Canon Vixia HF S100 Camcorder Review

Manual Controls Summary
• Easy mode isn't very easy to find, but automatic controls are responsive and adapt well to a variety of shooting conditions • Custom control dial is an excellent method for achieving a precise manual focus • Aperture and shutter are not independently controlled, but there is a wide variety of settings available • Exposure and white balance are above average in their flexibility • Four additional color modes, plus a small amount of control over brightness, contrast, sharpening, and color depth • Zebra striping, focus assist, peaking, and auto gain control limits really up the ante on an already robust set of manual control offerings
	Compression & Media	(Page 7 of 17)	Still Features

Auto Mode (9.13)

Auto mode is the bread and butter for most camcorder users, and even though the Canon HF S100 is a high-end product, it is still likely most people will end up shooting a majority of their footage with automatic controls. Dual Shot mode, which is the camcorder's dedicated auto mode, is represented on the mode dial with a green icon of a camcorder and camera. We don't particularly like the naming convention of "Dual Shot" mode, as it could easily confuse first-time videographers. On last year's models, Canon called this same setting "Easy" mode, which is a lot simpler for a new user to comprehend and find. In Dual Shot mode, the camcorder locks you out from all menus and manual settings. The only thing you can do with the camcorder is zoom, record, and press the shutter button to take photos. Switching over to regular video mode allows you to manipulate some of the camcorder's settings, while still keeping most controls automated.

Let's begin with the most basic of auto controls—focus. The HF S100, like many Canons, has two autofocus modes. The first is called Instant AF, and it utilizes a secondary autofocus sensor (located beneath the lens) to provide an immediate, snap-like focus. We found the instant AF to work well in most cases, but it can be problematic if  you're dealing with lots of motion. If you prefer a more traditional autofocus style, the normal AF system on the HF S100 provides a gradual focus adjustment. The autofocus still works quickly when moving between multiple subjects, but it doesn't have the immediate, locked-in focus shift that occurs with instant AF. The normal AF mode looks more like someone is performing a manual focus with a lens ring—only the camcorder is doing it automatically.

The HF S100 also has face detection, which is a new feature this year for Canon. With the setting activated, the camcorder will automatically detect faces within the video frame and adjust focus and exposure accordingly. During playback, any clips shot using face detection can also be organized and sorted based on whose face is in the clip. Canon claims the HF S100 can detect up to 9 faces at once and 35 faces in all, but we couldn't get the camcorder to pick up more than a few faces at any given time.

The auto exposure worked great on the HF S100, adjusting to various light sources with gradual ease. The camcorder offers alternate metering methods in still mode, but only one auto exposure setting is present for videos. There are a number of white balance presents on the camcorder, which we discuss in more detail in the white balance portion of the review. Auto white balance was quite effective, although not perfect, and we saw consistently better results when using a manual white balance.

Rounding out the auto controls is an auto slow shutter feature that can be turned on and off in the camcorder's menu. Turning the feature on allows the camcorder to use shutter speeds down to 1/30 of a second, which will produce a blurry, trailing effect in low light. With auto slow shutter off, the HF S100 won't drop below 1/60 of a second shutter speed.

Low Light Modes
There aren't any dedicated low light modes on the Canon HF S100, although there is a night scene mode that drops the shutter speed to as low as 1/2 of a second. The camcorder does have a built-in video light, however, that will help if you need to film in the dark.

Scene Modes
The HF S100 has the same set of scene modes as the Canon HF20: Portrait, Sports, Night, Snow, Beach, Sunset, Spotlight, and Fireworks. This is a decent amount of scene modes, and both the Panasonic HDC-TM300 and Sony HDR-XR520V have a similar amount as well.

Zoom (7.5)

Zoom on the HF S100 is controlled via a flat slider switch that rests naturally under the right index finger while recording. The switch is the same basic style of the Canon HF20 and last year's models, but it's larger and more robust. It also has a raised lip on either end of the toggle, which gives an additional level of control while zooming. Now, it's even easier to use variable finger pressure to get a smooth, quick zoom or a slow crawl. It's still not quite as good as a more traditional toggle, but it's about as responsive as most consumer camcorder zoom controls. As on previous Canon models, there is a secondary zoom control on the LCD panel, but these buttons do not allow you to alter zoom speed.

