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134 of 144 people found the following review helpful
A True Prosumer Camcorder,
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This review is from: Canon VIXIA HF S21 Full HD Camcorder w/64GB Flash Memory & Pro Manual Control (Electronics)
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. Comments
Tracked by 3 customers
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Showing 1-10 of 24 posts in this discussion
Initial post:
Apr 13, 2010 1:55:40 PM PDT
David Bates says:
Is the powered stabilization as good as the Sony? I am waiting to see if they have improved it over the S11. I love Canon, and would love to choose this camcorder, but the amazing low light abilities, 5.1 sound and image stabilization of the Sony has given me pause... Gotta wait for someone to compare the two.
In reply to an earlier post on
Apr 13, 2010 2:51:45 PM PDT
Last edited by the author on Apr 13, 2010 2:57:31 PM PDT
Just Anonymous says:
David, Google "Canon HF S21 Review". There are a couple of sites out there that have reviewed the S21 against the Sony.
I don't know if Amazon allows me to post third party review sites but you should be able to find at least two very thorough reviews that compares the S21 against the other front runners. I agree, the lowlight capabilities of the Sony are supposed to be impressive but the S21 is pretty good. The S21 has 5.1 but you need a separate mic I think....but the S21 has that nice 3.5" viewscreen. I'm comfortable that the S21 would do great at sunset in a Luau in Hawaii and that 3.5" viewscreen is liberating compared to the 2.7" Also the 64GB of memory in the S21 helps quite a bit. I was very impressed with the Powered IS in the S21 also --- it really works very nicely when you're at max zoom, better than last year's model. Good luck out there.
Posted on
Apr 14, 2010 7:26:16 AM PDT
Artful Dodger says:
Hello, Have you recorded to a SDHC card yet and if so what type did you purchase and use? I just ordered this camcorder for the fact(s) of a friend has last years model and it produced great video, more storage capability this year, audio options, good ratings and best of all, the view finder is added. I purchased the biggest battery based upon almost everyone's feedback and what I'll be using this for as well. I'm still on the fence about getting an external mic and if I do I'm going with the Rode which will use it's own battery and not draw from the camcorders. A few give and take things but I can't wait for this gem to get here.
Thanks for the input and replies, enjoy.
In reply to an earlier post on
Apr 14, 2010 11:52:25 AM PDT
Last edited by the author on Apr 17, 2010 7:36:43 AM PDT
Just Anonymous says:
I have not recorded to SDHC - I don't even own a card. I think I'm going to wait until the media comes down in cost a bit - 64GB is good enough for now I hope.
On what type of card you need, I've been reading a bit and it really depends on the quality of your recording. Class 2 for the lower quality settings and class 4 for HD. I think I'll just buy a Class 6: 48 Mbit/s (6 MByte/s) or better just to be on the safe side. Have fun with the S21
In reply to an earlier post on
Apr 17, 2010 12:46:56 PM PDT
david_f_knight says:
The HF S21 looks like a great camcorder. I have the 2009 Canon VIXIA HF200 and agree that the lack of a viewfinder, in bright sunlight, can be a huge problem. That said, from my observations, it appears that you cannot pivot the HF S21 viewfinder (it sticks directly out from the back of the camera body just above the battery). So, if you use one of the larger batteries, it seems that you're going to have a big problem trying to use the viewfinder, since the larger batteries all extend from the back of the camera body. That should prevent you from being able to put the viewfinder near your eye.
I do have SDHC flash cards for my HF200, and as Just Anonymous wrote, you need a class 4 card (or faster) for both of the 1920x1080 resolution video modes. For the life of me, I can't imagine paying $1400 for a camera and then using any low quality mode. If low quality is acceptable, then buy some other camcorder at a fraction of the price. Anyway, I have never had any problem shooting in the highest quality mode using a class 4 SDHC flash card. (The HF200 and the HF S21 both have the same highest quality mode of 24Mbps, so they are directly comparable.) The other features of the HF S21 that I wish my HF200 had are the track & follow feature (seems really fantastic to me), the newly improved optical stabilization, and the presumably better low light performance.
In reply to an earlier post on
Apr 17, 2010 1:16:49 PM PDT
Artful Dodger says:
Thanks guys, I have been watching prices and size/class for some time now on certain cards and as for now I will be going with the class 6-16GB SDHC cards from SanDisk. Although SanDisk is going to announce (it was on their website) something on or around April 23-24th concerning new cards so the prices may just drop after all. I'll also be recording at the highest quality since that's why I'm getting this model so storage swapping will be very helpful. Thanks for the heads up with the viewfinder and the battery size. Bit of a trade off I so pose but since it does have one I'll be happy even if it does stay fixed.
