Customer Reviews

Canon VIXIA HF11 AVCHD 32 GB Flash Memory Camcorder w/12x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Long review: 10 min.| I got the HF11 video camera in urgent need for a specific occasion.
The 60th fireworks event of Suwako lake / Nagano Prefecture in Japan on 15th August 2008.
(official sale start in Japan)

As the overall package Canon with its long term experience in Imaging seemed like "The natural Choice to make".

The video camera integrates a huge amount of intelligent functions that ensure the quality of your video experience.

- image stabilizer,
- light sensitivity sensor,
- profiles
- variable zoom speeds,
- remaining battery status info,
- alignment markers in the screen
- smart replay functions (slow motion, freezing , advancing frame by frame etc.)


On top of that the video cameras body weight with 380gr. and the size of your favourite beverage is well acceptable even for ladies or kids hands.

The HF11 does come with a few usability hitches in terms of inconsistency, bugs etc. (see my how to guide for details), but besides that, the HF11's navigation is intuitive and exactly as the digital camera products. So, that was not a showstopper for us.

Most users are able to use the product within minutes !!


For video editing features you might want to look into additional software editing and codec converter solutions like Divx, Xvid etc. to be able to share the joy with your friends on DVD etc. The package contains all possible cables but NOT the ultra compact HDMI cable connection.


The major salespoints of this video camera are

- Imaging quality (resolution and smoothness of video)
- Canons colours
- Usability
- Usability and
- Usability


The Imaging quality is unlike anything I have seen before and easily justifies the product alone.



HF11, HF10 or HF100, which one should I get ?

If you cant compromise video quality for anything get the HF11 with its 24mbps recording mode and be rest assured you have the extra stretch when you need it f.e. in low light scenarios and the best model on the marcet in the personal camcorder class.

Otherwise, if you can life with good quality and the same usability and other features as the big brother than you can make a deal by getting the HF10 or the HF100.

The intelligent functions and the exceptionally good design make the HF100, the HF10 or the HF11 the natural choice for beginners, amateurs and entry professionals.

This is the quality customers are expecting from a long term Imaging company like Canon !!


Additional Notes:

Vibrations:
Note that other camcorders with moving parts f.e. HDD's might not be working in extreme situations with strong vibrations f.e in concerts due to bass vibration. The camcorder makers do specifically NOT recommend taking videos in live houses - as they formulate it. So you might find yourself having to record onto the memory card while the HDD is NOT usable.
(I mention it because its not so obvious from the product descriptions of camcorders.)

Fortunately with the HF11/HF10/HF100 or any flash memory based camcorder you dont have to worry about this too ;-)

Memory usage:
8GB of memory will provide you with 1h of best quality Full HD pleasure. So even if you just use the 32GB internal memory it means that the HF11 has enough storage for 4h of best quality Full HD video.

Thats plenty f.e. for your best friends wedding ceremony, the wedding party afterwards and even your kids school ceremony the next day.

Also memory usage is the same when actually comparing, this video camera has at least 3.5 times more details on the screen than the best digital camera out there with video function.


Please see my How to guide for more details and all PRO's and CON's.

While Adobe Premier Elements 7 is a big joke for the MP4 AVC/H.264 formats...it is a superstar with the AVCHD / .mts files this Canon HF10 generates.

Before I bought my own HF10 I was asked by a buddy to edit and burn some youth football footage from his newly acquired Canon HF10 with SDHC card. I was excited. Although I had no clue what an .mts file was Adobe PE 7 not only recognized it and imported it quickly...but I proceeded to edit both video and audio (together and separately)as well as burn to a regular DVD (not BluRay). My jaw just dropped and I said WOW!

I will add that while I am not a big fan of the GUI of Pinnacle Studio Plus 12 it also handles the AVCHD / .mts from the Canon HF10 just fine...and also handles those other MP4's just fine too.

The really important part is that while I have a nice amount of ram (4GB) my computer is nothing special at all. I am running Vista Basic on a Celeron 1.60Ghz processor (Dell Inspiron 530 desktop) with the 4GB of ram.

Now that I have purchased my OWN Canon HF10 AVCHD camcorder Adobe PE7 is my go-to program for this type of footage. Again, it handles the AVCHD / .mts file format flawlessly. Check out my other reviews for some other programs I have tried like Corel VideoStudio X2 and Magix - Movie Edit pro 14. If you are going to be working only with AVCHD, specifically from any of the Canon HF series camcorders that put .mts on sdhc flash cards...then I believe Adobe Premier Elements 7 is the best option.

