Canon Vixia HF10 Camcorder Reviewby David KenderPublished on Mar 11, 2008 3:14 PM
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Ease of Use (7.5)
Canon finally jumped on the bandwagon and slapped an Easy mode on the HF10. For years, Sony has been known as one of the most user-friendly manufacturers in the biz, thanks to its idiot-proof Easy mode. Canon has emulated the legacy with its own Easy mode. In Canon’s world, Easy mode is like Alcatraz—all entries and exits are blocked. You can’t access the Function menu, Joystick menu, or Administrative menu. This is autopilot at its finest.
When you finally break free from the shackles of Easy mode, you’ll find that the HF10’s menu system is fairly inviting – more complicated than the clean Panasonic menus, but more streamlined than Sony’s. The Joystick menu is a nice little shortcut for quick adjustments like Exposure and Mic levels. The Function menu is readily available and easy to navigate through using the Joystick, though the options start to pile up here and could overwhelm novices. What is “P” mode, and how does it differ from “Av” and “Tv”? Too many perplexing abbreviations and icons are what killed Panasonic’s menus a few years ago. They cleaned up; will Canon?
Canon does, however, offer another ease of use factor with the 16GB internal flash memory. It offers a substantial amount of record time and requires no tapes, DVDs, or cards. Your expansion/backup plan is SDHC cards, which are durable, lightweight, and can fit in a wallet. Unfortunately, you’ll need a power plant computer and an NLE that supports AVCHD to edit videos. AVCHD is still relatively new, so don’t expect a standard definition DV-style workflow.
Handling (6.5)
While the Canon HF10 will not win the world’s “Smallest Full HD Camcorder” – the title goes to the Panasonic HDC-SD9 – it’s still very small. Canon appears to have tailored it after the Sony HDR-CX7. The camcorders are so aesthetically similar from certain angles that only their respective brand labels give it away. The HF10 and CX7 are also nearly identical in terms of weight and dimensions. Both camcorders are compact and light, but when pinned against the puny HDC-SD9, they seem like tanks.
So how does the HF10 treat the hand? You might be expecting a thin, cheap hand strap lacking in padding and port covers that will blow off with a hefty sneeze. Well, that’s not the case with the HF10. Canon has given this camcorder a wide, burly hand strap with a padded, breathable mesh liner on the interior. The hand strap is anchored to the body of the camcorder via two rugged d-rings that can withstand quite a hellish tug. A majority of the HF10’s port covers are placed in opportune locations and are solidly constructed.
When you slide your hand into the HF10, you’ll find your fingers have a tendency to venture across the top and over to the left side of the camcorder. In fact, Canon implemented a shallow trench just above the LCD cavity for this reason. This way, the middle and ring fingers will have something to latch onto while the index finger and thumb can be configured accordingly to reach the zoom toggle and Record Start/Stop button. It was wise of Canon to mount the built-in stereo microphone on the front of the HF10 rather than the top—a mistake Panasonic made with the HDC-SD9. The only disappointment in the construction of the HF10 is the cheap-feeling zoom toggle.
Menu (6.5)
Canon employs three distinct menus on all of its camcorders—the Joystick menu, Function menu, and Administrative menu. The Function and Administrative menus are fairly intuitive and easy to follow. The Joystick menu is small but can be intimidating until you familiarize yourself with it. Panasonic’s menus are arguably the best in terms of layout and cooperation with the joystick, but the HDC-SD9 suffers from some handling flaws due to its LCD cavity joystick placement. Sony’s touch screens are infamously loved or hated, but its latest Home menu is welcoming to beginners. Canon’s menus can seem daunting because of the extensive options, but the clean layout compensates for its advanced offerings.
In order to access the Joystick menu, press the center of the Joystick. A small square pane will appear in the bottom right corner, consisting of four pages. The Joystick menu offers the following options:
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Joystick Menu |
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| Page 1 | Instant Playback, Digital Effects, Video Light |
| Page 2 | Exposure |
| Page 3 | Focus |
| Page 4 | Microphone |
For more advanced options, the Function menu can be accessed by pressing the Function button. Option categories line the left side of the screen while individual options span bottom of the screen. The Function menu contains the following options:
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Video Function |
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| Scene Modes | Shutter Priority AE, Aperture Priority AE, Cine Mode, Portrait |
| White Balance | Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Manual |
| Image Effects | Vivid, Neutral, Low Sharpening, Soft Skin Detail, Custom |
| Digital Effects | Fade-T, Wipe, Black & White, Sepia, Art |
| Image Quality | FXP (17Mbps), XP+ (12 Mbps), SP (7Mbps), LP (5Mbps) |
| Photo Quality | LW (1920 x 1080), SW (848 x 480) |
| Menu | Menu |
To access the Administrative menu, select Menu from the Function menu. In the Administrative menu, you’ll find the following options:
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Video Administrative Menu |
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| Camera Setup | Self Timer, Digital Zoom, Zoom Speed, AF Mode, Focus Assist, Image Stabilization, Frame Rate, Auto Slow Shutter, Wind Screen, Mic Attenuator |
| Memory Operations | Memory Info, Card Info, Media: Movies, Media: Images, Initialize |
| Display Setup | Brightness, Audio Level, , TV Screen, Markers, Language, Demo Mode |
| System Setup | Battery Info, Wireless Remote, Beep, Power Save, Quick Start, AV/Phones, Phones Volume, Image Numbers, Component Out, HDMI Status |
| Date/Time Setup | Time Zone/District, Date/Time, Date Format |
| Close | Close |
Portability (8.5)
While the recently-reviewed Panasonic HDC-SD9 touts ultimate portability, snagging the “World’s smallest Full HD Camcorder” title, the HF10 does not attempt to go there. In fact, the HF10 is nearly identical in dimensions and weight to the Sony HDR-CX7, a camcorder that battled it out with the HDC-SD5 and lost in the smallness category. The HF10 cannot be pocketed, but it will fit inside a small camcorder bag. The HF10 weighs 380 grams (13.4 ounces) without the battery pack and lens and measures 73 x 64 x 129mm (2.9 x 2.5 x 5.1 inches). You won’t have to worry about DVDs or tapes to fill the camcorder bag up, but a couple of backup batteries and a large capacity SDHC card will suffice.
The 2.7-inch, 211,000-pixel resolution LCD
LCD and Viewfinder (5.75)
The HF10 is equipped with a 2.7-inch Multi-Angle Vivid Widescreen LCD with a 211,000-pixel display. The LCD screen flips out 90 degrees from the body of the camcorder and rotates up to 270 degrees. Since the HF10’s LCD screen is the camcorder’s only monitor, Canon was sure to provide a sharp, colorful image for the shooter. The LCD screen also resists solarization at steep angles. In addition to the Joystick, Canon has embedded many controls along the bottom of the LCD panel: Function, Play/Pause/Record Start/Stop, Rewind/Zoom Out, Fast Forward/Zoom In, Stop/BLC. There is no viewfinder on the HF10.
Battery Life (8.3)
We tested the life of the HF10’s BP-809 battery pack by recording continuously with the LCD flipped open in Manual mode at 1080/60i. The HF10 lasts 83 minutes and 27 seconds (1 hour, 23 minutes, and 27 seconds). This is a pretty sorry performance, not even breaking an hour and a half. Sure the battery is small, but with no moving parts, there should be some great efficiencies to take advantage of. You’ll have to upgrade to a higher capacity pack to last throughout the day. Canon offers the BP-819 is one option offered on its website.
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