Canon HF10 High Definition (HD) Camcorder Review
Well this is just a quick post which hopefully I will get round to edit a bit later 😉
I’ve just ordered a Canon HF10 HD camera to what is planned to be able to make some shorts of my travelling adventures. I’m not too sure how well they will go, but lets wait and see. Not only have Amazon just reduced it £70, Canon are offering £50 Cash back. One persons recession is anothers bargain 🙂
Anyway about the camera it shoots full HD 1080p, records onto memory card so I don’t have to worry about damaging tapes and moving parts, meaning I can just throw it in my backpack without any care in the world. AND most of all it’s TINY!
The only drawbacks with the camera are firstly the fact that you need to be around 4m away from a person to get a full framed shot (this is the same problem with all compact camcorders) and you are lucky if the battery lasts an hour. So I have also ordered the Canon TL-H37 Wide converter (MVX150i) which will enable this distance to be almost halved, and of course the Double Capacity Canon BP-819 battery. Don’t be fooled by the cheap alternatives on Amazon as the majority of these are 1400mah and not 1780mah the same as the genuine one, AND you won’t be able to charge it on the camera but they are a quarter of the price.
Anyway in the meantime before I update this post there is a great review over at Trusted Reviews on the Canon HF10.
**** EDIT ****
Well after some use my first impressions are the same, it’s fantastic.
It’s TINY
Amazing image quality
Has great image stabilisation
Has manual controls including exposure, perfect for my dive filming 🙂
Uses standard 37mm filters
Uses readily available SDHC flash cards (Min. Cat 4)
Has mini hotshoe and mic/headphone jacks
However there are a few issues you should be aware of:
You can’t download the footage without it being plugged in to the mains!
Standard battery life is very short so expect between 50-60 minutes of video
There’s no viewfinder, only the LCD screen
Built-in microphone is very susceptible to wind noise, like all camcorders!
No firewire
Comment by John Lochrie on 7 January 2009:
Hey man thats a seriously good camera.I have heard a lot about it..A lot better than the fujifilm z500 that i have.
Wanna trade it 🙂
john lochrie
Comment by Alex Asigno on 8 January 2009:
Yes it is certainly a great camera, and much much better with the wide angle lens. All I need to buy now is a dive housing, not sure which way to go with either http://www.marinevisions.com/Ikelite-Video-Housing-for-Canon-HF-10-and-HF-100-6090.htmlor the Equinox HD6, I think so far the Equinox housing is winning.
Comment by John Lochrie on 7 January 2009:
Hey man thats a seriously good camera.I have heard a lot about it..A lot better than the fujifilm z500 that i have.
Wanna trade it 🙂
john lochrie
Comment by Alex Asigno on 8 January 2009:
Yes it is certainly a great camera, and much much better with the wide angle lens. All I need to buy now is a dive housing, not sure which way to go with either http://www.marinevisions.com/Ikelite-Video-Housing-for-Canon-HF-10-and-HF-100-6090.htmlor the Equinox HD6, I think so far the Equinox housing is winning.
Comment by HD Camcorder on 26 June 2009:
We’ve been using a HF10 for a while now and manage to get more like 90 minutes of filming from a single battery charge. Are you using it somewhere extremely cold?
Comment by HD Camcorder on 26 June 2009:
We’ve been using a HF10 for a while now and manage to get more like 90 minutes of filming from a single battery charge. Are you using it somewhere extremely cold?