How is the transfer time to your PC/Mac? I'm using a Mac and can use iMovie or FCE (Final Cut Express) to import the video so life is good as I just need some real world times if you don't mind. Thanks again!
In reply to an earlier post on
Apr 17, 2010 2:17:49 PM PDT
Last edited by the author on Apr 17, 2010 2:43:02 PM PDT
david_f_knight says:
The Canon Vixia camcorders use USB 2.0 connections for transferring your recordings from your camcorder's flash memory to your computer's hard disk. USB 2.0 has a maximum transfer rate of 480Mbps. The highest quality setting for shooting video on the HF S21 is 24Mbps. Class 2 SDHC cards minimum required transfer rate is 2MB/s (16Mbps), class 4 minimum required rate is 4MB/s (32Mbps), class 6 minimum required rate is 6MB/s (48Mbps).
That's why class 2 SDHC can't support the highest quality video mode, and class 4 SDHC can be transferred at about 3/4 real-time (i.e., in about 75% of the time of the recording), and class 6 SDHC can be transferred at about 1/2 real time. That's the theory, anyway. So, I just ran a little test to see what really happens. Here's what I found out: (I used a PNY Optima 16 GB SDHC Class 4 Flash Memory Card.) I recorded a 58 second clip at 24 Mbps (it happened to produce a video file 168.7MB long) and it took about 13 seconds to transfer to my computer. That's about three times faster than what a class 4 SDHC card that just meets minimum specifications should allow, so it seems to me that my PNY class 4 SDHC card is really closer to class 12 (about 12MB/s)! I haven't tried this test with other brands of SDHC cards, but I would guess that your results will depend on the brand of card and what SDHC class it is. ----------- update ------------ I was reading a post for SDHC cards and discovered that writing may be slower than reading, and the speed may also depend on the file size. So, my test only tested the read speed of one size file. In any case, it gives you an idea of what you might expect, though there are apparently a number of variables that can influence things.
In reply to an earlier post on
Apr 23, 2010 12:32:19 PM PDT
Last edited by the author on Apr 23, 2010 1:00:04 PM PDT
Artful Dodger says:
Well today I received the new unit but I have to ask because i'm hoping it's not just mine. When the lens cover is closed and you move the camcorder around, up and down like from your feet to the sky, slow or semi fast, I hear and feel something like a moth ball rolling around behind the cover. Not sure if it's the lens protecter that is loose or what. Does or is anyone else experiencing this with their camcorder? I get the feeling it's going back because for the money this shouldn't be happening and I think it maybe from an in transit issue. Thanks for any feed back with this issue. Other than that it seems to work well.
In reply to an earlier post on
Apr 24, 2010 3:07:15 PM PDT
Last edited by the author on Apr 24, 2010 3:11:30 PM PDT
Just Anonymous says:
Artful -- Ever since I got mine, I've had the exact same concern and I'm glad to hear that someone else has the same issue. The Camcorder performs flawlessly but it does sound like there's a loose marble in there when it's turned off and I handle the camcorder -- I agree and think it's the built in lenscap. I do wish that it didn't make that sound but if it's just the build in lens protector, then I can live with it.
I'm not planning on returning mine - especially now that you confirm that at least yours makes that sound too. I agree though -- this kind of detail should not be overlooked when making a camcorder that costs this much --- Canon should not have let that design flaw through.
In reply to an earlier post on
Apr 24, 2010 6:28:12 PM PDT
Artful Dodger says:
I went last night to the local shop which I buy most of my stuff from, TV's, phone's, camera's since they offer a 5 year warranty for only 10% of the price of electronic you buy and they service all the "big box stores". So... when I got there they had last years Canon top model and were waiting to get the HF S21 in (next week of course) and the other models all did this. The guy opened a boxed unit just to make sure and that was the same. Well since everything else is flawless I'm going to keep it and since your's is doing the same I find it absurd that the R&D Canon folks didn't hear or notice anything like this or felt it was within normal tolerance. Thanks for the feedback and sorry I didn't post back sooner. I guess I have found out where a few that just passed design in college have jobs ;)
I will mention that somethings for the audio when outside, don't record very well. I shot some video of my German Shepherd and anything within 6 feet sound wise was picked up just fine. Anything further, an external mic would be nice but it's great inside otherwise. |
Review Details |
Canon VIXIA HF S21 Full HD Camcorder w/64GB Flash Memory & Pro Manual Control
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