Customer Reviews

Canon VIXIA HF M31 Full HD Camcorder w/32GB Flash Memory

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Like most of the latest HD cameras for consumers, the camera is small and fits perfectly in my hand. It's very light when matched with the battery that comes with it and even with the BP-827 battery, it's still light enough to barely notice.

Speaking of batteries, the battery that comes with the M31, when turned on after a fresh recharge, shows 98minutes of battery time. The actual "real world" time you'll get will be dependent upon how much your zooming, re-playing recordings and overall "on" time. One could expect to have, safely, 60 minutes of recording time.

The Canon BP-827 Lithium Ion Battery Pack for Vixia HG, HF S & HF M Camcorders, after a fresh charge, shows 314minutes (5hrs 14 mins) worth of battery. The same cavet applies from above, and one could expect a solid 4hrs of recording time during real usage. Yes, the battery is pricey ($120) but the fact is: You ARE going to run out of battery when you consider how long most events you'll be recording are. Soccer games, European trips, weddings, high school graduations, etc. 1hr of battery is just not going to cut it for the majority of situations. But, the included 1hr battery will make a great backup battery to give you an extra hour of recording when your "main" battery dies, so it's not a complete waste. Get the bigger, extra battery. I got the Canon brand battery despite there being "generic/cheaper" ones out there.

The larger battery does weigh a slight bit more, but not too noticeable as the camera is already ultra-light in the first place. It also sticks out from the back of the camera about 2", but doesn't impeded any of the functions. To start/stop recording, your thumb, which would normally glide right across the back to the button, does have to go "around" the larger battery, but it's not a big deal.

Also, some may think the larger battery jutting out doesn't look as "sleek" or "cool". I think it looks fine. The battery is a nice matte black, with rounded edges and fits well, in my opinion. What doesn't look sleek or cool to me is having to carry around 3-4 extra batteries and stopping to swap out your dead battery every hour just so it looks "cool". That's gonna get old, really quick!

I also got the external charger, Canon 2590B002 CG-800 Lithium Ion Battery Charger for 800 Series Batteries, also a bit pricey for my tastes at $50. From what I've read, the charger cuts recharging time down about an hour. Besides, as you're battery is off to the side charging, you can still walk around and record with your backup battery. Otherwise, you'll be tethered to the wall as your battery charges directly inside the camera.

On the upside, if/when you upgrade the camera, if you stick with the Canon Vixia line, your batteries and charger will still work.

I also picked up a SanDisk Ultra 32Gb card for extra recording space. As long as you get a class 4 card, you'll have no problems. Class 6 is overkill and way more expensive.

Now back to the camera and how the amount of memory may be important.

There are two HD modes MXP(24Mbps) and FXP (17Mbps). As far as I can tell, the visual difference between the two are minimal, if there is a difference at all. MXP mode is most likely for "prosumers" who want/need bigger files for heavy post-editing of videos. In the camera world, I would relate this to a camera with 8 Megapixels vs 10 Megapixels. Is 10MP better? Yes. Are we ever going to print a billboard sized photograph? Probably not. So, if the extent of your video "editing" is maybe importing it to a program to do some fade in/outs, re-arrange scenes, etc, FXP is most likely just fine for you. However, if you want to do some George Lucas type filming with green screens and do some heavy post-processing than you'll probably want to film in MXP. But then again, if you really plan on doing things that extensive, you'd probably be better off purchasing a pro-camera, especially to get better low-light resolution.

Also, if you're recording in MXP, you'll only get about 2hrs 55 mins worth of recording time from the 32Gb internal memory, or 5hrs 50 mins with an extra 32Gb card. Recording in FXP mode will extend your record time to 4hrs 10 mins with the internal memory alone and an extra 32Gb card will get you a full 8hrs 20 mins recording time.

I eluded to the low-light resolution earlier. If you want a small, compact camera, the CMOS sensor (this is your image sensor) has to be small as well. The smaller the sensor, *usually* the worse the low-light recording capability. The M31 is 1/4 inch in size, typical for most camcorders of this size. It actually does pretty well in low-light situations and I am very satisfied. As the lighting situation decreases, the resolution for most cameras will start to get a tiny bit grainy (think slight static). As the light decreases more, the picture will get more and more grainy. To counter this, simply make sure the room is well lit. Also, zooming during low-lit locations will enhance the graininess, so avoid this when possible.

