Canon Vixia HV40

The HV40 is the only MiniDV camcorder Canon released in 2009, which makes it fairly unique amongst the competition. Canon concentrates most of its effort into flash-memory models like the HF S100 and the rest of the HF S series (HF S11 and HF S10). With the HF S100 you get the advantage of recording to non-linear media rather than tape (if you consider that an advantage), and you also get a much more elegant design, a more compact body, and a better handling experience.

The HF S100 has more manual controls than the HV40, including an auto gain limiter, better peaking functions, and far more still features. To manipulate these controls, the HF S100 also has an excellent control dial near the front of the camcorder. This dial is far better than the focus dial featured on the HV40, and it can be set to control a variety of settings (not limited to focus). Also improved on the HF S100 is Canon’s extensive menu system. Canon didn’t make perfect menus for the HF S100, but they are much more of a pleasure to work with than the confusing and out-dated menus on the HV40.

So, what features does the HV40 have that aren’t found on the HF S100? The most obvious is an electronic viewfinder, which Canon seems to be eliminating from all its flash-memory camcorders. Still, we weren’t all that impressed with the HV40’s viewfinder to begin with, so this isn’t that big of a loss. The HV40 also has a standard-size accessory shoe, while the HF S100 offers Canon’s proprietary mini-fit design. Another significant feature on the HV40 is its native-progressive 24p mode, which allows the camcorder to record 24 frames per second video directly to tape (instead of recording it at 60i). The HF S100 and the rest of the flash-memory Canon camcorders only have the option of recording non-native 24p (at 60i).

Since the HF S100 did slightly better in our performance testing (particularly with sharpness), and because it has a much better design, we think it is a better camcorder than the HV40. Of course, the real decision here comes down to whether you prefer tape or flash memory. If you are accustomed to recording to tape and are used to the workflow involved, then the HV40 should suite your video needs. If you’re ready to move to non-linear media, however, the HF S100 offers a much better shooting experience. Still, there are problems associated with the AVCHD codec used by the HF S100 (it is difficult to work with on a computer), and SD/SDHC memory cards are still a bit more expensive than MiniDV tapes at this point, which makes the HV40 the more economical option.

The HF S100 doesn’t come with any internal memory, so all video is recorded to SD/SDHC memory cards (sold separately). The HF S10 is identical, except it includes 32GB of internal flash memory for $1299. The HF S11 is also very similar (with a few changes, like an extra stabilization setting), but it packs 64GB of internal memory and costs $1399.

Update: The Canon HF S11 (a slightly updated sister model to the HF S100) was ultimately selected as our 2009 runner-up for Camcorder of the Year. To see why we selected it and read about our other awards, check out the 2009 CamcorderInfo.com Select Awards.