Canon FS200 First Impressions Camcorder Review

The Canon FS200 is a minor upgrade to last year's FS100 (Review, Specs, $219.99). Yet the extreme portability, colorful options, and mic and headphone jacks will likely win it some fans. The FS200 records to memory card only, while the step-up FS21 (Specs, Recent News, $0.00) and FS22 (Specs, Recent News, $0.00) offer the card slot plus internal memory (16GB and 32GB, respectively). The FS200 doesn't have too many frills, but it's a solid camcorder. The manual controls are good, though the interface is a little more convoluted than necessary. Prices have not yet been announced, but it seems likely that Canon will be able to put this in the sweet spot for those on a budget that are ready to move away from tape or DVD.

Lens & Sensor
The Canon F200 is equipped with the standard entry-level lens and sensor specs, more or less. Don't expect to be wowed by the image quality, but it will do the job.

Front
The front of the Canon FS200 has the lens in the center of the action, of course. Below the lens is the built-in stereo microphone. To the side of the mic is a video light, which emits a weak, bluish light.

The front of the Canon FS200

Right
The right side of the Canon F200 is simple and unadorned. An excellent, thickly padded hand strap runs the length of the side. It's rare to see a hand strap this comfortable in a camcorder in this price range. The camcorder is very small, so larger hands may have a hard time not wrapping their hands all the way over the top, overshooting the zoom controls.

Towards the rear of the right side you'll find the DC power port.

The right of the Canon FS200

Back
The back of the Canon FS200 is nearly iPod-simple. There's a large dial that selects between Dual Shot mode, video mode, and still mode. In the center is a fat red button for to start/stop recording.

The back of the Canon FS200

Left
The left side of the Canon FS200 is the home for most of the interface. The 2.7-inch LCD has a resolution of 123,000 pixels, which is about all you can expect for entry-level. Open up the LCD panel and you'll find several fun buttons and ports. On the edge of the LCD panel is the joystick, well-placed and large, but not as smooth as the joystick on the upper-tier Canon HF S10 (Specs, Recent News, $0.00).

Inside the LCD are two buttons, Video Snap and Display/Battery Info, and three ports: USB, a mini microphone jack, and a shared AV/headphone jack.   

The left of the Canon FS200 (above), and a look behind the LCD panel (below).

Top
The top of the Canon FS200 is clean and simple. A long, smooth lens barrel stretches from the lens all way to the rear, where you'll find a zoom toggle and a still photo button. Just to the side of the zoom toggle is the power button for the device.

The top of the Canon FS200

Bottom
The bottom of the Canon FS200 is home to the battery port and SD/SDHC card slot. The port cover is hard plastic, but feels like the hinges can't take much abuse. The battery port is closed, meaning you will likely not be able to fit expanded battery packs. Also on the bottom is the tripod mount.

The bottom of the Canon FS200