Or, you can spend nearly twice as much ($600) and get the Canon S21 (64Gb internal memory, touch screen, 3.5" viewing screen and a 1/2.6 inch CMOS sensor). The S21 will have better low-light performance, but at some point, as the light gets dimmer and dimmer, graininess WILL start to creep into the image. If you need/want pure perfection in all lighting conditions, then you're looking at spending $4K and up for a pro-camera. The S100, S10 and S11 also have larger image sensors, but don't have all the features of the new S2x or M3x lines.

With that said, the quality of the video is spectacular, especially when in a well lit environment or outdoors.

The 15X zoom is pretty impressive. I also like how the zoom speed varies depending on how much pressure is applied to the control. I can make it slowly zoom in/out or quickly...full control. Definitely a plus.

The HDMI/Component output is hidden beneath some faux leather, on the left side of the camera where you hold the camera. It took me awhile to find it (No, of course I didn't read the manual!) but I do like how it's in an inconspicuous location. It has connections for a mini-HDMI(cable not included), USB(cable included) and component out (cable included to RGB connections).

It's a little difficult to access the power button control with the fingers from your right hand. With a little adjustment to the hand strap, all the buttons on the top can be reached, it just took a little messing with.

The touch screen display takes a little while to get use to. My fiancé has an iPhone so I'm use to scrolling around the touch screen. However, when I tried to scroll around on this screen, it kept selecting the various functions. Again, once you get use to how to scroll around, it's pretty easy, just a bit of a learning curve. Probably more so for the technologically challenged.

Powered IS works well when zooming/zoomed, however I think using two hands to hold the camera probably helps just as much.

Relay Recording seems like a no brainer feature, I can't imagine why this wasn't incorporated in previous models/brands. Automatically and seamlessly records to you your SD card when the internal memory is full. HOWEVER, Relay recording is automatically DEACTIVATED when the camcorder is turned off or you switch from MXP to FXP or any other number of reasons. There should be an option to enable this ALL the time. Maybe this feature can be added with a firmware upgrade. This is actually the only annoying thing I could find.

Finally, I'd like to dispell a "negative" that I read in past reviews about the Vixia's shutters 'rattling' because they were loose. Yeah, it rattles, but seriously, if this is the only thing you can pick out as a "negative" for the camera, you're really reaching!! I can barely hear this "rattle", it's not annoying, it would be drowned out by the simple scuffing of your feet on the side walk, a gentle breeze, or breathing. It only occurs when it's OFF and absolutely does NOT impact the function of the camera. I wouldn't even have made a note of it, but because someone else had mentioned it in other reviews on other sites, I wanted to address it. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being a deal breaker, this "rattling" is a 1. I can't even believe someone mentioned it.

To recap: Overall, I'm very happy with this camera and would highly recommend it!! I'll try to give an update after using it at my wedding at the end of May.

The only thing I don't like is the fact that relay recording disables after you turn the camera off or change operations.

From an accessory standpoint, I wish it came with an HDMI connection cable, but I may have one lying around here somewhere anyways.

None of the "negatives" are deal breakers in my opinion. This is a solid camera!

I purchased my Canon Vixia M31 several weeks ago and was drawn to it because it records in HD and has a 32 GB built in memory. I understand the only difference from the M30 is that it only has 8 GB of memory. Anyway, this is not my first camcorder, so I opted to explore the features of the M31 before reading the manual and discovered it was quite easy to operate at a glance.

When I discovered the touch screen menu, I thought "Oh no, what have I gotten myself into". Alas, a suggestion to use a stylus made my experience much better. It works like a charm and the touch menu is one of my highlights of the camcorder. Canon should have thrown one in the box.

Overall, the M31 is excellent for me. The video footage I have taken thus far is awesome! There are five different recording modes. The length of storage and battery life depends on which one you use. Based on my needs, I do not think I'll be using anything lower than the FXP mode.