Warning: If you are going to rely on ONE software solution for multiple formats other than AVCHD, Adobe PE7 is not the way to go! I use several little camera/camcorders other than the HF10. They all use the MP4 AVC/H.264 format...while the previous version of PE handled them fine, Adobe PE 7 HATES the MP4 format! You can't even add them to the time-line without it crashing! If you are looking for a single editing program to handle not only the AVCHD from the Canon HF10, HF11 or HF100 but other formats as well...specifically the MP4 AVC/H.264 format then I would go with Pinnacle Studio Plus 12. Like I said before, the interface and work flow is nothing like Adobe's but it works fin with the multiple formats.

I've had this camcorder for 7 months now and have been somewhat pleased with it overall. The reason I only gave it 4 stars is for some annoying issues I have with it.

First off, you can only transfer your video clips if you have the power cord attached. This is inconvenient if you want to get one or two clips onto your computer and have a fully charged battery on the camcorder. Also, once you have your camcorder connected to your computer (via USB cable), you cannot turn the camcorder off unless you disconnect the USB cable. I'm guessing Canon felt it was necessary to protect interruptions during transfer of your video clips. But who would be dumb enough to disconnect or turn off their camcorder in the middle of a transfer?

Another issue I have is that if you don't want to use ImageMixer 3 SE software program to access your video files via your computer you'll have to follow this path from your hard drive: G:\ (or whichever drive it's assigned to) PRIVATE\AVCHD\BDMV\STREAM\00000.MTS. If you use the ImageMixer 3 SE software it basically adds another set of steps in order to view your clips on your computer. Because once you copy your video files using ImageMixer software, you must open the ImageMixer 3 SE Player if you want to view your video. Another step. The ImageMixer 3 SE Player doesn't display which video file you're viewing. That is such a simple thing to have showing that I wonder why it was left out. So you click File then Select File. Choose a file and click Open. The files are number like this example: 20090622091442 (Year, month, day, hour, minutes, seconds). That's great if you can remember which clip number among many is showing in the viewer. Note: the long number is automatically generated from using the ImageMixer software to copy the video to your computer. If you go directly to your hard drive (see above path) then you won't get the data (long file number). It will just be 00000, 00001, 00002.MTS, etc.

From here I must give this camcorder a big plus. I've dropped this camcorder twice. It was on a tripod and the tripod fell down on a ceramic floor. The camcorder still worked and with no visual scars. Then it fell off a handle bar mount on a bicycle and tumbled into the street. It's scratched up but it works fine. I think good construction and a little luck kept if from imminent death.

I am all about my kids playing sports and being able to record the games. I was reluctant in purchasing an AVCHD camcorder with the fear that the motion would not be sharp. This camcorder is of excellent quality. I am using the camcorder with its default settings and have recorded my son's soccer games, my other son's indoor basketball games, birthday parties and am very please with the camcorder. There is a setting to record at 30P which is designed for fast action, but the default 60i is perfect. I will play with 30P soon and can only imagine that it would be even better.

I also have used the ImageMixer software that comes with the HF11. The software easily allows you to copy your recordings to the computer. The player is of high quality and is my preferred software for watching the videos on the computer. With this software, I burned a copy of one of my sons basketball games to DVD and when viewed using a DVD player on my TV, the quality of the video went down. I then used CorelVideo Studio 12 (VideoStudio Pro x2) (downloaded free trial version) and burned the basketball game in AVCHD mode onto a DVD. I then watched the AVCHD (DVD) on my PS3 and the quality was excellent. The DVD burn took about 30 minutes for a 6 minute video on a Dell Intel Core2 Duo desktop computer with 2 gigs of memory.

I also purchased the cheaper extended battery BP-819 and this gives me hours of recording time. There is a slot for a memory card, but I find the 32 gigs internal memory to be plenty.

If you want a quality camcorder, this is the one.

I just finished my vacation where I used the Canon HF11 that I purchased about 6 weeks ago. The HF11 performed flawlessly. I am super pleased with the quality of the video images. I did some editing and created a DVD using iMovie and iDVD. The results are very good. I am pleased with the overall ease of use and quality videos that can be produced by this camcorder.

I bought this camera in October 2008 for a trip to South America. I did extensive research on compact high quality camcorders and the Canon Vixia HF11 look like the best bet. I was not wrong. I really like this camera.

The Vixia HF11 is compact, very light but feels super sturdy, the reach of the 12X zoom lens is excellent and the built-in optical stabilizer is superb!!! The quality of the recording is great for such small camera and its price point. The HF11 pretty much fits in your palm which is great when you want to use it, not be noticed, and have full control with a single hand.

The 32GB built-in memory is more than enough for most vacation trips. I was afraid to run out of memory in the middle of my vacation and decided to buy an extra 32GB of flash storage. I have been recording and recording and recording at the max resolution of 24mbs and I am still not using the extra memory I bought. I guess I may have gone overboard with it.

