cost - Under $500
Good overall review from Cnet

Other nice to haves: high optical zoom, still picture snapshots

I had seen Michael J Scott's review on Mac compatibility, but this camera is not listed as mac compatible so I had excluded it from my search. Why deal with the hassle if another camera integrates better? Only after returning the other HDD-based camera and not finding anything else, did I have another look. I pulled the trigger and indeed, Mac compatibility is easy and works as he describes.

So far I'm very pleased. It is small, comfortable and lightweight. Zoom and image quality are great for my needs. It is very easy to use. I'm not going to use advanced features frequently. I like how it has just the basic buttons in front/center: record, snapshot, and zoom. I like the placement on the flipout screen of the video controls and menu for advanced settings.

In the past, I've not been impressed by Canon's menus in their digital cameras and this isn't much improved. Its not bad, but IMO, it could be more intuitive to work with the functions in the playlists. There are a few icons that will having me digging out the manual.

works very well. Still playing with it, but easy button access and compact. Great picture on playback. Would recommend highly!

I bought this for my 11yr. old daughter for Christmas and she loves it. Very easy to use(Although she's up to speed with any electronic gizmo) I recommend it without a doubt.

I've had a Canon Vixia HF100 camera for a couple years, and liked it very much. I bought the FS400 for a project where I wanted a second video angle. Unfortunately, I was in a bit of a hurry, and didn't check the specs on this camera carefully. It has only a 630,000 pixel sensor, instead of the 3.3 megapixel sensor on the HD Vixia cameras. Mostly my fault for thinking that the world had gone HD, and not checking the specs more carefully.

However, since the product description above loudly advertises '16:9 aspect ratio' and 'High Resolution', both terms that many/most people associate with High Definition, I'd like to make a point that this is NOT NOT NOT an HD camera. It's about 100 bucks more for 6x the resolution if you choose to buy one of the Vixia line of HD cameras. Unfortunately, I think this makes the FS400 a very poor price/performance choice.

Additionally, the build quality feels quite cheap and 'hollow' - this would have been fine in a low-cost HD camera, but feels very cheesy in an SD camera that's only a hundred dollars less than the better-built and much higher-performing HD line. I suppose the FS400 might be the right camera for someone who wants some of Canon's goodies like Image stabilization, but doesn't need HD quality, but IMHO, for 95% of people, it's absolutely worth it to pay the extra for a Vixia HD video camera.

My FS400 is going back to Amazon ASAP.

I received this camera,and right out of the box it was inoperable. I inserted the battery, plugged in the charger, and the 'charging' light did not come on, nor would it turn on, at all. I'm really sick and tired of being sent defective merchandise.