The zoom toggle is easy to access.

In addition to the variable zoom speed that can be achieved by changing finger pressure on the zoom switch, Canon offers three set zoom speeds that can be selected from within the administrative menu. Using the slowest zoom speed setting, it takes roughly 22 seconds to go from wide angle to a full 10x zoom. With the fastest speed setting, the same zoom takes roughly 6 seconds. The variable speed control allows for a wide range of speeds, but the zoom speed settings make it easier to zoom at one smooth, consistent speed.

Unfortunately, the HF S100 does have one considerable deficiency in zoom control: the scale is not numbered to give you a precise measure of your current zoom ratio.

Zoom Ratio (3.77)

The Canon HF S100 has a 10x optical zoom, which is about average for a high-end consumer camcorder. Last year's Canon HF11 and the new Sony HDR-XR520V and Panasonic HDC-TM300 have 12x optical zoom. The top-of-the-line models from JVC this year sport a 20x optical zoom lens, but the sensor and imaging is not as impressive as those found on these more expensive models.

As on most camcorders, the HF S100 also has a digital zoom option, which can be capped off at 0x, 40x, or 200x. Using digital zoom will severely decrease image quality, so we recommend leaving that cap at 0x.

New this year to the HF S100 is a tele-converter option, which magnifies your image an additional 1.7x—an effect similar to that of a tele-converter lens. This feature, however, is a digital image effect, which lowers the effective pixel count from 6.01 megapixels to 2.07 megapixels. That means it is not like the Advanced Zoom on Canon's 2009 standard definition camcorders, which digitally expand the zoom range without image degradation. On the HF S100, the tele-converter option does not expand zoom range, but merely shifts it. The minimum zoom with tele-converter on is 1.7x, while the maximum is 17x.

Zoom Comparisons
Wide Angle	8x Zoom	20x Zoom

Focus (7.5)

If you're comparing the Canon HF S100 to its step-down model, the Canon HF20, manual focus control is one of the more significant upgrades. The basic concept is still the same: you can use the joystick to select one of several focal increments on a vague scale from "man to mountain." However, the HF S100 offers several tools to improve the manual focus experience that are not available on the less expensive Canon models.

The new custom control dial is an excellent touch.

First and foremost, there's the fantastic new custom control dial, which lets you assign one of five different operations to the smooth, easy action of the front-mounted control dial. Sure, Canon may have copied this straight out of the design books from Sony, but why not copy something that works so well? Controlling focus with this dial is far superior to using the small and imprecise joystick; the user is no longer constrained by hard increments, instead tweaking focus with exact control.

Performing a manual focus...		...and the focus assist functions

The HF S100 also has a rudimentary focus assist, which automatically zooms in on the image in order to aid with a manual focus. However, pair that with the camcorder's optional peaking feature, and you have a recipe for excellent image adjustment. Peaking is available in three different colors (red, blue, and yellow) and can be displayed with a color image or in black and white. If you've never experimented with this feature before, we highly recommend it. Peaking simply highlights sharp edges in a bold color, helping you determine when your image is most in focus. This is a great tool for manual control aficionados and these top-of-the-line Canons are the only consumer camcorders from any manufacturer to include a peaking option.

If you want to turn peaking on and off quickly, you can assign it to the custom control dial, but this will mean removing manual focus from the control dial. It's probably best to just pick the kind of peaking you like the best and leave the dial for making accurate and precise focus adjustments.

Exposure (8.3)

The HF S100 offers the same exposure tool as the Canon HF20, reviewed earlier this year. There are twenty-three increments available, from -11 to +11. You can control exposure through the joystick guide or assign this as your option of choice for the custom control dial.

Manual exposure on the HF S100

The exposure tool is actually more accessible than shutter speed and aperture adjustments. And since you don't have independent control over shutter and aperture, exposure may be a good way to keep both your shutter speed and image brightness high.