The software (Pixela, ImageMixer 3) that comes with the camcorder is rather simple to operate. The software offers the MPEG2 or WMV formats to save your footage. This does not work for me because it severely degrades the video footage and I cannot use it for my projects. Fortunately, I already own Adobe Premiere CS4 which reads the MTS format. However, this software is expensive, so I would not recommend going out to purchase it just to use with this camcorder.

You will love the YouTube upload feature that comes with ImageMixer. However, at a glance, using ImageMixer, I have yet to find a feature allowing me to edit certain portions of the footage before uploading to YouTube. This is a bummer because I'd rather be able to make minor edits using ImagMixer rather than going through the trouble of working with Adobe Premiere (especially for something minor).

Anyway, I was able to select the clips I wanted to upload to YouTube and the software takes you to the YouTube login screen, then converts the footage to WMV and uploads on the spot. Real nice!

The camera is so small it is easy to handle especially when using the zoom feature. I decided to use the zoom feature to capture the Ken Burns effect (gives the effect that a still shot is moving). So, for practice I took a still shot and zoomed in real close, then started zooming out until the entire photo was in view. It worked like a charm and I was able to steady my hand throughout the entire process.

Pros:

Small, easy to handle (convenient to carry on a road trip)
Zoom feature
Quality footage
Onscreen Touch Menu
Quick Playback on television using HDMI cable
Easy to transfer video to computer

Cons:
Battery charger is the actual camera (I purchased a separate charger for the convenience of being able to use my camera while my extra battery pack charges)

********************

As of September 2010, I have since purchased another Canon Vixia M31 because it is important that I own two identical cameras to use during a two camera shoot.

I am quite pleased with how the video displays on my flat screen TV. When I share my video portfolio with potential clients, they are always impressed with the quality of the lens.

To enhance the audio, I purchased the Canon SM-V1 detachable 5-1 Channel surround microphone. It is a wonderful enhancement and adds the extra professional touch to the final video.

I bought and own the M31 and I am absolutely excited about it. It's to the point where I actually think of it when I wake up. It's really that good and that fun to use.

Not only does it turn out 1080 footage, it really captures in 1080. It doesn't capture in some lesser resolution and upconverts like Canon's R series. This is real 1080 HD.

I've done quite a bit of video capture already and the quality and detail is brilliant. The auto focus works very quickly. Adjusting the speed of zooming in and out is easy with the zoom lever on top of the camcorder. It's designed like those on most camcorders.

And the sound! I recorded a bird from a distance that chirped. When I played it back, that chirp was heard very clearly. The camcorder seems to capture individual sounds from a quiet background very clearly.

And the playback! The screen is perfect for viewing footage. And the sound is nice and loud if you need it to be! Just turn up the volume. It's not super quiet when turned all the way up like many other camcorders or cameras with video modes. I played the footage of the bird on the camcorder and it was seriously like hearing the bird itself.

And the screen is a touch screen! Thank you Canon! At first it takes getting used to, especially if you're new to touch screens like I am. If you're trying to scroll through menus that go up and down, touch the screen and rub it up and down. This isn't a cloggy touch screen with a faint sense of control like your local ATM machine screen. This screen is smooth to work with! The learning curve for this may vary for people but for me it was around a few minutes.

The hand strap is good. I have no problems with it. Adjustable. I like it a little loose so I can pull it down my hand. Works great for me.

If you want to hear with headphones, be sure to switch the setting from AV to headphones. Then you won't hear the interference or pink noise type of sound. Instead you'll hear your live feed or playback with excellent clarity.

Don't worry about getting a hundred dollar 4 hour or whatever battery yet. Unless you need to immediately have this thing on for multiple hours. I went around capturing video footage a few minutes at a time. Captured some random conversations in public. Encounters with people's dogs. Turned the camcorder off when I wasn't capturing video for a while. I still had plenty of battery juice left. If you're thinking "oh the included battery is useless, I have to add a hundred bucks to the budget for a better one," just plan for that better battery later. Get this camcorder and have fun now. I don't work for Canon or have anything to do with them other than having bought a few other products that they made. And I'm saying this camcorder is giving me so much fun.

When you get the camcorder, invest in a ten dollar 37mm UV filter. Do this for the main purpose of protecting and sealing the lens from dust, contact with physical objects, scratches, marks, damage, etc. If it happens to the filter, big deal. It's 10 or 15 bucks. Get two or three to start with.

