Canon HG10 Camcorder Reviewby David KenderPublished on Aug 9, 2007 8:40 AM
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Ease of Use (7.5)
The HG10 is not equipped with a distinct Sony-esque “Easy” mode, but it features something similar. Along the top ridge of the HDD enclosure you’ll find a tiny P (manual)/auto switch. In Auto mode, all the manual controls switch over to auto control and menu options are whittled down. The HG10 is in charge of executing all image adjustments—all the camcorder operator has to do is point, zoom, and shoot. All camcorders have some sort of Auto mode, but Sony’s Easy mode is unique, friendly, and inviting—just like an Active Interface Shoe or a Memory Stick Pro DUO. If anything, Canon’s Auto mode gives the shooter more options. Maybe that’s what you want, or maybe choices frighten you.
When in Manual mode, shooters are treated to a harsher world. The Image Adjust menu takes some practice. After pressing the select button to cue the tiny interface, the first page is filled with three obscure icons with no labels. Furthermore, to access them, the shooter is required to shift the D-pad once in the direction of the icon to turn it on, and a second time to turn it off. This is hard to grasp due to Canon’s small layout. This is where Sony takes the cake—their touch screen menu layout is a prime selling point for beginning consumers. The Function menu is chock full of options, which is great for more experienced shooters. Point-and-shooters will definitely be greeted by a steep learning curve.
Don’t fret, beginners and novices. Let’s look on the bright side. The HG10 is an HDD camcorder—you don’t have to buy MiniDV tapes or DVD discs. You have more than five hours of recording in the highest quality without having to swap media and interrupt a shoot. There’s also no need to finalize a disc, which could take up to 10 minutes on a DVD camcorder. In addition, the HG10 is equipped with a handy LCD control wheel, which simplifies the navigation process to a significant degree. Now if you can just figure out how to manage your AVCHD footage…
Handling (8.0)
If you threw a Canon HV20, Sony HDR-HC7, and any JVC Everio into a magical camcorder cauldron, a Canon HG10 would bubble to the surface. The HG10’s façade is an emulation of the HV20’s front end, and it borrows the same menu structure with a similar feature set. Like the HDR-HC7, the HG10 is a quality piece of machinery, utilizing a solid construction (more solid than the HV20). As far as image goes, the HG10 looks like an Everio on steroids—it’s dense, compact, and oddly square-shaped.
Nevertheless, the HG10 is a handling champion. The hand fits snugly within the strap while the bottom right edge of the camcorder is palmed with comfort. Once you finagle your digits accordingly, you’ll find that both the record start/stop button and zoom toggle controls are ergonomically placed to suit your anatomy quite well. The pinky doesn’t even overshoot the microphone, safeguarding your audio. In addition, the hand strap is fastened midway up the back end of the HG10, eliminating camcorder flop. Most camcorders feature low-strung hand straps that produce a wretched 90-degree sag when released from the hand. We do prefer Sony’s breathable mesh hand strap, though. Canon’s is a bit on the lean side and desperately needs a less rigid material. Regardless, the HG10 will stay glued to your hand with comfort all day long.
Sony touts its LCD touch screen, JVC equips its Everios with an LCD-mounted joystick, and Panasonic fancies a rear-mounted joystick. Well, it seems as though the folks at Canon extracted the essential ingredients from each design and threw in a generous helping of innovation. Behold the LCD-mounted control dial with four-way directional pad and select button embedded in the middle. It’s one of the most supreme architectural amalgamations we’ve seen all year, and it will make you want to become a two-handed shooter. When it comes to manual control adjustment, the dial is more precise and rapid than the dial found on the Sony HDR-HC7 or Canon HV20. It’s not perfect, however. The control dial on the HG10 feels cheap, and it should have been constructed either wider or with a higher profile, and certainly with a firmer traction. The current design is too small, and at times we found that we were spinning our thumb around in a circle without even catching the grooves on the dial.
That said, exposure and focus shifting suddenly become exciting to execute, while the unfortunate Sony user will remain saddled with a greasy touch screen, tapping away to reach some sort of passable result.
Here’s another accolade worth flinging at Canon: the prosumer grade zoom toggle. No other consumer camcorder is this lucky—not even the behemoth JVC GZ-HD7. The HG10 features a rocking metal strip that fits directly beneath the index and middle fingers. The rocker is a bit small, but once you adjust your hand correctly in the strap, your fingers will lay perfectly atop its shiny awesomeness. Zooming in and out is as smooth as churning butter. No more puny little tabs or sliders—the HG10 means business. The HG10 does not handle like a miniaturized pro camcorder, like the JVC GZ-HD7. Instead, and to its benefit, the HG10 handles like the best consumer camcorders.
Menu (6.5)
The HG10 utilizes the same menu structure as the HV20, only Canon’s new LCD-mounted control wheel will expedite the navigational process once you grow acclimated to its rapid, multi-functional handling. The HDR-SR7’s touch screen menu is undoubtedly user-friendly and logically crafted with a tabbed layout. But just wait until you have to make a manual adjustment on that touch screen—you’ll find that the HG10’s control wheel is far superior to joysticks, directional-pads, or touch screens on any consumer camcorder. Those who are fond of one-handed shooting might disagree with this statement, but you never know until you try it out. On top of all this, the HG10’s menu is relatively easy to follow, but takes some familiarization. Have no fear—we’ve broken it down for you.
