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Canon VIXIA HF100 Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom | 
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| Brand: Canon
Category: Photography
Buy New: See price in cart
New (15) Used (2) from $599.95
Rating:  91 reviews
Sales Rank: 41
Media: Electronics
Batteries Included: No
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Monitor Size: 270
Includes Software: Yes
Optical Zoom: 12
Digital Zoom: 200
Display Size: 2.7
Maximum Focal Length: 57
Minimum Focal Length: 4.8
Maximum Resolution: 2070000
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 5.1 x 2.9 x 2.5
nv:Size: 1/3.2-inch
Image Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Movie Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Storage Media: SD/SDHC Memory Card
Compressed Format: DPOF
Compressed Format: DCF Exif 2.2
Movie File Format: MPEG-4
Movie File Format: AVCHD (HD)
Optical Zoom: 12x
Digital Zoom: 200x
Focal Length: f=4.8-57.6 mm
LCD Monitor: 2.7-inches
LCD Pixels: 211,000 pixels
LCD Coverage: 100%
Maximum Aperture: f 1.8 - 3.0
White Balance Control: Auto
White Balance Control: Daylight
White Balance Control: Cloudy
Warranty: 1 year warranty
MPN: HF100
Model: HF100
UPC: 013803092004
EAN: 0013803092004
ASIN: B00114162K
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Features:
| • | Capture high-definition video to flash memory | | • | 12x optical zoom; SuperRange Optical Image Stabilizer | | • | 24p Cinema Mode; 30p Progressive Mode | | • | 2.7-inch widescreen Multi-Angle Vivid LCD | | • | Simultaneous photo capture |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
From Canon's long history of optical excellence, advanced image processing, superb performance and technological innovation in photographic and broadcast television cameras comes the latest in high definition camcorders.Now, with the light, compact Canon VIXIA HF100, you can have stunning AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition) format recording with the ease and numerous benefits of Flash Memory. It's used in some of the world's most innovative electronic products such as laptop computers, MP3 players, PDAs and cell phones.Add to that the VIXIA HF100's Canon Exclusive features such as Canon's 3.3 Megapixel Full HD CMOS sensor and advanced DIGIC DV II Image Processor, SuperRange Optical Image Stabilization, Instant Auto Focus, 2.7" Widescreen Multi-Angle Vivid LCD and the Genuine Canon 12x HD video zoom lens and you have a Flash Memory camcorder that's hard to beat and unmistakably Canon.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 86 more reviews...
 Excellent August 17, 2008
M. S. ALMUSALLAM
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
One of the best HD camcorder with such a great price compared with the functions it offers. I really recommend this for all camcorder lovers.
very nifty little camera August 16, 2008
kittykat
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Its very small.
High quality wide screen movies.
It also takes great photos.
Very pleased August 15, 2008
John S. Lloyd (Southwest Utah, USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The Vixia HX100 is my 5th camcorder, the first AVCHD, and the first that records directly to SDHC media. To date I have shot about 50 GB of video, all of it youth sports, most of it at 1440 x 1080 HD resolution, and about 100 still shots using the cam's max resolution. The cam works flawlessly at even the highest video resolution using 16GB Transcend speed class 6 SDHC cards. I have filmed in bright Southern Cal sunlight and under baseball lights with good results. I use a 37mm haze filter, both to protect the lens and for outdoor shots. The supplied software works OK for downloading the memory, but I read the SDHC cards directly into my Sony Vaio laptop for faster transfer. The learning curve for the software is reasonably easy and the manual is good. I have played back the stored video directly into a 1080p Vizio TV using a mini-HDMI to HDMI cable and also recorded directly from the cam to a standard definition Toshiba DVD recorder using the cam's component output.
Two minor negatives - the supplied BP-809 battery is only good for about an hour and the higher capacity BP-819 batteries aren't currently available at any of about a dozen locations that I tried. I purchased a 2nd BP-809 and they do change out fairly quickly. The software starts to warn you with 5 minutes of battery remaining, and I took it down all the way to zero without losing any data. The other negative is that you have to leave the AC power supply connected if downloading via USB cable.
The lens at the widest zoom setting isn't quite wide enough to film a standard baseball field from behind the backstop, and a 0.5 to 0.7 wide angle lens would be a very good accessory for shooting sports.
I have a 37mm to 28mm adapter, and the cam works well with the Nikon 3X telephoto lens from my Nikon 4300 still camera, although you have to have the telephoto on the cam set all the way out to get full field in the cam.
As an aside, I use Pinnacle Studio 12 Pro to build my movies, and it handles the AVCHD output files from the cam without a hitch. You'd better have a fast PC with at least 2GB (better 4GB) to work with HD, however.
AVCHD Is Hard To Work With August 12, 2008
Roger Kane (Lincoln, CA USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
One thing that was left out in all the reviews is that if you want to edit the AVCHD clips you've recorded, you'll need a high-powered PC or MAC. The specs called for in the supplied software indicate that the user must have a Pentium D processor at minimum to edit clips. My PC was four years old with a Pentium 4 HD processor, and it was not able to play back the video clips smoothly enough for me to even edit them. I have an Nvidia GeForce 7600 video card with 512Mb of RAM and also 4Gb of RAM on the motherboard.