May want to get a protective cover for the touch screen but it's not as big a deal there.

Oh, if you use it indoors and use the DC and plug it into the wall, the plug that goes into the camcorder is pretty secure. It won't fall off as easily as some other ones like Sony's Mini DV camcorders.

Join the other Canon Vixia junkies on YouTube and upload some 1080 HD videos for us to see!

Length:: 2:43 Mins

I decided to shoot a short clip discussing the Canon Vixia HF M31 HD video camera. It is a WORK OF ART to say the least. I have been shooting film cameras since the early 70s and that's how I got my training. I still own my film cameras and shoot film every now and then if required. With the 32 gig internal HDD and the SDHC slot for added storage, you can't beat this M31 camera. Touch screen, 24P, 1920x1080 and all the functions in a camera that will make any indie filmmaker happy.

Well I just got it delivered today. I normally use Amazon but they offered no discount off retail of $799 so I went elsewhere and saved approx. $80. So far so good, camera is very small, light and feels like it is well put together. I have owned various camcorders over the years, including a two piece unit with a full size VHS tape too many years ago to remember, and this is a great step up from my current DV digital tape model. I'm not sure how storing all my videos will work out (with my old DV tape model I just saved the original recordings on tape), but I guess I will be buying additional external hard drives.

The size is perfect for my reasonably good sized hands, it fits in a small canon digital camera case I had bought some time back for a still camera. Touch screen seems very good... not too sensitive and doesn't require a lot of pressure to work...

One of the main reasons I bought this model is because I can "downgrade" the recorded HDV recordings (from the internal memory) to standard definition video for editing. I produce/edit a local television show on public access and they broadcast in standard definition. I can record in a quality HD mode, save what I want in HD, then download directly from the camera to my computer in SD mode. Now, I haven't done this yet... BUT I will keep you posted.

I was also told by a Canon representative that I can simply transfer the video files from the internal memory of the camera to my netbook by simply using Program Manager (or similar) in Windows. Just drag and drop from the camera to the PC. This will really help on long trips, and will save me from having to buy multiple SDHC cards once the 32mb internal memory is full.

Again, I'll keep you posted...

This is my first camcorder purchase, so I don't really have anything to compare it to. I bought it mainly because I have a Canon camera that shoots video clips -- I was enjoying that, and decided to take it to the next level. So I'm as novice as they come.

The first and most important thing to say about the M31 is that the video quality is incredible -- I mean really off the friekin' rails!!! The 1080 video boggles the mind. I've been taking this thing everywhere, shooting footage that looks like it's straight out of a professional production such as a TV documentary or even a movie. I guess I was not expecting the video quality to be quite so awesome. I thought it would look more, well, "homey" or grainy or something. It's incredible.

A few more things that are amazing about this camcorder: the autofocus, zoom, and the "Auto" button which should just be called the Easy button. The Auto button gets the camcorder to make ALL choices for you so you can focus on the content you're trying to create. Together, these user-friendly features enable you to power on, point at something you want to shoot, zoom in or out, and shoot and shoot and shoot until you run out of battery, memory, or your arm gets tired. It all comes out in pristine 1080, in focus, properly lit. I mean, man, it's just off the rails. No effort. In a matter of minutes, you can get rolling with this thing.

Here are some things that aren't as great.

The battery life. The stock battery lasts about an hour. Seriously, you can burn through an hour with this thing in, well, an hour. And then what? You really have to get an extended life battery. I got the 819, which lasts a solid three hours of recording time. That maps quite well to the recording time on the stock 32 gigs of RAM, which at 1080 is almost exactly three hours. I also picked up a battery charger, which I think should've been included in the basic package.

Many people have criticized the touch screen menu system, and I won't argue. It's not that hard to figure out, and once you use it for a while you get the hang of it, but it's tedious. It's VERY hard to operate in the sun, where the menu is hard to read. The scrolling on the menu items is opposite what you're used to, and totally counterintuitive, like it was designed by people who've never used a modern computer. Things are sort of logically organized ... but hard to find. Some items are under the "Menu" tab, but others are not under "Menu" but rather in their own category. Choosing Digital Zoom requires going through "Menu", but choosing the Mode (e.g. Cine) happens outside of Menu. Some of the items require you to select A or B and then hit the back-button, which takes you back one menu level; others don't have a backbutton at all and you have to exit out, which takes you out of the whole Menu structure. It's tiring and doesn't always have logic to it.