Aperture (6.5)

Aperture adjustment is only possible in Canon's Aperture Priority mode. This means that as you change aperture, the shutter speed will be automatically adjusted to accommodate your selected aperture. Fortunately, the HF S100 does include a wide range of possible apertures and an excellent display mechanism for selecting an aperture (see animation below). If you're disheartened by the lack of independent aperture and shutter speed, remember that you can independently adjust exposure and auto gain limit.

Aperture can be adjusted in aperture priority mode.

Our only complaint about the aperture control is that it isn't as accessible as the independent aperture control we find on camcorders from other manufacturers. Changing aperture means switching into Aperture Priority mode. So, you can't change aperture from within Cine Mode or any of the scene modes.

Shutter Speed (6.6)

Just as aperture is adjusted in Aperture Priority mode, shutter speed is adjusted in Shutter Priority mode. Again, this means that you don't have independent control over aperture and shutter speed. The wide range of shutter speeds extends down to 1/8 (or 1/6 in 24p mode). When adjusting shutter speed, remember that slow shutter speeds can really change the way motion looks, adding a lot of trailing and blurring. If you're shooting in low light, you may want to keep it in Shutter Priority mode to keep the camcorder from automatically selecting a very low speed. If the automatic aperture adjustment doesn't get you enough brightness, you can always use exposure and gain to accommodate.

Many camcorders don't allow you to select a shutter speed below 1/30 of a second, but the Canon HF S100 offers two very slow shutter options (1/8 and 1/15 of a second). The shutter on the HF S100 can actually go all the way down to 1/2 of a second, but this option only exists on the Night scene mode and it cannot be selected manually. In 24p mode, a different set of manual shutter speeds become available, to match the different frame rate. For a complete list of shutter speeds available on the Canon HF S100, see the table above.

Shutter priority mode allows for control over shutter speed.

White Balance (9.5)

The white balance settings are exactly the same as what we reported on the Canon HF20 earlier this year. You can select from one of the presets or perform a manual white balance. Canon always offers a good range of presets: auto, daylight, shade, cloudy, tungsten, fluorescent, and fluorescent H. This is a decent number, especially compared to camcorders from Sony or Sanyo. The manual white balance is easy to perform and usually does a good job of compensating for different color temperatures.

The white balance presets

Gain (3.5)

The Canon HF S10 and HF S100 are the only camcorders from Canon to offer some degree of gain control, which they label as AGC Limit (auto gain control limit). This feature essentially allows you to alter the maximum amount of gain that the camcorder will automatically engage for a given scene. If you aren't worried about brightness and want to decrease the amount of noise, you can set the gain limit to 0dB, which will turn off gain entirely. If you don't mind the added noise, but want to increase the amount of light in your scene, you can set the gain limit as high as 18dB.

Setting the AGC level

The AGC Limit control is buried fairly deep in the administrative menu, but it is also one of the five options you can assign to the custom control dial. If you anticipate changing the AGC Limit often, this may be a good idea. Most of the other manual controls can be accessed more easily in the Function and Joystick menus.

Color & Image Controls (9.0)

The Image Effects feature in the Function menu allows you to select from one of four preset options that slightly shift the color of your image: vivid, neutral, low sharpening, and soft skin detail. (See color performance section for side-by-side comparisons of the four presets.)

A fifth image effect option is Custom, which gives you manual control over color depth, sharpness, contrast, and brightness. This lets the user fine-tune the recorded image, but it's actually a very limited tool. The range for each option is only +/- 1, despite the appearance of a scale with many increments. With Canon already providing such a robust manual control experience in the HF S100, this seems like a disappointing deficiency. Why not increase the scales so that we can have more control over these features?

The custom color controls don't let you do much.

The x.v. Color feature lets the camcorder record in the expanded xvYCC color gamut. Video recorded in this setting will only look different when played back on a television that supports xvYCC—otherwise the colors will look exactly the same.

Other Manual Controls (3.5)

The HF S100 includes a number of professional-level controls that are rarely found on consumer camcorders. It can display color bars and an audio reference tone, has a couple of overexposure warnings (zebra settings), and contains numerous onscreen markers for assisting with framing.