Canon Vixia HF S11 Camcorder Review

Motion & Sharpness Performance Summary
• Motion is sharp and smooth, but a small amount of trailing is present • Very good video sharpness and very little artifacting, though not as fluid as the JVC GZ-HM400 • 24p and 30p frame rates are excellent features to have
	Color & Noise Performance	(Page 4 of 17)	Low Light Performance

Motion (10.8)

For the most part, the Canon HF S11 captured motion extremely well, and we didn't notice any difference between it and the previous Canons we've tested this year (the HF S100, HF S10, and Canon HF20). Artifacting was very minimal in our test footage and the moving objects retained a strong amount of detail and looked very sharp. While the footage was smooth, it wasn't as consistently fluid as the JVC GZ-HM400's moving image. (More on how we test motion.)

The Canon HF S11 can shoot video in three different frame rates: 60i, 24p, and 30p. The 60i frame rate is the default setting and it will capture motion that looks like normal HD video footage. The 24p and 30p modes are lower rates and they produce an entirely different aesthetic. 24p was designed to create a cinematic look, which it does do to an extent. Footage moves a bit slower, things look a bit dreamier, and the captured motion can appear somewhat jerky. The Canon's 24p and 30p modes are not natively progressive and are instead converted using a 2:3 pulldown. This pulldown system removes certain frames from 60i footage in order to create a clip that runs at 24 frames per second (24p) or 30 frames per second (30p).

While all the high-end camcorders we've tested have captured motion very well, the JVC GZ-HM400 is probably the best—along with its cousin model, the JVC GZ-X900. Motion captured by the GZ-HM400 is impeccably smooth, amazingly crisp, and has very little noticeable artifacting. Our only complaint is that the camcorder doesn't have any alternate frame rate options for HD video. JVC does include three slow motion options that record at very high frame rates, but the quality and resolution of these shooting modes is extremely limited.

The Panasonic HDC-TM300 is a small step below the Canon and JVC when it comes to motion rendering. It still captured a very good moving image, but there was a bit more artifacting. The Panasonic also offers a 24p Digital Cinema mode.

The motion recorded by the Sony HDR-XR520V looked quite similar to the Panasonic TM300. Both rendered smooth, sharp motion, but had a bit more artifacting than the JVC and Canon models. Like the JVC GZ-HM400, the Sony does not include any alternate frame rates other than its regular 60i mode for HD recording. There is also a limited slow motion option, but the high-speed frame rate produces very low quality footage.

Video Sharpness (11.32)

The Canon HF S11 had the same video sharpness scores as the previous Canon "S" series camcorders we've tested (the HF S100 and the HF S10). The camcorder measured a horizontal sharpness of 800 lw/ph and a vertical sharpness of 650 lw/ph. These are very good scores, but as we said in our bright light color and noise sections, most high-end camcorders do extremely well with this test. The fact is, if you spend $1000+ on a high definition camcorder, you expect, deserve, and usually get very good video sharpness. (More on how we test video sharpness.)

With that in mind, there were some noticeable differences between the Canons and high-end models from other manufacturers. The JVC GZ-HM400 had the best sharpness, capturing a horizontal sharpness of roughly 1000 lw/ph. The Sony and Panasonic models both produced a slightly less sharp image than that of the HF S11.

Video Sharpness Score Comparisons		Compare the Canon HF S11 to the JVC GZ-HM400
		Compare the Canon HF S11 to the Panasonic HDC-TM300
		Compare the Canon HF S11 to the Sony HDR-XR520V