One particularly irritating feature is that you have to go through menus to choose headphones vs. speaker. I mean, why can't it operate like EVERY other electronic device in the known universe - you plug in the headphones, and voila sound is ported to the headphones. You pull the headphones out, and sound comes through the speaker. Just like on any laptop. But not on this thing. If you have it set to speaker and plug in the headphones, a very very loud, ear-damaging sound shoots out of the headphones. Each and every time you want to switch from external speaker to headphone or vice-versa, you have to dig through the onscreen menus. WHY????????

The video quality in low-light situations is decent, but not great. I was actually a little surprised at how watchable videos were that were shot indoors at night in low light. Though imperfect, they can be enjoyed. Clearly, the more light you have on hand, the better the camcorder does. I've adapted to that by getting some cheap lights at Home Depot to drag around with the tripod. For about $25, that improved things a lot.

The camera function is just adequate. It shoots 3 megapixel jpegs, which is OK but not great. If you're looking to shoot video, but want to be able to snap a few pics too and don't want to lug a camera around and don't care that much about quality, it'll work fine. If you're seeking high quality, pristine pictures, the M31 is just not there. The camera function is probably best thought of as a "courtesy" camera, a convenience tossed in for when you need to take a few pics and only have the camcorder in your hand. My Canon camera takes pictures that are hugely better.

The sound is acceptable. I bought the external mic that hooks up through the mini-shoe. It is good with some things, but with some others doesn't really sound better than the on board mic. Although the external mic extends the frequency range and sounds more full, neither the external or internal mic will be mistaken for a "pro" sound. It is a bit of a shame that the pro-looking video is not matched by pro-sounding audio. I think the only way around this is to buy a real, higher-end mic that plugs in through the jack.

So in sum, what I think we've got here is a camcorder that shoots unbelievable-quality video, is incredibly easy to use and fun, and has a variety of annoying design elements or mediocre components that should've never made it past the product manager's desk. As a total package, though, I give it the 5 stars. It is a pretty reasonable price for a device that can produce as high-res, detailed, beautiful video footage as it does.

If I could start over, I might've gotten the M30 - same camera, but with no internal RAM. It uses SD cards only. Thing is, I've already now bought an SD card and NEVER use the internal mem anymore. Why? Because I can pop out the SD card and put it in my computer and get those video files going. It's not that much harder with the internal ram (USB cable from camcorder to computer) but certainly not as convenient. The next line of SD cards will probably be 64 megs, which would cover 6 full hours of the highest-definition video the M31 can produce, so really, why bother with the internal RAM?

ADDENDUM - added 11/9/2010: I just got the add-on Canon video light, which fits in the mini shoe. Aside from the fact that it looks like it cost $3 to produce and cost $90, it is a great peripheral which really shuts down the whole issue about shooting indoors in low light. It'll basically give you a well lit image at about 8 to 12 feet in any lighting condition, without having to drag lamps and stuff around. I may review that item separately, but thought it'd be helpful to mention here, as it takes one of the M31 nits (poor performance in low lighting) off the table -- at a cost.

This is a solid camcorder. The image quality is excellent in all lighting conditions, and the camera, while only 3.3 MP wowed me with its image quality. If your top priority is video quality, you might wanna give this one a look before you look at the HF-S20. While the HF-S20 has more features, its video quality is about the same as this camcorders'. That's not only my .02 but many who have reviewed this against the HF-S20 have come to the same conclusion. So if you don't need a huge advanced feature set, you could save youself $300 or so and buy this one.

A couple of gripes... first off the camcorder defaults to the lowest video quality setting so your first order of business (if you want a higher quality video) should be to adjust that. I'm not a huge fan on the menu system and how you interact with it. Different settings to adjust video quality and image settings are spread across several different menus. Having to scroll through the menus is somewhat cumbersome. Also the paper owners manual is rather insufficient. The copy provided on the disc is more detailed. As with all camcorders, I advise giving that a thorough read for using the camcorder. Paying special attention to the advance feature set.