Also, the software only burns to DVD-R disks and my PC had only DVD+R capability, so I had to buy a new writer to burn the AVCHD DVD's which did play in HD on my Sony PS3. As far as MAC's go, there is no way to burn a DVD in full 1080i high-def on a MAC...even with Final Cut Pro. Yes, it will import the AVCHD files and you can edit them, but you cannot actually burn the edited movie in full 1080i high-def onto a DVD without having to use a 3rd party piece of software.
I visited the local Apple store and after 2 hours of them playing with it, they produced a DVD for me to take home to play on my PS3...and guess what, the PS3 would not even recognize the disk!
Don't get me wrong, this camera takes beautiful, full 1080i high-def video, but once you've downloaded the files to your computer, it's almost impossible to burn those AVCHD files back onto a DVD for playback in full 1080i high-def unless you've got a Blu-Ray disk player such as the Sony PS3. The people at the Apple store indicated that Final Cut Express would import the AVCHD files, but would then convert them into an intermediate codec which ends up downgrading the clips to less than full 1080i high-def.
They told me to actually burn the edited movie onto a DVD in full 1080i high-def, I'd have to buy Roxio's Toast 9! Is amazed me that even their $1000 Final Cut Pro required the purchase of an $80 piece of software to complete the process!
The AVCHD format is the future, but I'm afraid there's just too little in the way of a simple workflow to actually be able to import, edit, and then burn these AVCHD format movies onto a DVD for playback in full 1080i high-def on ones HD TV set. I have spent a month researching this, and decided that I was just not willing to upgrade to an entirely new computer with an Intel Duo Quad Processor to work with the AVCHD files that these cameras produce.
The new Sony Vegas 8 Platinum will burn the AVCHD files to a DVD, but again, check out the required hardware specs on Sony's website and you'll see that the minimum requirements for hardware are probably much more than what you have unless you bought your PC within the last year.
Based upon all of this, I finally decided to return the camera and wait until this newly adopted AVCHD format is easier to work with. By the way, for most of us, a Blu-Ray disk writer and the BD blank media are just too expensive to buy. Most people will most likely want to burn high-definition DVD's instead, that will play in full 1080i high-def; 30 minutes on a single layer DVD and 60 minutes on a dual layer DVD.
You will see that virtually all of the software currently available; including Adobe's just released Premier Elements 4.0 will NOT burn AVCHD files onto a DVD! In fact, it does not even support AVCHD files created by Canon HD camcorders that are in the AVCHD format! And Sony's Vegas 8.0 Platinum also does not support Canon's AVCHD files.
It's all way to difficult for the average consumer. Pretty much your only option to see your movies in full 1080i high-def will be to attach the camcorder via an HDMI cable (not included) to your HDTV. This will allow you to watch your raw un-edited footage directly from your camcorder. However, the HDMI cable you'll need costs about $40-$50! And don't think you can use a standard HDMI cable...no, it takes a special one which has a MINI-HDMI at one end and a standard HDMI to plug on the other!
WOW...what a pain. The marketing information is very flowery in its description, but the reality is far different. Do your research and you will that the products out there for editing these AVCHD movies simply fail to mention anything about actually BURNING the results onto a standard DVD for playback in high-def on a regular DVD home player. Why? Because you cannot! You MUST own a Sony PS3 to do this!
In short, "buyer beware" on any HD Camcorder which records in the AVCHD format. And as a topper, each camera manufacturer who supports AVCHD format does so in their own way, so the editing software that will import AVCHD files from one brand of camcorder MAY NOT import is from another.
Even the Pixela SE software that Canon supplies (which is bare bones, but does work) will ONLY work with files from these "HF" series camcorders from Canon! Oh, by the way, the Instruction Manual for using the Pixela SE software that Canon includes with the camera IS NOT available for download on Canon's website, but rather, one must buy the camera first and it's included on a CD which you'll find in the box! Only the Installation Instructions are posted on Canon's website! Why you ask? Well once you see the manual you'll find out that the hardware requirements probably exceed what you own, rendering the software almost unusable.
Again, let me repeat...this is a fabulous camcorder and the HD video is spectacular! It's the bigger issue of "what do I do with the files on the SD card now that I've shot the video?" that will stop you in your tracks.
 Canon HF100 review August 11, 2008
Otto Cuyler (Rochester, New York)
This is my first HD and flash memory video camera. The "out of the box" experience was very good. It is very small in my big hands. I found it awkward to hold in a traditional way using the included strap. I my case, it exacerbated camera shake due to the angle of the wrist - that just me. I found that I had better luck cradling the camera with 2 hands and bring it down to waist level for much better results.
The battery, as anticipated is minimal, but enough for the 4 GB card I got. The best advice I got was to use the 4 GB card, as I represents 1 hr. and can be burned directly to a DVD so you don't have to put everything on your hard drive. Further, I had much better luck using a USB card reader vs. the camera, which is a mess of wires and not very convenient.
The screen was good. The controls good. The quality was great except low light, but I didn't investigate further how to improve that. I don't have anything to compare it too, but I found the experience, quality and the bang for the buck to be terrific.Canon VIXIA HF100 Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
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