Canon Vixia HF S11

Color (8.35)

The Canon HF S11 produced accurate colors in our bright light testing, but its results weren’t as good as some of the other top-of-the-line camcorders on the market. The camcorder managed a color error of 4.19 and a saturation level of 83.64% in this test. More on how we test color.

Color Accuracy Performance
	Color Error Map
	The map on the left is a diagram of the color error. The length and direction of each line indicates how the camera processed each particular color while capturing video. The Canon Vixia HF S11 produced a color error of 4.19 and a saturation level of 83.64% in our bright light color testing.

Shooting in auto mode, the HF S11 had trouble rendering most colors with the ideal level of accuracy. The Color Error Map above shows the camcorder was most accurate with certain blue tones, while pinks and yellows gave it some serious trouble. Despite these troubles, the camcorder did a satisfactory job, which is what we expect from a high-end model like the HF S11.

Canon Vixia HF S11 Color Modes
Auto 100% Crop
Vivid 100% Crop Neutral 100% Crop Soft Skin 100% Crop More...

The HF S11, like all Canons, offers a variety of color modes. In addition to the preset options (shown above), the camcorder also has a custom setting that allows you to set your own values for Color Depth, Sharpness, Contrast, and Brightness—albeit with very limited incremental control. In our testing, we found the camcorder produced the most accurate colors when using the Vivid setting: 4.06 color error, 93.57% saturation.

Canon Vixia HF S11 Color Comparisons
Canon Vixia HF S11
JVC GZ-HM400 Panasonic HDC-TM300 Sony HDR-XR520V More...

A camcorder’s color reproduction is often a matter of personal preference. The Canon HF S11 tended to have less saturated colors than both the JVC GZ-HM400 and Panasonic TM300—something that many consumers may find disappointing. In particular, the Canon produced lighter blue tones than the competition.

Of the camcorders shown both above and below, the JVC and Panasonic had the best color accuracy, though the results were not a great deal better than those produced by the HF S11 and the Sony HDR-XR520V.

Close-Up Color Comparisons				Expand
	Ideal	Canon Vixia HF S11	JVC GZ-HM400	Panasonic HDC-TM300	Sony HDR-XR520V
Red
Green
Blue
Light Skin
Dark Skin

When you really get down to it, the color differences between these powerhouse camcorders are very subtle. The four camcorders shown above do an above average job at capturing colors faithfully and each of them produces a crisp, vivid image in bright light. What really separates these cameras is low light video performance, which we discuss later in this review.

Low Light Color (7.23)

The Canon HF S11 put up average numbers in our low light color testing for a high-end consumer HD camcorder. Its color error was measured at 5.06 with a saturation level of 64.79%. This represents a significant drop from the camcorder’s bright light color results. More on how we test low light color.

Low Light Color Accuracy Performance
	Color Error Map
	The map on the left is a diagram of the color error. The length and direction of each line indicates how the camera processed each particular color while capturing video. The Canon Vixia HF S11 produced a color error of and a saturation level of in our bright light color testing.

The HF S11 did slightly better when we switched over to its 24p mode (5.09 color error, 77.93% saturation) and its 30p mode (5.15 color error, 75.26% saturation). The difference between the frame rates is reflected in the chart below.

The HF S11’s low light color performance is on par with the Panasonic HDC-TM300 and the Sony HDR-XR520V. Interestingly, the Canon produced the darkest image of the bunch (see below), although that says more about its auto exposure system than its color accuracy. In fact, we were impressed than the camcorder produced such vivid colors despite the darkness of the footage. The color of the HF S11’s footage looked quite good, especially next to the comparatively dull and washed out colors of the HM400.

While the Panasonic, Canon, and Sony each put up similar numbers in our low light color test, the JVC GZ-HM400 was the odd cam out. Its low light image was murky, noisy, discolored (with a slight green tint), and lacked vivid color saturation. It is, by far, the worst low light camcorder of the four shown above.

Noise (8.33)

The HF S11’s noise percentage of 0.7225% in bright light is pretty good, but it is also slightly higher than what we got from the competition, particularly the Panasonic TM300 and Sony XR520V. Of course, noise is not usually very noticeable in bright light, as the crops below demonstrate. More on how we test noise.

Canon Vixia HF S11 Noise Comparisons
Canon Vixia HF S11 100% Crop	JVC GZ-HM400 100% Crop Panasonic HDC-TM300 100% Crop Sony HDR-XR520V 100% Crop More...

It’s nearly impossible to see any noise on the 100% crop images shown above. This is mainly because all the camcorders shown produced very little noise in our bright light testing. The crops do, however, show differences in sharpness, with the JVC GZ-HM400 managing a slight edge over the competition. Of course, every one of these camcorders is capable of capturing a very sharp image when shooting under ideal lighting conditions.

One small detail worth noting: the Canon HF S11 produced an odd dark at the top and bottom of the brown patch in the crop above. In a few other areas of the chart, the Canon seemed to have trouble rendering sudden transitions between two highly contrasting colors. The HM400 also had this trouble in places, though to a lesser degree. In fact, all four camcorders showed a bit of artifacting and splotchiness in the darker color areas.