Image Adjust Menu- In order to make quick adjustments to your picture or playback footage instantly, press the select button in the middle of the LCD control wheel. A small, square menu appears in the bottom right corner of the LCD screen. The menu consists of three pages and can be cycled through by pressing down on the D-pad. To select a function, press either left, right, or up to access that corresponding function. On page one you’ll find playback, digital effects, and the video light. Page two provides control over exposure, while page three offers control over focus. Exposure and focus can be adjusted via the control wheel.
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The Function menu |
A closer look at the white balance options in |
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First is the Function menu, which houses most of the manual controls and items you want close at hand while shooting. To access the Function menu, press the function button located on the LCD panel. A vertical column appears to the far left containing menu options, accompanied by a row of corresponding selections on the bottom of the screen. At the top is “P” (program AE modes), consisting of P (auto), Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, Cine mode, and a lengthy list of additional AE modes. Next in line is white balance, which is capable of the following settings: Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent h, and Manual. Next are image effects: Off, Vivid, Neutral, Low Sharpening, Soft Skin Detail, and Custom. Digital effects are one more notch down the line: Off, Fade-T, Wipe, Black and White, Sepia, and Art. Image quality settings are next: HXP, XP, SP, and LP. Second to last are the digital still image recording quality sizes: Off, LW, and SW. Finally, the bottom of the totem pole consists of the Menu icon, which is used to access the Administrative menu.
The top level of the Administrative menu
In the Administrative menu you’ll find a column of options with a list of contents to the right. The Administrative menu is structured as follows:
Camera Setup- Auto Slow Shutter, Digital zoom, Zoom, Speed, AF mode, Focus Assist, Image Stabilization, Frame Rate, HDD Usage Info, Self Timer, Windscreen.
The Camera Setup submenu in the Admin menu
HDD Operations- Initialize HDD, Drop Sensor.
Display Setup- Brightness, TV screen, Markers, Language, Demo mode.
System Setup- Wireless Remote, Beep, Power Save, Standby Off, File Numbers, AV/phones, Phones Volume, Component Out, HDMI status.
The Systems Setup submenu in the Admin menu
Date/Time Setup- Time Zone, Date/Time, Date Format.
When the P/auto switch is shifted to auto, the Image Adjust menu is watered down to include simply playback and video light. The Function menu only offers video and still image record quality, and all image adjust functions are grayed out in the Administrative menu.
Portability (7.75)
The HG10 is travel-friendly, weighing in at 565 grams (1.3 pounds) and measuring 81mm x 75mm x 129mm (3.2” x 3.0” x 5.1”). This baby is a solid brick of machinery, resembling a JVC Everio on steroids, but smaller than Sony’s HDR-SR7. As long as all the ports are covered, you should have no issues in the durability department. One thing to look out for is the hot shoe cover—it is not attached to the body of the camcorder. Nine out of 10 HG10 owners will lose the hot shoe cover at some point in time—it’s inevitable. The HG10 will fit in a small camera bag with room to spare, and thanks to its HDD format, there are no tapes or discs to add to the clutter. Its 40GB will give you more than five hours of recording in the highest quality, so go to town, vacationers and aspiring filmmakers. With all that recording time, you’ll want to invest in at least one backup battery.
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LCD and Viewfinder (7.6)
The HG10 is equipped with a 2.7-inch LCD screen with 211,000 pixels. The LCD screen flips out 90 degrees from the body and rotates up to 270 degrees. The picture is sharp and vivid, and the screen succeeds in reducing solarization at steep angles. Canon has stocked the LCD panel to the brim with controls: Function, Zoom in/out, Record start/stop, and backlight compensation. The thin buttons also double as playback controls when in Playback mode. We’ve commended the HG10’s LCD-mounted control wheel numerous times throughout this review, so let’s commend it again—the thing rocks. Two-handed shooters will rocket into the stratosphere with joy and manual control fanatics will be smitten with the control wheel’s rapid adjustment capabilities. If only Canon had inflated the screen size to 3.5-inches, it could have been the LCD screen of the decade.
The viewfinder is not the best, but it’s a vast improvement over Canon’s typical snub-nosed atrocity featured on the HV20 and pretty much any other Canon camcorder. The 0.27-inch EVF has a 123,000 pixel resolution and extends a full inch from the camcorder’s back end, clearing the battery with ease. Bravo, Canon! That’s a bold step! Now if you could just throw a rubberized eye cup on it and design it to extend upward, you’d have the potential viewfinder of the decade. The future is malleable, Canon—take heed.
Battery Life (10.9)
We tested the life of the HG10’s BP-2L13 battery pack for continuous HDD recording by placing the camcorder in AE mode, turning on OIS, and flipping the LCD screen open. The HG10’s battery lasted 1 hour, 49 minutes, and 12 seconds. This is a solid battery performance. The HV20 lasted 1 hour, 53 minutes, and 22 seconds. One additional extended life battery should keep you recording for hours.
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