Customer Reviews

Canon VIXIA HF S21 Full HD Camcorder w/64GB Flash Memory & Pro Manual Control

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

 

 

My wife and her friend recently went to a school parade for our children. My wife's friend had a video camera without a viewfinder and it was a bright sunny day. After all was said and done, when we went to look at the video that evening, we found out that half of the footage was missing -- she couldn't tell that the camera wasn't recording - because the light was too bright for the LCD and there was no viewfinder.

That incident sealed the deal for me. I didn't want to miss a video of my 3.5 year old because I didn't have a viewfinder. This Canon camcorder is the only one in their consumer line that has a viewfinder and that's important. The HF S200 or and HF S20 don't have viewfinders.

That said, this is the flagship Canon camcorder and comes with a 3.5" LCD touchscreen which is a very nice improvement from last year's model the HF S11 which has a 2.7" screen.

The other big improvement with this line is the 8Megapixel camera feature. Also, you get 6Megapixel pictures that you can capture straight from video -- this is huge.

I've tried the IS feature and it's good, as good as last year's and the Powered IS features is very handy for when you're at max magnification --- it really helps.

Least but not last is the 64MB internal memory, you get about 4 hours of super high quality HD recording or about 24hrs of low quality recording. You also get two SDHC slots that you can put two memory cards in there...and the camera switches from internal memory to the memory cards instantly so you don't lose any recordings. That's useful.

For those of you considering tape or CD camcorders, I highly recommend FLASH drive camcorders like this one. You get instant access to any part of your recoring and makes it real easy to transfer this to your computer. Flash memory is also very shock resistant to you don't have to worry as much about bumping.

Oh, this camera has the HD lens which is the same lens as on their higher end camcorders. If you're a student of film, this might very well be a good learning camcorder.

About the only the only thing I don't like about this is the lack of a good sized battery ... the batterly lasts about an hour. This is not very good. You should upgrade to the Canon BP-819 Lithium Ion Battery Pack for HF10, HF100 HF S & HF M Camcorders battery.

The other drawback is that it doesn't come with an HDMI cable nor with a carry pouch. Oh well.

I'm very sold on this camera. This is by no means a comprehensive review. There are several websites out there that put this camera through it's paces in a very comprehensive fashion. Just type Canon HF S21 review and several will pop up.

If you're looking to compare -- try the Panasonic HDC-TM300 Twin Media HD Camcorder (Black) which is a fantastic camera and winner of many 2009 awards or you can save a few bucks and get Canon VIXIA HF S11 HD Dual Flash Memory Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom which is Canon's last year's flagship camcorder. If you're a sony lover try the Sony Handycam HDR-CX500V 32 GB Flash High-Definition Camcorder (Black) which is also very nice.

I'm a Canon loyalist so my choice was the HF S21.

This is just my short take on this wonderful camera and I hope it's useful to you.

I was after a High Quality Hi Def camcorder with a Viewfinder! I have had enough of the silly LCD screens with their "Hold & Hope" feature.

The Canon HF S21 meets or exceeds anything I was looking for!!!

The LCD touch screen is actually usable in all but the most extreme lighting conditions.

The image stabilizing is the best I have ever seen and I have not even tried the extra Powered IS stabilizer button yet!

Image quality is superb! One thing I was hoping for was a 'One Camera' for both movies & stills product... This one will do it for me!

Only downside... OEM Battery (BP 808) lasted me about 55 minutes in real world - easy enough to fix.

Bulky - it is about 2 3/4" square and does not comfortably fit my hand or anyone else who picked it up.

Zoom switch is 'pretty good' sure miss those BIG rocker switches they used to have.

Overall, I am excited every time I pick it up!

Must mention, my purchase was Used (can't tell it) and through HD Camcorders & More. They were top notch and I would seek them out for future purchases - like an extra battery.

This COULD have been a superb video camera, and I would be widely recommending it except for the incredibly poor preamplifier that adds an inordinate amount of hiss to the recording. I tried adding an audio adapter (a BeachTek converter) with no improvement, which means that the problem is in the electronics of the Vixia HF S21 itself. I shot one interview with a Panasonic and with this Vixia (one set up for close-up, one for medium close-up) and with two microphones (identical microphones). The sound quality of the Vixia was far inferior to the Panasonic's. Make sure you check the audio on this model before your buy; don't just look at its video qualities!

The camcorder is very good, however the default battery life is very poor 1-2 hours. If you want to buy it, please, add in your cart an extra battery as well as a battery charger, which does not come in the default package.

I have had this camcorder since May. I shoot with it almost everyday. For my purposes, the sound has to be set manually as the music I record blows it out in auto mode.I bought the Canon external mic that fits in the hot shoe and it seems to work well enough as long as I closely monitor it. I also bought a 6 hour battery as the battery that comes with it does not last long. It is not a great camera for low light. I have tried every possible manual setting configuration to shoot in low light and finally bought a lamp, but now I am curious about the Panasonic TM 700 as that camera is supposed to be better in low light. The on screen menu on the actual touch screen is quite annoying to use. That's putting it mildly. You have to get the little sliding bar just right with your forefinger or thumb to move it up or down, or you will go to the wrong menu by mistake, or not go anywhere. If you are not really nimble with your fingers in small spaces I would def. recommend you try this camera out before buying it. Having said all that, in good light and daylight this camera is fantastic. My biggest complaint is that I cannot get any flash card (memory card) to work in it it. I have tried every size, brand and type. I downloaded the latest software from Canon as well. It records fine to the internal drive,however.
I am not sure if any of the other cameras in this price range work better, but I sure hope I can figure out how to resolve the memory card issue.