On the other hand, I would strongly recommend buying the bigger battery. The one that comes with the camera it's not even enough for 3 hours of usage (whether you record or not). The bigger battery can last up to two days of heavy recording and 1 full heavy day if you like to review your video constantly.

Another great purchase is the Canon set of lens filters which include a polarizer and a clear filter. I use the clear filter to protect the original Canon lens from dust, water and finger prints. I have to say that a lens protector is a MUST if you want to protect your investment. And don't forget to get a camera case to carry it around (Canon does not provide one in the box). I bought mine at Best Buy because I wanted to make sure it had a tight fit, be small and padded enough for all situations.

The camera includes a USB cable to do transfers to a PC or Mac for video editing and a HD component cable to view the video directly from the camera to any TV. Even with the component HD video out the quality of your video will look amazing on any TV set specially if the TV is HD. I am sure an HDMI cable will increase the viewing quality but I have not bought one yet.

So far I have not transfer the video to my Mac but once both my flash storage cards are full my plan is to convert all the video to H.264 files and upload them to an HD Apple TV or make a Blu-Ray dvd to watch my recordings in full HD. Or, you can just buy more flash memory cards and store your video for later viewing from your HF11 through an HDMI cable.

Overall, I can't be happier with this camera. Canon has definitely surpass my expectations withe Vixia HF11. This is not a really cheap camera but it's not an expensive one either. The Amazon price is right on the money for this high quality camcorder. I strongly recommend it.

If you have searched for a quality camcorder the Canon Vixia HF 11 is it. It features an easy one button solution for quick nearly automatic film making. It also gives you many options found on expensive production video equipment. A real asset is the 32 GB flash memory since this assures that you will have plenty of on board storage and no tape or hard drive to break. Simply take your time in turning it off and your data will be saved properly. Color is excellent and the stabilation works very well. The supplied software is another bonus if you do not have your own prefered program.

This seems to be a very good camcorder. There isn't much I can add to the professional reviews available at places like: cnet; retrevo; and camcorderinfo.

I do wish that it came with a 12 Vdc power supply for the car (Canon says not to to use an inverter with the included 120 Vac supply). An HDMI cable would also be nice.

The rotary dial to select still/video play/rec modes is hard to use -- it requires two hands.

General comments that apply to any HD camcorder:

The new AVCHD format requires a very powerful computer to play and edit the video. My notebook is a Dell Vostro 1700 with a Intel Core2 Duo processor running at 2 GHz and 3 GB of RAM and it won't play the video smoothly -- at least not the highest quality 24 MB/sec video. Canon claims the minimum processor speed is something like 2.2 GHz -- it's probably higher than that.

Although optical image stabilization is good (and Canon's version has a good rep) it can't deal with more than subtle movement, even at wide-angle. I tried walking while using it and the resulting video will make you seasick!

Bottom line: This is a great camcorder and a good value.

The image quality is great in well lit situations. Motion is crisp in the 30p mode as long as the subject is walking and the camera pans slowly. A subject running or fast pan will cause blurs and grainy image; But still better than an interlaced camera. With any camera, holding it very steady or on a tripod is the #1 most important thing to get good quality video.
In a bright room with indirect sunlight, images are crisp. At night with 100 W incandesent direct, stills are mostly clear but noticeable graininess with any motion. In a darker room with single 60w bulb, image is noticeably grainy even on the low-res viewfinder.
If using an attached lens be sure to set Instant AF to [AF]. The lens interferes with the instant focus sensor. This seems to fix my focusing issues.
Be sure to take 10 minutes and read the booklet for all the camera settings, especially for FUNC menu, the settings button, and the Camera Settings. Be sure to set the frame rate to 30p or 24p; and to set image quality to FXP or MXP. Also read how to do manual focus, and the special scene recording mdes.
As noted in the other reviews, the 32GB internal flash is not a feature, its a major annoyance. You have to have the AC adapter plugged in and the USB transfer is much slower than uploading directly from the SD card.
The widest angle is relatively narrow, although many other camcorders are similar. To capture all of a person 6ft tall, the camera must be 11 ft away, or 8 ft with the 0.7 wide angle lens. With the wide angle lens, any vertical lines on the sides of the image will be curved. The wide-angle lens is pretty much mandatory for any indoor shooting, unless you just want head shots.

I wanted HD, and I wanted Canon for their image quality, but I didn't want to pay more than $500. The HF11 would normally be out of that range, but I got it as a factory refurb, and I'm glad I did. Works great, no missing items or problems that I can see.

Low light recording was pretty good in 24P mode, though the normal modes were a bit noisy. I did find that the full HD, full quality recording mode is way too much for my computers to playback without stuttering. The bundled software is pathetic (it didn't recognize the MTS file format for the 24P recordings!); don't bother with it--get WinFF for converting video formats, VLC or Media Player Classic for playback.