Also, you want to make sure you invest in a larger battery pack. The battery supplied with the camcorder is rather insufficient. So I would budget in an extra $100 for that.

All in all though, once you get the hang of where things are and how to find the different settings, you will be pleased that you bought this camcorder.

If we are talking about digital camcorders this is first one. Very light, small, but this you can tell about any of new camcorders like that. Touch screen is cool and useful, but maybe people with very big fingers have to try it first somewhere before buy thru internet. 32 gb memory is great!
Canon provides some program (for PC) to work with videos, but right now I m using Mac's iMovie and iDVD. Somebody had a problems with watching movie in HD. My laptop is pretty new, so I don't have any problems.

I've been using Canon camera and camcorders for years now, I recently bought an M31 to replace an HV20...it has a burned out FireWire port, otherwise I would probably still be using it. But Canon wanted $230 to repair the HV20, so why not just spend $500 to upgrade to the latest and greatest? Bye bye HDV tapes, hello flash memory.

This is a much smaller camcorder than the HV20; getting rid of all that mechanical junk for the HDV tapes really shrunk it down! But I have to admit I'm still getting used to the much smaller size. The M31 does not "nestle" into my hand as well as the HV20 did, and it's a little more awkward to reach the zoom. I'm sure I'll adapt.

Picture quality is great, but I expected nothing less; I haven't been a Canon fan for years for no reason. I like the fact that these flash memory cameras shoot in 1920x1080, vs. 1440x1080 like the HDV cameras do. For some reason I could not get Adobe Premiere Elements 9 to recognize the audio in the AVCHD (.MTS) files that the camera creates, but Premiere Elements 7 has no problem. Weird, but I can live with it. (PE7 is a better program anyway, IMHO.)

The included software for getting movies off the camera is pretty weak, not to mention unnecessary. At least with Windows 7, just plug the camcorder into a USB port and Windows will automatically copy the files off for you. YMMV if using older versions of Windows.

Some people don't like the touchscreen controls, and I saw them complaining about it on CNet too. Granted, the touch screen requires a little more pressure than people with iPhones might expect; but it's not hard to use, at least not to the degree that CNet makes out. Now if you want to do manual focus or that sort of thing, I have no idea how that would work well on this touch screen. For me, that is irrelevant. If you really need those kind of advanced controls, maybe you should be looking at prosumer grade camcorders?

The M300 is actually a better deal, but it has no internal flash memory. Buying enough high-grade flash memory for ~3h of 1920x1080 footage would bump it up to a similar price point as the M31, so I just went with the M31. But from what I've read, the M300, M30, and M31 are all 100% identical except for the included memory.

My only complaint, and the reason I'm not giving five stars, is the well-worn issue with the included battery. It's just too short. I just ordered a BP-819 and the external charger for an additional $130. These really should be part of the base package, maybe for an additional $50 or so; but making us spend $130 over and above the original camcorder purchase is pretty lame.

This camcorder, as far as consumer camcorders go, is one of the best I've come across. As a student filmmaker I wanted something with good quality, portability, and the ability to use the features (such as white balance, focus, etc.) manually. This camera does it all, along with having a 1/8" mic jack making it possible to use external microphones to better your audio quality. Though, the built-in mic is not all that bad. My biggest complaint with this camcorder is the touch screen. You have to be very "rough" with it sometimes. And also the LCD will become a fingerprint magnet making it harder to see what's in your field of view, especially outdoors on sunnier days. Along with poor low light performance (but expected of a sub $1000 camcorder).
Also this camcorder lets you change modes, such as from 30fps(TV) to 24fps(Film) or even 60fps. Also it can record in full 1080p, 1080i or 720p HD as well as in SD. It takes great still photos with and on-board flash and a light for video. SD card slot along with a 32G hard drive. I just wish the battery lasted a bit longer, it's not an incredibly short battery life, but it could be longer. Still, this is an amazing camcorder and here on amazon was the cheapest place I could find mine. 5 stars, canon quality proves itself once again.