This camcorder has so many features it is not possible to explain them all. I especially like the solid state memory that is built in for a couple of reasons namely, rugged and silent. I have viewed many home movies shot on lesser camcorders using built-in cassette tape, and was unhappy with the level of recorded background noise caused by the tape drive. That simply can't happen with this camera. The other thing of course is the inherent ruggedness of a camera with no moving parts to wear out. I have had cassette cameras in the past where eventually the tape mechanism gets sloppy, records poorly, and eventually jams up. Again, with its built-in solid state memory, that just can't happen with this camera.

This model (the H21) has both 64GB built-in memory and two SD card slots for removable memory up to an additional 64GB. (model H20 does not have the built-in memory) That is a tremendous amount of recording time - far more than any battery can handle on a single charge. But think of it this way, you could go on vacation for a month shooting video every day and not fill up the memory. All you would have to do is recharge the battery periodically.

Another big advantage of solid state storage is the fact that every clip you shoot becomes a separate file that is date and time stamped. That is very different from using cassette tapes where all the clips are strung together on hour-long tapes. Furthermore, when it comes time to transfer your footage to computer, copying files is MUCH faster than playing back a bunch of tapes in real time.

The file format recorded by this camera is AVCHD (advanced video codec for high definition). AVCHD files can be recorded directly to standard DVD's and are playable on most modern DVD players and viewable on modern TV sets that can handle HD. Sony makes an accessory DVD burner that plugs directly into this camera and burns playable High Definition DVD's on standard recordable DVD discs. Because standard DVDs are not designed for HD, you will get only about 20 minutes of HD per disc. OTOH, using third party video editing software, you can easily convert AVCHD files to Blu Ray and burn them on recordable Blu Ray discs. In that case you can record about 90 minutes of HD on a single layer Blu Ray disc.

This camera has many other features such as instant focus and face recognition. It will even recognize several faces at the same time and show you on screen which face it considers primary by drawing a different colored box around it. You can change that on the fly by dragging the box to a different face using your finger on the touch sensitive screen.

This camera also has a built-in video light. It is just a single high intensity white LED so it isn't nearly strong enough to light up a room, but it will soften the shadows under noses and chins etc. In addition to the video light it also has a built-in flash for taking still pictures.

Another very useful feature is the "custom dial." This camera has a conveniently placed knob and button for whichever settings you use most often. Rather than page through the menus on screen, you can assign up to five of your favorites to this dial and select them by rolling it with your thumb and forefinger.

I bought this after reading all the reviews and comparing the specs of Panasonic TM700 and Sony CX550. This one seemed to have the best of it all, on paper. However, once we got it, there was no ability to scroll on the touchscreen. The video quality was very orange-ish red in low light. So, I'm trying the Sony CX550 now and hope that it's touchscreen is better and the quality of video is what they say it is.

After several problems with the HDC-TM700 I decide to try out this Canon 2010 model that by most of the reviews was a tremendous equipment... Well the reality is that this camcorder doesn't have a good Audio Quality and low light performance is far from acceptable. After using it for only 2 weeks I returned and now I'm playing with the Panasonic HDC-TM350 Twin Media HD Camcorder (Limited Edition) which seems to be far superior in every aspect.

Negatives:
Progressive Modes: (PF30, PF24, 24F) Panning noticeably stutters in all of these modes. Angers me. (had I bought this camcorder for it's progressive modes I would have sent it BACK.) Lots of plastic parts. Gives the feel of cheepness compared to the HF100
Retail Price: Overpriced by at least 2-C notes

Positives:
24Mbps with 60i: several steps above the older maximum rate of 17Mbps on the HF100. Viewfinder: big plus in Tucson's bright sunlight and it works nicely.
Large LCD touchscreen: works well with big fingers. Easier to use than a joystick.
Zoom and start/stop record functions, among others, can be set to appear on the LCD screen: in both auto and manual modes.
Stereo mics are on each side of the camcorder lens: still needs a thewindcuttercom stick-on.
Custom dial: a plus.

I use it with a Barska Accu Grip Handle.BARSKA Accu Grip Handheld Tripod System and the Canon DM-100 Stereo Mic Canon 2591B002 DM-100 Directional Stereo Microphone for HF/HG Series Camcorders along with this Canon completely compatable battery New BP-827 Li-Ion 6-Hour Rechargeable Intelligent Battery for Canon VIXIA HF10 HF11 HF100 HF20 HF200 HF S10 S100 S20 S21 S200 HG20 HG21 M30 M31 M300 Camcorders Update: I'm now using this shooting brace: Anton/Bauer EgripZ - Shooting brace

i'm not sure i know how to use a tenth of the functions available on this device but i have been pointing and shooting, recording videos and i am very impressed with all the output i have seen so far. the pictures are crisp and sharp and the audio on the video is pretty loud using the internal mic on the camcorder

i really like the large internal flash memory and the available slot for memory expansion. i know it is not the most recent device in the canon line up but it still more than meets the requirement of most people who want a camcorder on the high end.

a bit expensive but i think it is worth the price