Canon Vixia HF10 Camcorder Reviewby David KenderPublished on Mar 11, 2008 3:14 PM 
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Still Features (9.25)
In Photo mode, the HF10 is stocked with options and features not found on most camcorders. The Panasonic HDC-SD9 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $0.00) simply offers 1920 x 1080 still image recording and a handful of features. On the HF10 you can record still images in the following sizes: (Photo Mode) 2048 x 1536, 1920 x 1080, 1440 x 1080, and 640 x 480; (Video Mode) 1920 x 1080 and 848 x 480. Images can be recorded in Super Fine, Fine, or Normal quality to either the 16GB of internal flash memory or an SDHC card.
Warning: it takes the HF10 an abnormal amount of time to record and review an image when captured to the internal Flash memory. Shooting in Burst mode stalls the camcorder for a minute or two. We thought the HF10 was crashing, but no—this camcorder just takes its sweet time in the still image department.
Just like in Video mode, all manual controls are available, including Exposure, Focus, and White Balance. Scene Priority modes can be accessed as well, though Cine color is not offered in Photo mode. The same Image Effects can be applied in Photo mode, but only Black and White and Sepia effects are available. The HF10 has a Self Timer that can be set to 10 seconds, and you can review images in 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10-second intervals. The HF10 has a Flash that can be set to Auto, Manual, and On.
Like the HV30 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $0.00), the HF10 can meter the image in Evaluative, Center Weight Average, and Spot modes. Evaluative divides the screen into multiple sectors to obtain an average exposure for the whole image, thus making it suitable for most shooting environments. Center Weight Average focuses on the subject in the middle of the frame and adjusts the exposure accordingly. With Spot Meter, you can take a certain portion of the screen and match its exposure to the central subject.
You can capture images in four speed modes—Single, Continuous Shooting, Hi-speed Continuous Shooting, and Auto Exposure Bracketing. When you shoot in Single mode, only one image is snapped per Photo button press. Continuous mode captures approximately five images per press. Hi-speed Continuous Shooting records five images but at twice the speed as Continuous Shooting. Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) captures three images—one at Auto exposure, one at an EV notch up (+0.25EV), and one at an EV notch down (-0.25EV) for a variety of Exposure levels.
The Photo menu is accessed by pressing the Function button and selecting Menu. The Photo menu contains the following options:
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Photo Function Menu |
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| Shooting Modes | Shutter Priority AE, Aperture Priority AE, Portrait |
| Shot Metering | Evaluative, Center Weight Average, Spot |
| White Balance | Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Manual |
| Image Effects | Vivid, Neutral, Low Sharpening, Soft Skin Detail, Custom |
| Digital Effects | Black & White, Sepia |
| Capture Speed Mode | Single, Continuous Shooting, Hispeed Continuous Shooting, AEB |
| Image Quality | LW (1920 x 1080), L (2048 x 1536), M (1440 x 1080), S (640 x 480) |
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Photo Administrative |
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| Camera Setup | Self Timer, Zoom Speed, AF Mode, Focus Assist, AF Assist Lamp, Focus Priority, Image Stabilization, Auto Slow Shutter, Review |
| 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, Image Numbers, Component Out, HDMI Status |
| Date/Time Setup | Time Zone/District, Date/Time, Date Format |
| Close | Close |
Still Performance (5.5)
The still performance of the Canon HF10 was tested by shooting an X-Rite Color Checker chart at an even, bright light, then running the stills through Imatest imaging software, giving information on color accuracy, noise, and saturation. At best, the HF10 produces a color error of 10.9, which is worse than the HV30 and the competition from other manufacturers. The noise measures 1.48 percent, which is average for a Canon camcorder but higher than others. The saturation measures 118.6 percent.
In order to get these best scores, we had to take the camcorder out of Auto mode. As is the case with most camcorders, the most accurate colors occur by lowering the exposure. In this case, we dropped the exposure by two increments. The EXIF data revealed that this set the camera to an aperture of f/2.8 and a shutter speed of 1/120.
Still Resolution (28.42)
We test the resolution of the still photos by shooting an Applied Image ISO 12233 resolution chart at an even, bright light, then run the stills through Imatest imaging software. At best, the Canon HF10 produces a horizontal resolution of 1460 line widths per picture height (lw/ph) – with a clipping of 0.87 percent and an oversharpening of 4.11 percent. The vertical resolution of 1395 lw/ph – with a 1.03 percent clipping and a 5.0 percent oversharpening.
In order to get this best score, we raised the exposure by +3, which set the aperture to f/3.2 and a shutter speed of 1/120.